The Tennesse Titans defeated the Vikings this past weekend 30-17.
First, I want to go into the main reasons why the Vikings lost before going into secondary arguments that didn't help the Vikings. Turnovers were the biggest killer in this game for the Vikes. The interception at the end of the game was unfortunate, but that wasn't the biggest killer. The worst problem was the three fumbles that happened earlier in the game.
Penalties were the other big contributor to the problem. The Vikings were penalized 7 times for 50 yards. Unfortunately, many of those penalties came on 2nd or 3rd downs which typically resulted in third and long situations.
The Vikings defense didn't show up until the second half. The Titans offense was allowed to score points on their first three drives. If the strength of this team is going to be the defense then that can't happen. Our receivers don't catch the ball consistently enough to play catch up.
One of the biggest things the Vikings needed was something positive to go their way. They got a break when the Titans fumbled the snap right before halftime. However, with only 10 seconds remaining, the only viable option was the long field goal which hit the upright and resulted in no points. The other break they should have had was the Titans second touchdown. The Titans went for it on 4th and 1. The pass was completed to the receiver who was a couple yards shy of the first down marker on the reception. After several attempts to reach the marker, he was eventually dragged down. The play was reviewed, and not overturned (it was originally marked a first down). The problem with this play was two-fold. First, the receiver clearly didn't make the first down marker. Secondly, and more disturbingly, the receiver fumbled the ball away and the Titans were still awarded the ball. The play was blown twice by the officials even after the review and the play should have resulted with the Vikings controlling the ball either way. It's hard enough to play a team like the Titans, but having to play against the refs as well makes it even more difficult.
The play calling is still suspect. I have talked to many people about the play calling and they all seem to agree with me.. It just seems to vanilla. I don't necessarily mean that there needs to be an increase in trick plays, rather just trying to find ways for mismatches. Many teams, even down to the high school level use something as simple as motion to create mismatches. It seems to me that the Vikings rarely do motion. The Vikings most of the time seem to line up and run the play and may the best man win. Unfortunately, NFL teams are just to close in talent for any team to be able to beat another team that way. Defenses will always scheme against A. P. We need to find ways to make the passing game more effective. Gus should be capable of doing more audibles at the line of scrimmage. Something! Anything to make defenses think twice.
I fear the season will only get longer because though the talent on the team is very high, our coaching staff seems incapable of putting the players in the best position possible to succeed. Hopefully the coaches are learning every bit as much as the players right now or a push to try and make the playoffs is doubtful at best. Keep in mind, Even after some very horrible football in the first quarter of the season, we are only one game behind Green Bay and Chicago for the lead in the division. However, I do believe only one team will be going from the NFC North. It looks like the NFC East could take both wild cards.
That's all for now. I'll be back in a day or two for a talk on the upcoming game against New Orleans.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
1st Post Vikings
I love talking Vikings, so I figured I would start a blog. Better late then never huh? So here I go, taking off down a road I have long wanted to travel.
Speaking of travel, our Minnesota Vikings are heading to Tennessee to play the Titans this weekend. But before I get to that, I'm going to do a brief recap of how I see the Vikings getting to this point in the season.
In the first week of the season, the Vikings played Green Bay in Green Bay. I hate the Packers, but they are a heck of a good football team. Aaron Rogers did his part to make the Packers front office look like Geniuni (that's the plural for genius... or at least it's my plural for genius) for letting Brett Favre move to New York. The Vikings got outplayed and out coached in that game. Actually, the score was a lot closer than the game was in my opinion.
In the second week of the season, the Vikings took on the Colts for the first home game of the season. This game was ridiculous. The defense played well... for almost three quarters. Then there was the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference. The offense moved the ball well until things started to really matter, at which point we sent the field goal unit out. Six field goal attempts with five being converted is not a very good formula to win games in the NFL.
This gets us to the third week when we played the Panthers. The Vikings finally got their first win in this game with a fairly sound beating of a solid football team. Jake Delhomme was frustrated much of the second half as the Vikings provided a good combination of pressure and coverage. The offense ran the ball well enough and threw the ball efficiently.
The biggest news of the season up to this point has been the changing of quarterback from Jackson to Gus. Regardless if you think Jackson is the future or not, the change seems to be positive for the time being. However, I believe that the biggest reason for success is because the coaching staff clearly believes in Gus more than Tarvaris. This has little to do with what they have said, but rather how they came out with their game plan. The Vikings threw the ball early and often against the Panthers. This deviated heavily from the former plan of run the ball on first down, run the ball on second down, and then if it was third down and long, throw the ball and hope for the best from a quarterback that you don't seem to have much confidence in (otherwise maybe they would throw the ball more on first and second down?!?) Now, I need to acknowledge that we have a phenomenal running back situation with Adrian and Chester and we need to make sure they are a heavy part of the game plan, but I would have liked to see less predictable play calling in the first two games to help the offense catch opposing teams off guard.
Obviously that was condensed view of the first three weeks, but I don't want to focus on the past as much in this as much as I would like to get to the upcoming game with the Titans. We are 1-2 and there is nothing we can do except prepare for the upcoming game against the Titans.
The Titans will be an interesting match up for the Vikings in that both teams have a similar philosophy both offensively and defensively. For offense, run the ball effectively and throw the ball enough to keep teams honest. Defensively, stop the run first and then wait for teams to make a bad decision forcing a pass and capitalize with a turnover.
Though I know many are picking the Titans to win this game, there are several reason I think the Vikings should win this game.
1. Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, and the Vikings offesive line. Yes the Titans are good at stopping the run, but unless you've played the Chargers, then you haven't faced a back of the quality that we have here in Minnesota. The three teams that the Titans have played so far this season (Jacksonville, Cincinnati, and Houston) have 1 win combined. Furthermore, none of these teams had a 100 yard rusher until week three. Jacksonville had 2 (Jones-Drew and Taylor) who both rushed for over 100 yard against Indy (whose run defense is poor at best - especially without Bob Sanders) and Houston had Steve Slaton, a rookie who ran for over 100 yards against Tennessee. All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the Titans run defense is not what many think it is. The Vikings will have more success running the ball than many think they will.
2. Gus Frerotte. The Titans force opposing quarterbacks into making mistakes. Gus is a veteran who isn't going to make many mistakes. The interception last week was a dropped pass that was then picked off for an interception. It was a tough pass to catch, but that should be a catch if you can get two hands on the football.
3. Defensive line. This is an obvious strength for the Vikings week in and week out. When your front four can put pressure on a quarterback without blitzing, it opens up so many options. Look for pressure on Kerry Collins early and often and Leslie Frazier will undoubtedly dial in some blitzes to mix things up defensively. Also, this will be a good test for Tennessee to measure just how good their running game is against one of the best rushing defenses in the league.
Alright, that's all for this week. Next week I'll be back with another post to talk about what happened in the Titans-Vikings game and a look ahead at next weekend. Until then, cheer loud and enjoy the game.
Speaking of travel, our Minnesota Vikings are heading to Tennessee to play the Titans this weekend. But before I get to that, I'm going to do a brief recap of how I see the Vikings getting to this point in the season.
In the first week of the season, the Vikings played Green Bay in Green Bay. I hate the Packers, but they are a heck of a good football team. Aaron Rogers did his part to make the Packers front office look like Geniuni (that's the plural for genius... or at least it's my plural for genius) for letting Brett Favre move to New York. The Vikings got outplayed and out coached in that game. Actually, the score was a lot closer than the game was in my opinion.
In the second week of the season, the Vikings took on the Colts for the first home game of the season. This game was ridiculous. The defense played well... for almost three quarters. Then there was the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference. The offense moved the ball well until things started to really matter, at which point we sent the field goal unit out. Six field goal attempts with five being converted is not a very good formula to win games in the NFL.
This gets us to the third week when we played the Panthers. The Vikings finally got their first win in this game with a fairly sound beating of a solid football team. Jake Delhomme was frustrated much of the second half as the Vikings provided a good combination of pressure and coverage. The offense ran the ball well enough and threw the ball efficiently.
The biggest news of the season up to this point has been the changing of quarterback from Jackson to Gus. Regardless if you think Jackson is the future or not, the change seems to be positive for the time being. However, I believe that the biggest reason for success is because the coaching staff clearly believes in Gus more than Tarvaris. This has little to do with what they have said, but rather how they came out with their game plan. The Vikings threw the ball early and often against the Panthers. This deviated heavily from the former plan of run the ball on first down, run the ball on second down, and then if it was third down and long, throw the ball and hope for the best from a quarterback that you don't seem to have much confidence in (otherwise maybe they would throw the ball more on first and second down?!?) Now, I need to acknowledge that we have a phenomenal running back situation with Adrian and Chester and we need to make sure they are a heavy part of the game plan, but I would have liked to see less predictable play calling in the first two games to help the offense catch opposing teams off guard.
Obviously that was condensed view of the first three weeks, but I don't want to focus on the past as much in this as much as I would like to get to the upcoming game with the Titans. We are 1-2 and there is nothing we can do except prepare for the upcoming game against the Titans.
The Titans will be an interesting match up for the Vikings in that both teams have a similar philosophy both offensively and defensively. For offense, run the ball effectively and throw the ball enough to keep teams honest. Defensively, stop the run first and then wait for teams to make a bad decision forcing a pass and capitalize with a turnover.
Though I know many are picking the Titans to win this game, there are several reason I think the Vikings should win this game.
1. Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, and the Vikings offesive line. Yes the Titans are good at stopping the run, but unless you've played the Chargers, then you haven't faced a back of the quality that we have here in Minnesota. The three teams that the Titans have played so far this season (Jacksonville, Cincinnati, and Houston) have 1 win combined. Furthermore, none of these teams had a 100 yard rusher until week three. Jacksonville had 2 (Jones-Drew and Taylor) who both rushed for over 100 yard against Indy (whose run defense is poor at best - especially without Bob Sanders) and Houston had Steve Slaton, a rookie who ran for over 100 yards against Tennessee. All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the Titans run defense is not what many think it is. The Vikings will have more success running the ball than many think they will.
2. Gus Frerotte. The Titans force opposing quarterbacks into making mistakes. Gus is a veteran who isn't going to make many mistakes. The interception last week was a dropped pass that was then picked off for an interception. It was a tough pass to catch, but that should be a catch if you can get two hands on the football.
3. Defensive line. This is an obvious strength for the Vikings week in and week out. When your front four can put pressure on a quarterback without blitzing, it opens up so many options. Look for pressure on Kerry Collins early and often and Leslie Frazier will undoubtedly dial in some blitzes to mix things up defensively. Also, this will be a good test for Tennessee to measure just how good their running game is against one of the best rushing defenses in the league.
Alright, that's all for this week. Next week I'll be back with another post to talk about what happened in the Titans-Vikings game and a look ahead at next weekend. Until then, cheer loud and enjoy the game.
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