Just last week I was writing that the Vikings got away with a win. Unfortunately, I have to write the same thing again this week. Childress has alluded to numerous times (and the players too) that any win is a good win. I couldn’t agree more over the course of the season. However, when you win two games back to back that both had questionable calls allowing you to win those games, it has to feel a bit underwhelming. In the end, I believe what the fans are looking for is a solid win. The defense doesn’t have to shut anybody out and the offense doesn’t need to score on every drive – just a solid win where both sides of the ball play consistent football for four quarters.

The defense has played well the last couple weeks. Some big numbers were given up to the Saints and some would say that the D gave up more than they should have against a backup quarterback with that little experience. However, there is some impressive talent for the wide outs in Detroit and the running backs aren’t bad. The only concern I have defensively is the loss of E.J. Henderson. There were a couple runs up the middle that went for 5-10 yards. The Williams do their thing week in and week out, but the middle linebacker is usually the most direct beneficiary of a pair of tackles like that. I think David Herron will be fine, but he was a little banged up in the game. E.J. will be hard to replace.

On a separate note, I don’t think Cedric Griffin is as bad as everyone seems to believe. He does reasonably well in coverage (yes, he does get beat from time to time, but what corner doesn’t?) and he tackles well most of the time. He will get picked on because he plays opposite Winfield, who has proven more this year than ever that he is a play waiting to happen.

Jared Allen is taking some criticism too I’ve heard. Everyone needs to calm down about the stats. Jared Allen forced the safety last week, which proved to be the difference in the game. He doesn’t have big sack numbers right now, but that’s not to say he’s not producing. Just hitting the quarterback, even after he has thrown the ball, will have an effect on the way the quarterback plays throughout the game. I believe the numbers will come for Jared. He plays hard every game and he’s bringing the pressure.

The offense is the object of most of the criticism. It’s also the reason that Childress is under fire. The offense has yet to throw for over 300 yards since Childress arrived. Now, in all fairness they did get close against Detroit with 296. It’s just crazy that you’re a vaunted offense guru and you have had two and half years and have yet to get a quarterback with over 300 yards passing!

Back to the Detroit game though, I don’t believe you can pin this on Childress. No one is going to blame Peterson for much of anything in Minnesota, but keep in mind he fumbled the ball two times and lost both of them. Childress wasn’t out there prying the ball out of his hands. In other words, that’s not coaching, that’s just mistakes. One of those fumbles was when the Vikings were putting together a very nice drive in the first half.

Another turnover was the interception by Gus. It was very uncharacteristic of Gus to throw a ball that was that easy for the pick and I wouldn’t expect that to be a new trend.

It was great to see Berrian make some plays. He played well and really helped win that game. His 131 yards receiving this week coupled with over 100 yards receiving last week finally helps his stats catch up to his title of #1 wide receiver . Hopefully he’s gaining more confidence in the system and better chemistry with Gus. The receivers as a whole are still dropping too many balls though.

It’s funny that Peterson was never really able to get going and still had 111 yards. Every fan in Minnesota was just waiting for Peterson to break the big one, which he never did, yet still comes away with over 100 yards rushing. That’s a good day for most backs. We’re spoiled in Minnesota. At this point it’s 300 yards on the ground or bust.

The biggest thing that needs to be realized about the Vikings offense in this game is that they did put up numbers. They had over 400 yards of total offense. That’s good offense. The problem and the reason Childress is in trouble, is because all those yards didn’t turn into very many points. Turnovers hurt, penalties hurt, and inconsistent blocking hurt. The Vikings offense did to the Lions defense exactly what it should have except put up the points.

Next up is the Bears. This will be an interesting game which should feature a lot of defense. Keep in mind though that Peterson had his coming out party against the Bears last season. If the offensively line can pull together better than they have the last couple weeks, we may see some big things from Peterson this weekend.

That’s all for me. I’ll be back later this week with my thoughts on the Bears/Vikes matchup.

Detroit vs. Minnesota pregame

Detroit and Minnesota square off Sunday at the Dome

The Minnesota Vikings will host the Detroit Lions on Sunday at noon. This is a game the Vikings need to win to get back to 500 and this is a game the Vikings should win because their opponent is not playing good football right now - That was the biggest understatement I could possibly make. Detroit is dead last in total defense. They rank 29^th in pass defense and 30^th in rush defense. The Lions are also 31^st in average points given up per game. This is coupled with the Lions offense being 28^th in total yards per game, 19^th in passing yards per game (one spot ahead of the Vikings pass offense, which is a lot like winning the smartest idiot award), and 31^st in yards-per-game rushing.

All of this adds up to the Vikings should win the game. The only statistic that matters which the Vikings trail the Lions is in offensive passing yards which as I mentioned earlier, the Vikings are only one spot behind the behind the Lions.

One of the big differences for this game will be if Jon Kitna can play. Dan Orlovsky will most likely get the start if Kitna can’t play. I was watching a “highlight” real of Dan Orlovsky against the Bears. I wish I was joking but it consisted of one play. Here’s the link: http://www.nfl.com/players/danorlovsky/profile?id=ORL645634. It’s amusing to me that Mike Martz took the fall for that team last season. Jon Kitna was doing a lot better last year with Martz running the offense. Their rushing this year is dreadful even though that is why Martz was run out of town last year – for not running the ball enough. At least they had offensive production last year! The defense is the real liability in Detroit. Even last year the defense was shaky. That unit will need to perform better if this team wants to get out of the proverbial cellar of the NFL. Firing Matt Milen was the right move and everyone knows it. The problem is that it’s going to take years for this team to turn it around. I don’t believe this team is so bad that they won’t win a game this season. At some point the defense will come around enough to give the offense a chance to win and with Jon Kitna, at some point their going to pull through with a victory. I don’t think it’ll be against the Vikes.

If the Vikings are to beat Lions, they just need to play smart football. Don’t turn the ball over, don’t commit penalties, and run the football. If they can do those three things, this game should be well in hand come the fourth quarter. The Vikings simply have more talent on the roster than the Lions do. The Lions will score some points. My guess is between 10-20 points if Kitna plays, but possibly under 10 if Kitna sits.

Well, that’s all for this post. Enjoy the game. I’ll be back early next week.

Vikings Defeat Saints 30-27

Apparently I was locked out of my blog because their auto-detector said that my blog site was spam. I submitted my appeal and the minute that I get my blog back I will be putting this up as my next post.

The Vikings won 30-27 over the Saints. To say the game was crazy is an understatement. As always, my goal with these posts is not to recap a game. I make the assumption that anyone reading this saw at least most of the game or read a recap. If you have haven’t, follow this link for this week’s game. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29602&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2008&week=REG5&override=true. Nfl.com does a good job of providing a recap for all the games each week, just in case someone is looking to research some other games as well.

First, I must start my analysis with my gut feeling after the game. The Vikings got away with one. Realistically, that game should have been over by the second half. The Vikings defense was getting shredded early on and the offense didn’t look too effective in their first handful of drives. The Vikings offense had 35 net yards in the first quarter (5 yards of which were penalty yards given by a Saints penalty) as compared to the Saint’s 133 Net yards offensively. However, the end of the first quarter had the score tied at 10. The second quarter the Vikings offense had a long drive coupled with more miscues by the Saints. Consider this; the Saints had four drives in the second quarter with the results as follows: fumble, fumble, interception, end of the quarter. The Vikings went into halftime up 20-10.

There is reason to be excited about this win. Obviously, a win is a win and wins don’t come easily in the nfl. Just ask Houston who blew a big lead to Indy late in the game.

Fast-forward to the fourth quarter and Gus did what needed to be done to win the game. He threw for 90 yards in the fourth quarter which doesn’t include the big interference penalty against K. Kaesviharn (Saints) for 42 yards which setup the game winning field goal. Of course, he did all of this with no running game either. That’s big time play by a quarterback.

Negative impressions.

The Vikings have many things to address after this game. First, they need to take a look at the special teams. Two punt returns for touchdowns is unacceptable to say the least. The kickoff coverage wasn’t good for much of the game either. The blocked field goal was a great play. It was extremely heads up by Winfield (who is the MVP of this team thus far in the season). However, don’t expect the Vikings to be blocking too many kicks again as that kick was way too low which is what gave our guys the opportunity to block it. Nonetheless, you have to take what’s given to you. The kick was low, Kevin Williams blocked it, and Winfield returned it all the way.

The offensive line looked surprisingly vulnerable. The return of McKinnie was supposed to make our offensive line more formidable. Unfortunately, they looked more vulnerable than I have ever seen them this season. It wasn’t just McKinnie either. I looked like a team effort to make sure that Adrian had nowhere to run and Gus was would get hit on every play. That’s an area that needs to tighten up again for the upcoming game against Detroit.

The offense had few answers for the Saints defense. I can’t pin this one on coaching either. I saw the play calling trying to use Adrian as the focal point of the offense. Then I saw the play calling try to use Adrian as decoy. None of it was working. I think the offensive line play was a big factor. They would run up the middle with little success. Many plays to the outside went for losses as the Saints defense was able to string the play out all the way to the sideline. The passing game showed signs of improvement when Gus had a chance to throw, but he took some vicious (not dirty though) hits.

Positive impressions.

Gus Frerotte. The man is so old that they didn’t record time when he was born. No fear though, as he hung in there and kept trying to make plays regardless how many shots he took during the game. I do believe that Gus is good enough to make a serious playoff run for the Vikes. The biggest question is can he stay healthy all season long?

Leslie Frazier. The defensive coordinator for the Vikings did a great job of making adjustments. After the defense did little to slow the Saints on the first drive, he made adjustments and started blitzing frequently. He brought everyone from everywhere at some point or another. He allowed his unit to get in the head of Drew Brees. Then the Vikings D took what was given to them; a bunch of turnovers.

Antoine Winfield. I’m saving the best for last. Winfield had a career day against the Saints. As I mentioned earlier, he is the MVP of the Vikings team this year. Both wins have come due to huge momentum shifts that came from Winfield plays. The man plays hard and shows up every game.

Well, that’s all for now. As always, cheer loud and enjoy the game. Detroit is up next.