Vikings fans endure one more turn on the stadium merry-go-round

It's a huge issue for Vikings fans, this stadium thing. But I hate writing about it. So here are a few links of stories on today's stadium news, where Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton basically dropped a big "fuck you" on Zygi and Mark Wilf as he quashed their hopes of building a stadium anywhere but on the Metrodome site.

* From the Star-Tribune, there's this story.

* The Pioneer Press' version of today's events can be read here.

* And ESPN's Kevin Seifert has his analysis here.

It really stinks to have to read about this every few days.

Draft due dilgence
ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero had a lengthy Q & A with Vikings general manager Rick Spielman today where he talked about the interview process with draft-eligible college players.

Spielman's draft record has been mixed at best thus far with the Vikings. But if his selections don't pan out this year, at least we know it's from a lack of effort.

Good news for the Vikings? Husain Abdullah's concussion issues won't force him to retire

The Minnesota Vikings need to improve their secondary in a big way this offseason if they hope to climb back to relevance in the not-too-distant future. That will likely require some major personnel changes on the back end. Several players who made up this sorry unit in 2011 could (make that "should") be released or allowed to resign elsewhere – if anyone else will have them.

But Husian Abdullah is probably not one of those guys, and Viking Update's John Holler reported on Sunday that Abdullah has been told by concussion specialists in Pittsburgh that he can play football again.

Abdullah had been seriously contemplating retirement after suffering his fourth concussion in two seasons last fall. The fourth concussion landed him on the injured reserve after the Vikings ninth game and ended this season.

And although watching San Francisco 49ers free safety Dashon Goldson the past two weeks smash opposing receivers, deftly jump routes and make several plays on the ball illustrates the gap that lies between good safety play and what the Vikings have been doing for several seasons, I still consider the news on Abdullah a positive development.

Abdullah is no Pro Bowler – at least he hasn't shown that ability yet – but he's a decent enough player that the Vikings can feel pretty good about putting him out there at free safety next season. That allows them to concentrate on other pressing matters such as making upgrades at cornerback, strong safety and even linebacker to improve the pass defence.

If the Washington State alum had been told his career was over because of concussions, it would have added to an already long list of positions the Vikings management must find replacements for. But as long as Abdullah can stay clear of concussions next season, the Vikes should be okay at free safety. In Vikings country these days, we call that progress.

Some (very) brief Super Bowl thoughts

So it's the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl again.

I did not watch the Pats-Ravens game Sunday, but I did get a chance to watch the entire Giants-49ers game. What a grinder of a contest that was. It may have been a thrilling game, but I don't think it was a great game. The offences were too bad in the second half for me to rank it as a great game (both defensive units had something to do with that, however). But the Giants win does set up the best possible Super Bowl matchup. Consider the alternatives:

* Ravens-49ers. Uggh. I would have envisioned a 5-3 score, with Baltimore winning by a safety.

* Pats-49ers – I think Bill Belichick would have had some fun gameplanning for Alex Smith.

* Ravens-Giants. Meh.

And maybe this is just me, but I find it odd how Fox color commentator Troy Aikman always refers to New York quarterback Eli Manning as "Eli", like he's his son or something. That is an odd habit for an announcer to have. I don't hear Aikman calling other quarterbacks by their first name for an entire game. Somebody should have a word with him about this. It makes him sound like he's a Giants fan.

49ers rise to prominence in non-Bill Walsh fashion

Football Outsiders and New York Times NFL writer Mike Tanier previews the Giants-49ers NFC Championship game and the Patriots-Ravens AFC Championship game.

The thought of the Patriots getting another chance to win a Super Bowl leaves me with a sick feeling. Haven't they had enough success the past 10 years or so? I don't know if I can stomach watching it.

But I am excited about the Giants-49ers game. The Giants are hot and playing great football. Meanwhile, the 49ers are a team I can respect – great special teams play, a hellacious-hitting defence and an offence that doesn't fuck things up. At least offensively, this team doesn't resemble Bill Walsh's offensive juggernauts. But they are just as effective.

In fact, the 49ers kind of remind me a bit of the 2008 Vikings. The one big difference: Alex Smith has played much better than Gus Frerotte or Tarvaris Jackson. (Sigh.)

Now that the Vikings have added Williams, they need to add some players

The Minnesota Vikings made it official on Thursday, as former Indianapolis Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams accepted the offer to become the squad's new defensive coordinator.

In the blog post I've linked to above, writer Jeremy Fowler points out the Colts pass defence wasn't bad from 2007-2011. But the defensive statistics of Football Outsiders tells a different story. Except for 2007, Indy was league average of worse in its performance covering wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. In short, Williams is no miracle worker.

Of course, I wouldn't expect him to be. And if he's going to be successful in 2012 as a defensive coordinator, the Vikings are going to have to stop getting abused by opposing quarterbacks and the people they throw passes to.

Minnesota has a massive amount of work to do to upgrade its secondary. Cedric Griffin is probably gone. Chris Cook will either be in jail or serving some kind of suspension when the 2012 seasons starts. And did anyone mention Antoine Winfield will be 35? Let's not forget starting safety Husain Abdullah is mulling retirement due to concussion concerns.

The starting safeties right now are Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond. Without some large improvements here, Williams' first year as a coordinator in the NFL is going to be a difficult one. He better hope general manager Rick Spielman hits some home runs in free agency and the draft on the defensive side of the ball.

Other links

* ESPN's Kevin Seifert analyzes the changes the Vikings made (and didn't make) to their defensive coaching staff.

* You can't make this stuff up. The Colts are interested in interviewing ex-Vikings head coach Brad Childress for their vacant job.

* Thinking about some college prospects who might be future Vikings? The National Football Post's Wes Bunting takes a look at 10 senior college players on the offensive side of the ball in this post. The guy that intrigues me from this list is Baylor wide receiver Kendall Wright. He registered some mad numbers this season. But he isn't very big (5'10, 190) and that will hurt his draft stock. Perhaps he's too similar a player to Percy Harvin for the Vikings to be interested, but the team needs help at wide receiver and Wright caught over 100 balls in 2011. If he's still around by the second round when the Vikings make their pick, will they take him?

Vikings could be close to ending search for defensive coordinator

So you are the head coach of a team that tied a franchise record for futility by losing 13 games last season and you're looking for a new defensive coordinator. What do you do?

If you are Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, you offer the job to a guy who coached for a team that was even worse than the Vikings were in 2011. Pure genius.

To be fair though, the Indianapolis Colts defence gave up fewer points in 2011 (430) than the Vikings (449) did. So maybe Alan Williams is the answer.

Switch to 3-4 defence looking unlikely for Vikings

Star-Tribune writer Dan Weiderer authored a post that provided a decent – albeit a bit repetitive – analysis on why the Minnesota Vikings likely won't switch to a 3-4 defence.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by the anonymous Viking sources in this story who said that regardless of whether you are running a 4-3 or a 3-4, it's the players that make the scheme work, not the other way around. Here is what I know: The Vikings don't have enough good players right now to make either defensive scheme work.

The price of success
Kevin Seifert had an interesting post a couple of days ago looking at the dilemma the Detroit Lions are facing this season in regards to the rising salaries of wide receiver Calvin Johnson, among others.

Can Detroit sign them all? It's going to be difficult. The interesting guys from a Minnesota perspective are middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch and cornerback Eric Wright. The Vikings need help at both spots and the team's personnel department will be quite familiar with both players' bodies of work, having played the Lions twice this season. I won't be surprised if new general manager Rick Spielman targets both in free agency.

And at the National Football Post Andrew Brandt has a nice look at the decisions the Green Bay Packers have to make regarding several players.

I don't see anybody on the list the Vikings would go after, They aren't signing center Scott Wells and the Pack will hold onto tight end Jermichael Finley (is James Jones a free agent?), but the Vikes have shown an affinity for Green Bay players in the past.

Packers loss to Giants shows Vikings fans how far their team has to go towards respectability

I'm just as pleased as every other Viking fan that the Green Bay Packers were beaten quite soundly 37-20 by the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional playoff round. But even in defeat, the Packers showed why the distance separating themselves and the Vikes has grown from a foot-wide crack to an immense chasm since 2009.

Consider how the G-Men beat the mighty Pack on the road in this game. On offence, the Giants won not because they were able to run the ball well (they actually didn't get much going on the ground until their final touchdown drive). They won it because Eli Manning played like the elite quarterback he's been much of 2011. They won it because they have wide receivers – Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz – who can get open consistently and make big plays down field. And they won because their offensive line gave Manning plenty of time to find Nicks and Cruz and Mario Manningham and Travis Beckham.

On defence, they won it not because they got much pressure on Aaron Rodgers or because they stopped the run, although that helped. They won because they have linebackers and cornerbacks and safeties who can cover a talented group of receivers and tight ends in space, because those guys can make plays on the ball, tackle soundly and force turnovers.

In others words, they do all the things the Vikings have not been able to do for two seasons now.

As new general Rick Spielman develops his master plan for rebuilding the Vikings, he should be watching tape from this game closely. I know the Giants haven't had knockout records since their Super Bowl win in 2007, but they are the team the Vikings would do well to copy.

Pagac is out, but who's in?
The Vikings have removed Fred Pagac from the defensive coordinator role, and as Judd Zulgad notes, his replacement could be linebackers coach Mike Singletary.

If that happens, it will be an early sign to me that 2012 won't be a whole lot different than 2011 was for the Vikings. Singletary did not distinguish himself in his first season with the Vikings. But at this point the job might go to Singletary by default. No one else seems all that interested in the position.