I have two very different emotions whenever I watch the Vikings on offence and defence (Canadian spelling alert) during games. When the defence is on the field, I feel confident and at ease. I expect good things to happen. I know more often than not they’ll be better than their opponents. I know more often than not they will do things to help the Vikings win.
With the Vikings offence, it’s the opposite. If the game is at all close, I have butterflies. I don’t expect good things to happen and I’m not particularly confident they’ll be better than the defence they’re facing. A lot of times I’m just hoping they won’t screw up. Or that Adrian Peterson will break a long run, which, thankfully, he often does.
It’s incredibly hasty after just two-and-a-half quarters of play and 13 days with the team to say Brett Favre isn’t going to do anything to change my emotions when the Vikings offence takes the field. But that’s how I’m feeling after watching him play against the Houston Texans tonight.
The numbers (13-18, 142 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) are fine, but the Vikings under Favre managed to score just 17 points against a first-team Texans defence that gave up 24.6 points per game (27th in the league.) Ten of those points came off a 75-yard touchdown run by Peterson on the first offensive play of the game and a Ben Leber interception that gave the Vikes the ball on the Texans 24-yard line. The Vikings got a field goal out of that.
Favre still doesn’t look comfortable out there – although it’s important to note he hasn’t had Bernard Berrian to throw to yet. So it’s understandable the offence doesn’t look very good.
However – and I know it’s only preseason – this Vikings offence doesn’t look a whole lot different than the one we’ve seen the past two seasons. And given Favre’s age and level of play the past few seasons, I see no reason to believe (yet) that the Vikes O will be any more explosive or competent than it has been at any other time during Brad Childress’ time here.
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7 comments:
I have hopes that the offense will be improved. It's certainly a lot better than the beginning of the Childress era (see PV's latest article). As I said over there, pass protection is my biggest concern for this offense. The Vikings might lose Chester Taylor and Brett Favre after this year, so why let Peterson make blocking mistakes on third and long? That doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe Tahi and Dugan would be decent pass blockers (they don't seem to do much else) and McKinnie needs a good shouting from Childress for boneheaded penalties (although it's a little understandable if Favre is using a different count than the line is used to). I sure hope Kleinsasser gets well soon.
One thing to keep in mind is that penalties killed the Vikings last night, and Favre should've had another TD pass to Harvin. The pass was great, Harvin just didn't make the catch.
Harvin is going to be a beast in the NFL, but last night his youth showed in a few plays.
Jason - http://www.TheVikingShip.net
The offense (American spelling alert) scored 17 points in the first half, not the whole game. And even if you take into account the 3rd quarter that Favre played, this 3 quarters of 17 points translates to 22.7 points for a whole game, which is not all that far off from the 24.6 points that Houston gave up last year. And, of course, Favre still only has 10 days of familiarity with his teammates. There is still a lot of room to grow, to say the least.
You also point out that their touchdowns were scored because of a long AP run and a turnover deep in Houston territory. I would like the point out that, without actual numbers to back me up, I would think that the majority of touchdown drives scored in the NFL include a big play or begin with highly favorable field position. NFL Teams probably score around 3 touchdowns per game on average, and I would guess that the number of these touchdowns are scored via the long methodical touchdown drive are in the neighborhood of 1-2.
I know Favre is still a big unknown at this point, and because of this we are all anxious to see definitive results on the field to put our minds at ease, but you have to temper your anxiety with the reality that it is not at all commonplace for an NFL offense to move up and down the field with regularity. I am encouraged by last night's showing, because we saw a consistent ability for the offense to gain yards when it was not shooting itself in the foot by committing penatly upon penalty. At this point, I'm more nervous about the penalties than Favre's playing ability.
-Brett
Gents:
Good points by all – especially about the penalties. The consensus from the Viking bloggers I regularly read and comments on their sites seem to suggest a lot of people were happy with how Favre played. I thought he played okay, but it was a lot of screen passes and short stuff, which has been Childress' bread and butter in the passing game since he got here. My impression was Favre was going to allow us to do more. However, it is preseason and Favre just arrived days ago. We'll see how much the playbook expands by the time they play Cleveland.
Anyway, there is room to grow, as Brent points out, and I admitted in my post it's hasty for me to judge Favre in such a short time. But the offence looks pretty much the same to me as it did last year. Will Favre be worth an extra win or two for the Vikings? My guess is no, but I'll be happy to be wrong on that one.
Whoops. Typo in my response.
Sorry Brett.
I have a feeling that the Vikings will be scoring many more points on offense this year. Not because of #4 or Percy Harvin and the wildcat formation, but because of the significant improvement that they are showing on special team this year. J Johnson averaged 12.6 yards per punt return last night, compared to last year the vikings averaged 4.4. The average team punts 3.5 times a game this is a huge chunk of real-estate that the offense no longer has to fight for. Having Percy Harvin returning Kickoffs will be exciting, as he is a dynamic player. However with the new rule of limiting the number of players in the wedge I don't know how much difference it will make. What it will do though is not expose Adrian Peterson to those kamikaze special teamers.
The commitment to signing personnel to help shore up the gaping holes that were exploited last season on kick coverage will pay dividends by putting the Vikings strength on the field. I do believe that defense wins championships in this case a NFC North championship.
SupaFan:
Jaymar Johnson did look good last night returning punts. He doesn't strike me as a guy who'll break any long ones but at least he doesn't call for fair catches all the time, which was our punt returners specialty the past two seasons. He should have a roster spot locked up.
This probably means Darius Reynaud won't make the team though, which would sadden me. I have a soft spot for those undrafted guys and I think Reynaud's a decent talent. Someone else will claim him if the Vikes release him.
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