Preseason game #4: A dog’s breakfast

Even though the Vikings are 3-0 and have looked reasonably good in the preseason, there are still a number of onfield issues and concerns that need to be addressed. Too bad they won’t be tonight.

For example, I’d like to see the newest starters on the offensive line – John Sullivan and Phil Loadholt – get some work against DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Dallas Cowboys front seven. But that probably isn’t happening because Brad Childress and Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips won’t be playing their stars or even most of their starters tonight.

I’d also like to see Brett Favre throw a bit to Bernard Berrian and work on his timing with all the Viking receivers. But again, that isn’t happening because Favre is not playing. What will happen is players like Ian Johnson and Albert Young will state their case for who shouldn’t be relegated to the practice squad – or released outright.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying I probably won’t be watching much of tonight’s matchup between the Vikings and the Cowboys.

For those who do decide to watch it, I’d suggest paying attention to what Vikings' preseason analyst Mike Mayock says. God, he’s good. If you watch even a quarter of tonight’s contest and really listen to what Mayock is talking about, I bet you’ll learn at least five things about the players or the game of football that you didn’t know when you woke up Friday morning.

Instead of spitting out story lines and making obvious observations any trained chimp could spot, Mayock actually analyzes what is happening on the field – pointing out subtle things, like a quarterback’s faulty footwork or a cornerback’s positioning while covering a wide receiver. If I have one complaint about Mayock, it's that he could probably stand to explain things a bit more because he sometimes uses football jargon like, for example, “trail technique,” that means something if you played the game but might not mean anything to someone like me, who hasn't.

But overall, Mayock doesn’t try to talk down to fans and he doesn’t try to oversimplify the game, which I really, really appreciate. He assumes we know a bit about football, which, I think, most NFL fans do. I think he’s the best NFL analyst alive and maybe the best analyst ever – even better than John Madden (but I’ll admit I never watched Madden prior to 1985. We didn’t get American channels in the small Nova Scotia village I grew up in till then.)

I sure wish we’d get a chance to listen to him during regular season games. But I suspect the reason I think he’s so good is also the reason why the big networks won’t touch him – he doesn’t dumb down the game and doesn’t buy into story lines.

Oh well.