It's not Thanksgiving in Canada (we had it in the middle of October), but you wouldn't know it based on my blogging activity this week on the site.
It's been a slow week here at Grant's Tomb and, in reality, a slow month. I've warned in previous posts that due to my new job, I might not be able to keep blogging about the Vikings. Well, after almost a month of thinking about it, I've decided this will be my last post of the season on here. There's just not enough time with the new job responsibilities and regular family responsibilities to blog on a regular basis. And if I'm not going to blog on a regular basis, I don't think there's any point in blogging at all.
I'm going to keep the site up though, in case things change and I can devote more time to it at a later date. But right now, I can't.
Thanks to everyone who bothered to stop by over the past two-plus years. I'll continue to watch the Vikings every Sunday and read other Viking bloggers who are actually, you know, blogging. So far, this has been a special season for the Vikes. I'm disappointed I won't be writing about it to the end.
The Minnesota Vikings – kicking ass and taking names
This might be my last post for a while, so I can't resist writing a few things about Sunday's 36-10 win over Chicago Bears.
Coming into the contest, here were a few of the thoughts swirling around my brain.
1. I watched Jay Cutler play against the Eagles last week and he looked rattled. His body language was terrible and he was shown berating himself after many of his misfires. His offensive line struggles to protect him when he drops back to pass. They also struggle to open holes for Matt Forte. This was all good news for a Vikings defensive line. You can't let a guy as talented as Cutler get comfortable back there – he might find his mojo and play well for a change. I also didn't expect Cutler to get picked off much. The Vikings had only seven interceptions through 10 games.
2. The Vikings d-backs and linebackers would have to tackle well because the Bears offence features a ton of short passes.
3. I also worried about Viking turnovers and the Bears return men – Devin Hester (on punts) and Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox (on kick-offs.)
4. Offensively, the Vikings had been incredibly consistent coming into the Bears game, They'd scored 30 or more points six times and 27 points three times. They had scored big against bad defences (Cleveland and Detroit) and very good defences (San Francisco and Baltimore.)
ESPN's Kevin Seifert had unearthed some scary statistics about Brett Favre's play against Chicago in recent years (scroll down to the "With that said" section of the post), but the way Favre had performed thus far, and with the multitude of weapons he has to work with in Minnesota, I didn't see him playing poorly in this one. And, of course, Adrian Peterson has run wild against the Bears the previous two seasons. I expected the Vikings would be able to move the ball on an average Bears defence with frequency.
As it turned out, the Bears return game was an issue (Manning and Knox both had big returns) and turnovers would have been an issue as well if not for a smart challenge by Brad Childress on Adrian Peterson's second fumble. But turnovers were even more of an issue for the Bears. Cutler was picked off twice deep in Vikings territory and Knox's fumble on a kick-off return led to another three points for the Vikings as they built up an insurmountable 24-7 halftime lead. It might be going too far to say the outcome would have been different had the Bears not committed those turnovers, but they certainly didn't help Chicago's cause.
But really, the Bears were not going to win this game with the way the Vikings offence performed. If not for Peterson's case of fumblitis and a batch of silly penalties (I'm not sure I've seen an uglier sequence of football than what transpired following Chester Taylor's second half touchdown nullified by a bogus Bernard Berrian holding penalty), the Vikes might have scored 50 points.
With Favre playing as well as he is right now, the Vikings offence is incredibly balanced and dangerous – every bit as unstoppable as the 1998 Vikings offence was. But it has been pretty much all year. What's really encouraging for me is the defence finally looks like it's hitting its stride. The unit has given up 10, nine and 10 points, respectively, the past three games. Those totals were put up against Detroit, Seattle and Chicago – teams that aren't very good – but the defence has still looked dominant. Remember when we were complaining about the likes of St. Louis moving the ball up and down the field on them?
A few other things worth noting:
- It would have been a pity if Jared Allen didn't get a sack today. He was disruptive the entire game, forcing Cutler to get rid of the ball early and his pressure on Cutler was the real reason Ray Edwards and Pat Williams got their sacks.
– As for Williams, I always enjoy it when the big fella' gets a sack. It's a nice reward for a player who makes his living in the trenches, occupying two or three blockers at a time. By the way, his career high is 3.5 sacks (set in '98. What a year!) He now has two.
– I thought the offensive line's pass protection was excellent. As for the run blocking – why does it seem like Peterson never has any holes to run through?
– Bernard Berrian had his most effective day of the season (six catches for 74 yards.) If he's finally right physically – I think his hamstring issues have bothered him all season – he makes the Vikings offence even more dangerous.
This was a crucial game for the Bears. They needed a win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. But it was a crucial game for the Vikings as well. They need to keep pace with New Orleans for the fight for home field advantage in the playoffs. They also needed to keep their three-game lead over the Packers – with Green Bay now 7-4 and suddenly playing well again. The Vikings win likely sews up a divisional title for them.
Well done, Vikings. Well done.
P.S. – please keep it up.
Could it be true?
The National Football Post's Matt Bowen slobbers over the Vikings. Scary stuff. But after watching the Vikings play lately, Bowen might be right.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
That's more like it
All season we’ve been waiting for the Minnesota Vikings to play a complete game, to be dominant in all three phases of the game – offence, defence and special teams - for an entire game. Not for 20 minutes. Not for 30 minutes. Not for 40 or 55 minutes. But 60.
We got that today as the Vikings mauled the Seattle Seahawks 35-9. (I live in Canada’s Northwest Territories and we’ve got lots of black bears, so I love using bear references.)
The Seahawks are a terrible road team and the Vikings were 8-1 coming into the game, so the Vikes were heavily favored. But one constant criticism of the Vikings this year is that while they’ve beaten the dregs of the league by wide margins, they haven’t exactly dominated those teams for an entire game like an 8-1 team should.
Well, that wasn’t an issue in this one.
I almost don’t know where to start with the praise. What did impress me the most was the Vikings patience on offence in the first half. It was clear early on Seattle didn’t want to give up any big plays. Their gameplan was to force the Vikings to move down the field in small increments and see where that took them. Seattle rarely sent more than four pass rushers at Brett Favre. Instead, they were content to drop seven and eight guys into coverage.
It worked for the first two drives, with the Vikings having trouble moving the ball and killing themselves with penalties when they did.
But the Vikings and Favre stayed patient – taking three yards here and four yards there, not forcing balls into coverage and taking what the Seahawks gave them, which, as the game wore on, was a lot.
So Vikings quarterbacks (Favre was pulled at the end of the third quarter for Tarvaris Jackson with the Vikes up 28-3) completed 85 per cent of their passes and threw for five touchdowns with all the time in the world in the pocket.
Give Favre as much time to scan the field as he had today and it’s not going to matter if the opposition drops all 11 defenders in coverage, he’s going to find a teammate open. The blocking by Vikings wide receivers on pass and run plays was also superb – not an insignificant thing considering how often the Seahawks defensive scheme forced Favre to throw short, necessitating his receivers get yards after catch to move the chains.
I also think what is going to be an overlooked aspect of the Vikings offensive success in the first half of this game was Brad Childress’ and Darrell Bevell’s use of Chester Taylor during the first half.
Taylor’s role has diminished this season as the Vikings have been able to pass the ball much more effectively with Favre and Adrian Peterson is getting more reps on third down. However, as much as we love Peterson, and while he has improved in catching passes and in pass blocking, Taylor is still the better receiver and blocker.
He’s also a runner less likely to have his carries go for negative yardage than Peterson. So when Peterson was struggling a bit in the first half and the Vikings offence was out of sorts, Taylor contributed some nice runs to get his unit going. He hadn’t had more than nine carries in a game this season. Today he had 11 (for 73 rushing yards), including five carries and two catches in the first half on the Vikings first two touchdown drives.
Defensively, this was probably the Vikings best overall effort. It was particularly nice to see the unit shut down the run in a way they haven’t all season.
The Seahawks Justin Forsett isn’t Peterson, but the Vikings have let plenty of guys whose resumes aren’t particularly more impressive than Forsett's run effectively on them this year. Today Forsett got nine yards on eight carries and the Seahawks as a team had just four net yards rushing the entire game on 12 carries.
I thought E.J. Henderson had a lot to do with this. He was only listed as making four tackles in the game, but it looked like he was in the backfield an awful lot, blowing up the few running plays the Seahawks did try. If Henderson can continue playing like that (I don’t think he’s played all that well this season), the Vikings run defence could be back to it’s old dominating ways.
In the passing game, Seattle didn’t fare much better, and they didn’t really do anything until fourth quarter garbage time when most of the Viking defensive starters were resting on the sidelines.
Overall, not much to quibble about today. It was a splendid game to watch.
But if I were to quibble about anything, I’d question why Childress allowed Peterson to play in the fourth quarter after taking out Favre. Peterson’s four carries resulted in minus-two yards and with the game well in hand, it seems to me there is no reason to subject Peterson to unnecessary punishment at that point of the game.
And is it just me or are the only routes the Vikings use Bernard Berrian for these days are bubble screens and short slant routes?
It’s not hurting the Vikings because Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin are doing most of the heavy lifting in the passing game, but Berrian does not look right to me. He doesn’t seem to have the burst he had last year. I think his hamstring injuries have been bothering him all season, which isn’t good because I think the Vikings will need Berrian’s big-play ability at some point this season.
But those are minor things. The major thing is the Vikings won in impressive fashion today. They’re 9-1, confident and they should get back Antoine Winfield next week when the play the Chicago Bears. Things couldn’t be going much better for the Vikings right now.
We got that today as the Vikings mauled the Seattle Seahawks 35-9. (I live in Canada’s Northwest Territories and we’ve got lots of black bears, so I love using bear references.)
The Seahawks are a terrible road team and the Vikings were 8-1 coming into the game, so the Vikes were heavily favored. But one constant criticism of the Vikings this year is that while they’ve beaten the dregs of the league by wide margins, they haven’t exactly dominated those teams for an entire game like an 8-1 team should.
Well, that wasn’t an issue in this one.
I almost don’t know where to start with the praise. What did impress me the most was the Vikings patience on offence in the first half. It was clear early on Seattle didn’t want to give up any big plays. Their gameplan was to force the Vikings to move down the field in small increments and see where that took them. Seattle rarely sent more than four pass rushers at Brett Favre. Instead, they were content to drop seven and eight guys into coverage.
It worked for the first two drives, with the Vikings having trouble moving the ball and killing themselves with penalties when they did.
But the Vikings and Favre stayed patient – taking three yards here and four yards there, not forcing balls into coverage and taking what the Seahawks gave them, which, as the game wore on, was a lot.
So Vikings quarterbacks (Favre was pulled at the end of the third quarter for Tarvaris Jackson with the Vikes up 28-3) completed 85 per cent of their passes and threw for five touchdowns with all the time in the world in the pocket.
Give Favre as much time to scan the field as he had today and it’s not going to matter if the opposition drops all 11 defenders in coverage, he’s going to find a teammate open. The blocking by Vikings wide receivers on pass and run plays was also superb – not an insignificant thing considering how often the Seahawks defensive scheme forced Favre to throw short, necessitating his receivers get yards after catch to move the chains.
I also think what is going to be an overlooked aspect of the Vikings offensive success in the first half of this game was Brad Childress’ and Darrell Bevell’s use of Chester Taylor during the first half.
Taylor’s role has diminished this season as the Vikings have been able to pass the ball much more effectively with Favre and Adrian Peterson is getting more reps on third down. However, as much as we love Peterson, and while he has improved in catching passes and in pass blocking, Taylor is still the better receiver and blocker.
He’s also a runner less likely to have his carries go for negative yardage than Peterson. So when Peterson was struggling a bit in the first half and the Vikings offence was out of sorts, Taylor contributed some nice runs to get his unit going. He hadn’t had more than nine carries in a game this season. Today he had 11 (for 73 rushing yards), including five carries and two catches in the first half on the Vikings first two touchdown drives.
Defensively, this was probably the Vikings best overall effort. It was particularly nice to see the unit shut down the run in a way they haven’t all season.
The Seahawks Justin Forsett isn’t Peterson, but the Vikings have let plenty of guys whose resumes aren’t particularly more impressive than Forsett's run effectively on them this year. Today Forsett got nine yards on eight carries and the Seahawks as a team had just four net yards rushing the entire game on 12 carries.
I thought E.J. Henderson had a lot to do with this. He was only listed as making four tackles in the game, but it looked like he was in the backfield an awful lot, blowing up the few running plays the Seahawks did try. If Henderson can continue playing like that (I don’t think he’s played all that well this season), the Vikings run defence could be back to it’s old dominating ways.
In the passing game, Seattle didn’t fare much better, and they didn’t really do anything until fourth quarter garbage time when most of the Viking defensive starters were resting on the sidelines.
Overall, not much to quibble about today. It was a splendid game to watch.
But if I were to quibble about anything, I’d question why Childress allowed Peterson to play in the fourth quarter after taking out Favre. Peterson’s four carries resulted in minus-two yards and with the game well in hand, it seems to me there is no reason to subject Peterson to unnecessary punishment at that point of the game.
And is it just me or are the only routes the Vikings use Bernard Berrian for these days are bubble screens and short slant routes?
It’s not hurting the Vikings because Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin are doing most of the heavy lifting in the passing game, but Berrian does not look right to me. He doesn’t seem to have the burst he had last year. I think his hamstring injuries have been bothering him all season, which isn’t good because I think the Vikings will need Berrian’s big-play ability at some point this season.
But those are minor things. The major thing is the Vikings won in impressive fashion today. They’re 9-1, confident and they should get back Antoine Winfield next week when the play the Chicago Bears. Things couldn’t be going much better for the Vikings right now.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday's football post – Nov. 20th edition
Vikings-Seahawks
Instead of doing my weekly preview, I’ve decided to bring you Pacifist Vikings preview, who pretty much made all the points I was going to make about this game.
What has this blog come to, where it’s basically regurgitating other people’s stuff and passing it off as an original post?
I just work here. Go talk to management.
However, I will add a few words to the mix.
As the week has progressed I’ve started to get a bad feeling about this game. The Vikings haven’t really played a stinker in a while and maybe they’re due. However, the Seahawks are a terrible road team (2-10 the past two seasons and losing by an average of 18.4 points in those 10 losses) and the Metrodome is not an easy place for a visiting team to get a win.
And while I think the Seahawks might be able to move the ball some and score some on the Vikings, the Vikings will be able to move the ball more and score more on the Seahawks.
We’d have to see a repeat of some of the Vikings shenanigans from last week against Detroit – like the penalties and turnovers – for the Vikings to lose this one. But I don’t think the 2009 Vikings are that kind of team. This is another kind of game championship-caliber squads win at home by a secure margin. Expect the Vikings to do just that.
Vikings 34 – Seahawks 14
The extension
Like most Vikings fans, I’m nonplussed about head coach Brad Childress being given an extension.
All we’ve really learned about Chilly this year is that with mostly kick-ass quarterbacking, he looks pretty smart.
I’ll give him credit from being a great recruiter of talent – whether it be through free agency or the college draft. But I like coaches who always seem to get more out of their team than they should, coaches whose teams consistently overachieve.
Childress doesn’t strike me as a turn-water-into-wine kind of guy. Give him wine and he’ll make wine (like this year.) But give him water and he’ll make water.
So when Brett Favre retires after this season and the Vikings find themselves going 9-7 or 8-8 for a couple of years in a row despite having talents like Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin and Kevin Williams and Jared Allen, Vikes owner Zygi Wilf may start to wonder why he gave Childress the extension.
Just saying
Back in 2004, Vikings fans thought Randy Moss and Nate Burleson might be a deadly one-two receiving tandem for the rest of this decade. It didn’t happen. But both players are playing well this year for other teams. Vikings fans get to see Burleson on Sunday as a Seahawk and he is finally living up to the promise he showed back in ’04. Meanwhile Moss is ripping it up again with his buddy Tom Brady in New England.
Instead of doing my weekly preview, I’ve decided to bring you Pacifist Vikings preview, who pretty much made all the points I was going to make about this game.
What has this blog come to, where it’s basically regurgitating other people’s stuff and passing it off as an original post?
I just work here. Go talk to management.
However, I will add a few words to the mix.
As the week has progressed I’ve started to get a bad feeling about this game. The Vikings haven’t really played a stinker in a while and maybe they’re due. However, the Seahawks are a terrible road team (2-10 the past two seasons and losing by an average of 18.4 points in those 10 losses) and the Metrodome is not an easy place for a visiting team to get a win.
And while I think the Seahawks might be able to move the ball some and score some on the Vikings, the Vikings will be able to move the ball more and score more on the Seahawks.
We’d have to see a repeat of some of the Vikings shenanigans from last week against Detroit – like the penalties and turnovers – for the Vikings to lose this one. But I don’t think the 2009 Vikings are that kind of team. This is another kind of game championship-caliber squads win at home by a secure margin. Expect the Vikings to do just that.
Vikings 34 – Seahawks 14
The extension
Like most Vikings fans, I’m nonplussed about head coach Brad Childress being given an extension.
All we’ve really learned about Chilly this year is that with mostly kick-ass quarterbacking, he looks pretty smart.
I’ll give him credit from being a great recruiter of talent – whether it be through free agency or the college draft. But I like coaches who always seem to get more out of their team than they should, coaches whose teams consistently overachieve.
Childress doesn’t strike me as a turn-water-into-wine kind of guy. Give him wine and he’ll make wine (like this year.) But give him water and he’ll make water.
So when Brett Favre retires after this season and the Vikings find themselves going 9-7 or 8-8 for a couple of years in a row despite having talents like Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin and Kevin Williams and Jared Allen, Vikes owner Zygi Wilf may start to wonder why he gave Childress the extension.
Just saying
Back in 2004, Vikings fans thought Randy Moss and Nate Burleson might be a deadly one-two receiving tandem for the rest of this decade. It didn’t happen. But both players are playing well this year for other teams. Vikings fans get to see Burleson on Sunday as a Seahawk and he is finally living up to the promise he showed back in ’04. Meanwhile Moss is ripping it up again with his buddy Tom Brady in New England.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Why Vikings fans don't miss Paul Ferraro
Football Outsiders weekly DVOA rankings gives the Vikings special teams some love this week – mentioning such household names as Kenny Onatolu, Jamarca Sanford and Heath Farwell.
This blog has spent a lot of time writing about how the addition of Brett Favre, the drafting of Percy Harvin and the emergence of Sidney Rice has helped make the Vikings a complete football team. And while I've praised the Vikings special teams play at times this season, I probably haven't praised them enough.
Percy Harvin, Darius Reynaud and Jaymar Johnson have provided the Vikings offence with great field position with their kick-off and punt returns. Meanwhile the Vikings kick-off and punt coverage units have helped their defence by negating (except for the Josh Cribbs TD return in week one) any long returns and forcing opposing offences to drive many yards, drive-after-drive-after drive.
I doubt the Vikings would be 8-1 without the improvement its special teams has shown so far.
This blog has spent a lot of time writing about how the addition of Brett Favre, the drafting of Percy Harvin and the emergence of Sidney Rice has helped make the Vikings a complete football team. And while I've praised the Vikings special teams play at times this season, I probably haven't praised them enough.
Percy Harvin, Darius Reynaud and Jaymar Johnson have provided the Vikings offence with great field position with their kick-off and punt returns. Meanwhile the Vikings kick-off and punt coverage units have helped their defence by negating (except for the Josh Cribbs TD return in week one) any long returns and forcing opposing offences to drive many yards, drive-after-drive-after drive.
I doubt the Vikings would be 8-1 without the improvement its special teams has shown so far.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Hangover
If you've watched last summer's hit comedy, The Hangover, I'm sure you remember the scene where Ed Helms' character Stu wakes up after the wild night he can't remember and he looks like hell and the room is spinning on him and he's lost a tooth – a tooth he learns later that he pulled out himself.
Anyway, that's kind of how the Vikings looked most of the time in their 27-10 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. They looked woozy, out-of-sorts and caused themselves unnecessary pain with self-inflicted wounds. This win was not a thing of beauty.
However, there are worse things in the world than being displeased that your favorite football team only won a game by 17 points. The Vikings are still 8-1 and, hey, didn't New Orleans only beat the Rams by five? The Vikings weren't sharp. But I don't think it's the beginning of a trend.
Still, there was one thing that bothered me about the game.
I didn't like the cutesy trickery stuff in the first half. And I don't just mean the botched reverse by Adrian Peterson to Percy Harvin, but also the punt return where the Vikings had Harvin out there with Darius Reynaud and Reynaud faked a reverse to him.
It seemed to me the Vikings were trying impress themselves early on and rub it in a bit against Detroit. But I don't think they're going to do this kind of high risk/low reward stuff against the Saints or Dallas if they make the playoffs, so why try it all? (By the way, I was less upset about the call to give the ball to Jeff Dugan on that fourth-and-one play. The Vikings have done that a few times over the past two seasons with positive results. The problem was, the Lions seemed to know this was a Vikings tendency in that situation and they stuffed it.)
Here is what I did like about the win.
1. Ray Edwards: We all know he was the best Vikings defender on the field and it was his second straight monster game (it's also worth noting he's had other strong efforts this season, it just didn't show up in his stats total.) Edwards has always played the run well. Now he's looking like he's taking advantage of all the attention Jared Allen gets in the pass rushing department. I'd be surprised if the Vikings are not talking contract extension with Edwards and his agent. If they aren't, they should be.
2. Cedric Griffin: This guy really tackles well. There were at least two occasions where he met Detroit tight end Will Heller head on and stopped him in his tracks. Heller must outweigh Griffin by 30 pounds or so.
3. Jimmy Kennedy: When the Vikings picked up Kennedy last year midway through the season, I thought nothing of it. But Kennedy has been a valuable member of the defensive line rotation this season. He's been a better pass rusher than expected and he's got the bulk to hold up inside against the run.
4. Sidney Rice: I don't think there's much reason to explain why I liked Rice's performance. I guess it's nice to see his big games a few weeks ago weren't flukes. He looks legit.
Now if Bernard Berrian could get it going, this offence would really be humming.
Anyway, that's kind of how the Vikings looked most of the time in their 27-10 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. They looked woozy, out-of-sorts and caused themselves unnecessary pain with self-inflicted wounds. This win was not a thing of beauty.
However, there are worse things in the world than being displeased that your favorite football team only won a game by 17 points. The Vikings are still 8-1 and, hey, didn't New Orleans only beat the Rams by five? The Vikings weren't sharp. But I don't think it's the beginning of a trend.
Still, there was one thing that bothered me about the game.
I didn't like the cutesy trickery stuff in the first half. And I don't just mean the botched reverse by Adrian Peterson to Percy Harvin, but also the punt return where the Vikings had Harvin out there with Darius Reynaud and Reynaud faked a reverse to him.
It seemed to me the Vikings were trying impress themselves early on and rub it in a bit against Detroit. But I don't think they're going to do this kind of high risk/low reward stuff against the Saints or Dallas if they make the playoffs, so why try it all? (By the way, I was less upset about the call to give the ball to Jeff Dugan on that fourth-and-one play. The Vikings have done that a few times over the past two seasons with positive results. The problem was, the Lions seemed to know this was a Vikings tendency in that situation and they stuffed it.)
Here is what I did like about the win.
1. Ray Edwards: We all know he was the best Vikings defender on the field and it was his second straight monster game (it's also worth noting he's had other strong efforts this season, it just didn't show up in his stats total.) Edwards has always played the run well. Now he's looking like he's taking advantage of all the attention Jared Allen gets in the pass rushing department. I'd be surprised if the Vikings are not talking contract extension with Edwards and his agent. If they aren't, they should be.
2. Cedric Griffin: This guy really tackles well. There were at least two occasions where he met Detroit tight end Will Heller head on and stopped him in his tracks. Heller must outweigh Griffin by 30 pounds or so.
3. Jimmy Kennedy: When the Vikings picked up Kennedy last year midway through the season, I thought nothing of it. But Kennedy has been a valuable member of the defensive line rotation this season. He's been a better pass rusher than expected and he's got the bulk to hold up inside against the run.
4. Sidney Rice: I don't think there's much reason to explain why I liked Rice's performance. I guess it's nice to see his big games a few weeks ago weren't flukes. He looks legit.
Now if Bernard Berrian could get it going, this offence would really be humming.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Friday football post – Nov. 13 edition
So this is what it must be like to blog about the Indianapolis Colts?
This is the third season I’ve been writing this Vikings blog. In the previous two there was always something seriously wrong with the team. Usually it was the quarterbacks. But there were always other bugaboos to examine – the wide receivers, Brad Childress’ playcalling, pass protection by the offensive line, special teams and Ryan Cook.
But this year with the Vikings sporting a 7-1 record, I’m finding it difficult to write about pressing team issues. There are some concerns – like the play of safeties Tyrell Johnson and Madieu Williams – but again, the Vikings are 7-1. They have already swept the Packers. The team is getting great quarterback play. The special teams have greatly improved. Complaining about some flaws on a team that’s won this much seems frivolous.
What’s that old saying – great art is born from great suffering? Perhaps blogging is the same. The Vikings are not making me suffer (yet) and I’m struggling to find inspiration. It takes some getting used to.
Vikings – Lions
Much like the Vikings-Rams matchup in October, I don’t think we need to overanalyze this one too much.
The Lions haven’t won a game in Minnesota since Bobby Layne was still playing – or at least it seems that way. They’ve scored 111 fewer points than the Vikings, while giving 237 (only the Titans have given up more.) All the team really has going for it is Matt Stafford throwing it to Calvin Johnson – but the team’s two marquee players were last seen arguing with each other on the sideline last Sunday after another Detroit loss.
If the Vikings are as good as we think they are and as good as they think they are, they should beat the Lions emphatically. By the fourth quarter, I expect to see Albert Young, Asher Allen and Jasper Brinkley playing a lot.
Vikings 48 - Detroit 13
The O-line
Do the Vikings have a good offensive line? In my last post I praised their improvement in pass protection. But if you look at these stats from Football Outsiders, it tells a tale of a below-average unit, both in pass protection and run blocking.
So now I don’t feel so good about the offensive line.
Jay Cutler
Last spring I was upset when my quarterback-challenged Vikings allowed a division rival to land a 26-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback when, allegedly, they could have had him if they had been willing to part with a few draft picks.
I still think this trade ends up working out well for the Chicago Bears. But after a game like this, geez, keeping those picks and drafting Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt seems brilliant.
A warning for those who care
I started a new job on Monday and the new duties are taking up a lot of time. Work is creeping into my homelife.
I don’t know how long it will stay this way. But as of right now, I don’t have much time to fit in work, pay proper attention to my family and also blog about the Vikings in my free time. Something has to give and it’s probably going to be Grant’s Tomb.
I’m trying to resist the urge to stop blogging because it’s probably just a case of first week jitters for me at a new job. But for the four or five loyal readers of this site, I wanted to give you all a heads up that I’m considering taking a break of undetermined length from writing about the Vikings here.
This is the third season I’ve been writing this Vikings blog. In the previous two there was always something seriously wrong with the team. Usually it was the quarterbacks. But there were always other bugaboos to examine – the wide receivers, Brad Childress’ playcalling, pass protection by the offensive line, special teams and Ryan Cook.
But this year with the Vikings sporting a 7-1 record, I’m finding it difficult to write about pressing team issues. There are some concerns – like the play of safeties Tyrell Johnson and Madieu Williams – but again, the Vikings are 7-1. They have already swept the Packers. The team is getting great quarterback play. The special teams have greatly improved. Complaining about some flaws on a team that’s won this much seems frivolous.
What’s that old saying – great art is born from great suffering? Perhaps blogging is the same. The Vikings are not making me suffer (yet) and I’m struggling to find inspiration. It takes some getting used to.
Vikings – Lions
Much like the Vikings-Rams matchup in October, I don’t think we need to overanalyze this one too much.
The Lions haven’t won a game in Minnesota since Bobby Layne was still playing – or at least it seems that way. They’ve scored 111 fewer points than the Vikings, while giving 237 (only the Titans have given up more.) All the team really has going for it is Matt Stafford throwing it to Calvin Johnson – but the team’s two marquee players were last seen arguing with each other on the sideline last Sunday after another Detroit loss.
If the Vikings are as good as we think they are and as good as they think they are, they should beat the Lions emphatically. By the fourth quarter, I expect to see Albert Young, Asher Allen and Jasper Brinkley playing a lot.
Vikings 48 - Detroit 13
The O-line
Do the Vikings have a good offensive line? In my last post I praised their improvement in pass protection. But if you look at these stats from Football Outsiders, it tells a tale of a below-average unit, both in pass protection and run blocking.
So now I don’t feel so good about the offensive line.
Jay Cutler
Last spring I was upset when my quarterback-challenged Vikings allowed a division rival to land a 26-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback when, allegedly, they could have had him if they had been willing to part with a few draft picks.
I still think this trade ends up working out well for the Chicago Bears. But after a game like this, geez, keeping those picks and drafting Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt seems brilliant.
A warning for those who care
I started a new job on Monday and the new duties are taking up a lot of time. Work is creeping into my homelife.
I don’t know how long it will stay this way. But as of right now, I don’t have much time to fit in work, pay proper attention to my family and also blog about the Vikings in my free time. Something has to give and it’s probably going to be Grant’s Tomb.
I’m trying to resist the urge to stop blogging because it’s probably just a case of first week jitters for me at a new job. But for the four or five loyal readers of this site, I wanted to give you all a heads up that I’m considering taking a break of undetermined length from writing about the Vikings here.
Monday, November 09, 2009
The Vikings at the midway point
Some observations about the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings as they come off the bye week.
The 2009 Minnesota Vikings – a complete team (well, almost)
Last season I took great satisfaction from the fact that the Vikings finished 10-6 and won the NFC North. Watching Adrian Peterson run and the Vikings punish teams with a defence that finally could stop the run and the pass gave me great joy. I particularly admired how the team could be successful when most times it got little help from its quarterbacks. Here the Vikings were playing with a severe handicap and they were still winning that many games. It was like a boxer winning a championship bout even though he was forced to fight with one arm tied behind his back.
Well, the addition of Brett Favre late this summer has the Vikings offence playing with both arms now and they’ve come out swinging. The team is scoring an average of 30.5 points per game (the great Vikings offence of 1998 averaged 34.8 per game) and the team has shown an ability to throw the ball very well and run the ball very well. This unit is very fun to watch and the chief reason the Vikings are 7-1.
Less fun to watch has been the play of the defence. I had high expectations for this unit in 2009 – I think everyone did. It was going to be dominant, stuffing running backs, terrorizing quarterbacks, and with an improving secondary (the improvement coming mostly from former Viking fan whipping boy Cedric Griffin), throwing the ball wasn’t going to yield much success for opponents as it had in previous seasons.
So far, we’ve seen snippets of dominant play (the Vikes defence pretty much pitched a shutout against the Packers in the first half last week), but also poor safety play, surprisingly poor tackling at times and a tendency to give up big plays – something the Cover Two defence is supposed to prevent. The offence has really improved. The special teams has really improved. The defence has regressed. If the Vikings want to be NFC champions, as opposed to just NFC North champions, they’ll need a better performance from the defence – while continuing to excel on offence and special teams – during the second half.
Here is a closer look at some of the pluses and minuses from the Vikings during the first half.
Pluses
Brett Favre: He’s mostly been superb. If he were to duplicate his first half stats in the next eight games, here’s the year he’d end up with: a completion percentage of 68, 3,850 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and six (six!) interceptions. Key stat – his interception rate is currently 1.2 per cent, well below is his career rate of 3.3. Remember how worried we all were about Favre turning the ball over? Hasn’t happened.
Favre is lucky to have several good young players to lean on with the Vikings, but his vast experience has certainly made those players more effective than they were before he arrived – or in Percy Harvin’s case, more effective than we’d have expected him to be in his rookie year.
Favre’s pocket awareness, the way he looks off opposing defenders when he drops back to pass, his ability to recognize coverages and blitzes quickly – he has used all of his guile to make the right throws and the right decisions in the Vikings first eight games.
Now we just need him to keep it up. Almost everybody expects Favre to wear down as the season goes along and last year’s implosion with the New York Jets is fresh in football writers minds. Expect to hear a lot more on this as November becomes December.
The offensive line: After a rough start, the Vikings offensive line is coming together. It’s giving Favre plenty of time to throw and keeping him from taking too many hits. I still think center John Sullivan gets a bit overpowered by big defensive tackles, but he’s also an athletic guy (did you notice how far up the field he was on some of those Peterson runs against Green Bay?) Rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt is also earning my trust. I’ve been surprised by how well he’s held up in pass protection, which was supposed to be his big weakness.
A deep receiving corps: This development was a bit unexpected. Sidney Rice has become a glue-handed possession guy, but one with an ability to gain big chunks of yards after the catch. Percy Harvin has looked comfortable since day one as a pro receiver and is a frequent target of Favre on third downs. Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud have only one catch between them, but they’re athletic, second-year players with potential to improve. And all Visanthe Shiancoe does is catch touchdowns (six of his 22 catches have been for TDs.)
Bernard Berrian’s production has been disappointing. But I blame that on his hamstring injuries. If healthy he’s capable of being another big play threat for the Vikings.
The increased use of Adrian Peterson in the passing game: The screen pass AP took 44-yards for the game-clinching touchdown against the Packers illustrated why it’s important he’s used more in this capacity. He’s on pace to catch 38 passes, which would blow away his career-high total of 21 from last year. There will probably be a few more big plays in some of those remaining catches. This has made Chester Taylor a bit of an afterthought in the Vikes offence. Oh well.
Minuses
Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson: This has been pointed out by others, but they’ve played poorly. I’m very disappointed in Williams performance in the first half of the season. When Williams returned to the starting lineup after the missing the first seven games in ’08, the Vikings pass defence improved noticeably.
But I guess that had very little to do with Williams. He is making absolutely no impact from his free safety position right now. He has no interceptions, no sacks, no forced fumbles and only one pass defenced.
Tyrell Johnson hasn’t been much better. One odd thing about the Viking safety play: the pair haven’t given up any big yardage passes where a receiver gets behind them for a long gain. But they have given up several big plays to opposing tight ends and receivers where the ball was caught in front of them, they couldn’t make the tackle and a 15 or 20-yard catch turns into a 30 or 40-yard catch.
Inconsistency in stopping the run and the pass: The Vikings are currently ranked seventh in the NFL in run defence, giving up an average of 94.8 yards per game. That’s still good but well below the standard of excellence they set the previous three seasons in leading the NFL in that category. We’ve seen the defence gashed by guys like Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall. I did not expect to see this with E.J. Henderson back from injury. I don’t understand why it’s been happening.
The unit is also giving up just under 238 yards per game in the air – 21st in the league. The Vikings got better defending the pass in the second half of last season. But Antoine Winfield’s health is a concern.
It’s true the Vikings defence has played poorly ands given up gobs of passing yards even with him in the lineup, but it’s difficult to see how the Vikes can improve their pass defence if Benny Sapp, Karl Paymah and Asher Allen continue to play a large amount of snaps because Winfield’s foot won’t heal. The Vikings need him in the lineup.
More on the Brett Favre Experience
I’ve already written about how he feel about Favre’s onfield performance. But how do I feel about cheering for him?
Actually, it’s come quite easily. Not every Viking fan feels that way, but after watching the likes of Brad Johnson, Brooks Bollinger, Tarvaris Jackson and on and on it goes, I appreciate Favre’s contributions. I don’t view him as a hated rival, or an ex-Packer. I just see him as a player who is helping the Vikings win. That makes me happy. So Brett Favre as a Viking makes me happy.
Blog talk
I started a new job on Monday. It’s government work and government sometimes has its rules. One of them is blocking many Internet websites on their computer systems and that includes my own blog.
So it looks like I won’t be able to update this blog as frequently as I used to. Most of it will have to be done at home and at night. I’ll still be blogging regularly, but opining on “breaking” news during the day won’t be happening like it used.
I hope that won’t stop you from regularly stopping by though.
The 2009 Minnesota Vikings – a complete team (well, almost)
Last season I took great satisfaction from the fact that the Vikings finished 10-6 and won the NFC North. Watching Adrian Peterson run and the Vikings punish teams with a defence that finally could stop the run and the pass gave me great joy. I particularly admired how the team could be successful when most times it got little help from its quarterbacks. Here the Vikings were playing with a severe handicap and they were still winning that many games. It was like a boxer winning a championship bout even though he was forced to fight with one arm tied behind his back.
Well, the addition of Brett Favre late this summer has the Vikings offence playing with both arms now and they’ve come out swinging. The team is scoring an average of 30.5 points per game (the great Vikings offence of 1998 averaged 34.8 per game) and the team has shown an ability to throw the ball very well and run the ball very well. This unit is very fun to watch and the chief reason the Vikings are 7-1.
Less fun to watch has been the play of the defence. I had high expectations for this unit in 2009 – I think everyone did. It was going to be dominant, stuffing running backs, terrorizing quarterbacks, and with an improving secondary (the improvement coming mostly from former Viking fan whipping boy Cedric Griffin), throwing the ball wasn’t going to yield much success for opponents as it had in previous seasons.
So far, we’ve seen snippets of dominant play (the Vikes defence pretty much pitched a shutout against the Packers in the first half last week), but also poor safety play, surprisingly poor tackling at times and a tendency to give up big plays – something the Cover Two defence is supposed to prevent. The offence has really improved. The special teams has really improved. The defence has regressed. If the Vikings want to be NFC champions, as opposed to just NFC North champions, they’ll need a better performance from the defence – while continuing to excel on offence and special teams – during the second half.
Here is a closer look at some of the pluses and minuses from the Vikings during the first half.
Pluses
Brett Favre: He’s mostly been superb. If he were to duplicate his first half stats in the next eight games, here’s the year he’d end up with: a completion percentage of 68, 3,850 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and six (six!) interceptions. Key stat – his interception rate is currently 1.2 per cent, well below is his career rate of 3.3. Remember how worried we all were about Favre turning the ball over? Hasn’t happened.
Favre is lucky to have several good young players to lean on with the Vikings, but his vast experience has certainly made those players more effective than they were before he arrived – or in Percy Harvin’s case, more effective than we’d have expected him to be in his rookie year.
Favre’s pocket awareness, the way he looks off opposing defenders when he drops back to pass, his ability to recognize coverages and blitzes quickly – he has used all of his guile to make the right throws and the right decisions in the Vikings first eight games.
Now we just need him to keep it up. Almost everybody expects Favre to wear down as the season goes along and last year’s implosion with the New York Jets is fresh in football writers minds. Expect to hear a lot more on this as November becomes December.
The offensive line: After a rough start, the Vikings offensive line is coming together. It’s giving Favre plenty of time to throw and keeping him from taking too many hits. I still think center John Sullivan gets a bit overpowered by big defensive tackles, but he’s also an athletic guy (did you notice how far up the field he was on some of those Peterson runs against Green Bay?) Rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt is also earning my trust. I’ve been surprised by how well he’s held up in pass protection, which was supposed to be his big weakness.
A deep receiving corps: This development was a bit unexpected. Sidney Rice has become a glue-handed possession guy, but one with an ability to gain big chunks of yards after the catch. Percy Harvin has looked comfortable since day one as a pro receiver and is a frequent target of Favre on third downs. Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud have only one catch between them, but they’re athletic, second-year players with potential to improve. And all Visanthe Shiancoe does is catch touchdowns (six of his 22 catches have been for TDs.)
Bernard Berrian’s production has been disappointing. But I blame that on his hamstring injuries. If healthy he’s capable of being another big play threat for the Vikings.
The increased use of Adrian Peterson in the passing game: The screen pass AP took 44-yards for the game-clinching touchdown against the Packers illustrated why it’s important he’s used more in this capacity. He’s on pace to catch 38 passes, which would blow away his career-high total of 21 from last year. There will probably be a few more big plays in some of those remaining catches. This has made Chester Taylor a bit of an afterthought in the Vikes offence. Oh well.
Minuses
Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson: This has been pointed out by others, but they’ve played poorly. I’m very disappointed in Williams performance in the first half of the season. When Williams returned to the starting lineup after the missing the first seven games in ’08, the Vikings pass defence improved noticeably.
But I guess that had very little to do with Williams. He is making absolutely no impact from his free safety position right now. He has no interceptions, no sacks, no forced fumbles and only one pass defenced.
Tyrell Johnson hasn’t been much better. One odd thing about the Viking safety play: the pair haven’t given up any big yardage passes where a receiver gets behind them for a long gain. But they have given up several big plays to opposing tight ends and receivers where the ball was caught in front of them, they couldn’t make the tackle and a 15 or 20-yard catch turns into a 30 or 40-yard catch.
Inconsistency in stopping the run and the pass: The Vikings are currently ranked seventh in the NFL in run defence, giving up an average of 94.8 yards per game. That’s still good but well below the standard of excellence they set the previous three seasons in leading the NFL in that category. We’ve seen the defence gashed by guys like Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall. I did not expect to see this with E.J. Henderson back from injury. I don’t understand why it’s been happening.
The unit is also giving up just under 238 yards per game in the air – 21st in the league. The Vikings got better defending the pass in the second half of last season. But Antoine Winfield’s health is a concern.
It’s true the Vikings defence has played poorly ands given up gobs of passing yards even with him in the lineup, but it’s difficult to see how the Vikes can improve their pass defence if Benny Sapp, Karl Paymah and Asher Allen continue to play a large amount of snaps because Winfield’s foot won’t heal. The Vikings need him in the lineup.
More on the Brett Favre Experience
I’ve already written about how he feel about Favre’s onfield performance. But how do I feel about cheering for him?
Actually, it’s come quite easily. Not every Viking fan feels that way, but after watching the likes of Brad Johnson, Brooks Bollinger, Tarvaris Jackson and on and on it goes, I appreciate Favre’s contributions. I don’t view him as a hated rival, or an ex-Packer. I just see him as a player who is helping the Vikings win. That makes me happy. So Brett Favre as a Viking makes me happy.
Blog talk
I started a new job on Monday. It’s government work and government sometimes has its rules. One of them is blocking many Internet websites on their computer systems and that includes my own blog.
So it looks like I won’t be able to update this blog as frequently as I used to. Most of it will have to be done at home and at night. I’ll still be blogging regularly, but opining on “breaking” news during the day won’t be happening like it used.
I hope that won’t stop you from regularly stopping by though.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Friday's football post – Nov. 6 edition
I’ve been working on a Vikings-at-the-midway-point post since Monday. But I still haven’t got it where I want it yet. Expect it early next week. In its place, here’s a short Friday post featuring some links and commentary.
Leading off, SI’s Ross Tucker rips Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay coaching staff a new one for poor game-planning and coaching in last Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
As usual, Tucker makes some good points here (he’s becoming one of my favorite football writers.) But isn’t it strange to read someone claiming Brad Childress’ staff outcoached McCarthy’s staff? I’m particularly surprised to read Tucker’s chief criticism of the Packers coaching staff – that they were unwilling or unable to make adjustments to their blocking schemes to slow down the Vikings pass rush.
This sounds very familiar. In fact, hasn’t that always been one of the main criticisms of Chilly’s offensive game-planning – unwillingness or an inability to make adjustments and that the Vikings offence under Childress does the same things over and over, even if they aren’t working?
Last season, after the Vikings lost the season opener to Green Bay, which gave Childress an 0-5 record against McCarthy and the Packers, I think everyone – including me – believed McCarthy was the better coach. Just over a year later, we’ve got smart and knowledgeable people like Ross Tucker thinking otherwise.
Doug Farrar’s always-informative “Cover Three” column for Football Outsiders examines what the Packers did differently to go from passing for 38 yards and no touchdowns in the first half to 249 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.
Farrar’s conclusion is that the Vikings pass rush is very good and Rodgers held onto the ball too long in the first half against that pass rush. I’d have to agree. I really like Rodgers – or to clarify, I like him as a quarterback, not as a Packer – but during the first half against the Vikings he appeared jittery and was not very sharp. He fixed things in the second half, but by then Green Bay was down 24-3, which was too big of a deficit to come back from.
The Packers offensive line is still weak in pass protection, but Rodgers lack of pocket presence isn’t helping them out. And this isn’t something that’s popped up suddenly this season. Remember the Vikings sacked Rodgers four times last year at the Metrodome – two of them for safeties – and smacked him around a bunch of other times in that game.
The Packers need to improve the play of their offensive line, but the coaching staff also needs to teach Rodgers to throw the ball away more and get that internal clock ticking in his head where he gets rid of the ball after three or four seconds on a consistent basis.
I hope they’ll continue to be unsuccessful in their efforts.
Just about everyone has read this by now, so a couple of points about Jared Allen making Sports Illustrated’s list of the NFL's dirtiest players.
Point #1: There were 296 players polled. There are 53 players on an NFL roster and there are 32 teams. Multiply that and you have 1,696 players. So only 17 per cent of the players in the league were polled and out of that small percentage only 3.2 per cent thought Allen was the dirtiest player in the NFL. Big deal. Perhaps all the votes came from Houston Texan players?
Point #2: If you’re going to have a poll like this, include some player comments about why each dirty player player is considered dirty. Fans like me want the gossip. SI – this list is lame.
By the way, If I had to vote on whom was the Vikings dirtiest player, it would go to offensive guard Anthony Herrera. That guy is a nasty fucker.
Finally, the National Football Post’s Matt Bowen wrote this week that former Viking safety Darren Sharper was his choice for NFL MVP at this point in the season.
I’ll give Bowen credit for making an unconventional pick, but as a former player, I expect a bit more insight from him on this topic. (Of course, Bowen was a safety in the league.)
Sharper isn’t even the most valuable player on his team. Before Bowen wrote the column, he should have asked himself this question: Whom could the Saints least afford to have out of their lineup – Darren Sharper or Drew Brees?
Leading off, SI’s Ross Tucker rips Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay coaching staff a new one for poor game-planning and coaching in last Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
As usual, Tucker makes some good points here (he’s becoming one of my favorite football writers.) But isn’t it strange to read someone claiming Brad Childress’ staff outcoached McCarthy’s staff? I’m particularly surprised to read Tucker’s chief criticism of the Packers coaching staff – that they were unwilling or unable to make adjustments to their blocking schemes to slow down the Vikings pass rush.
This sounds very familiar. In fact, hasn’t that always been one of the main criticisms of Chilly’s offensive game-planning – unwillingness or an inability to make adjustments and that the Vikings offence under Childress does the same things over and over, even if they aren’t working?
Last season, after the Vikings lost the season opener to Green Bay, which gave Childress an 0-5 record against McCarthy and the Packers, I think everyone – including me – believed McCarthy was the better coach. Just over a year later, we’ve got smart and knowledgeable people like Ross Tucker thinking otherwise.
Doug Farrar’s always-informative “Cover Three” column for Football Outsiders examines what the Packers did differently to go from passing for 38 yards and no touchdowns in the first half to 249 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.
Farrar’s conclusion is that the Vikings pass rush is very good and Rodgers held onto the ball too long in the first half against that pass rush. I’d have to agree. I really like Rodgers – or to clarify, I like him as a quarterback, not as a Packer – but during the first half against the Vikings he appeared jittery and was not very sharp. He fixed things in the second half, but by then Green Bay was down 24-3, which was too big of a deficit to come back from.
The Packers offensive line is still weak in pass protection, but Rodgers lack of pocket presence isn’t helping them out. And this isn’t something that’s popped up suddenly this season. Remember the Vikings sacked Rodgers four times last year at the Metrodome – two of them for safeties – and smacked him around a bunch of other times in that game.
The Packers need to improve the play of their offensive line, but the coaching staff also needs to teach Rodgers to throw the ball away more and get that internal clock ticking in his head where he gets rid of the ball after three or four seconds on a consistent basis.
I hope they’ll continue to be unsuccessful in their efforts.
Just about everyone has read this by now, so a couple of points about Jared Allen making Sports Illustrated’s list of the NFL's dirtiest players.
Point #1: There were 296 players polled. There are 53 players on an NFL roster and there are 32 teams. Multiply that and you have 1,696 players. So only 17 per cent of the players in the league were polled and out of that small percentage only 3.2 per cent thought Allen was the dirtiest player in the NFL. Big deal. Perhaps all the votes came from Houston Texan players?
Point #2: If you’re going to have a poll like this, include some player comments about why each dirty player player is considered dirty. Fans like me want the gossip. SI – this list is lame.
By the way, If I had to vote on whom was the Vikings dirtiest player, it would go to offensive guard Anthony Herrera. That guy is a nasty fucker.
Finally, the National Football Post’s Matt Bowen wrote this week that former Viking safety Darren Sharper was his choice for NFL MVP at this point in the season.
I’ll give Bowen credit for making an unconventional pick, but as a former player, I expect a bit more insight from him on this topic. (Of course, Bowen was a safety in the league.)
Sharper isn’t even the most valuable player on his team. Before Bowen wrote the column, he should have asked himself this question: Whom could the Saints least afford to have out of their lineup – Darren Sharper or Drew Brees?
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Bad idea jeans
This from a Tuesday morning blog written by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert:
“Here’s something that NFL teams probably don’t want to hear: Minnesota might unleash rookie Percy Harvin as a punt returner later this season.”
There’s no indication in Seifert’s post that head coach Brad Childress is going to give Harvin the job full-time, but it appears he will use him in that role at some point this season.
And why not? Considering how successful Harvin has been returning kick-offs, this seems like a wonderful idea. Give a home run hitter like Harvin an extra play or two to hit a home run. What’s the downside for the Vikings?
I'm not trying to be contrary guy here, but there is a downside. For one, the Vikings tried Harvin as a punt returner in training camp. They decided against the idea – because he wasn’t very good at it. Instead the coaching staff went with Darius Reynaud in the role, and since Reynaud’s hamstring injury, Jaymar Johnson.
Harvin’s been marvelous returning kicks, but returning punts is different. You're still returning a kick. But it's a different kind of kick and punt returners have to make very different decisions when fielding them compared to kick-offs (such as: should I fair catch this one, let it bounce, or field it and maybe take a big hit in the process?) A punt returner also doesn’t have as much time or space to make things happen on a punt return compared to kick-offs. So Harvin’s success as a kick-off returner might not carry over to punt returns. But then again it might, which is why it's tempting to give him a shot at it.
However, Harvin also uses an awkward technique for catching kick-offs, normally grabbing the ball above his head with his two hands. He’s bobbled at least one of those kick-offs this season using that technique, but the bobble wasn’t costly because there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards of him and Harvin quickly picked up the ball and went about his business. But a bobble or a fumble of a punt return would be very costly. It likely would be recovered by the opposition and probably deep in Vikings territory. Thus, I’m wary of trying Harvin out returning punts in an NFL game when he hasn’t done it all season and he didn’t do it in college, either.
I also don’t think this is a great idea for health reasons. There's no concern about wearing Harvin out or winding him here – based on his physique, he appears to be in great condition. But being a punt returner seems like dangerous work to me. You have to concentrate on catching a ball kicked very high in the air while at the same time judging whether you can catch it without getting clobbered by several angry 200-plus-pound opponents who are often inches from your face. Harvin’s become such an important part of the passing game and such a great kick returner, is it really worth it to put him in more harm’s way?
Finally, there is nothing particularly wrong with the Vikings current punt returners that forces you to use Harvin in that role. Johnson has performed these duties the past five games and while his punt return average of 8.4 yards ranks 14th in the league, he’s sure-handed, fearless and has shown some ability to break long returns. Two of his 16 returns have been for 20 yards or more.
But Johnson isn’t even the Vikings number one option – Darius Reynaud is. During Reynaud’s three-game stint returning punts before injuring a hamstring, he averaged 17.3 yards per return to lead the league. When Reynaud is finally healthy enough to play, the Vikings would be smart to return him to that role.
They would also be smart to forget about Harvin and the punt return thing. Just say no guys.
Other stuff
Thought this article by Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette might be of interest to Vikings fans, where Pelissero breaks down down individual Packer performances watching game film. It's focused on the Packers, of course, but there's plenty of commentary about the Vikings, too. Pelissero does this every week after a Packers game.
I love this stuff and I hope to see the Pioneer Press or the Star Tribune do it for the Vikings some day soon on their websites. I think there is a lot of demand for this kind of analysis among football fans. It can't be that hard to find an ex-coach who can do this sort of thing.
“Here’s something that NFL teams probably don’t want to hear: Minnesota might unleash rookie Percy Harvin as a punt returner later this season.”
There’s no indication in Seifert’s post that head coach Brad Childress is going to give Harvin the job full-time, but it appears he will use him in that role at some point this season.
And why not? Considering how successful Harvin has been returning kick-offs, this seems like a wonderful idea. Give a home run hitter like Harvin an extra play or two to hit a home run. What’s the downside for the Vikings?
I'm not trying to be contrary guy here, but there is a downside. For one, the Vikings tried Harvin as a punt returner in training camp. They decided against the idea – because he wasn’t very good at it. Instead the coaching staff went with Darius Reynaud in the role, and since Reynaud’s hamstring injury, Jaymar Johnson.
Harvin’s been marvelous returning kicks, but returning punts is different. You're still returning a kick. But it's a different kind of kick and punt returners have to make very different decisions when fielding them compared to kick-offs (such as: should I fair catch this one, let it bounce, or field it and maybe take a big hit in the process?) A punt returner also doesn’t have as much time or space to make things happen on a punt return compared to kick-offs. So Harvin’s success as a kick-off returner might not carry over to punt returns. But then again it might, which is why it's tempting to give him a shot at it.
However, Harvin also uses an awkward technique for catching kick-offs, normally grabbing the ball above his head with his two hands. He’s bobbled at least one of those kick-offs this season using that technique, but the bobble wasn’t costly because there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards of him and Harvin quickly picked up the ball and went about his business. But a bobble or a fumble of a punt return would be very costly. It likely would be recovered by the opposition and probably deep in Vikings territory. Thus, I’m wary of trying Harvin out returning punts in an NFL game when he hasn’t done it all season and he didn’t do it in college, either.
I also don’t think this is a great idea for health reasons. There's no concern about wearing Harvin out or winding him here – based on his physique, he appears to be in great condition. But being a punt returner seems like dangerous work to me. You have to concentrate on catching a ball kicked very high in the air while at the same time judging whether you can catch it without getting clobbered by several angry 200-plus-pound opponents who are often inches from your face. Harvin’s become such an important part of the passing game and such a great kick returner, is it really worth it to put him in more harm’s way?
Finally, there is nothing particularly wrong with the Vikings current punt returners that forces you to use Harvin in that role. Johnson has performed these duties the past five games and while his punt return average of 8.4 yards ranks 14th in the league, he’s sure-handed, fearless and has shown some ability to break long returns. Two of his 16 returns have been for 20 yards or more.
But Johnson isn’t even the Vikings number one option – Darius Reynaud is. During Reynaud’s three-game stint returning punts before injuring a hamstring, he averaged 17.3 yards per return to lead the league. When Reynaud is finally healthy enough to play, the Vikings would be smart to return him to that role.
They would also be smart to forget about Harvin and the punt return thing. Just say no guys.
Other stuff
Thought this article by Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette might be of interest to Vikings fans, where Pelissero breaks down down individual Packer performances watching game film. It's focused on the Packers, of course, but there's plenty of commentary about the Vikings, too. Pelissero does this every week after a Packers game.
I love this stuff and I hope to see the Pioneer Press or the Star Tribune do it for the Vikings some day soon on their websites. I think there is a lot of demand for this kind of analysis among football fans. It can't be that hard to find an ex-coach who can do this sort of thing.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
That's special
Last season I lost track of how many times the Vikings special teams cost the team in minor and major ways.
Whether it was a coverage guy stepping on the goal line to wipe out a punt downed inside an opponent’s five-yard line, skittish punt returners calling for needless fair catches, kick-off returners unable to muster a return of more than 15 yards and, of course, the unit’s specialty, giving up long returns – often for touchdowns – the Vikings special teams seemed to go out of their way to contribute to a Viking loss.
Sunday’s 38-26 win over the Green Bay Packers was evidence of how much has changed for the Vikings special teams. A lot of the focus for the Vikings win is surely going to fall on Brett Favre and his four-touchdown performance and I’ve got no problem with that. Favre played very, very well. But Viking fans who watched the game must realize the Vikings special teams and Percy Harvin deserve a game ball, too.
Some of the ways the special teams helped the Vikings were subtle – like punt returner Jaymar Johnson’s refusal to call for fair catches or not catch them at all and let the ball hit the Lambeau Field turf and roll deep into Viking territory on Packer punts.
Johnson averaged a modest 7.4 yards on five returns, but he did break one return for 20 yards that set up the Vikings second touchdown, and his fearlessness (and sure-handedness) in catching and returning punts shaved a few extra yards off the total the Vikings offence had to gain to get into scoring position.
It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of a football game, but ....
Not so small in the grand scheme of things was the impact Harvin had on this contest in the return game. Harvin had kick-off returns of 77 and 48 yards. Both returns led to Viking touchdowns and both came at critical times in the game – the first after the Packers had taken a 3-0 lead in the first quarter off a bungled snap by center John Sullivan, the other after a Packers touchdown had cut the Vikes lead to 24-20 late in the third quarter.
Some other things I liked about this game:
Bernard Berrian being able to play. I didn’t think we’d see him after he injured his hamstring last week against Pittsburgh, but he started and played well, all things considered. The stats weren’t huge (three catches for 47 yards) but he caught Favre’s fourth touchdown pass, which sealed the victory. He also caught a 19-yard pass from Favre on a third-and-17 on the Vikings first drive of the second half. One play later Harvin scored on a 51-yard pass-and-run play. And Berrian’s other catch also produced a first down on the Vikings second touchdown drive. Overall, a productive game for a guy who couldn’t have been a 100 per cent healthy.
Ray Edwards. The Vikings might want to consider signing the fourth-year starting defensive end to a contract extension. I always value how Edwards defends the run, but I also think he’s got some pass rushing talent. He showed it against Green Bay registering two sacks and pressuring Aaron Rodgers on several other plays. He was one of the better players on the field. And keep in mind he only turns 25 on Jan. 1st. Edwards game has room to grow.
More balanced offensive playcalling. The Vikings got too pass happy for my liking against Pittsburgh last week. This time Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell stuck with the run even though the Vikings weren’t initially having anymore success running the ball against the Packers than they did against the Steelers. I’m a lot more comfortable with Favre throwing the ball 28 times as opposed to 50.
I don’t know what to think about the Vikings second half performance on defence, which went from suffocating to sieve-like. But perhaps we should worry about what that means for the Vikings Super Bowl chances some other time.
Right now it’s time to enjoy a rare Vikings victory at Lambeau Field and a rare Vikings sweep of the season series against our biggest rival. The Vikings are 7-1 and in full control of the NFC North and we’ve got the bye week coming up.
Just think, almost two weeks to watch and re-watch highlights of Harvin and Favre and Jared Allen beating up on Green Bay on You Tube and NFL.com. It’s going to be sweet.
Whether it was a coverage guy stepping on the goal line to wipe out a punt downed inside an opponent’s five-yard line, skittish punt returners calling for needless fair catches, kick-off returners unable to muster a return of more than 15 yards and, of course, the unit’s specialty, giving up long returns – often for touchdowns – the Vikings special teams seemed to go out of their way to contribute to a Viking loss.
Sunday’s 38-26 win over the Green Bay Packers was evidence of how much has changed for the Vikings special teams. A lot of the focus for the Vikings win is surely going to fall on Brett Favre and his four-touchdown performance and I’ve got no problem with that. Favre played very, very well. But Viking fans who watched the game must realize the Vikings special teams and Percy Harvin deserve a game ball, too.
Some of the ways the special teams helped the Vikings were subtle – like punt returner Jaymar Johnson’s refusal to call for fair catches or not catch them at all and let the ball hit the Lambeau Field turf and roll deep into Viking territory on Packer punts.
Johnson averaged a modest 7.4 yards on five returns, but he did break one return for 20 yards that set up the Vikings second touchdown, and his fearlessness (and sure-handedness) in catching and returning punts shaved a few extra yards off the total the Vikings offence had to gain to get into scoring position.
It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of a football game, but ....
Not so small in the grand scheme of things was the impact Harvin had on this contest in the return game. Harvin had kick-off returns of 77 and 48 yards. Both returns led to Viking touchdowns and both came at critical times in the game – the first after the Packers had taken a 3-0 lead in the first quarter off a bungled snap by center John Sullivan, the other after a Packers touchdown had cut the Vikes lead to 24-20 late in the third quarter.
Some other things I liked about this game:
Bernard Berrian being able to play. I didn’t think we’d see him after he injured his hamstring last week against Pittsburgh, but he started and played well, all things considered. The stats weren’t huge (three catches for 47 yards) but he caught Favre’s fourth touchdown pass, which sealed the victory. He also caught a 19-yard pass from Favre on a third-and-17 on the Vikings first drive of the second half. One play later Harvin scored on a 51-yard pass-and-run play. And Berrian’s other catch also produced a first down on the Vikings second touchdown drive. Overall, a productive game for a guy who couldn’t have been a 100 per cent healthy.
Ray Edwards. The Vikings might want to consider signing the fourth-year starting defensive end to a contract extension. I always value how Edwards defends the run, but I also think he’s got some pass rushing talent. He showed it against Green Bay registering two sacks and pressuring Aaron Rodgers on several other plays. He was one of the better players on the field. And keep in mind he only turns 25 on Jan. 1st. Edwards game has room to grow.
More balanced offensive playcalling. The Vikings got too pass happy for my liking against Pittsburgh last week. This time Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell stuck with the run even though the Vikings weren’t initially having anymore success running the ball against the Packers than they did against the Steelers. I’m a lot more comfortable with Favre throwing the ball 28 times as opposed to 50.
I don’t know what to think about the Vikings second half performance on defence, which went from suffocating to sieve-like. But perhaps we should worry about what that means for the Vikings Super Bowl chances some other time.
Right now it’s time to enjoy a rare Vikings victory at Lambeau Field and a rare Vikings sweep of the season series against our biggest rival. The Vikings are 7-1 and in full control of the NFC North and we’ve got the bye week coming up.
Just think, almost two weeks to watch and re-watch highlights of Harvin and Favre and Jared Allen beating up on Green Bay on You Tube and NFL.com. It’s going to be sweet.
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