Snakebit

We suck.

Actually, the Vikings didn’t play a bad road game on Sunday.

They ran the ball pretty well. They threw it pretty well. They protected Brett Favre pretty well. They didn’t take too many penalties.

But when you’re going as bad as the Vikings have been going this season, things seem to have a way of going south quickly on you, as they did midway through what was a game-killing third quarter against New England.

I won’t spend any time right now moaning about Asher Allen, or the Vikings perplexing struggles of the defensive front four, or the fact we made BenJarvus Green-Ellis look like Walter Payton in the second half.

What I will moan about is breaks. We aren’t getting any. Really, I can’t remember a season where so many bounces haven’t gone the Vikings way.

A few prime examples from Sunday’s loss:

* Madieu Williams has what looks like a sure interception, but instead it goes through his hands, rattles around several of Brandon Tate’s body parts and lands in Tate’s arms for a big gain that leads to New England’s first touchdown.

* Wes Welker bobbles the ball on a punt; it bounces off his knee and right into his hands with two Vikings just waiting to scoop up the loose ball.

* The Devin McCourty interception.

It’s just unbelievable what’s been happening this year.

And I know I wrote about the Vikings playing loose and trying some things on Thursday, but if you’ve lost seven straight road games, and you’re tied 7-7 with a chance to go up 10-7 against a 5-1 team late in the first half, and you will be getting the kickoff to start the second half, I don’t think you go for it on fourth-and-one like Brad Childress did. Certainly not the way the Vikings have been playing this year.

So no great analysis today. Just an acknowledgement from me that this has been the most brutal seven-game stretch of football for the Vikings in recent memory.

Never has a Vikings team in recent memory been expected to do so much and accomplished so little.

Randy Moss, in his own words
Thought I'd add in this bit Kevin Seifert just posted, which pretty much sums up how the Vikings season is going right now.

Randy Moss - you never know what's going to come out of the guy's mouth.

2-5 anyone?

Minnesota vs. New England

There’s a number of unfavourable matchups for the Vikings in this one.

Tom Brady vs. The Vikings secondary. Vince Wilfork vs. John Sullivan. Bill Belichick vs. Brad Childress. Brett Favre vs. himself.

But the matchup that really worries me is the Vikings vs. Gillette Stadium.

Of course, Gillette Stadium can’t throw passes to Wes Welker or tackle Adrian Peterson, but that doesn’t change the fact that when the Vikings play away from the Metrodome, they usually lose.

The Vikings have lost their last seven road games. They haven’t won one in almost a year, when they beat Packers at Lambeau on November 1st, 2009. And I'm not optimistic the Vikings streak is going to end this Sunday.

But what would really help the Vikings in having a chance to do so is getting off to a fast start for once this season.

They've been mostly brutal offensively in the first half of games in 2010, averaging just under eight points per game. Against the Jets and Miami they failed to score a single point in the first half.

That's not nearly good enough when you're playing the slate of tough teams the Vikings have been facing.

They've been remarkably consistent in this aspect. They get behind early, not by a whole bunch, but with Favre playing so poorly, the Vikings haven't been able to overcome the deficits.

I even did some math tonight (I hate math) to see just how often the Vikings have played from behind in their first six games.

It turns out that of the 360 minutes of football the Vikings have played, they've trailed for 189 minutes and 35 seconds of them – 53 percent of the time.

I was actually surprised that percentage wasn't higher, because it seems like the Vikings are always playing from behind.

Still, 53 percent is probably extremely high for a team as talented as the Vikes are supposed to be.

So I would think that playing on the road, against a 5-1 Patriots team, and with their confidence probably not the highest, the Vikings had better get off to a good start against New England.

The problem is, I don't think the Vikings have it in them, because the template this season has been as follows:

The offence sputters, and the Vikings get down by three-to-seven points by half time. They play better in the second half and hang around, keeping the game close. They get one last shot late in the game to tie or win the game. The announcers start talking about another heroic comeback led by Favre. The Vikings fall short.

What I do hope to see on Sunday is that the Vikings buy into all this back against the wall bullshit and play real loose.

I'd like to see them try some things. A couple of crazy trick plays. A fake punt. An onside kick. Whatever. Surprise the Patriots a bit.

And hey, Cleveland beat New Orleans on the road last week, so there's hope, right?

Well, maybe not.

Patriots 27 – Vikings 21

Well, that didn't last long

I admit this season is killing me.

Watching the Vikings flail away and shit the bed thus far has guaranteed I'll endure three-plus hours of torture every week – with the rest of my days spent feeling a deep sense of regret.

When the Vikings have left me feeling this way in the past, writing about them on this blog has been therapy of sorts for me.

So even though things haven't gotten any slower at work or at home, I'm back on the wagon and I'm going to try to resume this blogging thing.

I might have even found someone willing to help out with the writing on here.

Anyway, no great thoughts tonight (have I ever had any? I don't think so). But I will pass along a couple of worthwhile links.

In this one, blogger Brian Burke reminds us just how bad Brett Favre has been this season.

And for anyone pining for Tarvaris Jackson to replace Favre, please read Kevin Seifert's post on the potential return of Jackson as the Vikings starting quarterback.

Don't know about you, but I'll still take the 41-year-old guy with the 10 interceptions and the broken ankle over Jackson at Gillette Field this Sunday.

That's it for now. I'll try to get a post up tomorrow – so I don't have to do one Friday night when no one's reading these blogs anyway. But I can't promise anything.

Pulling the pin (sort of)

There hasn't been much activity on this blog lately – or for the entire 2010 year to be completely accurate.

Unfortunately, not even today's Randy Moss rumors will changes that.

So as much as I'd love to post about Ole' 84 and other Vikings comings and goings, I have to admit that it's been difficult finding time to write about the team like I used to.

And because of that, I'm going to take a hiatus from blogging about the Vikings – not that I've done much of that since January.

I did this last year around this time and came back. However, this time I'm shutting things down for the rest of the season – not that anyone on the Vikings blogosphere would notice.

See you later, folks. Maybe we'll talk again in 2011.