The Vikings offensive line – despite an okay showing Saturday night against the Cowboys – continues to be a concern. So is the fact the Cowboys cut veteran center Andre Gurode of any interest to the Minnesota brain thrust? The Vikings current starter at center – John Sullivan – continues to get less than rave reviews for his play. Gurode isn't a left tackle, but it would be a start.
Other stuff
* I guess the Vikings were smart not to resign Chester Taylor last year? (And I'm not piling on Chester here. I loved him when he played for the Vikings.)
* Beware of theories that a new offensive philosophy is going to lead to a monster year for Adrian Peterson. AP will have a career year if his offensive line can consistently open some holes for him (unlikely). Whether this line is running a West Coast zone blocking scheme or not, it's still a bad line.
* I'm not sure what to make of the Vikings playing Everson Griffen as a rushing linebacker. I keep hearing he's progressing, but I have yet to see him do anything on the field.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Vikings third preseason game features some good and some bad signs
I have not blogged about the Vikings previous two preseason games for two reasons:
1) With the starters only making cameo appearances, I didn't care.
2) I wasn't able to catch the replays on the NFL Network, so I had no visual evidence to make any observations on.
Tonight's preseason game against Dallas was a little bit different because the guys I'm interested in watching perform – like Donovan McNabb, Adrian Peterson and Cedric Griffin – actually played a bit.
Alas, I don't live in the Twin Cities area so I couldn't watch the game live. Instead, I settled for catching a few plays here and there as the NFL Network jumped around from one preseason game to another. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess
So my impressions below are based on brief glimpses of the Vikings in action Saturday night. Here are my thoughts.
* Keeping in mind Dallas didn't play its top two corners, I was encouraged by the Vikings offensive performance. Of the six drives involving the first-team offence, they really should have scored points on five of them. McNabb looked quite sharp. The offensive line looked decent, which is about as good as we can expect from them this year, I think. The fact wide receivers Bernard Berrian and Michael Jenkins actually made some plays was encouraging. It's imperative Berrian provide some semblance of a deep threat for this team.
* I've been hearing a lot about rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph, but I didn't see him do much in this game. I'm counting on him to be an additional receiving threat for McNabb in case Berrian and Jenkins are non-factors this year (which is highly probable). So his performance was a bit disappointing.
* Cedric Griffin looked like the liability he was in 2006-2007, rather than the solid corner he became in the second half of 2008 and all of 2009. If he can't regain his 2008-2009 form, the Vikings secondary is going to be in a lot of trouble.
* Rookie defensive lineman Christian Ballard now has two sacks in three preseason games. That's good for Ballard. But it's bad for the Vikings defence because I think those are the only two sacks they've managed to get in three games. Add a defensive line that can't pressure the quarterback with a weak secondary and you've got a unit that could give up a lot of points this season. And it's not like the Vikings offence is going to be some point-scoring machine. I'm starting to sweat.
So what did you think of this dress rehearsal to the Vikings 2011 season?
1) With the starters only making cameo appearances, I didn't care.
2) I wasn't able to catch the replays on the NFL Network, so I had no visual evidence to make any observations on.
Tonight's preseason game against Dallas was a little bit different because the guys I'm interested in watching perform – like Donovan McNabb, Adrian Peterson and Cedric Griffin – actually played a bit.
Alas, I don't live in the Twin Cities area so I couldn't watch the game live. Instead, I settled for catching a few plays here and there as the NFL Network jumped around from one preseason game to another. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess
So my impressions below are based on brief glimpses of the Vikings in action Saturday night. Here are my thoughts.
* Keeping in mind Dallas didn't play its top two corners, I was encouraged by the Vikings offensive performance. Of the six drives involving the first-team offence, they really should have scored points on five of them. McNabb looked quite sharp. The offensive line looked decent, which is about as good as we can expect from them this year, I think. The fact wide receivers Bernard Berrian and Michael Jenkins actually made some plays was encouraging. It's imperative Berrian provide some semblance of a deep threat for this team.
* I've been hearing a lot about rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph, but I didn't see him do much in this game. I'm counting on him to be an additional receiving threat for McNabb in case Berrian and Jenkins are non-factors this year (which is highly probable). So his performance was a bit disappointing.
* Cedric Griffin looked like the liability he was in 2006-2007, rather than the solid corner he became in the second half of 2008 and all of 2009. If he can't regain his 2008-2009 form, the Vikings secondary is going to be in a lot of trouble.
* Rookie defensive lineman Christian Ballard now has two sacks in three preseason games. That's good for Ballard. But it's bad for the Vikings defence because I think those are the only two sacks they've managed to get in three games. Add a defensive line that can't pressure the quarterback with a weak secondary and you've got a unit that could give up a lot of points this season. And it's not like the Vikings offence is going to be some point-scoring machine. I'm starting to sweat.
So what did you think of this dress rehearsal to the Vikings 2011 season?
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Why the Minnesota Vikings will struggle in 2011
Long time, no post here at Grant's Tomb.
Anyway, New York Times guest columnist Andy Benoit breaks down the Vikings in his latest preview of all 32 teams in, as Ron Jaworski likes to say, "the National Football League." (Note to Ronnie: I think your viewers will understand what you mean if you just say "NFL.")
It's an utterly depressing read, made even more so by the fact I basically agreed with everything Benoit wrote.
As I weigh whether to drop well over $100 (Canadian, which is worth more than the U.S. greenback these days) on an NFL Sunday Ticket package this week, I'll keep Benoit's piece in mind. Do I really need the aggravation of watching the Vikings get thumped every Sunday from September until early January?
Anyway, New York Times guest columnist Andy Benoit breaks down the Vikings in his latest preview of all 32 teams in, as Ron Jaworski likes to say, "the National Football League." (Note to Ronnie: I think your viewers will understand what you mean if you just say "NFL.")
It's an utterly depressing read, made even more so by the fact I basically agreed with everything Benoit wrote.
As I weigh whether to drop well over $100 (Canadian, which is worth more than the U.S. greenback these days) on an NFL Sunday Ticket package this week, I'll keep Benoit's piece in mind. Do I really need the aggravation of watching the Vikings get thumped every Sunday from September until early January?
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