Grant's Tomb

Vikings return to respectability won't take multiple seasons – if it's done right

2012-01-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero noted a changing tenor this week at Winter Park as the Minnesota Vikings head into 2012 offseason in earnest.

Gone is the talk fans heard during the offseason of 2011 where Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier espoused a belief that the Vikings could compete for a division title or a wildcard playoff spot. Instead, it's been replaced by the acknowledgement that a rebuilding effort is underway – and in Pelissero's mind – it could take a while.

It certainly could. The Vikings have many holes. But out of the four major professional sports in North America – football, basketball, baseball and hockey – a turnaround can happen the fastest in the NFL.

So while the Vikings are a 3-13 team with a number of leaks to plug, it can't be underestimated how acquiring one or two impact players could quickly change the fortunes of this NFL franchise. And to illustrate that, fans need only look at two Viking teams from the recent past – the 1998 and 2007 squads.

For the 1998 team, drafting Randy Moss turned a 9-7 team into a 15-1 juggernaut. They were a decent team without Moss the year before. But when ole' 84 showed up, the Vikes win total spiked upwards by five. There were other factors that led to that improvement, of course, but Moss certainly had a lot to do with it.

As for the 2007 Vikings team, the year before they were an offensively inept 6-10 team. Then they drafted Adrian Peterson. The squad was still offensively inept at times in 2007 – thanks to Tarvaris Jackson and the worst collection of wideouts in NFL history – but the unit had its big games as well, thanks almost exclusively to the play and presence of Peterson. The Vikings even challenged for a playoff spot that year and finished 8-8.

I do not expect the Vikings to go 15-1 or 8-8 next year. But vast improvement is possible in 12 months and it can come even if the Vikings don't hit homeruns on all of their free agent signings and draft picks over the next three months.

The Vikings can even have some very weak positions (they certainly will have some) and still win more football games in 2012 if they can grab an impact player.

Wide receiver is a great example. Say the Vikings sign a guy like Vincent Jackson or DeSean Jackson. Those two guys must be accounted for as receiving threats, particularly on deep routes. That kind of player will allow Percy Harvin, Kyle Rudolph and Michael Jenkins more opportunities to beat one-on-one coverage and make plays. That will force teams to blitz Christian Ponder less. It will mean the offensive line won't have to hold their blocks as long. It means teams won't be able to play eight defenders near the line as much. And all of these factors will make the Vikings offence more difficult to defend and more explosive. That will allow the unit to have more explosive plays more often. It will allow them to sustain drives and score more points, which also means the defence will be on the field a bit less and will be playing with the lead more. A better offence will mask some of the Vikings deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball.

So adding one impact player can have a domino effect for the Vikings, vastly improving the team and hastening the rebuilding effort. But first the Vikings have to accomplish the first part – acquire that impact player.

Vikings fans endure one more turn on the stadium merry-go-round

2012-01-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

It's a huge issue for Vikings fans, this stadium thing. But I hate writing about it. So here are a few links of stories on today's stadium news, where Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton basically dropped a big "fuck you" on Zygi and Mark Wilf as he quashed their hopes of building a stadium anywhere but on the Metrodome site.

* From the Star-Tribune, there's this story.

* The Pioneer Press' version of today's events can be read here.

* And ESPN's Kevin Seifert has his analysis here.

It really stinks to have to read about this every few days.

Draft due dilgence
ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero had a lengthy Q & A with Vikings general manager Rick Spielman today where he talked about the interview process with draft-eligible college players.

Spielman's draft record has been mixed at best thus far with the Vikings. But if his selections don't pan out this year, at least we know it's from a lack of effort.

Good news for the Vikings? Husain Abdullah's concussion issues won't force him to retire

2012-01-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings need to improve their secondary in a big way this offseason if they hope to climb back to relevance in the not-too-distant future. That will likely require some major personnel changes on the back end. Several players who made up this sorry unit in 2011 could (make that "should") be released or allowed to resign elsewhere – if anyone else will have them.

But Husian Abdullah is probably not one of those guys, and Viking Update's John Holler reported on Sunday that Abdullah has been told by concussion specialists in Pittsburgh that he can play football again.

Abdullah had been seriously contemplating retirement after suffering his fourth concussion in two seasons last fall. The fourth concussion landed him on the injured reserve after the Vikings ninth game and ended this season.

And although watching San Francisco 49ers free safety Dashon Goldson the past two weeks smash opposing receivers, deftly jump routes and make several plays on the ball illustrates the gap that lies between good safety play and what the Vikings have been doing for several seasons, I still consider the news on Abdullah a positive development.

Abdullah is no Pro Bowler – at least he hasn't shown that ability yet – but he's a decent enough player that the Vikings can feel pretty good about putting him out there at free safety next season. That allows them to concentrate on other pressing matters such as making upgrades at cornerback, strong safety and even linebacker to improve the pass defence.

If the Washington State alum had been told his career was over because of concussions, it would have added to an already long list of positions the Vikings management must find replacements for. But as long as Abdullah can stay clear of concussions next season, the Vikes should be okay at free safety. In Vikings country these days, we call that progress.

Some (very) brief Super Bowl thoughts

So it's the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl again.

I did not watch the Pats-Ravens game Sunday, but I did get a chance to watch the entire Giants-49ers game. What a grinder of a contest that was. It may have been a thrilling game, but I don't think it was a great game. The offences were too bad in the second half for me to rank it as a great game (both defensive units had something to do with that, however). But the Giants win does set up the best possible Super Bowl matchup. Consider the alternatives:

* Ravens-49ers. Uggh. I would have envisioned a 5-3 score, with Baltimore winning by a safety.

* Pats-49ers – I think Bill Belichick would have had some fun gameplanning for Alex Smith.

* Ravens-Giants. Meh.

And maybe this is just me, but I find it odd how Fox color commentator Troy Aikman always refers to New York quarterback Eli Manning as "Eli", like he's his son or something. That is an odd habit for an announcer to have. I don't hear Aikman calling other quarterbacks by their first name for an entire game. Somebody should have a word with him about this. It makes him sound like he's a Giants fan.

49ers rise to prominence in non-Bill Walsh fashion

2012-01-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

Football Outsiders and New York Times NFL writer Mike Tanier previews the Giants-49ers NFC Championship game and the Patriots-Ravens AFC Championship game.

The thought of the Patriots getting another chance to win a Super Bowl leaves me with a sick feeling. Haven't they had enough success the past 10 years or so? I don't know if I can stomach watching it.

But I am excited about the Giants-49ers game. The Giants are hot and playing great football. Meanwhile, the 49ers are a team I can respect – great special teams play, a hellacious-hitting defence and an offence that doesn't fuck things up. At least offensively, this team doesn't resemble Bill Walsh's offensive juggernauts. But they are just as effective.

In fact, the 49ers kind of remind me a bit of the 2008 Vikings. The one big difference: Alex Smith has played much better than Gus Frerotte or Tarvaris Jackson. (Sigh.)

Now that the Vikings have added Williams, they need to add some players

2012-01-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings made it official on Thursday, as former Indianapolis Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams accepted the offer to become the squad's new defensive coordinator.

In the blog post I've linked to above, writer Jeremy Fowler points out the Colts pass defence wasn't bad from 2007-2011. But the defensive statistics of Football Outsiders tells a different story. Except for 2007, Indy was league average of worse in its performance covering wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. In short, Williams is no miracle worker.

Of course, I wouldn't expect him to be. And if he's going to be successful in 2012 as a defensive coordinator, the Vikings are going to have to stop getting abused by opposing quarterbacks and the people they throw passes to.

Minnesota has a massive amount of work to do to upgrade its secondary. Cedric Griffin is probably gone. Chris Cook will either be in jail or serving some kind of suspension when the 2012 seasons starts. And did anyone mention Antoine Winfield will be 35? Let's not forget starting safety Husain Abdullah is mulling retirement due to concussion concerns.

The starting safeties right now are Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond. Without some large improvements here, Williams' first year as a coordinator in the NFL is going to be a difficult one. He better hope general manager Rick Spielman hits some home runs in free agency and the draft on the defensive side of the ball.

Other links

* ESPN's Kevin Seifert analyzes the changes the Vikings made (and didn't make) to their defensive coaching staff.

* You can't make this stuff up. The Colts are interested in interviewing ex-Vikings head coach Brad Childress for their vacant job.

* Thinking about some college prospects who might be future Vikings? The National Football Post's Wes Bunting takes a look at 10 senior college players on the offensive side of the ball in this post. The guy that intrigues me from this list is Baylor wide receiver Kendall Wright. He registered some mad numbers this season. But he isn't very big (5'10, 190) and that will hurt his draft stock. Perhaps he's too similar a player to Percy Harvin for the Vikings to be interested, but the team needs help at wide receiver and Wright caught over 100 balls in 2011. If he's still around by the second round when the Vikings make their pick, will they take him?

Vikings could be close to ending search for defensive coordinator

2012-01-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

So you are the head coach of a team that tied a franchise record for futility by losing 13 games last season and you're looking for a new defensive coordinator. What do you do?

If you are Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, you offer the job to a guy who coached for a team that was even worse than the Vikings were in 2011. Pure genius.

To be fair though, the Indianapolis Colts defence gave up fewer points in 2011 (430) than the Vikings (449) did. So maybe Alan Williams is the answer.

Switch to 3-4 defence looking unlikely for Vikings

2012-01-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Star-Tribune writer Dan Weiderer authored a post that provided a decent – albeit a bit repetitive – analysis on why the Minnesota Vikings likely won't switch to a 3-4 defence.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by the anonymous Viking sources in this story who said that regardless of whether you are running a 4-3 or a 3-4, it's the players that make the scheme work, not the other way around. Here is what I know: The Vikings don't have enough good players right now to make either defensive scheme work.

The price of success
Kevin Seifert had an interesting post a couple of days ago looking at the dilemma the Detroit Lions are facing this season in regards to the rising salaries of wide receiver Calvin Johnson, among others.

Can Detroit sign them all? It's going to be difficult. The interesting guys from a Minnesota perspective are middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch and cornerback Eric Wright. The Vikings need help at both spots and the team's personnel department will be quite familiar with both players' bodies of work, having played the Lions twice this season. I won't be surprised if new general manager Rick Spielman targets both in free agency.

And at the National Football Post Andrew Brandt has a nice look at the decisions the Green Bay Packers have to make regarding several players.

I don't see anybody on the list the Vikings would go after, They aren't signing center Scott Wells and the Pack will hold onto tight end Jermichael Finley (is James Jones a free agent?), but the Vikes have shown an affinity for Green Bay players in the past.

Packers loss to Giants shows Vikings fans how far their team has to go towards respectability

2012-01-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

I'm just as pleased as every other Viking fan that the Green Bay Packers were beaten quite soundly 37-20 by the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional playoff round. But even in defeat, the Packers showed why the distance separating themselves and the Vikes has grown from a foot-wide crack to an immense chasm since 2009.

Consider how the G-Men beat the mighty Pack on the road in this game. On offence, the Giants won not because they were able to run the ball well (they actually didn't get much going on the ground until their final touchdown drive). They won it because Eli Manning played like the elite quarterback he's been much of 2011. They won it because they have wide receivers – Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz – who can get open consistently and make big plays down field. And they won because their offensive line gave Manning plenty of time to find Nicks and Cruz and Mario Manningham and Travis Beckham.

On defence, they won it not because they got much pressure on Aaron Rodgers or because they stopped the run, although that helped. They won because they have linebackers and cornerbacks and safeties who can cover a talented group of receivers and tight ends in space, because those guys can make plays on the ball, tackle soundly and force turnovers.

In others words, they do all the things the Vikings have not been able to do for two seasons now.

As new general Rick Spielman develops his master plan for rebuilding the Vikings, he should be watching tape from this game closely. I know the Giants haven't had knockout records since their Super Bowl win in 2007, but they are the team the Vikings would do well to copy.

Pagac is out, but who's in?
The Vikings have removed Fred Pagac from the defensive coordinator role, and as Judd Zulgad notes, his replacement could be linebackers coach Mike Singletary.

If that happens, it will be an early sign to me that 2012 won't be a whole lot different than 2011 was for the Vikings. Singletary did not distinguish himself in his first season with the Vikings. But at this point the job might go to Singletary by default. No one else seems all that interested in the position.

Vikes get good news on the injury front in regards to Toby Gerhart

2012-01-14T23:23:00.000-08:00

Good news has been in short supply for the Minnesota Vikings in 2011, so it was noteworthy to read ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero report that Vikings second-year backup running back Toby Gerhart won't require surgery after hurting his MCL in the season finale.

If Gerhart had needed surgery, the Vikings would have been looking at possibly starting training camp with Lorenzo Booker, Caleb King and Jordan Todman as their stable of healthy running backs. (And you think the Vikings offence stunk last year.)

That Gerhart should be completely healthy for OTAs and training camp is good news considering nobody knows how football-ready Adrian Peterson will be when July arrives. During the five games he was the starting running back while Peterson was injured, Gerhart showed he can be an effective player. Not Peterson effective, mind you, more like Peyton Hillis effective.

Watching Gerhart get the bulk of the carries late in the season gave me a new appreciation for his running style. I enjoyed watching him bowl over smaller defenders on his runs. He ran with more power and more confidence than we saw in his rookie year, and he showed good hands out of the backfield. During his two seasons in the NFL, Gerhart's rushing stats have been surprisingly excellent – 853 yards on 190 carries, good for a 4.9 yard per carry average. Gerhart should be fine as the Vikings top running back if Peterson's rehab from his left knee injury doesn't go so well. This is important. It allows the Vikings to focus on other issues during free agency and the draft – like left tackle, cornerback, safety, middle linebacker and wide receiver.

• As for Peterson, he was full of smiles and optimism during a Friday press conference where he and head trainer Eric Sugarman talked about his surgery and rehab so far. To hear him say his goal is to be ready for game one and that he'll be better than before once he comes back makes this Vikings fan get all tingly inside. As far-fetched as it sounds, Peterson is the one guy I'd bet could make it happen.

So why isn't Peterson spending the offseason the Twin Cities with Sugarman so he can have one of the best medical guys in football oversee the rehab on a daily basis? I know Houston is a bit warmer than Minneapolis in January, February and March, but this is a career-threatening injury Peterson has sustained. I'd want Sugarman by my side the entire time.

• Great game today between San Francisco and New Orleans. But don't you think 49ers quarterback Alex Smith looks a lot like Ryan Gosling?

Shifting rhetoric from Vikes Bagley a positive sign on the stadium front

2012-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday's story by ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad about the Vikings stadium situation featured some interesting comments from the team's stadium mouthpiece Lester Bagley.

Up until now, Bagley's public comments have all been designed to stress owner Zygi Wilf's preferred site in Arden Hills is the best, most viable option and that other options – like building a new stadium in Minneapolis – are inferior.

But in Zulgad's story linked above Bagley was whistling a much different tune.
"While the Vikings believe the Arden Hills site is the ideal site, there's a lot more that goes into this than the site," Bagley said. "There's the finance component, the local contribution as well as the overall state package. If the public side is going to put in approximately 60 percent of the equation, the public's going to have a say on the location of the facility."

Bagley was also quoted by Zulgad about the possibility of building on the Metrodome site, which the Vikes don't want to do: "the Metrodome site could be a workable site," Bagley said.

Well then.

If you're a Viking fan (and just about anybody reading this blog is) Bagley's comments are encouraging. I didn't read any threats. Bagley sounds ammenable to accepting whatever stadium proposal the state decides to approve – although that's no sure thing with the American economy struggling like it is.

I feel that after several years of turning the "what if the Vikings leave Minnesota" question over in my brain, we are close to a resolution here. It's about time.

As the defensive coordinator turns
So now Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo might be a candidate for the Vikings defensive coordinator job? Wake me up when this shit show is over.

Leslie Frazier's handling of defensive coaching staff is cause for concern

2012-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

When the Minnesota Vikings season ended on January 1st, it was assumed head coach Leslie Frazier would jettison several members of the defensive coaching staff who had presided over a unit that had slipped out of the top ten against the run and was historically bad defending the pass.

But here we are two weeks after the Vikings final game and the search for new coaching talent isn't going so well.

ESPN 1500 Vikes beat writers Judd Zulgad and Tom Pelissero had an interesting video chat about that situation that was posted on the website on Wednesday. I would advise all Viking fans to watch the thing in full. It's quite interesting. It's also quite disturbing.

What disturbs me about Zulgad and Pelissero's comments are the following issues:

1) Frazier's handling of the coaching changes. For two straight years he's allowed certain assistants to twist in the wind and watch potential replacements interview for their jobs. If Frazier is going to treat his assistant coaches that way and not be straight about his intentions, I think that sends a bad message to any potential candidate. Why would they take a job on Frazier's staff when they could end up in the same situation someday?

2) To hear that Frazier's uncertain future beyond 2012 is impacting the search to hire new coaches on the defensive side of the ball. Because potential candidates can't be sure Frazier will be back as head coach beyond next season, that doesn't give them the kind of job security – such as it is in the NFL – they need to take a job with the Vikings.

3) To hear that Minnesota might not be a desirable landing spot for any bright defensive minds looking for work. Is the Vikings defence looking like such a mess that they can't convince anybody with a decent track record to take the defensive coordinator job?

The Vikings seem to be interested in Jacksonville's Mel Tucker, but if they can't get him, and Steve Spagnuolo takes a job in Philly, as expected, who do the Vikings hire to replace current coordinator Fred Pagac?

Does linebacker coach Mike Singletary – who the current players consider incompetent – get the job by default? Or do they have to stick with Pagac? (all things considered, this might not be a terrible thing, especially if it keeps Singletary from getting the job.)

It all adds up to a bit of a smozzle for the Vikings and Leslie Frazier. And as we head into the most important offseason the Vikings have had in franchise history, the amateurish nature of this coaching search doesn't fill me with confidence that Frazier and the Vikings can make any of the other moves required to get this team back to contending for a playoff spot.

Give me some good news here. After a 3-13 season, I need it.

Vikes are interested in Mel Tucker, but is Mel Tucker interested in the Vikes?

2012-01-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

There is silence at Winter Park when it comes to changes to Leslie Frazier's coaching staff.

It's been over a week since the Vikings stunk it up in the season finale with a 17-13 loss to Chicago – a fitting end to a miserable 2011. Wholesale changes were expected to be made on the defensive side of the ball. But Fred Pagac is still the defensive coordinator and only defensive line coach Karl Dunbar has been let go thus far.

Former Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris has been interviewed. Now the Vikings want to talk to Jacksonville defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. With Steve Spagnuolo, apparently set to return to the Philadelphia Eagles, it looks like the Vikings won't even get a chance to interview him for the coordinator position. (Heavy sigh – the Vikings rarely make a move I want them to.)

Tucker is an interesting possibility, however. I had never heard of him until he took over as interim head coach after Jack Del Rio was fired. Calling the plays for the first time as a defensive coordinator with the Jaguars this season, the team had the fifth-best defence in the NFL, according to Football Outsiders (in the spirit of fairness, the Jags were ranked 32nd and 29th overall in 2010 and 2009, respectively by FO, in Tucker's other two seasons as Jacksonville's top defensive assistant.)

So Tucker has some chops, and he is also well-versed in running a 3-4 defence thanks to his one year serving as defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns. But is Tucker interested in a Vikings job? Leslie Frazier's hold on the head coaching gig beyond 2012 is tenuous and the unit is lacking talent at cornerback and linebacker? It's not exactly an attractive scenario for a guy who should draw interest from other squad's looking to hire a new defensive coordinator.

What Grant's Tomb was reading – Jan. 8, 2012

2012-01-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

A look at a few stories that interested me over the weekend.

* The Vikings are busy interviewing candidates for the defensive coordinator job even though they haven't fired Fred Pagac yet. I've made my feelings known on this subject already. Former St. Louis Rams head coach and New York Giants coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, should be the Vikings top choice. He will operate a different system than the Tampa 2 defence, but wouldn't move away from the 4-3 alignment head coach Leslie Frazier prefers. I'm shocked to hear that Vikings linebacker coach Mike Singletary is reportedly going to get an interview as well. What has he done to deserve the interview other than being Frazier's good buddy? He was responsible for a unit that was not very good this season and its best player – Chad Greenway – had a horrible year. Couple that with the stuff ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero dregged up about Singletary's performance (go to about the 8:20 mark of this video) and I'll go apeshit if this dolt gets the job over Spagnuolo.

* Speaking of dolts, the NFL Network's Jason La Canfora tweeted former Vikings head coach Brad Childress will be interviewed by the Tampa Bay Bucs and could end up as their offensive coordinator under new coach Mike Sherman. There is no need to rehash Chilly's coaching history here, but I'll do it anyway. As offensive coordinator with Philly he never called the plays but was given credit for developing Donovan McNabb into a Pro Bowl player. But as head coach of the Vikes, Chilly was the overlord of the offence and often did call the plays. During that time the Vikes offence ranked 26th, 15th, 12th and 29th in points scored (they ranked second during the 2009 dream season.) He also failed miserably in developing Tarvaris Jackson. Tampa Bay would be wise to look elsewhere for its new OC.

* ESPN's Kevin Seifert gives us a post-mortem on the Detroit Lions playoff loss against New Orleans Saturday night. I watched this game and even though the Lions lost, that offence looks terrifying, even without a great running game. Brandon Pettigrew is big and has nice hands. Titus Young looks like an emerging deep threat. Nate Burleson is a solid veteran who can't be ignored. Matt Stafford can throw darts and do it with accuracy. And Calvin Johnson is the wide receiver Randy Moss would have been if Ole' 84 had been 35 pounds heavier and wasn't such a pussy. Johnson looks unstoppable. Twelve catches for 211 yards and two TDs in this game? That is three of his last four games where Johnson has had at least nine catches for over 200 yards. Nobody has an answer for this guy right now. And they won't next year or the year after that. It's not just the Green Bay Packers the Vikings have to leapfrog in the NFC North.

Update

* Speculation about the 2012 college draft will dominate talk among Vikings fans this offseason, so here is a look at one mock draft done at the Vikings Territory blog. It's pretty well done, and doesn't predict the Vikings getting USC left tackle Matt Kalil. Instead, they trade down with Washington, acquiring additional selections and select LSU cornerback Morris Clairborne. Personally, I think St. Louis takes Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon, giving the Vikings the chance to draft Kalil. But drafts very rarely go the way we expect them to. The linked mock draft also hinges on what decision this college quarterback makes this week.

Despite a difficult rookie season, there's still hope for Vikings Christian Ponder

2012-01-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

I think every Viking fan should acknowledge that rookie quarterback Christian Ponder mostly stunk (when he wasn’t getting injured) in three of his final four games of the 2011 season.

Those performances (and the play of backup Joe Webb when Ponder was out) has more than a few Viking fanatics concerned. Might the 12th overall pick in the 2011 college draft be a budding bust, rather than the quarterback of the future the Vikings have needed since Daunte Culpepper shredded his knee in 2005?

It’s an important question, and attempting to answer it requires a little perspective. So I decided to see how Ponder’s passing statistics compared to the first year’s of the 31 other starting QBs in 2011 who saw their first significant playing time in the NFL. Is there anything we can learn from those statistics? Let’s take a look.

Below I’ve compiled the passing stats from those seasons for all 32 quarterbacks who were essentially starters for their teams in 2011. The one QB listed who doesn’t fit this criteria is the Colts Peyton Manning, who didn’t play at all in 2011 because of a neck injury. But I’ve included his rookie numbers because he obviously would have been the starter if not for his neck woes, and there’s no point in mentioning Curtis Painter or Dan Orlovsky unless I have to. Anyway, have a gander at the following QB stats.

NFC North
Christian Ponder: 54.3 %; 1,853; 13 TDs; 13 INTS (rookie)
Aaron Rodgers: 64.7 %; 4,038; 28 TDs; 13 INTs (4th year)
Jay Cutler: 59.1 %; 1,001; 9 TDs; 5 INTs (rookie)
Matt Stafford: 53.3 %; 2,267; 13 TDs; 20 INTs (rookie)

NFC East
Eli Manning: 48.2 %; 1,043; 6 TDs; 9 INTs (rookie)
Tony Romo: 65.3 %; 2,903; 19 TDs; 13 INTs (4th year)
Michael Vick: 54.9 %; 2,936: 16 TDs; 8 INTs (2nd year)
Rex Grossman: 54.6 %; 3,193; 23 TDs; 20 INTs (4th year)

NFC South
Matt Ryan: 61.1 %; 3,440; 16 TDs; 11 INTs (rookie)
Cam Newton: 60 %; 4.051; 21 TDs; 17 INTs (rookie)
Drew Brees: 60.8 %; 3,284; 17 TDs; 16 INTs (2nd year)
Josh Freeman: 54.5 %; 1,855; 10 TDs; 18 INTs (rookie)

NFC West
Alex Smith: 50.9; 875; 1 TD; 11 INTs (rookie)
Tarvaris Jackson: 58.2 %; 1,911; 9 TDs; 12 INTs (2nd year)
Kevin Kolb: 60.8 %; 1,197; 7 TDs; 7 INTs (4th year)
Sam Bradford: 60 %; 3,512; 18 TDs; 15 INTs (rookie)

AFC North
Joe Flacco: 60 %; 2,971; 14 TDs; 12 INTs (rookie)
Ben Roethlisberger: 66.4 %; 2,621; 17 TDs; 11 INTs (rookie)
Andy Dalton: 58.1; 3,398; 20 TDs; 13 INTs (rookie)
Colt McCoy: 60.8 %; 1,576; 6 TDS; 9 INTs (rookie)

AFC East
Tom Brady: 63.9 %; 2,843; 18 TDs; 12 INTs (2nd year)
Mark Sanchez: 53.8; 2,444; 12 TDs; 20 INTs (rookie)
Matt Moore: 61.6 %; 1,053; 8 TDs; 2 INTs (3rd year)
Ryan Fitzpatrick: 59.4 %; 1,905; 8 TDS; 9 INTs (4th year)

AFC South
Matt Schaub: 66.4 %; 2,241; 9 TDS; 9 INTs (4th year)
Matt Hasselback: 54.8 %; 2,203; 7 TDs; 8 INTs (3rd year)
Blaine Gabbert: 50.8 %; 2,214; 12 TDS; 11 INTs (rookie)
Peyton Manning: 56.7 %; 3,739; 26 TDS; 28 INTs (rookie)

AFC West
Tim Tebow: 46.5 %; 1,729; 12 TDs; 6 INTs (2nd year)
Philip Rivers: 61.7 %; 3,388; 22 TDS; 9 INTs (3rd year)
Carson Palmer: 60.9 %; 2,897; 18 TDs; 18 INTs (2nd year)
Matt Cassel: 63.4 %; 3,693; 21 TDs; 11 INTs (4th year)

Now, those stats might take a few minutes to digest on your own, so allow me to speed things along. Is there anything in these numbers that gives us hope that Ponder’s play late in his rookie campaign isn’t a sign he was a wasted pick?

I think there is. First of all, the data shows that it’s normal for rookie QBs to struggle. In the list above 14 other QBs did what Ponder had to do in 2011 – they saw their first significant playing time during their rookie season. Seven had what we’d consider good (Cutler, Ryan, Flacco, Bradford) or very good (Roethlisberger, Newton, Dalton) years. Only four completed 60 per cent or better of their passes. And six of the 14 threw more interceptions than touchdowns – even Peyton Manning.

Ponder suffers this year from being compared to two guys from his draft class that had outstanding years – Newton and Dalton. But overall, his numbers compare favorably with most of the QBs who got extended playing time in their rookie seasons. We can also be encouraged that Ponder probably played better in his first season than Detroit’s Stafford and New York’s Eli Manning did in theirs, and those two guys are coming off outstanding seasons in 2011.

The other bit of knowledge I take from the stats is that sitting on the bench and learning the NFL game for a year or two seems a better way to develop a quarterback than to throw him to the wolves in his first season. Look at the numbers posted by the likes of Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Rivers, Vick, Romo – even Matt Cassel. I wonder what their passing stats would have looked like if they had been asked to do what Ponder did in their first season?

This isn’t meant to criticize the Vikings coaching staff and management’s handling of Ponder – Donovan McNabb’s play didn’t give them much choice. But I point this out because if Vikings fans expected Ponder to be consistently dynamite – or even consistently average – this season, they haven’t been paying attention to how rookie QBs typically fare in the NFL.

Ponder’s got a lot to work on this offseason. Much of the improvement is on him. The two biggest flaws Viking observers saw in him in 2011 were horrible decision-making when he passed the ball and skittishness in the pocket (ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer thinks this is a fatal flaw.) But those things seem correctable given Ponder’s intelligence, work ethic and athletic gifts.

However, if Ponder is to take a significant step forward in 2012 – and he must if the Vikings don’t want to be in the same situation in 2013 that they are in now – new general manager Rick Spielman also has a huge role to play.

First, Spielman needs to bring in offensive line help, particularly a legit left tackle, so Ponder has the time to throw and so he won’t get beat up like he did this year. Spielman must also give Ponder somebody to throw to other than Percy Harvin. The Vikings had no deep passing threat in 2011 and really no one you could count on to make a play or get open other than Harvin. Tight end Kyle Rudolph shows promise, but the Vikings need to add more talent at the receiving position. If Spielman can do that (hint: the Chargers’ Vincent Jackson is a free agent), and Ponder makes the appropriate improvements in his game, fans won’t be clamoring for Webb in 2013.

Vikings do the expected and make Rick Spielman their general manager

2012-01-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf finally did today what team observers have been asking him to do for years now – hire a general manager.

But the good vibes wore off quickly when everyone learned Wilf had promoted the man some hold chiefly responsible for the Vikings 9-23 record the past two seasons and two consecutive last place finishes in the NFC North – Rick Spielman.

And fans of our opponents are loving the move. As one poster at the National Football Post wrote today after reading a story about the Spielman promotion on the site:
"As a Packer fan I thank the Vikings for this promotion. This guy couldn't pick talent at a Strip Club."

Ouch.

Anyway, I am not thrilled with the move, but it also wasn't unexpected. Wilf has had Spielman on board since he fired Fran Foley in 2006. He is familiar with Spielman's work and has watched him draft Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Brian Robison, John Sullivan, Sidney Rice, Everson Griffen, Kyle Rudolph and Christian Ponder. There are some pretty good players in that group. Wilf also watched Spielman orchestrate the Jared Allen trade. So he knows Spielman and trusts his judgement. If he didn't, he would have fired Spielman today, not promoted him.

We can debate how good Spielman has been as the Vikings vice-president of player personnel. And we'll debate how good he will be as general manager. We also know he carries the stain of being turfed by the Miami Dolphins after a less than glorious run with that franchise.

But the biggest problem I have with Spielman being promoted by the Wilfs is not his draft or free agent signing record, it's that there was a more qualified candidate available – Bill Polian – and Wilf and his brother Mark do not appear to have even considered the Hall of Fame executive.

Now it's possible Polian – who you might have heard was fired by the Indianapolis Colts on Monday – might not have had much interest in coming to Minnesota. And at 69 years young, he may not have been interested in the GM job (apparently, if you want to hire Bill Polian, you've got to hire his son Chris as well). But couldn't the Wilf's have at least explored the possibility?

In Polian, the Vikings would have got a guy who built Buffalo into a four-time Super Bowl participant, led the Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship game and won a Super Bowl with the Colts. In Rick Speilman, the Vikings now have a guy in charge of their football operations who hasn't won anything.

Vikings ring in 2012 with a thud

2012-01-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings season-ending 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears felt, and was played like, a pre-season game. There were multiple turnovers, quarterbacks that looked out of their element, botched field goals and scrubs playing late in the fourth quarter. The Vikings defence played well – although it did so without the Bears two top offensive players in the lineup. The offence, the unit we needed to see more improvement from, was horrible.

Joe Webb had a chance today to make a case that he deserves to be considered seriously as the Vikings starting quarterback in 2012. But if the team has to run this stripped-down offence (I think the Vikings ran the same three plays the entire second half) when Webb is playing, they had best turn him into a full-time receiver tomorrow.

At least the Vikings secured the number three overall pick in the college draft with the loss. But there was something unsettling about this affair. A loss in a shootout, with either Christian Ponder or Webb guiding the Vikings up and down the field, would have signaled a ray of hope for Vikings fans that a relatively quick turnaround is possible. But the Vikings two in-house candidates for the #1 quarterback position both struggled today. Webb and Ponder both look a long ways from being able to lead this team back to relevance.

The following months will be as an important an offseason as the Vikings have faced since they last went 3-13 in 1984. There are so many questions facing this franchise, it’s difficult to know where to start. But I’ll try.

Christian Ponder

Is Ponder the Vikings answer at quarterback? Before he got crushed and left the game for good, he didn’t play very well. He looked jumpy in the pocket again, was inaccurate – particularly on the screen pass to wide-open Toby Gerhart that led to a pick-six for the Bears. It was the latest in a disturbing string of poor performances by Ponder. For a guy who is supposed to have a high football IQ, his poor decisions throwing the football was worrying, as were his happy feet in the pocket. But Ponder had some good moments as well and he suffers in comparison to fellow rookies Cam Newton and Andy Dalton, who had outstanding rookie seasons. At this point there are only questions not answers about Ponder. He will have to answer some of them affirmatively in 2012.

Does Leslie Frazier deserve another year?

Yes. He was decisive in getting rid of deadweight like Bryant McKinnie and Bernard Berrian. He handled a tumultuous year (some of it his own doing) with dignity and class. Plus, the team kept playing hard when it could have packed it in. There are also plenty of demerits on Frazier’s resume, too. He frequently seems overmatched making in-game strategic decisions and his push to trade for Donovan McNabb turned out to be a disaster. But I think the Vikings need some stability during a time of instability. Frazier needs some time to implement his grand plan for the team. One year isn’t enough time to do so.

What about Bill Musgrave?

Keep him. Today’s offensive performance doesn’t provide me with much of an argument for keeping Musgrave. But Musgrave didn’t have much to work with. His play calling and personnel groupings left Viking fans scratching their heads at times, but the team also scored 28 points or more in three of its final five games. Musgrave also wisely made Percy Harvin the focal point of the offence after Adrian Peterson went down with a high ankle sprain against Oakland. That evolution should continue as the Vikings find Harvin some help in the passing game.

The Offensive Line

Fixing this unit has to be the Vikings top offseason priority. But it may not require an entire housecleaning. Almost everything I’ve read this season about center John Sullivan was glowingly positive. Phil Loadholt – annoying false starts aside – is fine at right tackle. Drafting USC’s Matt Kalil to start at left tackle is the key. That allows Charlie Johnson to move to guard to replace Anthony Herrera. If Steve Hutchinson retires, the Vikings can plug in Brandon Fusco or go the free agent route. If Hutchinson returns for another season, that’s okay as well. Give this unit a full offseason of working together and we might be surprised by the improvement.

The Wide Receivers

Harvin is a marvel, but other than Stephen Burton, whose size (6’1, 224 pounds) and age (22) warrants a second look next year, the rest of this sorry crew needs to be gone. That includes 30-year-old Michael Jenkins, who could serve as an okay #3 wideout on a contending team, but is a needless luxury on a rebuilding one. Any warm body could provide what Greg Camarillo brings to the table. Devin Aromashodu was a starter for seven games after Berrian was released, but still had backup production.

The Secondary

This unit’s best player – Antoine Winfield – turns 35 in June. Improving Chris Cook might be in jail by then. Clearly, none of the other corners on this team deserve to be back. You could say the same about the safeties. But you can’t get rid of everybody because who is going to replace these guys? The secondary has to be focus in April’s draft after the Vikings select a left tackle. They could draft corners with the rest of their draft picks and I wouldn’t complain.

Has E.J. Henderson played his last game as a Viking?

Yes. Henderson has been a great Viking, and as we saw in this game (eight tackles and one forced fumble) there’s no doubt he can still be a productive two-down player. But the team needs to get younger and find a long-term replacement at this vital position. Perhaps that replacement is Jasper Brinkley. The Lions Stephen Tulloch is a free agent. He’s had a fine season and is just 27. I’m not sure why he’d leave a playoff team for a rebuilding one, but money talks in the NFL.

What about Visanthe Shiancoe?

See above.

Should the Vikings trade Jared Allen?

No. After a 22-sack season, Allen’s value will never be higher. He turns 30 and would bring in a healthy of haul of draft picks for the Vikings. But keeping Allen could also jumpstart the rebuilding process and the example he sets on the field is going to be valuable for a team that will be very young next year.

Jim Kleinsasser – a true Viking

The 13-year veteran didn’t score a touchdown in the final game of his career. He didn’t even register a catch or a carry. But that seems like a more fitting way for Kleinsasser to go out. He did today what he’s done for a number of seasons now. He blocked and did it with gusto. Throughout his career he was the anti-Randy Moss, the anti-Fred Smoot, the anti-Chris Cook. He made no waves off the field. He did his job and let his play speak for itself. Well done, Jim.

Pacifist Viking

I feel the Vikings fans that read the blogosphere have been poorer this year without the observations of Pacifist Viking. It’s been a year since he decided to pack it in. Maybe the misery he experienced following the Vikings in 2011 will inspire him to write again in 2012. Or maybe not.

Rage, Vikings Fans, Rage

It’s been a brutal year. Feel free to vent about it here today. I’ll promise to vent with you.

Benny Sapp is about to join Donovan McNabb and Bernard Berrian on the unemployment line

2011-12-31T07:41:00.000-08:00

Any chance cornerback Benny Sapp had of being retained by the Minnesota Vikings for the 2012 season has probably vanished after he had a bizarre altercation at a children's hospital in Minneapolis Friday morning.

Sapp has played reasonably well for a guy who was unemployed a couple of months ago. And even though he turns 31 on January 20, he might have been a candidate to be resigned considering the state of the Vikings secondary.

But when you've had the year the Vikings had and you're a fringe player, you can't create these kind of headlines and expect to stick around. I expect Sapp to be inactive for Sunday's game and we could see a lot of rookie Brandon Burton for once.

Vikings face "to win or not to win" dilemma against Bears

2011-12-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Bears

Well, we've reached the end of our nightmare Vikings fans. The 2011 season has featured more lowlights than I care to rehash here. Very little went right for the organization. With 12 losses and counting, this squad will go down as one of the worst in team history. The acquisition of Donovan McNabb blew up in the team's face. Chris Cook allegedly tried to choke his girlfriend. Adrian Peterson's wrecked his left knee, an injury that could result in him being a shadow of the gamebreaking player he was just six days ago. And the team's future was not resolved as the high stakes game of stadium poker between the Wilf's and the State of Minnesota dragged on and on.

In another cruel twist of fate, the Chicago Bears will start Josh McCown at quarterback on Sunday. You might remember him from the starring role he played in one of those "punched in the gut" moments the Vikings specialize in.

But I'm not here to scratch at old sores. Actually, McCown has the opportunity to do the Vikings a solid in this contest if he plays well. He did not embarrass himself last week against the Packers. Playing against a Vikings defence that struggles even more than the Packers do to defend the forward pass, it's easy to envision that McCown will at least equal, and maybe even better, his passing totals from last week.

If he can do that, that helps the Bears beat the Vikings. And a Vikings loss will benefit the greater good, which is securing a top three draft pick in next April's college draft. This week, the Daily Norseman outlined how the whole draft slot scenario could play out for the Vikings. I won't be rooting for the Vikings to lose come Sunday – a loss to Chicago under any circumstance never sits well with me – but let's just say I won't be disappointed if on Sunday evening the Vikings are in position to draft Matt Kalil or Morris Claiborne.

The best-case scenario for Sunday's game from a Vikings perspective is that they lose, but it's a close game and the defence is to blame for that loss. This unit really doesn't have any young players Viking diehards are counting on to be the cornerstones of a turnaround. So if the defence stinks against a Bears offence sans Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, I'm not going into the offseason discouraged.

The Vikings offence is another matter, however. After a season of struggling to move the ball and score points, the unit has shown signs of life lately, scoring no less than 28 points in three of the last four games. But if rookie quarterback Christian Ponder hands out interceptions like candy and second-year running back Toby Gerhart gets stuffed by Chicago's defence, panic will settle in quickly for Vikings fans because where's the hope then?

So here are my benchmarks for a successful day at the Metrodome against the Bears:

– The Vikings lose 35-33.

– Ponder goes 20-28 for 220 (or more) yards, two touchdown passes and no picks.

– Gerhart rumbles for 85-100 yards on 20 to 25 carries.

– Rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph, who Football Outsiders writer Mike Tanier chose this week to his NFL All Rookie team, has his best game as a pro. His game high for catches is three and for yards it's 44. So I'm looking for him to catch five catches for 65 yards and haul in a touchdown on a fade from Ponder.

– Veteran tight end Jim Kleinsasser, who is retiring after Sunday's game, catches two passes (a season high) and scores a touchdown.

– Finally, I don't care if defensive end Jared Allen breaks Michael Strahan's sack record, but I would like to see Allen reach 20 sacks. It's extremely difficult to get even 10 sacks in today's NFL with the way quarterbacks get rid of the ball so quickly. In a year where so much went wrong, Allen has played as well as any defensive lineman has played, ever. He's been a pleasure to watch.

So who wins this game? The 2011 Vikings have been very consistent in one area this season. When you need them to do something, they usually fail to do it. And in a game where they need to lose, I have a feeling they won't oblige one last time.

Kiss goodbye the number three overall pick – and the opportunity to select Kalil or Claiborne.

Vikings 27 Bears 17

Vikings should look to soon-to-be-fired Spagnuolo to take over defence

2011-12-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

It seems pretty much a done deal that Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier will fire defensive coordinator Fred Pagac and perhaps the rest of the staff on that side of the ball – except for his good buddy, linebackers coach Mike Singletary.

That's what happens when your defence gives up an average of 28.8 points per game (31st in the NFL), 260 passing yards per game (29th in the league) and your run defence – 108 yards per game (12th overall) has fallen out of the top 10 in that category for the first time in recent memory.

But whom should the Vikings target to replace Pagac? The guy Frazier and vice-president of player personnel Rick Spielman should have on speed dial is Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who is expected to be fired after St. Louis' season ends on Sunday.

Although I have read that Spagnuolo – if he is canned in St. Louis – will run back into the waiting arms of his old employer, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Vikings should at least make a strong pitch for his services if he's available. In 2008, his last year as the Giants defensive coordinator, the G-Men had the fifth-best defence in the league.

Scribes like ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero have been beating the "Vikings should switch to the 3-4" drum somewhat this season. But as I've argued in the past, Minnesota's defensive struggles are talent-based, not 4-3-based. And with your best defensive player stating he's got no interest in becoming a pass-rushing linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, the team would have a tough time selling the switch to an already grumbling fan base.

However, if the Vikings are going to stick with the 4-3 system, they do need to shake up how they run it (and get some better safeties, cornerbacks and linebackers). The Vikings do have some talent on defence – Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Brian Robison, Everson Griffen, Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield. But they also need a coordinator who can get the most out of them and design ways to free them up to make big plays.

Spagnuolo was able to do that with the Giants. I think he could do it with the Vikings. What we don't know is if the Vikings would be interested in Spagnuolo, and if Spagnuolo would be interested in the Vikings.

What Grant's Tomb was reading – Dec. 27, 2011

2011-12-27T23:28:00.000-08:00

A few links to Vikings-centric stories for you today, plus some commentary by me.

* The National Football Post's Andrew Brandt had an excellent piece on the financial decision the Vikings will have on their hands in 2013 in the wake of Adrian Peterson's severe knee injury.

Brandt makes a great point in this post. The contract extension Peterson signed this summer could end his career with the Vikings prematurely – assuming he is able to play again. That's because NFL management can't afford to be sentimental with the hired help. Since entering the league in 2007, Peterson has been an elite player, one of the NFL's biggest stars, the face of the Vikings franchise and a model citizen off the field. Those attributes are certainly worth a lot. But if the Vikings are paying Peterson elite running back money in 2013 when he is no longer elite, then – as Brandt points out – they have a problem. You can't be paying a good running back $11.25 million a year. If, in 2013, Peterson is merely good instead of great, he will have to agree to a pay cut to stay with the Vikings or get cut and shop his wares somewhere else. I hope it doesn't come to that.

* For a bit of good news about Peterson, check out Peter King's Christmas Day edition (scroll down the page a bit) of his regular "Monday Morning Quarterback" column where injury guru Will Carroll emailed King and wrote that ""There's no reason to believe Peterson won't be able to come back at or near the same level."

* More Peterson injury news. I'll link to two different views on Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier's decision to play Peterson on Sunday. Christopher Gates of the Daily Norseman has his opinion (he thinks the people who are crying about Peterson playing in this game are silly). But Vikes Geek has an opposing view.

I side with Gates on this one. I enjoy Vikes Geek's commentary, but he's often the king of 20-20 hindsight. The Washington game has been meaningless for weeks now, yet I didn't read any NFL expert or Vikings blogger hollering loudly prior to this game that Peterson should sit it out. But now that he's suffered a potentially career-altering injury, naturally you have people saying they would have done things differently.

* I'm torn about Christian Ponder's availability for the season finale against the Chicago Bears. I think it's somewhat important that Ponder get one last shot to have a good showing in his rookie season, especially now that plenty of people are no longer drinking the Ponder Kool-Aid. It would be nice for him to head into the offseason on a positive note.

But I'd also like to see Joe Webb – who has been dynamite in relief of Ponder – play a full game. I've got serious reservations that Webb can be a successful NFL quarterback. So I'd like to see how he does when the opponent is gameplanning for him – like the Bears should be this week. If he starts and plays well, the Vikings will probably have a bit of a QB controversy on their hands. I think that's good though. The better Webb plays, the more it pushes Ponder to be better and the more Webb's (and maybe Ponder's) trade value goes up. The Vikes need to look at the assets they have that are expendable and how they can turn them into other assets that can fill the numerous holes this team has. And there is no asset in football more valuable than a quarterback another team thinks is good – unless you have two quarterbacks another team thinks are good.

* On Tuesday the NFL's Pro Bowl selections were announced and Vikings defensive end Jared Allen was the only Minnesota player to be named to the team.

But in a column assessing the Pro Bowl selections, CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco writes that linebacker Chad Greenway and center John Sullivan "just missed" making his Pro Bowl team. In the case of Greenway, good Lord, what Vikings games has Prisco been watching? Yes, Greenway has a ton of tackles, but anyone who has watched him each and every week knows he's had a poor year by his standards.

On Boxing Day, have the Vikings resolved their stadium issues?

2011-12-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

While the Vikings beat reporters were napping after eating their turkey feasts on Christmas Day, NBC and Sports Illustrated's Peter King scooped them on the biggest story of the year for the franchise – revealing the Vikings might be close to a deal that will bag them a new stadium.

King's pretty well connected, so chances are good there is something to this story. And if this turns out to be true, it's obviously great news for all Vikings fans. It would also be great news for owner Zygi Wilf. Instead of having to focus on where the team will be playing beyond 2011, he can rest easier and turn his attention to on-field matters, of which the Vikings have several pressing matters.

Does Adrian Peterson's injury change the Vikings draft plans?

ESPN's NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert was quick to weigh in on the impact of Adrian Peterson's season (possibly career?) ending knee injury.

In the post, Seifert writes that "of all the issues the Vikings had on their plate this offseason, the running back position wasn't one of them. Now it might be their most pressing."

I'm a big fan of Seifert. But is running back now the Vikings most pressing need? Let's look at this issue with a clear head.

* First, let's consider the Vikings offensive performance in the five games that Peterson was basically out of the lineup for the entire game or large portions of the game. The Vikes scored 21 points against Oakland, 32 points against Denver, 28 against Detroit and 33 against Washington, plus a measly 14 against Atlanta. That's average of 25.6 points per game. In the 10 games that Peterson was healthy and playing, the Vikings averaged 19.9 points per game. It's a small sample size, but it doesn't seem like the Vikings offence suffered when it lost its best running back.

* Let's also consider that a team's running attack is often a function of how effective its offensive line is. If that unit is opening up running lanes, a running back is going to be effective. And it doesn't hurt if the team's quarterback can stay upright and complete a forward pass or two each game. But you need a strong offensive line to accomplish those things and the Vikings currently don't have that. Which is why drafting a franchise left tackle like USC's Matt Kalil early is more pressing than drafting a running back.

* Speaking of the Vikings offensive performance, the unit has been hamstrung for two seasons now because it doesn't have a viable passing attack that can take advantage of team's that crowd the line of scrimmage to stop Peterson. Opposing defences can do this because outside of Percy Harvin, the Vikes haven't had a single wideout who can beat the coverage of quality NFL cornerbacks consistently. The NFL is now a passing league. That makes finding someone to help Harvin, and quarterback Christian Ponder, more pressing than finding a replacement for Peterson.

* Another obvious problem the Vikings have had this season is that the squad's defence has immense trouble stopping teams who can throw the ball. That's had an impact on the squad's running game because it has limited the amount of touches Peterson has been able to get. When the other team is marching the ball up and down the field, your own offence doesn't have the ball and you can't hand the ball off to your superstar running back. Even with the loss of Peterson, the Vikings secondary is in worse shape than its running back situation. They have to fix that when they play in a division where Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler are starting QBs. That also makes drafting a cornerback early much more pressing than drafting a running back.

* Finally, we have to at least acknowledge that the Vikes have a capable replacement already on the roster – Toby Gerhart. No, he's not as explosive or anywhere near the gamebreaker that Peterson is. But despite playing with a weak offensive line, an even weaker group of wide receivers and a mistake-prone rookie QB, Gerhart averaged 83.5 yards on 17 carries a game during the five games Peterson missed significant playing time. That's an average of 4.9 yards per carry. I'd say that is pretty solid production from Gerhart, who has shown he is a capable pass catcher as well. Gerhart also looks like he's added about 15 to 20 pounds of muscle mass since his rookie season. He's a horse who can handle 25 carries per game. If he stays healthy, the Vikings are okay, perhaps even better than okay, here.

Couple all these factors with the fact that teams often find productive running backs in the latter rounds of the draft or as undrafted free agents – like Chicago's Kahlil Bell (Minnesota cut this guy in 2009), who ran with authority and vision against Green Bay Sunday night on his way to rushing for 121 yards – and drafting a running back early next April should not be front-of-mind for Vikings draft gurus Scott Studwell and Rick Spielman.

Even when the Vikings win in 2011, they lose

2011-12-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

Just when you think 2011 can't get any worse for the Minnesota Vikings, this happens.

Normally when the Vikings are victorious, it's a happy time for me. But when that piece of shit Dejon Gomes crashed his helmet into Adrian Peterson's left knee in a game the Vikes would eventually win 33-26 over Washington, any joy from this win washed away quickly.

During my lifetime as a Vikings fan, I've been able to witness two once-in-a-lifetime talents play for my favourite team. These are players, much like Michael Jordan or Jim Brown, who could do things no one else could do. Those two guys were Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson.

So to read that Peterson has torn his anterior cruciate ligament – and according to ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero, his medial collateral ligament as well – makes Sunday, December 24 the darkest day of an already dark 2011 season.

There were some other aspects of this game worth mentioning, and I plan on getting to them this weekend. But the fact we might not see anymore of these type of breathtaking plays from Peterson because of this knee injury makes me very, very sad.

Vikings continue race to the bottom against Washington

2011-12-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Washington

For readers looking for insight into the Vikings opponent on Saturday, please read Sam Monson's scouting report on Washington.

At one point, this looked like a game the Vikings had a chance to win. But no more. Washington beat the New York Giants on the road last week and gave the New England Patriots all they could handle the week before. They are playing much better than the Vikings at this point in the season. And even though Washington has Rex Grossman at quarterback, Sir Rex could very well carve up this Vikings secondary.

But Indianapolis' 19-16 win over Houston makes a Vikings victory even more irrelevant than ever. This team now has a legitimate shot at claiming the number one overall pick in April's college draft. That will be a valuable chip to have, as quarterback-starved teams will be looking for someway to land Standford quarterback Andrew Luck. They will probably be willing to pay a handsome price for getting the top pick from whatever franchise – Minnesota, Indy or St. Louis – has it.

But back to Saturday's game. What's important for the Vikings if the score ultimately isn't?

Obviously it would be nice if Christian Ponder showed some level of competency after putting up two stinkers in a row. But the suggestion this week that the Vikings might be having second thoughts about Ponder as their QB of the future is ridiculous.

As a rookie, playing behind the offensive line and the wide receivers the Vikings currently have, it would be tough for anyone to excel. The fact Ponder's been able to have some good games with the talent he's been given to work with suggests he has the stuff to be successful. What he needs to do now is make better decisions on where he's throwing the football and be more accurate with the throws he makes. I'd like to see some progress in that regard Saturday against Washington.

Besides Ponder, I'm mostly interested in seeing how the Vikings perform after playing so horribly at home against New Orleans last weekend. Another listless, uninspired effort won't give me much confidence that Leslie Frazier is the right man to lead us out of this dark age of Vikings football.

The performance of the members of the Vikings 2011 draft class is also worth keeping an eye on. When you are a 2-12 football team, as Minnesota is, you want to get excited about the young talent you have on the roster. They are the ones who should be the foundation of this franchise's rebuilding effort.

But the 2011 draft class hasn't shown much thus far. Ponder's been up and (mostly) down. Tight end Kyle Rudolph has been okay, but has only 21 catches despite receiving a fair bit of snaps. Defensive lineman Christian Ballard plays but doesn't do anything with the playing time. Mistral Raymond and Brandon Burton are only playing because the Vikings have nobody else that can. As for Brandon Fusco, DeMarcus Love and D'Aundre Reed, they are always inactive.

If these guys are the future of the Vikings, I'm afraid it's going to look a lot like the present.

Washington 27 Vikings 14

More Draft Talk

While the Colts victory over the Texans is a positive development for the Vikings draft, USC quarterback Matt Barkley's decision not to enter April's draft is a negative one.

Barkley figured to be a hot commodity among teams like Washington and Miami who need a quarterback and would be willing to trade up in the first round to get one. The Vikings could have been a potential dance partner with a pick in the top three. But with Barkley out of the mix, will the trade market dry up? It certainly will if Baylor's Robert Griffin III decides to stay in school.

How best to utilize Joe Webb still an unsolved puzzle for Vikings

2011-12-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

Last week ESPN bloggers Tom Pelissero and Kevin Seifert weighed in on how the Minnesota Vikings had to find a way to make use of backup quarterback Joe Webb's athletic gifts (You can read both posts here and here.)

It's a difficult situation for the Vikings. The "Blazer" package designed to showcase Webb's talents has been a colossal bust – partly because the Vikings offence isn't good enough to sustain drives and give the team more opportunities to run it.

But it's mostly been a failure because the team isn't committed to it like Miami was with the Wildcat a few seasons ago. The Dolphins got good at the Wildcat because they ran it all the time and the system's occasional negative plays were more than balanced out by the positive ones. But the Vikings only dabble in the Blazer package. It isn't their offensive philosophy. And most of the time Webb only gets one or two plays per game to run the thing. When the Blazer predictably gains minimal yardage, the Vikings abandon it, and Webb heads back to the sidelines.

In last Sunday's loss to New Orleans, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave looked like he was intent on giving Webb more opportunities to play than usual. Unfortunately, the Vikings were more incompetent than usual on offence, so that didn't work out very well.

But the Vikings have two games left in the season and neither of them mean much. It's time to do some unorthodox stuff. You don't want to jerk around rookie starter Christian Ponder and disrupt his rhythm after two lousy games, but would it kill Musgrave to experiment with giving Webb at least one offensive series each half, just to see how much it screws up the Washington and Chicago defensive units in the final two games?

Maybe a little game of rotating quarterbacks would work. If it does it could give the Vikings some ideas or concepts on how to make Webb an effective weapon rather than the novelty act he is now.

If you had to list the best athletes on the Vikings, Webb would probably beat out Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin for top spot. As has been written previously by Seifert and Pelissero, it's in the team's best interest to find a way to make use of Webb.

Vikings links
Here are some of the more interesting Vikings-related stories I found on the Internet today.

* Pelissero gives his weekly grades for the Vikings, after reviewing the game tape from Sunday's 42-20 loss to New Orleans. It's painful reading.

* ESPN 1500 colleague Judd Zulgad has the first story on cornerback Chris Cook in a while. The theme of this piece – the handling of Cook has created more discord among the Viking players.

* The National Football Post's Andrew Brandt has an interesting article on what it takes to build a successful NFL organization. While you are reading this, ask yourself where the Vikings fit under Brandt's criteria.

* Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier still insists his team's offence will revolve around the running game, but Access Vikings writer Mark Craig doesn't think that's a wise idea.

Vikings look bad – real bad – in getting pasted by the Saints

2011-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

When you get flogged like the Minnesota Vikings did Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, people start talking. Adrian Peterson talked about not being happy with his playing time. Head Coach Leslie Frazier talked about still believing in struggling rookie quarterback Christian Ponder. And the people who are paid to cover the Vikings for a living are starting to talk about what future Frazier might have with the team beyond the final two games of this season.

The Vikings played terrible today. They looked helpless in coming up with any way to stop Drew Brees and Saints offence. But that was somewhat expected. At least there was some hope that the Vikings offence – after scoring 60 points in its last two games – could build on that progress in this game and provide the fan base with some hope.

It did not happen. Ponder looked completely confused by what the Saints were doing to him defensively. He had jumpy feet, missed badly on the few receivers that did get open and appeared afraid to throw anything into the middle of the field.

The Vikings "quarterback of the future" is going the wrong way as the team shuffles towards the finish line of the 2011 season. Sadly, he's got plenty of company. Witness the play of:

Chad Greenway
What has happened to this guy? He hasn't made a play in weeks.

Mistral Raymond
Because of injuries, Raymond is starting at safety out of necessity, but that doesn't change the fact he's been pretty much invisible while he's out there. Jared Allen talked after the game about guys playing scared. Raymond sure looks like one of those guys to me.

Brian Robison
After a strong start to the season, Robison has only a sack-and-a-half in his last eight games. And his run defence has been no hell either.

Jamarca Sanford
Sanford is a fine special teams player, but as a starting NFL safety, he couldn't cover Chaz Bono.

The Vikings offensive line
Yes, center John Sullivan got himself a nice contract extension this week, but as a group this starting fivesome consisting of Sullivan, Charlie Johnson, Steve Hutchinson, Anthony Herrera and Phil Loadholt continue to depress. No wonder Ponder has happy feet back there.

After watching this debacle on Sunday, I'm in a very dark place as a Vikings fan. The franchise seems a long way from being even a competent NFL team. The Saints were laughing at them on the sidelines today, all smiles, laughs and cockiness. The Metrodome was the quietest I've heard it in years. Was this franchise really in the NFC championship game just two years ago?

Good news – Matt Kalil is entering the draft (I think)

2011-12-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

There were some reports last week that standout USC left tackle Matt Kalil would not enter next April's NFL draft. That would have been bad news for a 2-11 Minnesota Vikings team that is in desperate need of a blindside protector for last year's first round pick – quarterback Christian Ponder.

Now the reports are saying the opposite – Kalil will enter the draft after all. The Vikings might not get a chance to select Kalil (the St. Louis Rams have been keeping pace with the Vikes in the loss department and currently hold the second overall pick), but at least with Kalil in the draft mix, they have a shot.

And looking at the photo of Kalil that accompanies the post I've linked to above, this guy doesn't look like your typical offensive lineman with a big gut. He looks pretty cut for a big man. If he weren't an offensive lineman, you'd almost think he was an athlete.

Oh yeah, I'll have a Friday Vikings – Saints preview post up at some point.

Ponder's benching more noteworthy than Vikings 11th loss of the season

2011-12-11T17:47:00.001-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings have become the NFL's Detroit Lions. Not this year's Lions, who go to 8-5 with a 34-28 win over the Vikes, but those lovable losers from 2001 to 2010.

Like those Detroit teams, the 2011 Vikings can't get out of their own way, are often coached incompetently, have a losing culture and find new ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. About the only difference I see is that, faced with a similar 21-0 deficit on the road, the Lions of yore would have folded the tent and lost by 40 or more. At least these Vikings made a game of it. But that says more about the paper Lions than it does about the Vikes.

The raw numbers are hard to believe. The Vikings had 425 net yards to Detroit's 280. They had 29 first downs to Detroit's 13. They rushed for 269 yards and only took five penalties (for 37 yards) compared to the Lions 10 for 76. But they also had six (six!) turnovers and gave Detroit 24 easy points.

Yes, there are some things that a Vikings fan can take solace from in this game – Joe Webb's courageous work in relief of a struggling Christian Ponder, Toby Gerhart's pounding running style and Jared Allen's non-stop effort – but a loss is still a loss, the Vikings are still a 2-11 football team and they are starting to resemble a squad that expects bad things to happen. That can be a difficult vibe to shake once it's taken root, and it has for this group of players. I can only hope the Vikings aren't sinking into a long spell of putridity – like the Lions of 2001-2010.

Pulling Ponder
You can pin this loss largely on Ponder's poor decisions and four turnovers. But as we acknowledge that, I still question the decision to bench Ponder in favor of Webb. In this post by ESPN 1500's Tom Peliserro, Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier says the move was based on Ponder's play, not his health.

The move worked out and Webb played reasonably well, but if the whole point of playing Ponder is for him to gain experience and learn on the job, then stewing on the sidelines after being yanked (he looked pissed) isn't going to get that done. If he is going to be a successful NFL quarterback, he's got to be able to rally and overcome challenges – like games where he's thrown three interceptions. He didn't get that chance against Detroit. At least we learned Webb has made some progress from last year.

Why I'd like Adrian Peterson to take a seat against Detroit

2011-12-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

I meant to link to this Access Vikings post by Dan Wiederer earlier in the week where Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson and Vikings great Chuck Foreman got into a discussion about whether Peterson should return from his high ankle sprain this Sunday.

Foreman was dead set against it, and even with Peterson now saying he's "80 per cent", I'd be happy to see him sit out against the Lions this Sunday as well. The reason is obvious enough. Why come back when you're not 100 per cent (or close to it), your team is 2-10 and you're playing a squad that's perceived as dirty?

Another week on the sidelines won't hurt the Vikings or Peterson. It also gives the team some more time to see what Toby Gerhart is like as the featured back. (For the record, when Gerhart gets some daylight, I enjoy watching him boll over a defender or three. He punishes defenders.)

I grimace when I hear Peterson talk like he did yesterday in this ESPN 1500 post by Tom Pelissero. But with Pelissero and his colleague Judd Zulgad wondering of late why the Vikings would play Peterson again in a lost season, they have to understand there is more at play here than the common good.

As Peterson points out in Pelissero's piece, he wants to rush for 1,000 yards again and he can't do that on the sidelines in street clothes. There are also monetary reasons why Peterson would want to get back in the lineup. He probably gets bonuses for reaching a 1,000 yards and earning a Pro Bowl berth.

My guess is we will see Peterson suiting up on Sunday. I hope Christian Ponder is feeling up to it as well.

Can the Vikings beat the Lions on Sunday? Nope

2011-12-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Lions

Okay, the Vikings are not going to win this game. It's just a matter of how much they are going to lose by. And it could be more than normal if Christian Ponder isn't able to play Sunday. So there is no need to do any kind of analysis of this game.

Do you realize this should be the first sweep of the Vikings by Detroit since 1997?

Lions 31 - Vikings 17

So what are we watching for?

You know, there are still reasons for a diehard to watch the 2-10 Minnesota Vikings. Here is what I'll be paying attention to on Sunday.

Christian Ponder and Joe Webb:
I'll be disappointed if Ponder's hip pointer keeps him out of this game. Even without Ndamukong Suh, the Lions have a strong defensive line. They will be a good test for Ponder if he plays.

On the road, against a team playing for a playoff spot for the first time in a long time – this is a great developmental opportunity for Ponder. However, if he can't play, then it's a great developmental opportunity for Webb.

I gotta say, I get a buzz whenever Webb steps on the field. He's such a great athlete, I'm always anxious to see what he will pull off. Still, I haven't seen a great deal of evidence that he can be an effective NFL quarterback. But if he starts Sunday and can show something, it's gravy for the Vikings. The more Webb flashes as a QB, the more valuable he is as trade bait. The Vikes need draft picks over the next couple of years to rebuild the team - lots of them. Maybe Webb can bring them one in a trade.

Stephen Burton:
Burton only caught two passes against Denver last week. But one went for 21 yards and the other for 17. Considering it was the first time he got meaningful snaps on offence all year, I was encouraged.

Burton's a big guy (6'1, 224 pounds) from a small school. Besides Percy Harvin, the Vikings really haven't had much luck developing their own wide receivers. And the ones they have found – Nate Burleson and Sidney Rice – have been lost in free agency. Burton could be a diamond in the rough.

Chad Greenway:
Look, I don't care how much Greenway signed for this year. He's always been a good, sometimes very good, player for the Vikings and as long as he kept playing that way for the five years of his contract, I was going to be happy.

Unfortunately, Greenway hasn't been playing that way this season. He does have 110 tackles this year, but the impact plays have been very few. His performance last week against the Broncos was a microcosm of his entire season – missed tackles, getting wiped out on blocks, getting beat on pass coverage. I don't think Greenway has lost any skills (he's only 28), but it would be nice to see him have a bounce-back game against the Lions.

Jared Allen:
Allen isn't going to break Michael Strahan's sack record. He does have a shot at 20 sacks, an impressive feat in itself. It's been a magnificent season for Allen even if it's been a miserable one for the Vikings. Allen always gives you your money's worth.

Reusse takes odd stance in Leslie Frazier column

2011-12-07T21:46:00.001-08:00

I usually enjoy Star Tribune and ESPN 1500 columnist Patrick Reusse's contrarian writing. But his Wednesday column about the foolhardiness of Zygi and Mark Wilf in hiring Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier seems a bit off.

Reusse's premise is good, pointing out that the Wilf's haven't been very thorough when interviewing prospective head coaches nor have they been patient with the ones they have chosen. Reusse's thinks the Wilf's erred in hiring (and then firing) Brad Childress. He also suggests Frazier might be their worst hire yet, calling him "overmatched."

But in making this assessment, Reusse seems to be contradicting his own thesis – that the Wilf's need to be patient with the head coaches they hire. If that's his point, shouldn't he give Frazier more than a season in the job before suggesting he's the second coming of Les Steckel?

Stadium Chatter
So the Vikings stadium mouthpiece, Lester Bagley, let it "slip" Tuesday that another city besides Los Angeles has approached the owners about the Vikings leaving Minnesota.

If this sounds like a thinly veiled threat as talks heated up this week about where a future home for the Vikings should be located and whom should be paying for it, that's because it is.

The more suitors the Wilf's have for the Vikings, the more leverage they'll have as they try to get the stadium deal they want, rather than the deal legislators or the public wants. For month's there's been no mention of any other city having approached the Vikings other than Los Angeles. Now there's this mystery city, whose identity Bagley (naturally) won't reveal. This was a calculated slip by Bagley and the Wilf's. But I don't think Minnesota residents will appreciate it much.

Bill Musgrave – offensive mastermind
Football Outsiders' Mike Tanier didn't think much of a couple of plays the Vikings ran against Denver last Sunday in his weekly "Walkthrough" column (scroll down to the last item in the column to read the section.)

Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave – presumably the author of these play calls – isn't mentioned, but no matter. Vikings fans know who their coordinator is. Tanier wonders why Percy Harvin wasn't on the field as the Vikings had a first-and-10 deep in Broncos territory as they were driving for the winning score. I've been wondering why Harvin's been on the sideline a lot of times this year. It really is perplexing. Just as perplexing as these plays Musgrave drew up.

Rosenfels could be a decent insurance policy for Vikings in 2012

2011-12-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

A nice article by ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad on the return of Sage Rosenfels today. I like the inside dirt about ex-Vikings head coach Brad Childress burying Rosenfels on the bench behind Tarvaris Jackson despite the fact director of player personnel Rick Spielman traded for Rosenfels and favored him over Jackson.

Rosenfels also says a lot of interesting things in the piece about his professional journey the past couple of years and his current role with the Vikings.

I'm pretty sure a veteran like Rosenfels doesn't want to be a third stringer next year, and you would think somebody (Seattle? Cleveland? Chicago?) could use a guy who has shown he can be a quality backup, but Rosenfels would be a great fit in 2012 as a third-string mentor in Minnesota.

He's a guy who isn't going to sulk if he isn't playing. He's been around the league a while, so he'd have a lot to teach Christian Ponder and Joe Webb. And if Ponder is hurt for an extended period and something similar happens to Webb, or he's ineffective (a distinct possibility), Rosenfels has had success in the league as a starter. I would like to see him back next year.

* I haven't paid much attention to what's going on with the Vikings stadium smozzle – I can't keep track of it all. But this Pioneer Press story caught my eye.

I haven't allowed myself to think what my NFL football experience would be like if the Vikings moved to another city – although during seasons like this one I fantasize often about what it would be like to not be emotionally invested in a team. I know I couldn't cheer for the relocated Vikings or whatever they would be called. And I probably couldn't get behind any new team in Minnesota that wasn't called the Vikings. It would be different.

* The National Football Post's Matt Bowen breaks down how Denver's Tim Tebow beat the Vikings Cover 2 on Sunday. As one of the commentors who responsed to the piece noted, you don't need to have played six seasons in the NFL – as Bowen did – to figure out how Tebow could go 10-15, throw for over 200 yards and post a quarterback rating of 149.3 against this team. There are four reasons Tebow was able to do what he did Sunday, and their names are Griffin, Sanford, Sapp and Raymond.

* Sam Monson gives us his weekly tape breakdown of the Vikings next opponent – the Detroit Lions. Calvin Johnson could very well set a world record for catches and receiving yards in this game.

* Finally, ESPN 1500's Tom Peliserro gives out his weekly grades for the Vikings positional units.

Cedric Griffin's struggles could put cornerback at the top of Vikings draft wish list

2011-12-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

ESPN's Kevin Seifert posted about the Vikings current draft position today. If you believe the Vikings could lose their remaining four games, and many people do (although the season finale against Chicago could be interesting if Caleb Hanie is the Bears quarterback), that puts them in prime position to draft no lower than third overall.

And if you also believe the Indianapolis Colts are going to finish with the league's worst record and will pick Standford QB Andrew Luck first overall, the Vikings are in prime position to grab the top-rated player at any of the three positions where they have the greatest needs – left tackle, cornerback and wide receiver.

I've been thinking all season that the Vikings need to take a left tackle with their first round pick this April, but Judd Zulgad's piece today about cornerback Cedric Griffin's plight makes me think the team might want to grab a top cornerback like LSU's Morris Claiborne instead.

Although Zulgad lays it out pretty well in the piece I've linked to above, it's clear the Vikings cornerback situation is in a shambles. The team certainly isn't going to keep Griffin around at his current salary and production. Antoine Winfield can still play, but staying healthy for a full season is a major concern at his age. We don't know what plans the Vikings, the NFL or the legal system have for troubled Chris Cook. Also, everything I've ever read about and seen with my own eyes in regards to Asher Allen screams dime player.

The Vikings can get by with their defensive line right now, which is actually a pretty decent unit. The linebackers, especially Chad Greenway, can't be as bad as they've looked the past few weeks. But in a division with Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler starting at quarterback and receivers like Greg Jennings (beast), Calvin Johnson (beast-and-a-half) and even guys like Earl Bennett, Jordy Nelson and Nate Burleson, you can't beat your divisional foes when your corners are either a) old b) replacement level or c) on trial.

So forget left tackle for now (maybe draft one in round two), the Vikings need a cornerback. Or three.

Vikings lose, and how about that defence?

2011-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, some entertaining football was played today at the Metrodome as the Vikings lost to Denver 35-32. I just don’t think it was good football. I’ll get to Christian Ponder’s play in a bit, but first a few words about Minnesota’s defensive performance in the second half.

I don’t know what happened. The unit had a standout first half. It stuffed the run, kept Denver quarterback Tim Tebow contained in the pocket and made the Broncos offence look like a high school outfit. In the second half, it was the other way around. It’s not like Denver did anything different, either. But the Vikings defence couldn’t tackle. Denver running back Willis McGahee – who’s not the most explosive guy anymore – made big runs with simple jump cuts and reversing direction. Then some blown coverages allowed Tebow to make some big (but pretty easy) throws. It was a mess.

We all know Ponder’s gift interception on the last Vikings drive set up Denver’s winning field goal, but I pin the blame for this loss much more on the Vikings D. The defensive line couldn’t get any penetration or get off any blocks. Linebackers Chad Greenway, E.J. Henderson and Erin Henderson were garbage – getting washed out on running play after running play, even though they knew what was coming, and they were unable to make the initial tackle when they had to.

Jamarca Sanford also proved he’s a very good special teams player, but that’s it. What a terrible game he had. He was juked out of his pants on the 41-yard catch and run touchdown by Demaryius Thomas and a 24-yard touchdown run by McGahee. It also looked like he made wrong reads on Thomas’ 21-yard touchdown catch on the Broncos first drive of the second half and the 42-yard catch Thomas had that set up McGahee’s 24-yard touchdown that tied the score at 29-29. Even with the injuries the Vikings secondary has, Sanford should no longer be alowed to start. Is Jarrad Page ready to play?

We all know the Vikings are playing shorthanded on defence (as well as offence), but you wonder what the future holds for defenisive coordinator Fred Pagac, and maybe even head coach Leslie Frazier. The unit plays pretty hard, but it doesn’t play very well. It's play in today's second half had to be an embarrassment. Maybe it’s not just the players that have to go.

Now for the Vikings offence.

On Friday I wrote that Ponder needed to have a breakout game to ease my doubts about his play of late. This could have been that kind of game – except for the turnovers. For all the good things he did in this one, and there were many, his turnovers of late are starting to kill the Vikings.

I like the kid, but the strip fumble by safety Brian Dawkins deep inside Denver territory can’t happen. I also don’t know what he was looking at on the pick six he threw to the Broncos Mario Haggan. Fox color guy Brian Billick felt Ponder didn’t see him – and he obviously didn’t – but he should have. It’s not like Haggan was hiding somewhere.

The late interception to Andre Goodman was a case of being tricked by the coverage. Teams have enough tape on Ponder now to know what he likes to do and to play off of that. And he’s shown he struggles when the Vikings get deep in an opponent’s territory. That’s partly the result of the personnel he has around him, but it’s also on him. It is impressive that Ponder could throw for 381 yards with the receivers he had at his disposal on Sunday. Still, he can’t turn the ball over three times and help his team win games.

Some other comments on the loss:

* Percy Harvin is pretty good, and the Vikings most valuable player this season. So how come every time he makes a catch or a run, he gets taken out of the game? The man’s in great shape, albeit a bit banged up. But I’d rather have a slightly winded Harvin in the game than a fresh Greg Camarillo.

* I couldn’t agree more with Fox play-by-play guy Thom Brennaman’s criticism of the Vikings personnel alignment on the first-and-six call with eight seconds left in the first half. Rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph is a guy who has shown he can catch jump balls in a crowd and he's standing on the sidelines. And not having Percy Harvin on the field when you need a touchdown is just madness.

* I thought the Vikings offensive line played very well in the second half after a typical lackluster first half. They opened creases for Toby Gerhart (21 carries for 91 yards) and gave Ponder a clean pocket on his many passes. It was the unit's best half this season.

* Biggest surprise of the day: Devin Aromashodu actually doing something. The Vikings need somebody besides Percy Harvin to make a play in the pass game. Aromashodu did that today (six catches for 90 yards.) I just don’t expect it to become a habit.

* Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave should consider using Rudolph on fades when the team is inside the 10-yard line. Rudolph’s not a shifty guy, but he’s bigger than any defender that will be covering him and as we saw on the 19-yard touchdown pass from Ponder, his hands are like Velcro.

* Fullback Ryan D'Imperio is growing on me. He's making some good lead blocks for Gerhart and he can catch whatever is thrown his way. He plays well on special teams as well.

Vikings more interesting off the field than on it

2011-12-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Broncos

What a week. The Vikings placed four guys on the injured reserve, including starters Michael Jenkins and Husain Abdullah. Then they released Donovan McNabb. Then they put in a waiver claim on ex-Viking quarterback Sage Rosenfels and got him. And now the Vikings offence (i.e. Percy Harvin) is questionable for Sunday's game.

With all of this going on, the Vikings still have to play the Denver Broncos at home on Sunday. The Broncos are 5-1 since Tim Tebow took over as the starting QB. He's only completing 45.5 per cent of his passes, but he's also thrown just one interception compared to eight touchdown passes and he's averaging 5.8 yards a carry.

But I'm not worried about Tebow and the Broncos old-school offensive system as much as how the Vikings are going to move the ball against a Denver defence that's given up no more than 13 points in the last three games.

With Toby Gerhart starting for an injured Adrian Peterson at running back, Harvin questionable and the Vikings forced to run out Stephen Burton and Greg Camarillo at wide receiver, the Vikings don't have many offensive weapons. Maybe Minnesota should run the option on Sunday. I bet rookie quarterback Christian Ponder would be good at it.

Broncos 20 – Vikings 7

News and Notes

* It's early, but I'm a bit concerned about the accuracy of Ponder. Coming out of Florida State I had read he was a smart, accurate passer with decent arm strength. So far, it looks like his arm is stronger than advertised, but he's only completed 54.4 per cent of his passes. Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of a brutal offensive line and a pedestrian group of wideouts, but how much of it is on Ponder – a little, some, a lot? He needs to have a breakout game against Denver to erase some doubts for me.

* The Vikings could end up with the worst record in franchise history, but they won't be the lousiest team ever, writes Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere.

* ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad doesn't have kind words for the recently released McNabb.

* How well have the Broncos been playing lately? Read this scouting report by Sam Monson to find out.

Vikings lose, the pain continues

2011-11-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to watch the Vikings 24-14 loss to Atlanta live today because of traveling. But i did tape the game and will watch it and have some analysis on this in a day or so.

But check out ESPN 1500's Tom Peliserro in this video recap of the loss. He talks about the Vikings being in games but not finding ways to win them.

It's nothing a left tackle, a right guard, a #1 wide receiver, two starting cornerbacks and a decent defensive tackle couldn't fix.

Happy Thanksgiving, Vikings fans

2011-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

To my loyal American readers (all three of you), I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday. We had our Turkey Day in Canada over a month ago, so I'll be at work while you Yanks are chugging beers and watching football. You can learn more about the differences in the origin of our countries respective Thanksgiving traditions here.

I must say I'm intrigued by how the Green Bay-Detroit game will turn out. It's been a while since a Thanksgiving game in Detroit meant anything.

The Lions have had a habit of digging themselves into holes early and climbing out of them late this season. But they don't want to follow that formula against the Packers. Still, I'm sensing Detroit plays inspired football Thursday and hands Green Bay its first loss of 2011. Okay, I'm not sensing it, I'm hoping for it.

Detroit 42 – Green Bay 28

Grey Cup fever
This week will also feature the biggest sporting day of the year in Canada, as the Canadian Football League's version of the Super Bowl – the Grey Cup – will be played in Vancouver on Sunday. The British Columbia Lions will play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Bud Grant's old team.

There are a few other Minnesota ties in this game. The Lions have two Minnesota Gophers alumni playing for them and they are both wide receivers: Arland Bruce and Ryan Thelwell (who is a Canadian.)

I'm not sure how storied the Gophers careers of Bruce and Thelwell were, but if you remember their playing days, feel free to leave a comment about what they were like. I'm curious.

The other Minnesota tie in this game is Lions defensive tackle Khreem Smith. You might remember Smith as a member of the Vikings practice squad in Brad Childress' first season as head coach. Smith was cut in training camp the following year and has mostly bounced around the arena league since.

Now he's playing in the CFL for a championship. At least somebody with Vikings lineage is playing meaningful football this November.

The Vikings rebuilding plan at stake in the squad's final six games

2011-11-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

You may have heard the Minnesota Vikings aren't very good this season.

With the 2011 season shot, the Vikings final six games takes on significance only in how team positions itself for the 2012 NFL draft. The 0-10 Indianapolis Colts look to have the first overall pick (and the right to select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck) locked up. But the number two overall pick is still up for grabs.

At 2-8, the Vikings are one of three teams currently in the running for that second spot. The St. Louis Rams and the Carolina Panthers are the other 2-8 teams. And as much as I hate to write this, if the Vikings keep losing, they very well could claim that draft slot, which would be great for the Vikings rebuilding plans.

Why do I think that? Let me take a few paragraphs explain.

Besides Luck, the college player many mock drafts have ranked as the number two prospect is University of Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley. But the Vikings don't need a quarterback, having drafted this guy last April.

However, the same can't be said for Washington or Miami. Both squads are currently 3-7 and in desperate need of a QB of the future. If the Vikes do end up with the second overall pick, it's logical to think both Washington and Miami would be willing to trade up to get the second pick and a shot at Barkley. And trading up would likely mean either team would have to swap their own first-round pick, plus another high selection or two to get the deal done.

Such a scenario would work our quite nicely for the Vikings. Let's say Washington or Miami finishes with the fifth overall pick, the Colts have the first pick, the Vikes #2, and Carolina and St. Louis have picks #3 and #4 – or vice versa. The Vikings have needs at a lot of positions, but if you had to name the top three, they would be left tackle, cornerback and wide receiver.

By trading away the number two pick to a quarterback needy team like Miami or Washington in exchange for the number five slot, the Vikings are pretty much assured of getting one of the following: the draft's best left tackle (Matt Kalil), the best cornerback (Morris Claiborne) or the best wide receiver (Justin Blackmon.) Plus, the additional pick or picks they get for trading out of the number #2 slot can be used to draft another solid prospect at a position of need. This is the kind of deal that could put the Vikings rebuilding plan on the fast track.

But this is all dependent on the Vikings, Miami and Washington continuing to lose, while Carolina and St. Louis win a bit more. So let's take a look at the Vikings remaining six games and predict how they might finish up.

Game #11 @Atlanta: Stop Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner and Julio Jones? Riiiiight. Vikings lose. (2-9)

Game #12 Denver: Denver's Tim Tebow will have run out of smoke and mirrors by then. Vikings win. (3-9)

Game #13 @Detroit: The Lions' Matt Stafford threw for five touchdown passes last week. How many do you think he will throw against the Vikings secondary? Vikings lose. (3-10)

Game #14 New Orleans: The Saints Drew Brees is on pace to throw for 5,000 yards. He might throw for 5,000 in this game. Vikings lose. (3-11)

Game #15 @Washington: This will be a big game. If the Vikings win, it could cost them the second overall pick. The same could hold true for Washington. Vikings lose. (3-12)

Game #16 Chicago: The result of this game hinges on who is playing quarterback for the Bears: Caleb Hanie, Jay Cutler or Kyle "Neckbeard" Orton. I think it will be either Cutler or Orton. Vikings lose (3-13)

A 3-13 record should be enough to get the Vikings the second overall pick in April's draft. Never before have I been so at peace with the Vikings sucking this hard.

Ponder least of Vikings worries as they fall to 2-8

2011-11-20T20:28:00.001-08:00

After the Minnesota Vikings 27-21 loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, the squad's rookie quarterback Christian Ponder said, "Bad decisions by me, and I take full responsibility for this loss."

True, Ponder was picked off three times in this game. All of them were terrible decisions. Two of them came with the Vikings deep in Raiders territory and on the verge of scoring. The other came deep in Vikings territory and gift-wrapped the Raiders three points. But while I like the fact he's manning up to his mistakes, the rookie had plenty of help in this one, such as:

* Chris Kluwe couldn't get a hold down and Jim Kleinsasser botched a blocking assignment, scuttling a 49-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell.

* Lorenzo Booker's fumble on a kickoff return with 1:20 left in the first half set up Oakland for another easy seven points and a 24-7 lead, which is an insurmountable hole for this Vikings team.

* The Vikes committed nine penalties totaling 50 yards.

* The special teams gave up returns of 46, 34 and 36 yards.

* And let's not forget a Vikings defence that kept getting run over by Michael Bush in the first half, and despite being dealt some bad hands, couldn't stop the bleeding and frequently let the Raiders pile up big gains on second and third-and-long. In my view, they are just as culpable in this loss as Ponder.

Ponder was starting his fourth NFL game today, so Vikings fans can forgive him for making some mistakes – as bad as they were. But what is the veterans excuses? I'm getting pretty sick of seeing Letroy Guion jump offsides, or Tyrell Johnson get run over by an opposing running back for a touchdown.

The losing might be tolerable if you could see overall improvement in the Vikings. But they are going backward. That is disheartening for any Vikings fan. Hope is getting increasingly harder to find.

Other things

• I should know better, but I found myself continually surprised by how quickly Ponder's passing pocket disintegrated against Oakland.

• I suspect Adrian Peterson could be out for a couple of weeks with that ankle injury. The Vikings would be wise to be cautious with Peterson, but if he's out that makes the Vikings even more unwatchable. We're down to Ponder, Percy Harvin and Jared Allen as the reasons to bother watching the Vikings right now.

• It's early, but do you think Ponder's got what it takes to be a very good quarterback in the NFL? I would say yes when you consider who he's got to throw to and who is blocking for him.

• I like the coverage ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero and Judd Zulgad provide, but check out their post-game commentary here. They seem to be taking these losses personally. I'm starting to find that grating.

Is it time for the Vikings to switch to a 3-4 defence?

2011-11-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero penned a story this week wondering whether it's time for the Minnesota Vikings to consider switching to a 3-4 defence.

These are the kinds of things that get talked about when a team is 2-7 and going nowhere. Pelissero notes the trend in the NFL is to run a 3-4 defence and the article implies a 3-4 provides a squad with more flexibility and more ways to disguise blitzes and pressure packages and thus it's a better scheme than a 4-3.

Pelissero doesn't overtly take a stand in the piece, but you get the feeling he thinks the Vikings should seriously consider making the switch for the 2012 season.

But is the 3-4 defence really the superior scheme? Well, the top three NFL defences in 2011 are Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore – all 3-4 units. But the 4th, 5th and 6th-ranked defensive units are 4-3's: Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Overall, there are six 3-4 defences ranked in the top 10 versus four 4-3 defences. And of the league's top 15 defences, eight use 3-4 schemes and eight use 4-3 schemes (I know, eight + eight is 16, but Tennessee and Seattle were tied for 15th.)

Ultimately, talent matters more than schemes. Fans and writers who follow the Vikings are upset with its 4-3 Cover Two system. But when you've got Asher Allen as your starting corner, Jamarca Sanford as a starting safety and nobody besides Jared Allen can get to the opposing quarterback, any system will fail. And let's not forget a productive offence can be a defence's best friend – grinding out long scoring drives and providing the defence good field position even when they don't score. But the Vikings are no offensive juggernaut this year, either.

The 4-3 served the Vikings just fine in 2008 and 2009. It could do so again in the future. They just need enough adequate talent to make it happen. Sadly, that talent isn't there.

Vikings look to bounce back from Packers debacle against Raiders

2011-11-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Raiders

"Embarrassing" was a word used often this week to describe the Minnesota Vikings performance after enduring a 45-7 beatdown Monday night at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.

Another word that could have been used was "expected." The Vikings aren't very good, and the Packers are. Combine those two truths and you often get a lopsided result.

It's tough writing these game previews when the Vikings are realistically out of playoff chase. Wins and losses don't really matter now, only the performances of certain players (i.e. rookie quarterback Christian Ponder.) And if that's the case, what's the point in previewing anything?

Still I'd like to see the Vikings be competitive. And I think they can be against the 5-4 Oakland Raiders, who are enjoying a bit of a renaissance.

The renaissance is fueled by a fine one-two running tandem in Michael Bush and Darren McFadden (who may not play.) Wide receivers Darius Heyward-Bey, Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford (who also may not play) can all fly. Carson Palmer has thrown for 631 yards and five touchdowns (but also four interceptions) his last two games. In short, the Raiders have some weapons that could give a struggling Vikings defence some real problems on Sunday.

Now the Raiders are no hell on defence, either. The squad's pass defence is ranked 22nd in the NFL, and is giving up 246 passing yards per game. But can the Vikings take advantage of that weakness with the slate of wide receivers they have? Probably not.

To win this game, the Vikings need every defensive lineman – besides Jared Allen, who is playing out of his mind – to wake up and get to Palmer, who isn't very mobile. They can't fall behind early because that takes Adrian Peterson out of the game. And they need Ponder to bounce back from a rough outing against the Packers.

But that's probably too much to ask for this team.

Raiders 28 – Vikings 20

Other Stuff

* ESPN's Kevin Seifert delves into a rare occurrence – the Vikings hardly ever turn the ball over and yet they are still losing.

• Seifert also wonders what the future holds for cornerback Antoine Winfield (scroll down to item #4 in this post.)

It's a good question. Winfield missed more tackles when he played this year than I can ever remember, but he was still a pretty effective player. But he'll be 35 soon and you have to figure the injury bug is going to continue to bite him at his age. Winfield is one of my all-time favorite Vikings, but management might want to see this offseason if they can trade him to a contender for a high draft pick. They won't get a first rounder for him, or probably even a second rounder, but a third or fourth might be possible.

Such a trade would be good for both parties. Winfield gets to finish his career playing meaningful football. The Vikings pick up an extra draft pick to aid in the rebuilding process.

* The Star-Tribune's Dan Wiederer points out Ponder's stats aren't all that great after three starts.

I think Sunday's game will tell us something about the rookie. If he bounces back and has a decent-to-good game, that will show us that Ponder's got a short memory and learns from his mistakes. If he struggles again, we'll start to fret and grumble about him. He might even get booed by the home fans. I'm a bit nervous about how Sunday's game will turn out for Ponder.

The Vikings put on an NCAA-like performance against the Green Bay Packers

2011-11-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what the definition of rock bottom is, but if the Minnesota Vikings didn't hit it in a 45-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers Monday night, they came awfully close.

Playing the 8-0 Packers on the road at Lambeau Field, the Vikings had to play an almost perfect game to pull off an upset. They didn't succeed.

The special teams immediately surrendered an 80-yard punt return touchdown to Green Bay's Randall Cobb, digging themselves a 7-0 hole before the Packers even had an offensive possession. They were flagged for 10 penalties compared to Green Bay's one. Their only score was set up by a muffed punt return by Cobb in the third quarter that gave the Vikings the ball on the Packers 14-yard line. They allowed Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to throw for four touchdown passes. Basically, the Vikings were as limp as a 99-year-old man with erectile dysfunction.

There's little doubt the Vikings-Packers "rivalry" is at its lowest ebb since the Vikings entered the league as an expansion team back in 1961. Since Mike McCarthy took over as Green Bay's head coach in 2006, his team has a 9-3 record against the Vikings, including sweeping the season series in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011.

But a little perspective is in order. Despite the 38-point loss, tonight's thrashing did not reveal any new warts about the Vikings. We know the Vikings secondary cannot hold up against a quarterback and receiving corps that is anything above league average. We know the offensive line can't pass or run block worth a lick. And we know they don't have a wide receiver who can stretch the field and make defences pay for stacking the box against Adrian Peterson. (For all his talent and toughness, Percy Harvin is not that guy – yet.)

So while another shellacking at the hands of the Packers stings, a year or two from now Vikings fans might grudgingly thank Green Bay for the beatdown. And they'll thank them because if there was ever any doubt about the wide chasm that separates the Vikings from a Super Bowl contender like the Packers, it was illustrated in living colour at Lambeau Field on November 14, 2011.

The memory of this game should be enough to convince the Vikings coaching staff and management that some serious housecleaning is required with this roster once the 2011 season is over. That might be the only encouragement we can take out of this blowout loss.

Ponder, Peterson and Co. look to pull off upset at Lambeau

2011-11-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

The Green Bay Packers have had a couple of close calls the past two games, and at 8-0 you figure they have to lose a game here at some point. So after the Minnesota Vikings gave the Pack a tough game in the Metrodome three weeks ago, I was ready to predict an upset on Monday night.

But then I remembered the Vikes had Adrian Peterson run for 175 yards in that game, the defence "held" Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to 335 passing yards and they weren't playing at Lambeau Field (a 3-7 record in their last 10 regular season games there) and they still lost. So I've come to my senses. I'm not predicting a Vikings upset.

Packers 38 – Vikings 20

ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad suggest that the Vikings and Vikings fans need to focus on 2012, rather than worry about 2011.

With that in mind, I'll be looking at a few things besides the score in this game.

* Can rookie quarterback Christian Ponder continue his success on third downs and produce another zero turnover game like he did in the win against Carolina?

* Can the Vikings get Peterson involved in the passing game like they did against Carolina?

* Will the Vikings finally try to throw some deep balls to a healthier and fresher Percy Harvin?

* Will any of the Vikings rookie class of 2011 besides Ponder show some promise? (Kyle Rudolph, it's time to make an impact.)

The Vikings at the half-way point: A look at pleasant surprises and stinkers

2011-11-11T23:16:00.000-08:00

I’ve been meaning to write this post for about two weeks. Now I’m finally getting around to it. Here’s a look at some of the pleasant and not-so-pleasant individual performances from the first half of the Vikings season.

Bright Spots

Christian Ponder: I had never watched Ponder play before the preseason got going. I expected he’d be a cerebral, smart kid who could handle the big stage. But I’ve been surprised by his scrambling ability and speed. He’s got a better arm than advertised. His performance on third downs has been impressive. The Vikes might have something here.

Brian Robison: The Vikings starting left defensive end has gone three games without a sack and ESPN 1500’s Tom Pelissero suggested he might be wearing down. But his 17 tackles and 4.5 sacks compare pretty well with the guy he replaced – Ray Edwards, who has 19 tackles and two sacks with Atlanta. And he’s doing it for almost half the guaranteed money ($6.5 million vs. Edwards’ $11 million.)

Erin Henderson: Henderson won the weakside linebacker job by default, but he’s kept it on merit. He played his best game as a pro in the win against Carolina (five tackles, two passes defensed.) He seems to be getting better in pass coverage. The tackling has been solid. I don’t think anyone is missing Ben Leber. Better yet, Henderson’s only 25.

Everson Griffen: He’s been a demon on special teams coverage units. How often is Griffen (listed at 6’3 and 273 pounds) one of the first guys down the field chasing the opposing punt or kick off returner? I’ve never seen anyone so big do that. He’s also got three sacks in limited playing time. You wonder if the Vikings should play Griffen inside on a permanent basis instead of wasting snaps on Remi Ayodele, Fred Evans and Letroy Guion (more on that in a moment.)

Visanthe Shiancoe: Modest stats (23 catches, 241 yards, two touchdowns), but Shiancoe’s been a reliable option for the Vikings, even if his blocking is just average. I expect his second half will be better than the first half, too, as Ponder has been making more use of Shiancoe since taking over for Donovan McNabb as the starting QB.

Disappointments

Chris Cook: The second-year cornerback isn’t on here for what’s happened on the field, where he has been pretty good, but for what’s happened off the field. You’ve got a guy here who could be a very good cornerback in this league and stands to make a lot of money. Yet he almost threw it away by allegedly choking and beating his girlfriend. Cook, it’s time to get some counseling and turn your life around.

Ryan Longwell: Something’s wrong with one of the game’s most accurate kickoffs. Since signing with the Vikings in 2006, any field goal less than 50 yards has almost been automatic for Longwell. This season his three misses have been from 38, 38 and 45 yards and he’s missed them all badly. His kickoffs are still no hell, either.

Kevin Williams: Maybe it’s not having anyone good playing beside him inside, but the former All-Pro has been pretty much invisible out there. We’re not seeing the penetration on run plays were used to. There are no tipped passes – a Williams specialty in the past. No quarterback pressures. And certainly no sacks. Is Williams almost done at 31?

Remi Ayodele/Letroy Guion: Can you remember a single play Ayodele has made this season? Me neither. Guion might be the biggest disappointment on this list. He looked good in limited snaps toward the end of last year and he looked great during the preseason. He’s been anything but for the first eight games of 2011.

Tyrell Johnson: The Vikings 2008 second-round draft pick makes this list for failing to even live up to my modest preseason expectations. Johnson’s poor angle contributed mightily to Brandon LaFell’s 44-yard catch and run play on a fourth-and-15 on Carolina’s final drive two weeks ago. Negative stuff seems to happen whenever Johnson gets in the game. Bad angles, poor tackling, combined with ball skills: What’s to like here?

Vikings buy some time with Cook decision

2011-11-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Vikings have come back to work after their bye week and so have I.

The big news today is the Vikings have kept cornerback Chris Cook on the 53-man roster, but are keeping him suspended while he is facing assault charges for allegedly beating and strangling his girlfriend.

I think this was the right move by the Vikings. You can make a good argument for releasing Cook, but barring a guilty verdict and jail time, Cook is going to play football sometime in 2012. So why shouldn't it be with the Vikings?

I admit this is a selfish view – the Vikings don't have a whole lot of good cornerbacks on their roster and Cook looks like he could be one. So keeping him on the team, as bad as these charges appear to be, would mean the Vikings have one less spot to fill on the roster.

But again, Cook's probably going to play football in the NFL next season. The Vikings drafted him. They've invested money, coaching and time in him. Now they have to make another investment.

There's no need for Cook to play again this year. He's better off getting whatever professional help a guy who's been accused of two violent incidents in less than 12 months can get. Yet if the U.S. is the land of second chances, shouldn't Cook get one with the Vikings?

Should the Vikings cut ties with Chris Cook?

2011-11-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier told reporters today that he'll be looking for help for his undermanned secondary from outside the organization. Isn't it a shame this guy is no longer on the market?

On a serious note, Frazier says the Vikings will discuss the future of troubled second-year cornerback Chris Cook during the bye week. Cook, of course, is in deep shit for allegedly strangling his girlfriend.

Frazier hasn't been head coach for long, but I've seen enough of his comments regarding personnel matters to read between the lines a bit. And when I hear him give this non-answer – in response to a question about whether the Vikings would cut Cook – where he says, "We've got a lot of things to talk about. A lot of things to talk about as we go forward," that says to me that Cook is gone. If the Vikings were going to keep him, I think Frazier would have said something more definitive.

But is cutting Cook the right move? I don't think it is, and this comes from a guy with a five-year-old daughter.

Most Vikings fans would agree Cook has been a rare bright spot this season in what has been a mostly dreadful secondary. His long frame has allowed him to cover elite wideouts like Calvin Johnson and hold his own, and even though he's not a starter (yet) he's had more pass breakups than any other Vikings corner or safety. The best appears yet to come for Cook on the field.

Yet the actions of the Virginia Strangler put his Vikings future in doubt. Still, I wonder what the Vikings really gain by releasing Cook? If they cut him, there's no doubt another team will claim him and play him. Given how Cook has performed this season, he very well could prosper on the field with his new team, much like Michael Vick has done with the Eagles.

So why shouldn't the Vikings get Cook the counselling or professional help he obviously needs, let the NFL hand out its discipline, and then see if Cook can turn his life around?

Yes, it's a gamble. Cook could screw up again and embarrass the Vikings management. But he might also take this second chance and get his act together. We should remember Jared Allen came to the Vikings as a player with alcohol issues. There was no guarantee he wouldn't relapse and ruin his career. How has that turned out?

Cook is not the elite player Allen is, but he seems like he's becoming a very good player. The question is whether he can become a good person. If he sincerely does what it takes over the next few months to change his life, I don't see why some other team should reap the benefits from that transformation.

Vikings, Ponder, show some toughness as Vikings get first road win of 2011

2011-10-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Vikings reversed a trend in Sunday’s 24-21 road win over the Carolina Panthers. Outside of a 39-10 licking against Chicago, the Vikings have been pretty consistent this season; they’ve played well in the first half of games and been brutal in the second half.

But despite being tied 14-14 at halftime in this game, you couldn’t say the Vikings had played well up to that point. Cam Newton was moving the Panthers down the field easily. Viking-killer Steve Smith was abusing Asher Allen. Adrian Peterson was being smothered and Christian Ponder couldn’t find anyone open. If not for two sweet strip sacks forced by E.J. Henderson and Jared Allen, the Vikings probably would have been shut out in the first half against the Panthers and on their way to loss #7.

So the Vikings actually came out and played a pretty strong second half of football for a change. The defence got some stops on Newton. The Vikings running game got going and Ponder – as he did last week against the Packers – made some key third down conversions. Minnesota also got lucky when Panthers kicker Olindo Mare missed the tying field goal (incredibly, that’s the first time an opposing kicker has missed a field goal against Minnesota all year.) It all made for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon for Vikings fans – a rare road win and a victory with the quarterback of the future at the helm.

I have no idea if this performance means this team is set to surge in the last eight games and avoid the franchise’s worst season since the 3-13 debacle in 1984. But a tough win on the road in a year where so much has gone wrong is a fine way to go into the bye week and a positive sign for this team – even if it might hurt their draft position.

A few other observations

Christian Ponder: The rookie built on a promising first start against the Packers with his play on Sunday. He’s not scrambling as much as I thought he would. But he looks much more composed than I could have hoped for and he has shown a knack for converting on third downs – something his predecessor Donovan McNabb could not do.

His accuracy on deep throws needs to improve, but an 18 for 28 and 236 passing yards stat line is solid for a guy’s second NFL start. And it’s what Ponder didn’t do in this game that I liked as much as what he did do. He didn’t take silly sacks. He didn’t bounce passes in front of open receivers. He didn’t turn the ball over trying to make something out of nothing. He didn’t look flustered or frustrated once during a first half when the Vikings offence couldn’t get much going. The Vikings look like they have something to build on here. I’m probably getting way ahead of myself, but I see a promising future for this team again with Ponder behind center.

Adrian Peterson: I’ve been wondering all year why offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave hasn’t gotten Peterson more involved in the passing game. If your wideouts can’t get open, throwing a few screens to your best offensive player seems like a wise thing to do. Today, with the running game getting nothing done in the first half, Musgrave did that, using shovel passes and screens to get the ball into the hands of Peterson, who was the Vikes leading receiver. I hope this happens more often during the second half of the season.

Percy Harvin: He probably needs the bye week more than any other Viking. He’s always banged up. But I loved it when he got that 15-yard personal foul for rag dolling Carolina safety Captain Munnerlyn into the Panthers bench. Some would say it was a stupid penalty on Harvin’s part. What it showed me was Harvin was going to keep fighting and that he wasn’t going to be intimidated on the road. The Vikings could use more guys with that kind of attitude. I also love it when Musgrave lines him up in the backfield. Good things happen when Harvin has the ball.

Husain Abdullah: I don’t mind Abdullah as a player, but he’s had a couple of tough weeks in pass coverage. And when Carolina tight end Greg Olsen beat him easily for a 39-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, I thought the rout might be on. But the Vikings stuck with it and so did Abdullah. With the Vikings defence needing someone to make a play on the final drive, Abdullah did that. His sack of Cam Newton should have sealed the win. Yet when the Panthers managed to get down to the Vikes 14-yard line on the same drive, Abdullah broke up what would have probably been a game-winning touchdown catch to Olsen. Two plays later, Mare missed the tying field goal. Give Abdullah credit for staying with it and not losing his confidence.

Berrian failure shows Vikings how they will have to rebuild beyond 2011

2011-10-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, say goodbye to the Minnesota Vikings free agent class of 2008. Fullback Thomas Tapeh played two games for the Vikes and was let go. Safety Madieu Williams was cut after the lockout ended for salary cap and performance reasons. And now wide receiver Bernard Berrian is gone.

Vikings fans everywhere are rejoicing right now. Berrian hasn’t made an impact in the passing game since 2008 and despite his contention that, as he put it a few weeks ago “he’s been open for four years,” the stats don’t lie.

The failure of Berrian and the rest of the 2008 free agents got me thinking about how long this Vikings rebuilding project is going to take. This squad has many holes and the holes seem to multiply each week (For example, right guard Anthony Herrera might not be great, but who replaces him if he’s blown out his knee again?)

The draft is very important, but it’s only seven rounds and a 1-6 team like the Vikings can’t possibly address every need it has that way in order to turn things around quickly. Trades can help, but you’ve got to give up something – usually draft picks – to get something.

Free agency used to be viewed as a shortcut to rebuilding in the NFL. As long as you had salary cap space, you could buy the talent you needed. But it doesn’t seem to work that well anymore. Teams have learned how to use the cap and are able to sign the players they really want to keep. Thus, it's generally very thin gruel on the free agent market, and often the player you just signed isn’t the answer to your problem. Instead he’s somebody else’s problem that you’ve paid big money for.

So for the Vikings to climb the ladder in the NFC North and get back to being a playoff team, they are going to have to have the younger players already on the roster develop quickly (especially first-year QB Christian Ponder) and hit some home runs on their draft picks over the next couple of seasons.

As the cases of Bernard Berrian, Madieu Williams and Thomas Tapeh illustrate, free agency might not be of much help.

Ponder watch
My taping job of Sunday’s Vikings-Packers game didn’t work out very well, so I had to wait to watch the condensed version of the game on NFL Replay tonight to see how Ponder played in his first pro start.

How do you think he fared? The reviews generally seem to be positive, although after watching the game it looked like he could have been picked off five or six times instead of twice. He’s going to have to clean that up.

What I did like was at no time did he not appear to be in control of the offence. Nor did he seem flustered by anything the Packers threw at him or any mistakes he made. It might not sound like much, but I think that’s an important psychological trait for an NFL quarterback to have. I’m looking forward to seeing how he plays this Sunday against Carolina.

* By the way, Chris Cook says sorry. However, that didn't stop the Vikings from suspending him.

Vikings, Ponder fall short against Pack

2011-10-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, not quite.

More on this in the coming 24 hours after I watch the recording. I might fast forward most of the third quarter.

The first half's gone well for the Vikings, can they keep it up?

2011-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

By checking the Internet, I see the Vikings are giving the Green Bay Packers a game – up 17-13 at halftime.

I'm recording the contest because work commitments have me chained to my laptop this fine Sunday. But I will watch the game and write a post-game column about what I saw at some point on Sunday or Monday (more than likely Monday.)

I notice the Vikings got two big plays to help them get the lead in the first half. A 72-yard pass from Christian Ponder to Michael Jenkins set up their first touchdown and Toby Gerhart recovered a Randall Cobb fumble during a punt return that set up the second touchdown.

I also notice the Packers Aaron Rodgers went 17-20 for 195 yards in the first half. The Vikes will need a couple of more big plays – maybe more than a couple – to hold the lead in the second half and pull off this upset.

Vikings cornerback Cook arrested, could be out for a while

2011-10-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

By now you've probably heard that Vikings cornerback Chris Cook has been arrested.

This is not good news for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. But I'm more concerned about what this means for Cook's Vikings career (held without bail and strangulation charges seems pretty bad.) Cook was looking like he was turning into a pretty good corner.

If this latest legal trouble forces the Vikings to cut ties with him, it creates another hole in the Vikings roster that the team must fill in 2012 – along with left tackle, right guard, middle linebacker, a number one wide receiver, left defensive tackle, right cornerback (Cedric Griffin looks done) and possibly strong safety (Jamarca Sanford doesn't seem like the answer).

Do you think Leslie Frazier is wondering right now why he took the Vikings head coaching job?

Ponder's first start the only intrigue in Sunday's Packers-Vikings tilt

2011-10-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Vikings vs. Packers

Only a fan drinking purple Kool-Aid laced with hallucinogens could dream up a scenario where the 1-5 Minnesota Vikings beat the 6-0 Green Bay Packers this Sunday. In just about every category, the Vikings are worse than their divisional rivals, so let’s skip to the real intrigue in this game for Vikings fans.

That is how Christian Ponder will play. You may have heard the 2011 first round draft pick has been named the Vikings starting quarterback for the rest of the year.

Switching quarterbacks during the season always causes some excitement for a fan base. But in this case there’s even more reason to be excited. In Ponder, we will be watching the guy we hope will be this team’s starter for the next decade. His every throw – in fact, his every move – on the field Sunday will be dissected for indications that he either is the future of the franchise or that he has no future. This speculation will continue for the rest of the season.

The rookie gets a tough first assignment facing Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji and Charles Woodson. The Vikings probably aren’t winning this game, so Ponder’s play is the focus here.

So what should we consider a successful outing? I figure if the rookie completes 60 per cent of his passes, leads the Vikings on two touchdown drives and two other scoring drives and throws one interception or less, he will have had a good day.

Is there any possible way the Vikings could win this one? Perhaps – if Adrian Peterson goes nuts, runs for 200-plus yards and scores three or more touchdowns. But I don’t even know if that would be enough. The Packers are too good. The Vikings are too bad.

Green Bay 31 Vikings 17

Other Stuff

* The National Football Post’s Matt Bowen writes about what the Vikings should do with Ponder in this game to set him up for success.

* Ponder figures the Packers will blitz him a lot.

I don’t know about that. Ponder is a rookie making his first NFL start and most teams would probably blitz the hell out of other rookie quarterbacks. But do the Packers need to do this?

I’m sure Dom Capers and his players have watched the film. They can see Ponder is fast, athletic and can make plays on the run. I’m sure they’ve also noticed the Vikings offensive line isn’t very good. They can probably rush only four and still get enough pressure on Ponder.

I expect the Packers will be content to keep Ponder in the pocket, have as many defenders in coverage as possible and force him to make decisions into that coverage rather than give him a reason to scramble, which is the one thing we know he does well right now.

* According to ESPN 1500’s Tom Pelissero’s weekly tape breakdown of the Vikes 39-10 drubbing to Chicago, wide receiver Percy Harvin only played 29 snaps in that game.

Other defensive coordinators around the league must laugh at us. Who else in the NFL plays one of its top offensive weapons half the time? The Vikings and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave make it so much easier for their opponents to stop them by keeping a lethal threat like Harvin off the field.

When people say the Vikings offence needs to run through Adrian Peterson, they’re only half right. The offence need to run through Peterson and Harvin. If the coaching staff would like Peterson to touch the ball 20-25 times a game, they should also be looking at getting Harvin 15-20 touches. Get the ball into the hands of your best players – is that such a tough concept to grasp?

Leslie Frazier turns to Ponder as season unravels for Vikings

2011-10-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether I would have cursed or admired Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier if he had stubbornly stuck with Donovan McNabb as the team's starting quarterback for another week.

However, I won't be faced with that decision as the news came out today that 2011 first-round draft pick Christian Ponder will take over for McNabb as the starting quarterback for the 1-5 squad this Sunday.

ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad speculates Frazier's hand was forced by vice-president of player personnel Rick Spielman, but whatever the reason, Ponder gets to start against 6-0 Green Bay.

The move might just save Frazier's head coaching career. The Vikings have 10 games left in the season and they still have to play the Packers (twice), plus the Bears, Lions, Atlanta, Oakland, and New Orleans. Road games against Carolina, Washington and Denver don't look all that winnable, either.

In other words, the Vikings could be headed to a 2-14 or 3-13 season. The last time a Vikings head coach had that kind of record in his first year with the team, he got fired.

But by turning to Ponder now, Frazier takes the focus off his coaching job and puts it on (what we hope) is the future of the franchise. If Ponder plays well and the Vikings win some games, fans will be encouraged by the rookie's play and will be optimistic heading into 2012.

On the flip side, if Ponder struggles and the Vikings only win another game or two, Frazier can point to the fact he's developing a young quarterback and these are the kind of growing pains fans can expect. That might cause Viking fanatics to have a lot of doubts about Ponder, but at least they'll know the Vikings have some high draft picks that they can use to fill some holes and Ponder has room to grow as a player.

Either way, Frazier probably gets the Wilf's to buy into this rebuilding thing, which will convince them to keep him around for 2012. But if the Vikings go 1-5 to start the 2012 season ....

Vikings Frazier two days from making switch to Ponder

2011-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier opened up the door during his postgame remarks Sunday following a 39-10 loss to the Chicago Bears by saying, "We're going sit down on Monday and just talk about a lot of things and just decide on what direction we want to go," when asked if he would replace Donovan McNabb with Christian Ponder this week as the starting quarterback.

But the decision almost seems certain to happen based on Frazier's comments today about the quarterback situation.

The reaction from other NFC North observers, here, here and here, is that there is no reason to keep sending McNabb out there any longer.

I agree and I think by Wednesday, Frazier will reluctantly come to the same conclusion.

Quarterback play the only bright spot for Vikings in dispiriting loss to Bears

2011-10-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

I'm used to the Vikings futility at Soldier Field. But Sunday's 39-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday night was one of the more unenjoyable ass kickings I've watched the Vikings take in some time.

That's because at no point in this game did the Vikings look like they were ready to offer any resistance against the Bears. The receivers dropped some catchable passes early. Adrian Peterson couldn't get going. The offensive line couldn't run or pass block effectively. The Vikings defensive line (a team strength this season) was totally dominated by a weak Bears offensive line. Punter Chris Kluwe was brutal. The coverage units gave up the usual soul crushing big returns to Devin Hester. The Vikings were very bad in almost all facets of the game in this one.

One person you can't pin the blame for this debacle on is Vikings (I hope former) starting quarterback Donovan McNabb. So it's ironic that McNabb's best game as a Viking (19 for 24, 177 yards) might very well be his last game as a starter for the 1-5 squad.

Look, I was completely on board with the Vikings decision to trade for McNabb. My hope was he would play better than he did in Washington, keep the Vikings competitive and buy some time for rookie Christian Ponder rather than throwing the Florida State product into the deep end.

But things haven't worked out as planned and Ponder's encouraging play during garbage time against the Bears gives head coach Leslie Frazier a plausible case to start the rookie against the Green Bay Packers next Sunday.

The Vikings offensive line is weak (and it will get weaker if backup Patrick Brown has to play for regular right tackle Phil Loadholt for an extended period), but Ponder is the faster, more elusive player at this point, better able to extend plays than McNabb.

He's also a better scrambler than McNabb and more prone to take off running when things break down early. That's probably a good thing because the Vikings receivers are having trouble getting open at the best of times. We might as well have a quarterback that takes off early rather than wait for an open receiver that never gets open. Ponder also showed just as strong an arm as McNabb tonight and showed good accuracy on the kind of throws McNabb's struggled with this season – slants, screens and the like.

The bottom line is the 2011 season is over from a playoff standpoint for the Minnesota Vikings. These final 10 games will only be valuable if the Vikings coaching staff allow themselves to see what they have in Ponder and get a head start on the development process for 2012.

That won't help McNabb get himself one last big contract in 2012. But the Vikings can't be worried about his future right now. The future wears #7 and it's time to put him under center in live action other than garbage time during a blowout loss on the road.

Vikings get off the schneid, but what do they do about McNabb?

2011-10-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was a blowout win for the Vikings, their first of the 2011 season, but I don’t think the victory did anything to strengthen Donovan McNabb’s hold onto the starting quarterback job. It may have even weakened it.

The Vikings went into half time with a 28-3 lead, but the big lead came in spite of McNabb, not because of him. He was 4-12 for 63 yards and one rushing touchdown at half time. He wasn’t a whole lot better in the second half, going 6-9 for 99 yards.

He was off the mark on several throws throughout the game – either throwing them too low, too high or too wide. And this was on a day when the Vikings leaky offensive line was usually able to give him time to throw the ball and opening up a sufficient amount of daylight for Adrian Peterson.

The offence only managed two field goals after scoring four touchdowns in an uncharacteristic first quarter offensive surge. If not for some dominant play by the Vikings defensive line – particularly Jared Allen and Brian Robison (Ray Edwards has not been missed) – three interceptions by the our normally stonehanded group of defensive backs, and overall bad play by the Arizona Cardinals, the Vikings might have been ripe for another second half collapse.

There are lots of good things to talk about from this game – and I’ll get to that in the 24 hours – but it’s hard to see the Vikings being even competitive next week against the Bears at Soldier Field with McNabb continuing to play the way he has been. It’s also getting harder to defend keeping him as the Vikings starter. In fact, I can’t defend it anymore. It’s time to give Christian Ponder a shot.

The future should start next week for the Vikings.

Vikings look to extend their imperfect season against Cardinals

2011-10-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Vikings vs. Cardinals
If you want to feel good about the Vikings chances of picking up their first win of the 2011 season, then read this scouting report on Arizona written by Sam Monson.

Apparently their right and left tackles suck ass (Jared Allen and Brian Robison could have big days) and the pass defence bites almost as bad as the Vikings.

I see this game coming down to a couple of things.

1) The Vikings have struggled to shut down big, elite wide receivers in their last two losses, as Detroit's Calvin Johnson and Kansas City's Dwayne Bowe made several big plays that helped their clubs beat Minnesota. So now the Vikings face another big, elite wide receiver in the Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald. Who do you think is going to win that battle – Fitzgerald or the Vikings secondary? My money is on Fitzgerald, who will probably catch a couple of touchdown passes in this one.

2) Cardinals cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and A.J Jefferson have struggled this season and they are two of the reasons the Cardinals have the 23rd ranked pass defence in the NFL. But they are facing a Vikings team that has the league's 30th ranked passing attack (averaging a pathetic 154.8 passing yards per game) and starts Bernard Berrian. Barring a 2007 Soldier Field kind of performance from Adrian Peterson, the Vikings are going to have to pass the ball effectively to win this game and any the remaining games this season. But even when matched up against two young, inexperienced corners, I think those corners will get the better of Berrian and Michael Jenkins, with Percy Harvin not able to do quite enough to pick up the slack.

Couple that with Donovan McNabb's inaccurate passing and a weak offensive line and the Vikings won't be able to move the ball enough and score enough to beat the Cardinals.

Cardinals 27 – Vikings 17

Antoine Winfield
It looks like Winfield might not play this Sunday because of a neck injury.

This isn't good news. It weakens the Vikings run defence, which has been very good this season, because Winfield is such a good tackler in space. It also hurts the pass defence because if Winfield's out, Chris Cook is taking more snaps than the Vikings would like and Asher Allen is taking more snaps than the Vikings would like. (And one snap is one too many for Allen.)

Cedric Griffin
Griffin has done a tremendous job coming back from another major knee injury this season. But there's little doubt he's having a hard time out there. In the loss to Tampa Bay he gave up a 25-yard touchdown pass to the Bucs Arrelious Benn. In the loss to Detroit, he gave up a 40-yard reception to Calvin Johnson that set up the Lions winning field goal in overtime. Last week he gave up a 52-yard touchdown pass to the Chiefs Bowe.

If Winfield can't play Sunday, the Vikings will need a strong game from Griffin to keep the Cardinals from passing for 500 yards. I'm not sure his knees are up to it.

Offensive line
The Star-Tribune's Mark Craig delves briefly into the Vikings failure to address the O-line in the past nine drafts. When the 2012 NFL draft rolls around, the Vikings could use every single pick on an offensive lineman and I bet few fans would complain.

Donovan McNabb
Is Sunday McNabb's last stand if the Vikings don't get a win? I think it depends partly on how well he plays. If the Vikings lose, but McNabb plays very well, he probably buys himself a few more weeks. Also, I don't think head coach Leslie Frazier wants rookie Christian Ponder to make his first NFL start next week at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears regardless of how poorly McNabb plays on Sunday.

Tarvaris Jackson
I would not have guessed that ex-Viking Jackson would have more passing yards, more touchdown passes and one more win than McNabb at this point in the season.

At 0-4, the Vikings still have company

2011-10-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

With Indianapolis' loss on Monday night, the Vikings now share a perfect 0-4 record with three other NFL teams: the Colts, the Dolphins and the Rams.

Other links
* Tom Pelissero's always-entertaining "tale-of-the-tape" from the Vikings 22-17 loss to Kansas City includes lots of low grades for every position except the wide receivers and tight ends.

* According to head coach Leslie Frazier, Donovan McNabb is still your quarterback. (For the record, I agree with the decision.)

* And I missed this post last week, but Football Outsiders writer Mike Tanier tries to unearth the reasons behind the Vikings football bipolar disorder.

Expect the expected with these Vikings

2011-10-02T14:34:00.001-07:00

I don’t want to linger too much about another Vikings loss. Yes, the offence is often punchless, the Vikings don’t have any receiving threat that can stretch the field, they can’t make plays – offensively or defensively – in the second half, blah, blah, blah. Still, there are few things I’ll mention.

Playmakers
The Kansas City Chiefs had two players the Vikings had to stop in this game. One of them is wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. The other is linebacker Tamba Hali. Bowe ended up five catches for 107 yards. Four of his five catches were for first downs and his 52-yard touchdown catch (breaking tackles from Cedric Griffin and Jamarca Sanford in the process) early in the fourth quarter basically sealed the win for the Chiefs.

Hali had two sacks and pressured Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb a number of other times. The Vikings had so little confidence in right tackle Phil Loadholt being able to handle Hali that they often had tight end Jim Kleinsasser blocking Hali mano-a-mano, with mixed results.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs kept Adrian Peterson from breaking off any big gains; his longest play was for 14 yards. Percy Harvin did rip off some nice runs on reverses, but he couldn’t break the real long play the Vikings needed so badly in this game.

Donovan McNabb
Where do the Vikings go from here with the quarterback situation? It’s not that McNabb played badly again the Chiefs. He was decent (18-30, 202 yards, two touchdown passes), but the Vikings need more than decent play from their quarterback this year. It doesn’t appear McNabb can provide it.

So at 0-4 and the playoffs a pipe dream, the calls to replace McNabb with rookie Christian Ponder are going to get even louder this week. Putting in Ponder will give Vikings fans some excitement and give him (we hope) valuable game experience, preparing the Vikings for a quick turnaround in 2012. But is Ponder ready to start this early in the season? (Apparently Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier doesn't think so.) Only the Vikings coaches have any real idea. Personally, I’m terrified of having Ponder playing behind this offensive line.

Ryan Succop
The Chiefs kicker went into the Vikings game having made only two of his five field goals in the first three games and his longest was 33 yards. Today he was five-for-five and nailed a 51-yarder and a 54-yarder. He may have been the Chiefs MVP in this game.

Vikings look to avoid going 0-4 against winless Chiefs

2011-09-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

Vikings vs. Chiefs

On December 14, 1974, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Fran Tarkenton and Bob Berry split the quarterback duties that day. Berry, surprisingly, was the more efficient player, completing 11 of 12 passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns while Tarkenton was nine of 17 for 135 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Vikings wide receiver Sam McCullum was the star of the game, with six catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the lopsided result, the Vikes only lead 14-12 at halftime but outscored the Chiefs 21-3 in the second half. That game also marks the last time the Vikings won at Arrowhead.

But as the Vikings try to get a win in 2011 this Sunday in Kansas City, this losing streak isn’t as bad as it sounds. Minnesota has only played in Arrowhead three times since winning there in 1974 and they’ve lost each game by a field goal. It’s not like the Chiefs home stadium is a house of horrors for the Vikings.

The 0-3 Vikings are also facing a Chiefs team that is hurting even worse than they are. You probably know about the injuries. Running back Jamaal Charles, safety Eric Berry, tight end Tony Meoaki – all gone for the season. The Chiefs top cornerback Brandon Flowers may also miss this game with a knee injury. And the Kansas City players still standing aren’t doing so hot. Starting quarterback Matt Cassel has the league’s worst QB rating and is averaging a weak 5.2 yards per pass attempt. The Chiefs haven’t even had a lead at any point in their three losses.

So the team that can’t get a lead hosts the team that can’t hold a lead. What a matchup.

My head tells me the Vikings should get their first win at Arrowhead in almost 40 years on Sunday. They may be 0-3 but have been more competitive in their losses than the Chiefs have. But the Vikings playing on the road and on grass always worries me. I have a few other concerns.

Will the Vikings defence be able to snuff out the short passes to tight ends and running’s backs that have killed them in their second half collapses this season? (This has always been the Achilles heel of the Vikings Tampa Two defensive philosophy). Can Donovan McNabb elevate his play and make up for a receiving corps that’s been average at best? Will Bernard Berrian continue to be the invisible man? Can the Chris Cook and Cedric Griffin prevent Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe – a big, fast man – from making the kind of game changing plays Detroit’s Calvin Johnson – another big, fast man – made against them last week?

With so many key Chiefs players out with injuries, the Vikings should win this game. Both teams are 0-3. Both teams have to be desperate. But I’ll take the desperate home team against the desperate visiting team in this one.

Chiefs 20 Vikings 17

Other Worries
* The Vikings haven’t been a very disciplined team this year.

This is a strange early trend. It’s been said teams often take on the personalities of their head coach. When you look at Leslie Frazier on the sidelines during games, it’s difficult to tell if he has a pulse, that’s how stoic he is. So why are the Vikings taking so many dumb penalties?

* ESPN NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert isn’t optimistic that working on Donovan McNabb’s mechanics will improve his accuracy.

I agree. Throwing accuracy seems to be one of those things that can’t be improved at the NFL level. I’ve watched McNabb play for years when he was with Philadelphia and he’s always had stretches in games where it looks like he’s trying to kill some ants. But at 35, with average receivers and a bad offensive line to work with, his accuracy issues are magnified. Without better personnel around him, which he is not going to get in 2011, I don’t think this is a problem that can be solved.

The Peterson thing
I’ll end this post by discussing the issue of why Adrian Peterson was “ignored” in the second half of the Detroit loss. Both Frazier and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave have said this week that they should have gone to Peterson more in the second half. But could they have done so? Let’s look at how the Vikings six offensive drives in the second half evolved by consulting CBS Sportsline’s play-by-play feature.

Drive #1:
1-10-MIN 20: A.Peterson left guard to MIN 22 for 2 yards.
2-8-MIN 22: D.McNabb scrambles left end, ran out-of-bounds at MIN 25 for 3 yards.
3-5-MIN 25: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to B.Berrian. Penalty on MIN, Illegal Shift, declined.
4-5-MIN 25: Vikings punt.

Drive #2
1-10-MIN 24: D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to V.Shiancoe. Penalty on MIN-C.Johnson, Illegal Formation, declined.
2-10-MIN 24: D.McNabb sacked at MIN 17 for -7 yards. FUMBLES, recovered by MIN-P.Loadholt at MIN 16.
3-18-MIN 16: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short left to M.Jenkins.
Vikings punt.

Drive #3
1-10-MIN 20: D.McNabb pass short middle to A.Peterson to MIN 23 for 3 yards
2-7-MIN 23: A.Peterson right tackle to MIN 29 for 6 yards.
3-1-MIN 29: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short left to P.Harvin.
Vikings punt.

Drive #4
1-10-DET 37: A.Peterson right end to DET 23 for 14 yards. PENALTY on MIN-M.Jenkins, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at DET 37 - No Play.
1-20-DET 47: D.McNabb pass short middle to P.Harvin to DET 26 for 21 yards.
1-10-DET 26: A.Peterson up the middle to DET 27 for -1 yards.
2-11-DET 27: A.Peterson left end to DET 25 for 2 yards.
3-9-DET 25: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to M.Jenkins to DET 17 for 8 yards.
4-1-DET 17: T.Gerhart up the middle to DET 17 for no gain.

Drive #5
1-10-MIN18: D.McNabb pass incomplete deep middle to J.Kleinsasser.
2-10-MIN18: A.Peterson left end to MIN 14 for -4 yards.
3-14-MIN 14: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete deep right to B.Berrian.
Vikings punt

Drive #6
1-10-MIN 17: D.McNabb pass short middle to A.Peterson to MIN 24 for 7 yards. Penalty on DET-C.Williams, Defensive Offside, declined.
2-3-MIN 24: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to M.Jenkins to MIN 28 for 4 yards. 1-10-MIN 28: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to M.Jenkins to MIN 41 for 13 yards.
1-10-MIN 41: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to A.Peterson to MIN 44 for 3 yards.
2-7-MIN 44: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass deep right to K.Rudolph to DET 36 for 20 yards.
1-10-DET 36: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short right to D.Aromashodu to DET 31 for 5 yards.
2-5-DET 31: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to D.Aromashodu.
3-5-DET 31: (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete deep right to B.Berrian.
4-5-DET 31: R.Longwell 49-yard field goal is GOOD, Center-C.Loeffler, Holder-C.Kluwe.

Okay, that’s a lot to take in, but look closely at the down-and-distance situations the Vikings faced and what Peterson did with the carries he got. Two yards here, minus four yards there, a 14-yard run wiped out by a holding penalty, and the Vikings final drive was one where they had to throw the ball to get a tying score and didn’t have time to grind it out on the ground.

You can argue the Vikings should have given the ball to Peterson on the third-and-one on the second drive. They definitely should have given it to him on the fourth-and-one on the fourth drive. But you can only get Peterson more carries if the offence is moving the ball and picking up first downs. The Vikings were unable to do that in the second half against the Lions, and Peterson (with a lot of assistance from his brutal offensive line) contributed to that with runs that produced either minimal gains or negative gains.

When you’re facing second-and-10s and third-and-nines, which the Vikings offence was against the Lions, it makes it hard to hand it off to Peterson. So the Vikings offensive unit isn’t magically going to get better if Peterson runs the ball 80 per cent of the time (Wasn’t that the criticism of the Vikings in the loss to San Diego? Musgrave was too predictable in his play calls, giving the ball to Peterson on first down too often?)

The offensive line needs to pass and run block much better. The backs, tight ends and receivers have to do a better job of getting open. McNabb needs to throw fewer passes at the feet of open pass catchers. Musgrave needs to be more creative in getting the ball to studs like Peterson and Percy Harvin. Solving the Vikings offensive woes will require more than just getting Peterson more touches.

Vikings choices at left tackle are Starks (plus other musings)

2011-09-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier got rid of one left tackle because he showed up at training camp grossly overweight and out of shape. Now we learn the Vikings are taking a look at another left tackle who was cut during the preseason because he showed up at training camp overweight and out of shape.

There is no sign that the Vikings are going to sign ex-Steelers tackle Max Starks, but what this says to me is that after three games the Minnesota coaching staff is thinking an overweight, out of shape Starks is preferable to Charlie Johnson in any form. This is a problem with no solution – at least not this season. If the Vikings "earn" a top 10 pick in the 2012 NFL draft, there's a 99 per cent chance the team picks a left tackle.

McNabb or Ponder?
The Daily Norseman's Christopher Gates makes the case for why the Vikings should stick with Donovan McNabb as the starting quarterback in what already looks like a lost season. I agree with him.

Can anybody play this game?
The DN's Gates also penned a post looking at the Vikings who have been playing well, despite the 0-3 start.

I can't disagree with any of his selections. I almost thought he should have added second-year corner Chris Cook. But Cook did give up a 32-yard touchdown pass to Detroit's Calvin Johnson that got the Lions comeback rolling. And he is part of a secondary that is giving up an average of 305 passing yards over the first three games, so I don't think we can say anybody in the secondary is playing well. Still, if I had to vote for the Vikings most improved player, it would be Cook. (As an aside, if I had to vote on the player who has regressed the most, it would be right tackle Phil Loadholt.)

It's not all Bill Musgrave's fault
The Star Tribune's Mark Craig reminds us that the Vikings defence has made a healthy contribution to the team's second half woes.

Getting the odd first down would help ....
ESPN 1500's Judd Zulgad wonders why Adrian Peterson only got five opportunities to run the ball in the second half.

I understand what Zulgad is trying to point out here – that the Vikings play calling leaves something to be desired, but the logic is faulty in this case. I'll examine this in more detail tomorrow or Thursday.

We could probably use this guy
I've been secretly enjoying the fact that former Vikings and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice missed the first two games of the 2011 season with yet another injury – this time a shoulder problem. It provided evidence that the Vikings made the right move in not outbidding Seattle for the services of the oft-injured Rice.

But Rice did play on Sunday and he showed Minnesota fans what they will be missing if he can stay in one piece this season.

To be fair, the Vikings did want to re-sign Rice in the offseason, but Sid seemed intent on leaving the team. I think he was still pissed that he didn't get a contract extension following his Pro Bowl 2009 season and that he had his manhood questioned by head coach Brad Childress while making a slow comeback from hip surgery in 2010.

How much better would the Vikings offence be if the Sidney Rice who had eight catches for 109 yards against Arizona last Sunday were still wearing purple? Would the Vikings be 2-1 or 3-0 instead of 0-3?

Don't be afraid to comment
So what's up Viking fans? I was expecting a few vitriolic comments on this blog after Sunday's latest debacle. Yet nothing. Do you just not care about this team anymore? I can't say I would blame you if that's the case.

Vikings pull off yet another miraculous collapse

2011-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Clearly, the Detroit Lions had little to worry about as they trotted off the field at the half time down 20-0 against the Minnesota Vikings.

These Lions aren’t your mother’s Lions. They are not as prone to curling up in a fetal position when things aren’t going their way. Detroit also knew the 2011 Vikings have made a habit of committing boneheaded penalties, leaving the middle of the field wide open for opposing quarterbacks and tight ends and failing to convert on third down (or any down) in the second half in the squad’s previous two losses.

The Vikings did it again Sunday in the team’s first loss to the Lions at the Metrodome since 1997. Of the 10 penalties the Vikings committed in the game, seven came in the second half. Detroit QB Matt Stafford frequently found tight end Brandon Pettigrew (11 catches for 112 yards) open underneath coverage and over the top of it. The Vikings offence went 0-6 on third downs in the second half.

To look so competent in the first halves of this 0-3 start and look so bad in the second halves defies description. So I’m not going to try to describe it. But once a train like this gets going, it’s very hard to stop it. If head coach Leslie Frazier thought he had some challenges to overcome last year when he took over for the fired Brad Childress, he ain’t seen nothing yet. Can the Vikings even beat the Kansas City Chiefs next week – a team that has not looked competent in any half this year?

A few other observations about another game Vikings fans would like to forget.

Donovan McNabb
This was McNabb’s best game yet as a Viking (22-36, 211 yards, one TD pass), but it was still a pretty ho-hum performance. We’re still seeing him miss badly on several throws that a good quarterback should make. We’re also seeing him face a collapsing pocket on just about every throw.

I know there will be many Vikings fans looking for Frazier to switch to rookie Christian Ponder right about now. But Ponder isn’t going to make his offensive lineman pass block better and he isn’t going to turn Bernard Berrian and Devin Aromashodu into deep threats. I wouldn’t throw the rookie into this mess.

Bernard Berrian
O catches.

I could stop right there but I feel I have to write more, so I will. Once again the Vikings “deep threat” didn’t catch a ball. He has one catch in three games this season. His inability to be a legitimate receiving option really hampers this offence because McNabb has no choice but to throw short stuff all the time. It makes it harder for this unit to move the ball when it has to gain it in short chunks and the defence knows it. Is there any reason to even dress Berrian at this point?

Offensive line
A pretty poor showing by this unit. Left tackle Charlie Johnson couldn’t handle Kyle Vanden Bosch’s speed or his effort. Right tackle Phil Loadholt was just as bad. The entire line couldn’t get any push on the Lions defensive line. I was holding my breath on every pass and run play.

3rd and one
Early in his tenure, Frazier has me thinking he’s a game strategy meathead as a head coach. Apparently he makes none of those vaunted half-time adjustments. And that whole fourth-and-one sequence early in the fourth quarter was bad, and I don’t just mean the play call to give it to Toby Gerhart instead of Adrian Peterson. First, the Vikings have struggled to get anything done offensively in the second half this year. So three points is better than none at that stage of the game. A 27-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell is as automatic as it gets in this league.

But you’ve also got to know your personnel in that situation. Did Frazier really think his Vikings offensive line was going to be able to win the battle at the point of attack against the Lions d-line when they hadn’t done it all day? Frazier’s call struck me as a desperate move, rather than a confident move. The three points the Vikings gave away there sure hurt when the Lions kicked the field goal in overtime to win it.

Vikings look to keep Metrodome winning streak against Lions alive

2011-09-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

Vikings vs. Lions

It seems the Vikings have been beating the Detroit Lions forever at the Metrodome (okay, since 1998 to be accurate). This week that long streak looks to be coming to an end.

It’s not so much that Detroit has looked awesome in its first two games, but it’s Minnesota’s unawesomeness that makes me think the Vikings will be 0-3 come 2:30 p.m., Mountain Standard Time, Sunday afternoon.

The team isn’t tackling very well. I don’t think any of the defensive backs will be able to cover Calvin Johnson, who I’m picturing winning jump ball after jump ball in the red zone. John Sullivan certainly can’t handle Ndamukong Suh. Donovan McNabb can’t seem to complete a pass in the pocket. It could get ugly out there and getting thumped by the Lions – at the Metrodome no less – would have to rank as one of the great indignities Vikings fans have suffered over the past two decades.

Can the Vikings win this one? Yes, but a lot will have to go right for that to happen. Somebody other than Percy Harvin will have to emerge as a viable receiving threat (I can’t think of who that might be). The Vikings defensive line will have to harass Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford for a full game, not a half game. Cornerback Chris Cook will have to get through an entire game healthy and play very well while he is in there. I could go on, but you get the point.

Lions 35 Vikings 17

Percy Harvin

Tom Peliserro’s revelation that Percy Harvin has played less than 50 per cent of the Vikings offensive snaps this season is the latest in a series of curious in-game strategic moves by head coach Leslie Frazier and his staff. When I was watching the game, I didn’t realize Harvin was playing so little, although every time there was a Vikings sideline shot, it seemed Harvin was standing there, getting a drink of water.

I’ll be diplomatic here. It seems unwise for Harvin to be playing so infrequently. There are instances where Harvin probably isn’t needed on the field – like a third-and-goal on the opponent’s one-yard line. But Harvin is clearly the Vikings best receiver and every offensive snap he's on the sidelines for makes the Vikings that much easier to defend. Can you imagine Greg Jennings playing less than 50 per cent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps? Or Andre Johnson playing less than 50 per cent of Houston’s offensive snaps? Me neither. This is madness. Keep Harvin on the field until he pukes from exhaustion.

Donovan McNabb
Kevin Seifert points out that McNabb has been at his best on bootleg plays in the first two games. Seifert also points out that it won’t take long for opponents to sniff this strategy out and take it away from the Vikings. And when that happens, what will McNabb and the Vikings offence do then?

What bothers me even more about McNabb’s play in the two losses is that in both games the Vikings needed him to make some plays late in the second half to secure a victory. Those are the kind of plays you’d expect a quarterback two years removed from a Pro Bowl to make. Yet in both games, McNabb failed to make those plays while Philip Rivers and Josh Freeman did.

Kevin Williams
Can the return of defensive tackle Kevin Williams cure what ails the Vikings defence? I think not, although it’s nice to have him back. At 31 years of age, Williams is at a stage in his career where his skills are bound to decline. His return will not be a panacea for the Vikings 2011 defensive shortcomings.

Toby Gerhart
Gerhart touched the ball three times against Tampa Bay last week. One of the touches resulted in a 31-yard run and another touch saw him catch a screen pass and turn it into a 42-yard gain.

Gerhart appears to be bigger, faster and more explosive this year. He does not look like a guy you’d want to tackle when he gets a head of steam. I feared he might be a potential bust after watching him struggle as a rookie last year. But he’s looking much better so far this season. Unfortunately, with the Vikings struggling offensively, they aren’t running enough plays to get Gerhart some more playing time. So he’s a wasted asset on this squad.

Rebuilding?
Should the Vikings blow up their roster if Detroit beats them at home on Sunday? ESPN 1500’s Judd Zulgad thinks it should happen.

What are your thoughts on this issue, Viking fans?

These Minnesota Vikings aren't hard to figure

2011-09-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Vikings loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday was the kind of defeat that in past years would have caused me to seriously think about smashing my TV with a baseball bat.

With the 2011 Vikings, there was no fit of rage – just resignation – as I witnessed another brutal second half collapse by my favorite team. This squad is what it is – a 6-10/5-11 team, that if a few breaks go its way could be 7-9 or 8-8, and if a few breaks don't go its way could be 4-12 or 3-13 this season.

Still, what is it with this team? How can it look so competent in the first half and so incompetent in the second half? Is it conditioning? The poor tackling we've seen in the second half of losses to San Diego and Tampa Bay suggests that might be an issue.

Or are there mental issues? What does it say about this Vikings team when several players commented after the Tampa Bay loss that their opponents "wanted it more" and that they didn't play hard for 60 minutes? That tells me this team is fragile and mentally weak, although some veteran leaders tried to address that issue on Monday.

I don't think this season is going to be much fun.

Other links

* The Vikings must hate ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero. In his weekly tape study (always a must read), he says Donovan McNabb's skills are "obviously in decline", declares that guard Steve Hutchinson is "just so average" and wonders if cornerback Antoine Winfield might be finally showing his age (sacrilege!)

* Can the Vikings get their first win of the season against the 2-0 (I can't believe I'm writing this) Detroit Lions? Sam Monson's scouting report on the Leos suggests it will be difficult.

* ESPN 1500's Patrick Reusse wonders why fans of the Vikings are taking it easy on head coach Leslie Frazier after two-straight second half collapses and some questionable coaching decisions. Judging from the boos that rained down on the Vikings in the Metrodome after last Sunday's loss, the kid gloves are already coming off.

* The Vikings decided to release defensive end Adrian Awasom on Tuesday to make room for Kevin Williams. Some people wondered if safety Tyrell Johnson arrest would signal the end of his Vikings career. I'll take no glee in this if it eventually happens. Johnson was regarded pretty highly by many NFL teams when he was drafted in the second round of 2008. If he were playing up to the potential scouts saw in him four years ago, the Vikings pass defence would be better off. But it appears Johnson will go down as one of the Vikes draft busts.

* It's too early for this, but CBS Sportsline's Clark Judge has the Vikings in the running for the right to draft Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck.

Luck might be the most highly prized college QB since Peyton Manning. So let's say the Vikings keep losing in brutal fashion and secure the number one pick. Do they select Luck even though they already drafted their quarterback of the future in Christian Ponder last April? Or do they trade the number one pick to another QB needy team and use the draft picks and players they land to fill the numerous holes in he roster? It's an intriguing debate for Vikings fans.

Expect delayed post-game reaction from Grant's Tomb on Vikes-Bucs game

2011-09-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick programming note on Sunday #2 of the 2011 NFL season for the few regular readers of Grant's Tomb.

Work duties and deadlines are forcing me to be chained to my desk today. But thanks to the wonders of modern communications, I'll be taping the Vikings-Bucs game and watching it later tonight. So I will post my thoughts on the Vikings first win of the season (I'm being optimistic), but it might not get on this site until late Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

Vikings search for redemption Sunday against Tampa Bay

2011-09-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay

I’ve been waiting since about 5:15 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) last Sunday for the chance to see the Vikings to erase the stench of their second half performance against the San Diego Chargers.

I don’t know if Sunday’s home opener will be it, though. I haven’t seen a Vikings offence look more hopeless than it did in the second half of that Chargers game in the past decade. And that’s saying something since I remember the 2006 game at Lambeau Field against the Packers that the Vikings lost 9-7, with the touchdown coming on a pick-six by Fred Smoot (remember him?)

But that 2006 team had no Adrian Peterson. Billy McMullen, Troy Williamson and Travis Taylor were playing wide receiver and a way-over-the-hill Brad Johnson and a rookie Tarvaris Jackson were playing quarterback. With that kind of “talent”, the offence should have been brutal.

The 2011 Minnesota Vikings have Peterson, Donovan McNabb, Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe – even Michael Jenkins is an upgrade over guys like Taylor and McMullen. They shouldn’t be worse than the 2006 offence. But they sure looked like it last Sunday.

When you’re building a house, it’s essential that it have a strong foundation. The same holds true for building an NFL offence, and that foundation is the offensive line. The main issue here is the Vikings have allowed their foundation to crumble. The line has gone from average (in 2006) to abominable (now) and the offence is going to have a hard time scoring points most Sundays. It’s hard to win that way.

Here are some other things for Vikings fans to worry about as Sunday’s game approaches:

Josh Freeman
The Vikings play a lot of good quarterbacks this season. Aaron Rodgers twice. Jay Cutler twice. They face Matt Stafford twice – who appears to be on the verge of entering the good/very good level. They’ve already faced Philip Rivers and we saw how that turned out. Drew Brees and Matt Ryan are also on the docket. The Vikings will also have to defend Cam Newton and Kevin Kolb, who had strong 2011 debuts.

The Bucs Josh Freeman also qualifies as a good, maybe very good, quarterback. He’s young, he’s big, he can run and he can throw. For a defence that has issues in the secondary, this is not a great matchup for the Vikings.

Kellen Winslow
This guy isn’t a great matchup, either. Last week, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates had great success against the Vikes. Winslow is faster than Gates, almost as big and has pretty good hands. He should have a productive day on Sunday.

LeGarrette Blount
Blount was once suspended 10 games in college for punching an opponent. In his first year as a pro, he became known as a guy who breaks a lot of tackles instead of trying to break jaws. We all saw the Vikings defensive unit had problems tackling Chargers running back Mike Tolbert and the 243 pounds he carries. Blount is taller, faster and a few pounds heavier than Tolbert. Uh oh.

* * * *

Now that I’ve spent about 500 words extolling the virtues of Tampa Bay, you’ll be surprised to read that I do feel the Vikings will win this game. The Bucs have beaten the Vikes the last four times they’ve played them, so the law of averages are in Minnesota’s favor.

The game is also in the Metrodome, and, oh, great big ashtray, how I’ve missed you. A few weeks ago, ESPN’s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert wrote about how effective the Vikings have been in the Dome in recent history. They do seem to play a foot taller there. If they can get off to a good start on offence, keep the crowd engaged and loud, the home team will be energized by the home crowd and the Bucs will be bothered by it. Maybe it will be enough to cause a few extra penalties for the visitors and a few mistakes that could turn the game in the Vikings favor.

My prediction: Vikings 23 – Bucs 20

One other thing ….

ESPN 1500’s Judd Zulgad comes down hard on Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian in his Thursday article. It’s a fair assessment. We all hoped for better coming into this season, but Berrian’s been a non-factor for two seasons now and that isn’t going to change. Last season he had three games with no catches, four games with one catch and four games with two catches. Now he’s started off 2011 with no catches in the season opener.

I’m fairly certain if Berrian were playing for any other team, he would have been released, or at least benched, a long time ago. But the Vikings feel they have no choice but to play Berrian, so they say nice things about him – as head coach Leslie Frazier did during the offseason – and keep trotting him out there.

But Berrian has no value anymore. If the Vikings are going to throw deep balls, throw them to Harvin. He might not be 6’4, but he's fast and he will compete for the ball. Or maybe Randy Moss would play for us again. The guy is a kook, but before I went on a long blogging hiatus last winter and spring, I had a post brewing where I was going to make an argument that the Vikings should consider signing Moss as a number 3 receiver. Most fans would consider that a joke, but the real joke is Berrian’s play.

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf deserves better

2011-09-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

The National Football Post's Jack Bechta gives Vikings owner Zygi Wilf some love in his latest column.

I'm slightly suspicious of Bechta's kind words for Wilf here. Bechta's an agent after all, and of course he's going to think Wilf is "committed to winning" when the owner liberally throws around the Ben Franklin's like he did last week on Chad Greenway and Adrian Peterson. Bechta would like to get a similar payday from Wilf for one of his clients in the future. So it doesn't hurt to write nice things about a guy like that.

Reservations aside, I think Wilf is a very good owner. I know, I know, the guy keeps holding the stadium thing over Viking fans heads and everyone thinks he's taking the team to Los Angeles if he doesn't get a new one to replace the Metrodome. But Wilf is the owner of a business that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He wants to make as much profit as he can and maximize the value of his asset as much as he can. That's what business owners do. I don't begrudge him that.

My memories of previous Vikings owners are of Red McCombs and the shadowy cadre headed up by Mike Lynn. The Vikings had some good years under both ownership groups, but you never got the sense either one would do whatever it took to bring a winner to Minnesota.

With Wilf, I get that sense. He's made some mistakes in his six years as owner (like hiring Brad Childress), but what owner hasn't. When he's been asked to spend money to make the team better – like the trade for Jared Allen and the subsequent contract extension, or signing Brett Favre – he's done it. He's also engaged in the team, but seems to let his football people make the football decisions. And he's not interested in hogging the spotlight like Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder. I like all those things about Wilf.

I just wish the Vikings squad would treat him better. In 2005 he had the Love Boat incident to deal with. In 2006 his handpicked head coach proceeded to trot out the most boring offence in recent NFL history. In 2007, that same head coach tried to convince everybody a quarterback trio of Tarvaris Jackson, Kelly Holcomb and Brooks Bollinger could compete in the NFL. In 2008 the team made the playoffs, which was nice of them, and 2009 was a high water mark. But that season featured another gut-wrenching loss in an NFC Championship game. 2010 was a train wreck – Favre came back and sucked, the Randy Moss trade blew up, Childress had to be fired, the roof collapsed on the Metrodome – you name it, it went wrong last year.

2011 isn't looking a whole lot better, but that's not Wilf's fault. He's doing a lot of the right things for the organization. I hope he gets rewarded for it some day.

Media, Vikings fans need to give McNabb a chance

2011-09-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

Throwing for 39 yards in your debut with a new team is no way to win friends and influence people. So it doesn't surprise me that writers like CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco and veteran Vikings blogger Vikes Geek are already calling on Minnesota's coaching staff to bench Donovan McNabb and play either rookie Christian Ponder or second-year man Joe Webb.

But as sucktastic as McNabb looked in the second half of Sunday's 24-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers, shouldn't we cut a 13-year veteran with six Pro Bowls on his resume a bit more slack?

While other Vikings fans had their doubts, I've always been on board with the team's decision to acquire McNabb. Every team has a different philosophy, but if I've got a team with some talent, but also a lot of holes (and the 2011 Vikings qualify), I think a talented veteran is more likely to keep that team competitive than a talented rookie. And no matter what the preseason predictions might be or how much a poor season could improve the Vikings draft position in 2012, I want to watch a team that at least tries to be competitive. Rebuilding seasons are only to be used as a last resort.

I also like the McNabb move because if we are going to have a quarterback running for his life and taking a lot of hits this year, I'd rather that guy be McNabb – who is only going to be around for one year – instead of your quarterback of the future, who, I assume, is going to be Ponder.

With the Vikings offensive line looking like it's going to be a disaster of Fukushima proportions this season, Ponder is better served watching from the sidelines. By the 2012 training camp, the Vikes will have (hopefully) drafted a left tackle and signed or drafted a number one wide receiver. By then, Ponder will have a much better foundation under him, one that will give him a better chance to succeed.

Football writers and fans like to point to guys like Joe Flacco and Sam Bradford as examples of rookie quarterbacks who succeeded right off the bat. But when I think of first-year QBs who started right away, I always remember Joey Harrington.

The third overall pick in the 2002 draft, got to start immediately for the Detroit Lions, but he played behind a bad offensive line and had no weapons to throw or hand off to. Predictably, he sucked, lost his mojo and now he's out of the league. I don't want to see the same thing happen to Christian Ponder.

Other Links
* ESPN 1500 has been doing some nice coverage on the Vikings so far. Here are a couple of articles well worth reading – Tom Pelissero's weekly grades of the Vikings positional units and a scouting report on Minnesota's next opponent – Tampa Bay.

* Here's a surprise: former Viking wide receiver Sidney Rice didn't play for his new team, the Seattle Seahawks, last Sunday because he was hurt.

* Here's another surprise, former Viking quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, had a better game on Sunday than Donovan McNabb.

* Our old friend, Benny Sapp, was released by the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday. The Vikings have concerns about their depth at cornerback. Should they welcome Sapp back? (The answer is "no".)

* And feel free to leave a comment on this blog sometime, dear readers. My previous six posts haven't gotten any, and I'm not feeling the love out there. I know my blogging has been non-existent for long stretches in 2011, but I'm posting a bit more regularly now and hope to continue this output. It's a lot more fun when there's some feedback rolling in.

A look at the brighter side one day after the loss to the Chargers

2011-09-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

The reviews are in following the Vikings 24-17 loss to San Diego on Sunday and they aren't good.

I can't argue with those assessments. The Vikings were brutal in the second half of that loss. But was there anything positive to take out of this season-opening defeat? From my spot on the couch Sunday afternoon, there were five things that I did find encouraging.

1) The Vikings run defence: (Note to any American readers, "defence" is spelled with a "c" in Canada.) San Diego's running back duo of Ryan Matthews and Mike Tolbert aren't All-Pros, but the Vikings defensive team did hold them to 80 yards on 24 carries – a 3.3 yard average and consistently put the Chargers offence in long yardage situations. Now if only the unit could have defended screen passes and Antonio Gates as well as it defended the run.

2) Erin Henderson: E.J.'s younger brother won the starting right outside linebacker job by default. But he looked like he belonged against the Chargers. In his first NFL start, Henderson had a sack, nine tackles (three for losses) and was around the pile more often than not. It was an impressive start for a player who had plenty of doubters heading into the opener.

3) Chris Cook: He was called for two pass interference penalties, but he also had perfect coverage on the Chargers' Malcolm Floyd on two deep throws into the end zone, using his size and the sideline to his advantage. Cook is an important player who needs to play well this season. Against the Chargers he showed us a bit of what he can do when he's healthy and playing with confidence.

4) Brian Robison: I was not in favor of the Vikings allowing Ray Edwards to walk and making Robison the starting left end in the offseason. But he was a force in the first half of the San Diego game. Although he disappeared in the second half, that also applies to everyone else that dressed for the Vikings on Sunday. Maybe this is one personnel move that will work out for the Vikings

5) Michael Jenkins: The numbers weren't impressive in his Vikings debut (three catches for 26 yards), yet Jenkins looks like he will be one of Donovan McNabb's favorite receiving targets. He's a big guy who can work between the numbers and make tough catches in the middle of the field. There is value in that kind of a player. Jenkins will be even more valuable if the Vikings can figure out how to complete a pass to somebody other than him and Percy Harvin.

Vikings done in by the usual suspects in loss to Chargers

2011-09-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

If only – for one week anyway – NFL contests were 30 minutes long. If that had been the case in the Vikings first game of the 2011 season, the post-game narrative for this one would have been that Donovan McNabb was solid, if unspectacular, in his Vikings debut, Minnesota’s maligned offensive line and secondary held up and its defence kept San Diego’s excellent All-Pro quarterback Philip Rivers under pressure and uncomfortable all day.

But NFL games are 60 minutes long, not 30, and following the Vikings 24-17 loss to the Chargers, the narrative this week will be decidedly different. It may only be the first game of the season, but the 2011 Minnesota Vikings look pretty much like the team many football experts expected them to be, with little chance the squad will grow into something better.

As many football observers have already predicted, the offensive line looks like it will struggle to keep opposing defenders off McNabb’s back. The passing game doesn’t have a credible deep threat to keep opposing defences' honest. And any quarterback with a pulse routinely exposes the Viking pass defenders.

Two things really struck me watching this game. 1) McNabb rarely had a chance to get comfortable in the pocket. 2) The Vikings defensive unit too often was unable to stop the Chargers when they got them in second and third-and-long situations.

While McNabb was only sacked twice by the Chargers, his pocket was far from clean most of the afternoon. That fact had a profound impact on the Vikings passing game. It meant the team couldn’t call many deep passing routes because they take too long to develop and McNabb would be on his back by the time anyone was open. (This renders Bernard Berrian totally useless.) And because the Vikings could only call short passing plays, San Diego was able to take away the areas of the field where Percy Harvin, Michael Jenkins and Visanthe Shiancoe are most effective – on short-to-medium pass routes.

The result was just 39 yards in passing for McNabb, which has to be a record in passing yard futility for the Vikings. It’s not the kind of game that will silence critics who think McNabb doesn’t have much left to offer after a disastrous 2010 season in Washington.

Defensively, I liked the aggressive blitzing defensive coordinator Fred Pagac dialed up. But screens to running backs burned his unit repeatedly. Ryan Matthews had three catches for 73 yards and Mike Tolbert had nine catches for 58 yards and two TDs. Short stuff to tight end Antonio Gates also killed the Vikes. The Vikings consistently stuffed the Chargers running game and had them in second-and-10 and third-and-nine situations in the second half and couldn’t get off the field. This has long been a problem for the Vikings defence, especially last year, and it looks like it hasn’t changed and won’t change.

My expectations were pretty low for the Vikings going into the 2011 season. Yet I always hold out hope the team will surprise me. This loss stings. For one half, the Vikings played a great road game. But they couldn’t sustain it. This squad looks just good enough to keep most games close and just bad enough to not be able to pull the lion’s share of those close games out. Another 6-10 season could be in the works.

Vikings do the right thing in extending Adrian Peterson’s contract

2011-09-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

I wouldn’t blame football fans for wondering whether awarding a seven-year, $100 million contract to a running back who doesn’t block all that well and is considered an average receiver as being a little excessive. But if we’ve learned anything about big money NFL contracts in recent years, it’s that appearances can be very deceiving.

Adrian Peterson’s contract extension announced on Saturday is one such example. The details aren’t confirmed yet, but it looks like #28 is guaranteed $36 million. So that’s what he will make. The $100 million is what he could make. And that’s a big difference.

There is always concern that teams will put themselves in salary cap hell when they sign veterans to big money deals that last more than three years. However, these deals are almost always renegotiated three of four years down the road, as teams approach the veterans to take a pay cut to free up salary cap space for some other player or players. This is how the game is played.

So Peterson will never see $100 million. In three or four years, management will ask him to restructure his existing deal (i.e. – take a cut in pay), and they’ll be doing so at a time when his production is about to decline, he’ll be less essential to the Vikings and he’ll have less leverage to say “no.” His contract will not hamstring the Vikings ability to pay for top talent in the future.

I also like the deal for a couple of other reasons:

1) It eliminates a potential distraction for Peterson and the Vikings. While I usually think “distractions” are overblown as a cause for team strife, it certainly does no harm to eliminate the possibility of one. If Peterson had been allowed to play this season under the final year of his rookie contract, he (and Vikings coach Leslie Frazier) would have been answering questions about this issue for the next five months. That would have been very annoying for Peterson and the entire Vikings team and it definitely would have been a distraction. This team is going to have a hard enough time winning games as it is, it doesn’t need off-the–field drama.

2) This contract makes Peterson a happy camper. It’s always wise to keep your best player happy. It also shows other players around the league that the Vikings will spend money to keep the players they really want. This will be noticed by players facing free agency in 2012.

One current Vikings player who probably isn’t totally thrilled by the Peterson signing is middle linebacker E.J. Henderson – who is in the final year of his contract and likely looking for one last big payday. If you think it’s unwise to give a 26-year-old running back a fat new contract, how folly would it be to resign a 31-year-old middle linebacker who suffered season-ending injuries in 2008 and 2009 to an expensive extension?

Vikings get younger but not necessarily better with final roster cuts

2011-09-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

The Vikings cut a bunch of guys on Saturday to get their roster down to 53 players and as Judd Zulgad of ESPN 1500 writes, head coach Leslie Frazier has put his stamp on this team.

I don't really disagree with any of the cuts and keeps Frazier and personnel guy Rick Spielman made. But I don't think the players they kept are upgrades over guys like Jeff Dugan, Ryan Cook (yes, I'm serious) and Heath Farwell. The difference may be players like Allen Reisner and DeMarcus Love are younger, cheaper and have room to grow, whereas a Dugan, a Cook and a Farwell are what they are at this point in their careers.

If you're looking for a recent Vikings team the 2011 squad resembles, I'd say it would be the 2002 team coached by Mike Tice that went 6-10. That team had a few stars (Moss, Culpepper, Birk), some young, unproven talent and a lot of holes. I feel the same way about this Vikings team. If they finish 8-8, Vikings fans would have to consider the 2011-2012 season a successful one.

It's been noted the Vikings will likely add a player or two over the next couple of days, particularly if they see an experienced linebacker or offensive lineman hit the street. But the pickings are slim. Nobody on this list jumps out at me.

Update
Allen Reisner's stay on the Vikings 53-man roster was quite short, as the Vikings signed linebacker Xavier Adibi, who had been waived by Houston. I've heard lots of good things about Reisner. Hopefully, he makes it on the practice squad.

Ponder makes his case for backup QB job against Texans

2011-09-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Once again, I wasn't able to watch the Vikings final preseason game against the Houston Texans. Even with all the starters out and all the scrubs in, I probably would have watched this one though, just to see how first round draft pick Christian Ponder would do.

But judging from the game recaps and the stats, Ponder may have done enough to steal the backup quarterback job from Joe Webb, even though it sounds like he still can't complete a pass when he stays in the pocket. Wasn't Ponder supposed to be some kind of polished pro-style passer coming out of Florida State?

For readers out there who have been able to watch Ponder play, I'm curious to hear how you think the guy has looked in his first NFL preseason. Does he bear any resemblance to a future franchise quarterback?

By Saturday the Vikings will have to cut their roster down to 53 players. The Star-Tribune's Mark Craig takes a stab at picking who sticks and who won't.

Of the Vikings 2011 draft picks it looks like Ponder (naturally), Kyle Rudolph, Christian Ballard and Brandon Burton (with the interception tonight) are locks. DeMarcus Love is iffy. Everybody else is either practice squad fodder or selling insurance on Monday.

Should Rick Spielman get on the phone to Andre Gurode's agent?

2011-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Vikings third preseason game features some good and some bad signs

2011-08-27T21:40:00.001-07:00

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?

Why the Minnesota Vikings will struggle in 2011

2011-08-25T14:28:00.001-07:00

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?

Signing McNabb is a wise move by the Vikings

2011-07-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

I have not been on board with much of what the Vikings have done this offseason.

I wasn't thrilled with the choice of Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator – a guy who had failed at the job in two other NFL stops.

I couldn't understand why they were so willing to part ways with Ray Edwards – a young, productive defensive end in a league where that kind of player is a highly valued commodity.

I was all ready for them to draft Nebraska standout corner Prince Amukamara with their first round pick. Instead they selected a guy, quarterback Christian Ponder, who many draftniks didn't think would be selected in the first round at all. (I have since come around on the Ponder choice – a little. But the rest of their draft looks pretty sketchy to me. Full of high risk, low reward guys.)

But today's acquisition of Donovan McNabb for a couple of sixth round picks is something I can get behind. Despite Kevin Seifert's belief that McNabb is nothing but a very short-term insurance policy for Ponder, I don't see how a guy could go from playing at a Pro Bowl level in 2009 to being a has-been a year later (although Brett Favre sure looked like it last year, as did McNabb in Washington.)

Anyway, I'm not in favor sticking a rookie under center unless you have no other options. If the Vikings management still believes the team has the talent to be a playoff caliber squad, they would have been wasting the season going with Ponder this year, who would be in over his helmet. Give him a year on the sidelines to get used to the speed of the game, to learn about the commitment it takes to be an elite NFL player and to familiarize himself with a pro playbook and the complexities of NFL defences.

McNabb might not be the same player he was at 28 or 29. But he's been around. He's played in big games. He's still got a strong arm and he's still mobile. He can keep the Vikings competitive for another year or two, which I would prefer rather than watching Ponder learn – and lose – on the job for a couple of seasons.

My main worry is that in Washington last year, McNabb had no running game, his offensive line was terrible and he had very little talent to throw to. And the results were not pretty. With the Vikings, he's walking into a similar situation. The offensive line is terrible and he has very little talent to throw to. At least he has Adrian Peterson.

About this blog:
I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. One reason for that is that I got a new job in January and it's been very busy. I just didn't have time to write anything. The other reason is that with the lockout, there really wasn't anything to write about much of the time.

This post does not mean I'm back to blogging full time, or even part time. I'll see how I feel and how much time I have. But I'll keep the site up because at some point in the future, I'd like to write about the Vikings as regularly as I did in 2007-2009. That just might not be the case this season. Thanks for your patience.

Hmmm, Robison over Edwards

2011-03-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, two posts in two days for Grant's Tomb this week. March is shaping up to be a killer month on this blog.

Anyway, now that the Vikings have stopped slapping tenders on players, they've actually got around to signing one.

I like Brian Robison. I always have. He's a great guy to have in your defensive line rotation. He works hard every play. He's got some pass rush skills and he's improved as a run defender.

However, I don't know why the Vikings seem so willing to part with Ray Edwards and think that Robison can start in his place and deliver the same level of play. Edwards must be asking for some kind of contract extension.

Robison was never able to take the starting defensive end spot from Edwards the four years they were teammates. Robison is also 21 months older than Edwards – even though he's played one less season.

Robison seems like a five or six sack guy who will be adequate against the run. He's a good player, not a great player.

Edwards is a proven eight sack guy, who could get even better over the next three seasons or so. And he's very good against the run. He's not a great player. But he's a very good one.

So by signing Robison to a contract extension they've kept a solid player on the roster for a relatively affordable price. But they have also weakened themselves if they plan on starting Robison and letting Edwards play elsewhere.

In 2009, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called Ray Edwards the unsung hero of the Vikings defensive line. I can't remember him ever saying anything about Brian Robison.

Good call

And forget about Bob Sanders or Oshiomogho Atogwe wearing Vikings jerseys – they have signed elsewhere.

I've made my feelings known on this topic already, so there is no need to rehash it again. But I do approve of the lack of interest the Vikings showed in both safeties.

We've got bigger problems to focus on.

March Break

2011-03-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry about the sporadic activity on the blog of late. Real life is getting in the way of my writing about the Vikings. If only somebody would pay me a decent wage to do this....

I noticed the Vikings tendered wide receiver Sidney Rice and a bunch of other guys on Wednesday.

Tendering offensive lineman Ryan Cook is the only decision that I question among this group. The Vikings need some offensive line help, but Cook is a guy the Vikings could do without. It's true you can play him at guard or tackle. It's also true that he plays neither position well.

Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders fame is one of my favorite writers in this genre. So I was eager to his read his rundown on the Vikings and their NFC North opponents in the site's regular "Four Downs" feature.

As much as I like Tanier's stuff, I have to disagree with him on a couple of counts when it comes to his opinions on the Vikings.

1) Tarvaris Jackson is not a "viable stopgap and rookie groomer" for the Vikings at quarterback in 2011 (assuming, you know, there is a season.) Bring back Jackson – even in a supposed rebuilding year – and the Vikings fan base will go ape shit. The team will not sell out a game at the Metrodome or the Gophers home stadium or even the Target Center if Jackson is under center.

Okay, maybe there are sell outs when the Packers and Bears come to town. But that only happens because the stadium will be half full with Bear and Packer fans.

2) I don't think the Vikings stadium situation will have much of an impact on whether free agents decide to sign with Minnesota or not. Free agents care first and foremost about money, as every player should in a league where the average career lasts less than four years. If the Vikings offer a free agent more money to play for them than any other team offers, I think that player will sign with the Vikings even if the Metrodome isn't ready and games have to be played in a corn field.

That's all for today. Now let's wait for the inevitable lockout.

Leslie Frazier is no Rex Ryan

2011-02-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

When Brad Childress was head coach of the Vikings (remember that?) he had a habit of using odd sayings that left you scratching your head. He also occasionally angered his players - Brad Johnson and Brett Favre are two that come to mind - by publicly ripping them during press conferences. And sometimes, like last summer when Ryan Longwell, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson went on a Favre recruitment trip, he just lied to reporters about it.

Well, Leslie Frazier isn't making those same kind of mistakes.

Check out this story in the Star-Tribune as an example of what I mean. Did Frazier actually say anything in any of those quotes?

Now I haven't heard every interview Frazier has given since becoming the Vikings head coach, but the ones I have heard, he's yet to say one thing of substance. There are no spicy quotes. And no details or specifics on players or offensive and defensive schemes. It's all generalities and baffle gab.

I find it boring. But it probably works well with the players. Frazier, as an ex-player, knows players don't like to be publicly criticized by their head coach.

He also has no interest in providing the opposition with any insights into what the Vikings are doing or any bulletin board material to get the opponent fired up.

Best to mute the sound when Frazier has a mike put in front of him. He isn't going to say anything worth listening to anyway.

Greenway down, a few more to go

2011-02-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

We can all scratch Chad Greenway off the list of players the Vikings will need to replace in 2011. The Vikings have franchised him.

Sidney Rice could be the next guy the Vikings play tag with. They can put a transition tag on one potential free agent and it's expected to be Rice.

It also looks like Ray Edwards will be allowed to hit the free agent market, where he will likely sign with someone else.

I hope the Vikings have a good "plan B" in place if they lose Edwards.

Upgrades at safety would be nice, but ....

2011-02-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

The release of safeties Oshiomogho Atogwe and Bob Sanders has created some speculation the Vikings might sign one of these guys to improve a position that was very weak in 2010.

While it looks like Atogwe might re-sign with St. Louis anyway even after they released him, I won't be worrying too much about whether these guys land with the Vikings or not.

We certainly saw a lot of bad safety play from the Vikings last season, particularly from Madieu Williams, who seemingly forgot how to play football in 2010 – letting sure interceptions slide through his hands, taking impossibly bad angles on passes thrown his way, and overall tackling poorly.

Still, the Vikings have a number of weaknesses to address assuming NFL football is played in 2011. Safety is one of those weaknesses. But its hardly the most pressing one.

Consider (and I'm sure you have) that the Vikings currently need to find a quarterback of the present and the future. They may also need to find a replacement for linebackers Ben Leber and Chad Greenway, placekicker Ryan Longwell, left defensive end Ray Edwards, they may also need a number one and a number three wide receiver, a right guard, a center, and depending on the health of cornerback Cedric Griffin, a starting cornerback to team with Antoine Winfield.

Again, I'm not disputing that the Vikings safety play wasn't bad in 2010. It was. But I think it was often bad in 2009, too. But that bad play didn't hurt the Vikings too much because the team got such great performances from more vital positions like quarterback and wide receiver.

Even as things went horribly wrong in 2010, I don't remember thinking too often during a Vikings game that, "Fuck, our safeties are costing us this game. If only we had Ed Reed we'd have been 11-5!"

The Vikings have four guys under contract – Williams, Husain Abdullah, Tyrell Johnson and Jamarca Sanford – who have all started games for the Vikings the past two seasons.

The Vikings can survive using some combination of those four, just like they did in 2009. So I'm hoping team management isn't expending a great deal of brainpower worying about the safety position.

What's more important is finding the right solutions to the more pressing roster holes.

Good placekickers are hard to find

2011-02-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

The Vikings have 19 unrestricted free agents this offseason. However, re-signing the majority of them (Hank Baskett? Greg Lewis? Pack your bags, boys.) is not very important.

There are a few free agents the Vikings do need to lock up. Linebacker Chad Greenway is one of them. Defensive ends Ray Edwards and Brian Robison and wide receiver Sidney Rice are some of the others.

And then there is placekicker Ryan Longwell.

I find it a bit odd that I’m not reading anything - except for this item – signaling the Vikings are concerned about losing Longwell. Perhaps that’s because Longwell had a very quiet year in 2010. He only attempted 18 field goals.

But that was a direct result of the Vikings pitiful offensive play in 2010. When they weren’t turning the ball over to their opponent, they struggled to string together enough first downs to get in position to at least allow Longwell to attempt a field goal.

Longwell still nailed 17 of the field goals he was asked to make.

That kind of accuracy has been the norm for Longwell since he signed with Minnesota in 2006. In his five seasons with the Vikings he’s made 113 of the 129 field goals he’s attempted. That is 87.6 percent of his kicks.

Longwell has also been money on what you would consider makeable field goals – attempts of less than 50 yards. On field goals in the 0-39 yard range, Longwell has made 94.9 percent of those kicks. On field goals in the 0-49 yard range – he’s made 90.4 percent of his kicks.

Basically, when Longwell has jogged on the field to attempt a field goal of less than 50 yards, and the vast majority of field goals that are attempted are less than 50 yards, nine times out of 10 he’s made them. That’s pretty good.

Because Longwell has done his job so well in Minnesota, it may seem like that kind of accuracy is normal. However, if you remember the state of the Vikings placekicking after Gary Anderson left the team following the 2002 season, its clear Longwell’s accuracy isn’t normal.

In 2003 Mike Tice tried to replace Anderson with Aaron Elling. But Elling was shaky and never gained anybody’s trust – not Tice’s, not the players and not the fans. He made 72 percent of his kicks in his one year as the Vikings placekicker. He was particularly suspect when called upon to kick a field goal of 40 yards or more – making only five of 10 kicks beyond 39 yards.

In 2004 Tice replaced Elling with 44-year-old Morten Andersen. Old Morten was much more accurate than Elling, making 81.8 percent of his field goals. Unfortunately, his range had been greatly diminished by father time. You were never sure any kick Andersen attempted over 40 yards would even make it to the crossbar. Tice even took to gambling on fourth and short if the Vikings were near the opponent’s 40-yard line rather than have Andersen attempt any field goals beyond 40 yards.

In 2005 Paul Edinger became the next guy the Vikings signed to provide stability to the placekicker position. He also failed.

Edinger made just 73.5 percent of the kicks he attempted. He was actually pretty good that year from 40 yards or more, making 11 of 15 kicks. The weird part was he really struggled with the easy kicks – the ones between 30-39 yards – making just three of eight attempts from that distance.

Then along came Longwell in 2006 and our placekicking problem was solved. Compared to how I felt about the Vikings kickers between 2003-2005, there’s a calm that now comes over me whenever Longwell kicks a field goal.

For example, when he had to kick a 54-yard field goal for the win at Soldier Field in 2007, I knew that was at the outer limits of his range. But I also knew he had made a lot of big kicks in his career. He made that one.

When he was asked to kick a last-second 50-yard field goal against the New York Giants in 2008 to win a divisional title and clinch the Vikings first playoff berth since 2004, I had no doubt Longwell would make it. He did.

And when Brett Favre was driving the Vikings for a potential 50-plus yard NFC Championship-winning field goal, I had no doubt ….ahh, let’s just forget that one.

Anyway, Longwell is headed for free agency, and the Vikings placekicking situation could get dicey without him.

There are some concerns with re-signing Longwell. He’ll be 37 when the 2011 season starts (if it starts) and his leg strength is not going to improve as he gets older. He also doesn’t get the ball deep on kickoffs and those kickoffs get shorter as the season wears on.

However, I think those are minor concerns. In the five seasons Longwell’s been a Viking, only one other kicker active during this period has made a higher percentage of his kicks – John Carney (88 percent). And there is no sign his performance is about to drop off a cliff.

I’m not sure how much money and how long a contract Longwell is looking for. I don’t even know if he’s interested in resigning with the Vikings.

But he’s probably got two or three very good years left in his leg and the Vikings have enough holes to fill on their roster this offseason. So if Longwell is open to resigning, I hope the Vikings are open to bringing him back.

Because I don’t want to lose that calm feeling I’ve had since 2006 when the Vikings attempt a field goal.

This is why I try not to read Pete Prisco

2011-02-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a great idea for a sports column that wasn't executed very well.

CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco knows he's not going to make many football fans happy with his all-time NFL power rankings. But he could have put more thought into this one.

If you're going to rank NFL franchises, my view is the only factors that should play into those rankings are the number of titles won and the number of games won by each team.

The current stadiums teams play in, current ownership, tradition, the perceived loyalty of the fan base – all factors Prisco seems to take into account in his rankings – shouldn't make a difference.

After 50 seasons in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings don't have a Super Bowl title (although they do have one NFL title, in 1969, before the AFL/NFL merger). But they do have a winning percentage of .551. That's good for fifth-best in the 32-team NFL. Only the Packers (.559), Dallas (.576), Miami (.576) and Chicago (.579) have fared better.

Yet Prisco has the Vikings ranked as the 21st best NFL franchise of all-time in his rankings. Doesn't that seem a little low to you?

Other stuff

ESPN's Kevin Seifert is asking for your help to pick an All-NFC North team.

He doesn't have any Vikings on the team yet. I think that's pretty fair, although Adrian Peterson has to be the division's starting running back. Chicago's Matt Forte didn't have that good of a year.

Star Caps fallout

The Star Caps court case may not be over yet, but it's over for Big Pat Williams – according to Big Pat Williams.

What I find interesting about this story is that Williams says its cost him almost $1-million to fight the battle.

When Pat and Kevin Williams first launched their appeal, it's been said one of the reasons they did so was because they didn't want to lose the income being suspended four games without pay would cost them. But because the appeal took so long, Williams probably spent almost as much money on lawyer fees as he would have lost if he had just sat out the four games in 2008.

The future

2011-02-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Let's just ignore what happened on Sunday, February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas.

Unfortunately, I can't.

I can be impressed and respect what the Green Bay Packers did during this Super Bowl run, however.

They went on the road and beat three quality opponents – Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago to get to the Super Bowl. Then they beat another quality opponent, Pittsburgh, to win it. That's earning your Super Bowl rings.

But the outcome, and what it might mean for the future, is depressing if you're a Vikings fan.

Watching Aaron Rodgers nimbly avoid sacks and zip passes into tight spots to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson. Watching James Starks give the Packers a running game. Watching Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji and Tramon Williams and Sam Shields wearing Packer uniforms – all of them young and all of them not even in their prime yet – and it's hard to envision how Green Bay won't dominate the NFC North for at least the next five years.

The Vikings have some great talent – Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Jared Allen, etc., etc. But they don't have the depth the Packers have. They also don't have Aaron Rodgers.

Hall of fame

Former Vikings Cris Carter and Chris Doleman didn't get voted into the NFL Hall of Fame on February 5. ESPN's Kevin Seifert briefly gets into why Carter didn't make the cut. I haven't read any analysis outside of Viking bloggers examining why Doleman didn't make it.

I'm pretty sure Carter will be voted in someday. But he might have an Art Monk-like wait ahead of him before it happens. Maybe it even take a veteran's committee vote to get him in.

I don't think Doleman will get in for whatever reason. And I find myself not really caring if Doleman makes it in or not.

He did play his first nine seasons with the Vikings, and 10 overall. But he became a bit of a suitcase late in his career. Going to Atlanta, then San Francisco, before playing his final season with the Vikings.

He was also part of some very talented Viking teams from 1987-1990 that disappointed me greatly. So maybe I still hold that against him a little.

Congrats, Madieu Williams

And I wish Madieu Williams play on the field for the Vikings was as good as his conduct has been off of it.

Still, better to be a fine human being than a fine football player.

Not smart, Everson, not smart

2011-01-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

With the futures of Viking defensive ends Ray Edwards and Brian Robison in doubt, this is not the kind of news the team wants to hear.

Everson Griffen didn't make much of a contribution in his rookie season with the Vikings. He mostly played special teams and he wasn't able to take snaps away from Robison as the main backup defensive end. We don't know if Griffen will ever be any good.

But the team seems to have plans for Griffen. Both Edwards and Robison are set to be free agents. The scuttlebutt is the Vikings aren't all that interested in re-signing Edwards (Why? Why? This guy is a good player). The Vikings probably can't keep both Edwards and Robison anyway.

So Griffen offers potential and depth along the defensive line for the Vikings in case they lose Edwards, Robison – or both – this offseason. At least Griffen did until this incident.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't looked kindly on these types of incidents in recent years. Allegedly assaulting a police officer would seem to ensure Griffen misses at least four games next season. And maybe the Vikings cut ties with him altogether if things get real ugly.

The only good that come out of this is if it forces the Vikings to re-think their apparent strategy to let Edwards leave via free agency.

Good reading

2011-01-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a long post about the Vikings philosophy with filling the quarterback position for the past 30 years that's taking a fair bit of research.

While I'm working on that, here is some good reading from ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero where he grades the performances of the Vikings offensive and defensive players. As you would expect from any grading exercise about a 6-10 team, there are not many good grades here.

This is what quality football reporting looks like. There are no meaningless quotes from the players – who are generally coached these days to say as little of substance as possible to reporters.

What Pelissero is doing is providing candid, honest evaluations about the play of the Vikings players in 2010. There's no sugar-coating here and that's rare. If the Vikings players and coaches read what Pelissero writes, they surely hate his guts. But he's providing the kind of information and analysis serious football fans crave.

2010-2011 NFL season continues to suck

2011-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

If the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl, it may cap off the most miserable season in the Vikings history.

And prepare to read two weeks of stories focusing on how Aaron Rodgers has once and for all shown the Packers were right to let Brett Favre go in 2008 and how he might be better than Favre ever was.

I think Rodgers proved that last year, even after Favre and the Vikings swept the Packers, won the division and went to the NFC Championship game. He played great last year. He played great in 2008. And he's played even greater in 2010. I hate the guy.

However, if the Packers beat the Steelers (I think they will), it will be just as much because of the team's defence as it will be because of Rodgers. The Green Bay defence is playing very well.

But onto some Viking thoughts ....

Some interesting comments from new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave in this post.

"Ideally, you would like to find a young guy that has a bunch of promise and potential and you would hand him the keys and let him make his mistakes and learn and but also know that he would be there for you in the long term," Musgrave said.

Maybe I'm taking things out of context, but I interpret Musgrave's quote above as a bit of a swipe at Joe Webb. I'm quite happy to hear Musgrave plans to explore other quarterback options this offseason. But I think Webb merits some consideration as a potential starter in the future.

And what do you think about Vince Young wearing purple and gold in 2011?

Finally, former Viking Robert Smith has some interesting comments about Adrian Peterson in this Q and A.

I think the comment about Peterson's blocking is more than fair. As for the pass catching, well, AP seems to catch the ball just fine when the Vikings choose to throw it to him. They just don't do it very often. Maybe Bill Musgrave has plans to change that in 2011.

The replacements

2011-01-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

Leslie Frazier's coaching staff is finally taking shape.

We all know the Vikings offence was pretty bad in 2010. But the defence struggled in several games as well. And it could use a change in philosophy.

Perhaps new defensive coordinator Fred Pagac will provide that change. At certain times during the six games he was defensive coordinator, he appeared more willing than Frazier to blitz and play an attacking style of defence, rather than stick to the basic Cover Two system. I think the Vikings have the defensive talent to be more aggressive in their playcalling.

The hiring of Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator leaves me a bit concerned. As ESPN's Kevin Seifert points out, the NFL offences Musgrave has led have in the past had success that was of Darrell Bevellian proportions.

But while certain coordinators have a knack for getting the most out of their players, talent is what tends to make coaches look good most of the time.

Bevell took a lot of heat during his time as Vikings offensive coordinator for how ineffective his offences were. Yet the one year he got great quarterbacking and strong performances from a few receivers, the Vikings scored gobs of points and Bevell's offence was one of the NFL's best.

If the 2011 Minnesota Vikings get good-to-very good play from their quarterback, if the offensive line plays adequately, if receivers are getting open and catching the ball, and if Adrian Peterson stays healthy, Bill Musgrave will probably do just fine.

That's a lot of ifs though.

Worst case scenario comes true

2011-01-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

I know it's petty. But I take great solace when the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears struggle. If the Minnesota Vikings aren't going to succeed, I certainly don't want any other NFC North team to succeed.

But now the Bears and Packers are set to play in the NFC Championships game. And one of them will advance to the Super Bowl with a very good chance of winning the Lombardi Trophy.

Aaron Rodgers is playing like some demi-god. Jay Cutler isn't playing like a demi-god, but he isn't far off.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have Joe Webb (so far).

Vikings fans may have to get used this scenario.

Inactivity leads to inactivity

2011-01-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of moving my family from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories – my home for the last 12-plus years – to Edmonton, Alberta. So it's been difficult finding time to blog the past seven days.

Edmonton, and this is for the benefit of my American readers, calls itself the "City of Champions". This is due to the fact that the Edmonton Oilers hockey team won several Stanley Cups in the 1980s (plus one in the 1990s) and that the Edmonton Eskimos football team has won a gazillion Grey Cups (Canadian Football League version of the Super Bowl) over the years.

Minneapolis – a place I am not moving to yet – cannot claim to be a City of Champions.

They have the Minnesota Vikings partly to thank for that. And with the way Leslie Frazier's search for coaching staff is going, it looks like there will be no Super Bowls in the team's immediate future.

As the Star Tribune's Mark Craig points in this post, Frazier is botching the hiring of assistant coaches. He's in danger of losing defensive line coach Karl Dunbar and wide receiver coach George Stewart. And he's kept offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and special teams coordinator Brian Murphy on the staff even though he obviously wants to replace them and has interviewed other candidates for the job.

I wonder if the current Viking players and potential free agents around the league are noticing how Frazier is handling this situation. Let's hope not.

On the subject of coaches, I was intrigued by the Vikings interviewing Josh McDaniels for the offensive coordinator job late last week.

McDaniels bombed as a head coach in Denver. But his track record as an offensive coordinator in New England was pretty good. I would have been excited to see what he could have done with Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson.

However, McDaniels left last week's interview without reaching any agreement and it looks like he'll coach elsewhere. I can certainly see why.

If McDaniel's still has designs on being a head coach, he's going to have to succeed at his next coaching stop. That is a lot easier to do with a good quarterback running his offence. But with Joe Webb currently at the top of the Vikings depth chart at that position, I think McDaniels told Frazier "thanks, but no thanks" to the offer to take over the offensive coordinator job.

I'd also encourage you to read this historical post about the 1967 NFL draft I came across from the Pro Football Reference blog.

It's not all about the Vikings, but provides some interesting background information and opinions on the Vikings wheeling and dealing of Fran Tarkenton back in the day. Enjoy.

Frazier gets his shot

2011-01-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Leslie Frazier. You are now the head coach of the 12th worst team in the National Football League. It will now be your responsibility to change that in 2011.

Can he do it? I wouldn't bet huge money on it at this point.

Frazier's been hyped as top head coaching candidate since arriving in Minnesota to replace Mike Tomlin as defensive coordinator in 2007. However, despite having some extremely talented personnel to work with, Frazer's defences – with the exception of the 2008 season – were not consistently dominant. Yet few NFL writers, experts or Viking fans seemed to notice this.

If Frazier is such a good coach, why didn't his defensive units play better during his almost four seasons as defensive coordinator? It's a question that has been neither asked nor answered.

The Vikings 3-3 record under Frazier's watch this season also raises some concerns. I can't deny the man dealt with some crazy circumstances during this period. But the fact remains the Vikings alternated between looking pretty good (notably in their 24-14 upset win over Philly) to looking pretty pathetic – on both sides of the ball – while Frazier was the interim head coach.

Which team is the real Leslie Frazier Vikings team? We won't find out until 2011. I pray it isn't the pathetic version.

Despite talk about the Vikings being in rebuilding mode, Frazier probably has about a year-and-a-half to get Minnesota back to being a playoff team.

With talents like Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and Jared Allen in their prime, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and the team's fan base won't cut Frazier much slack.

So to avoid being on the unemployment line by November of 2012, Frazier's sole focus right now should not be fixing the Vikings secondary or offensive line problems, it should be fixing the Vikings quarterback problem. Every other weakness on the Vikings roster is secondary at this point.

It won't be an easy job, but it is something Frazier must do. I'm at least encouraged that in his address to the media on Monday after being named head coach, he recognized this fact.

RIP 2010 Minnesota Vikings

2011-01-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

Sunday's 20-13 loss to the Detroit Lions - one of the worst teams in professional sports for more than a decade - is an appropriate ending to the Vikings 2010 season.

I am so glad this is over. I had bad vibes about how this year would go for the Vikings from the moment Brett Favre signed on for another year.

However, I didn't envision the year turning out nearly as badly as it did. And I'm ashamed to write that the Vikings poor play ruined some weeks for me and resulted in a lot of negative energy circling around me. It made me almost hate watching football.

In assessing why the Vikings failed so badly in 2010, there is a lot of blame to go around. There always is when a team goes 6-10.

But when you get right down to it, the Vikings failed this year because their quarterbacks - Joe Webb, Tarvaris Jackson and mostly Brett Favre - threw for just 3,327 yards and 14 touchdowns while being intercepted 26 times and posting a quarterback rating of about 68. You cannot win in the NFL when your quarterbacks post those kinds of numbers.

So if the Vikings do nothing else this offseason, they must take steps to seriously upgrade the quarterback position, which Vikings fans have been saying since the days of Tommy Kramer.

And while it won't be fun watching teams like the Bears and Packers play for a Super Bowl over the next few weeks, now that this Vikings season is over fans of the purple and gold can hope again.

We can hope the Vikings will find a starting quarterback who isn't 58 years-old and who doesn't average three interceptions per game. We can hope Leslie Frazier (it looks like he's getting the job) will be a brilliant head head coach. We can hope the Vikings management will sign their own key free agents, plus make wise decisions signing any other free agents to fill some of the holes in the roster. We can hope they will draft well and that those draft picks will immediately turn into impact players that help the Vikings return to the playoffs and legitimately challenge for a Super Bowl (which didn't happen this year). We can also hope there will be NFL football to watch come September.

It's going to be an interesting offseason.

The Leslie Frazier Era – Week Six

2010-12-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

Vikings – Lions

The question I’m asking myself this week is: Do I care whether the Vikings finish the season 6-10 or 7-9?

The answer is, no, I do not. And a win against the Lions on Sunday might be counterproductive.

The Vikings would pick 14th overall in April’s college draft if the season had ended with that lovely 24-14 win over Philly on Tuesday. That draft position already puts them out of Andrew Luck and Cam Newton territory, and maybe even out of Ryan Mallett territory.

A win over Detroit and the Vikings drop even lower in the draft order and probably won’t get a sniff at the aforementioned college players – who happen to be the top three quarterback prospects in this year’s draft (Luck and Newton are underclassmen, but let’s assume for now that they will leave college early and enter the draft.)

So if you’re thinking long-term, you can argue that beating Detroit is not in the Vikes best interests because they need a franchise quarterback more than anything else.

However, I think there is an argument to be made that if the Vikings play well and beat Detroit this Sunday, that this is also in the best interests of the team long-term.

Because what the Vikings will lose in draft position with a win, they will gain in knowledge about their team – like what players and coaches should be relegated to the past and who should be part of the future.

The improbable win over the Eagles Tuesday night reminded Vikings fans what this team is capable of when it gets decent quarterbacking, plays mostly error-free football and its players play hard.

This is not a team that needs to be blown up and rebuilt brick by brick. But it is a team that needs to make some wise personnel decisions this offseason if it is to quickly return to the top of the NFC North heap.

Playing another strong road game and winning it would be a signal that the Vikings win against the Eagles wasn’t some kind of kooky mirage.

But what would beating the Detroit Lions on the road prove?

Well, these Lions aren’t the Lions who have beaten the Vikings just twice since the 2000 season and have a 2-19 record against Minnesota during that period.

This Lions team can do some things. It has won three straight games. It has scored 342 points this season. It’s got Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh. Ex-Viking Shaun Hill has played pretty decently (It’s true. Look it up). This will not be a meaningless game for the Lions. They will play hard. They might even play well.

So if the Vikings win this game – another road game – it will say something about this coaching staff and about this group of players. It will be an indication that the Vikings can still be successful with the core members of the roster they currently have. It will be an indication that we don’t have to start from scratch and wait two or three years to be competitive. It will be an indication that a quick turnaround is possible and, more importantly, probable.

I haven’t favored the Vikings to win many games lately. But against my better judgment (and with Joe Webb likely starting at QB again), I’m going to favor them this week.

Vikings 20 Lions 17

Other stuff

Cover Two Blues

Recently Vikes Geek wrote that the Cover Two defensive system the Vikings employ has outlived its usefulness in Minnesota and in the NFL.

I won’t pretend that I understand football enough to know whether that is true or not. But I do know that the Vikings have frequently been ineffective pressuring opposing quarterbacks in 2010. The front four hasn’t gotten it done. And when the Vikings have blitzed, it’s been mostly with the linebackers and from predictable spots on the field. That tactic hasn’t worked, either.

In Tuesday night’s win over Philly, I saw the most aggressive, most blitz-happy Vikings defence I can remember. The strategy turned Michael Vick – the slipperiest and most elusive quarterback in NFL history and a guy enjoying an MVP caliber year – into a jittery, inaccurate and pretty ordinary quarterback.

It was an impressive performance by the Vikings defence and I wonder why Leslie Frazier and his defensive staff didn’t try this against, say, Aaron Rodgers or Jay Cutler.

I like aggressive defences. I think sending pass rushers from odd spots and angles create confusion and are often effective.

I’d like to see the Vikings be a more aggressive defence in 2011. If it can work against Michael Vick, it can work against a lot of NFL teams

The Joe Webb Experience

The National Football Post’s Matt Bowen was impressed by Joe Webb’s play Tuesday night. He thinks the Vikings might have found their quarterback of the future.

But it was only one game. Obviously we need to see more from Webb, which is one of the reasons I’m hoping Brett Favre doesn’t pass his baseline concussion tests this week.

I don’t think there is any question the Vikings need to bring in a veteran quarterback next season with a reasonably impressive resume to be the starter. I also don’t think there is any question they should draft a quarterback early in April’s draft if they have a shot at one they like.

What Joe Webb is playing for right now is whether he should be seriously considered for the Vikings backup job in 2011 (I don’t think so) or for the third string job.

Limbo land

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert thinks Leslie Frazier is not Vikings owner Zygi Wilf’s top choice to be the Vikings next head coach.

If I were grading Frazier’s performance as interim head coach through five games, I’d give him a B-.

Tuesday’s upset win over the Eagles will be the gold star on his report card, and he’s certainly had to deal with some unusual circumstances. But the blowout losses to the Giants and the Bears trouble me.

The Vikings need to get this head coach hire thing right. Leslie Frazier hasn’t established himself as the obvious choice for the job. So after Sunday’s game, let a thorough search for the Vikings next head coach begin.

Good reading

I’m enjoying these weekly Viking positional rundowns by ESPN 1500 writer Tom Pelissero. He is giving readers very honest and frank opinions on the performances of various Viking players.

Lately Pelissero’s assessments haven’t been very kind to most Viking players. But this week, the Vikings get glowing reviews, which they should.

2011 - bring it on

And by the way, happy new year everyone. Feel free to leave a comment or two as well. I'm currently on a streak of three straight posts with no comments from anyone. I'm starting to take it personally.

(Sniff, sniff).

Worth the two day wait

2010-12-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

It doesn't help the Vikings draft position, but I don't care.

A win on the road.

Outdoors.

On grass.

In December.

Against a quality opponent.

Those wins have been hard to come by for the Vikings over the past two decades.

But they got one tonight and it feels good.

I'm currently vacationing on Canada's East Coast, so it's almost 1 a.m. as I write this and this post will be brief. I hope to have a more detailed writeup on the Vikes win later tomorrow because there are many good things to discuss.

But a few quick words on Joe Webb's performance in this unexpected 24-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

As we dissect his numbers in this game, I think one of the most important is 0. That is how many turnovers Webb had against an opportunistic Eagles defence.

All year long, Viking quarterbacks (okay, okay, this was mostly Brett Favre) have coughed the ball up and given opponents short fields or killed potential Viking scoring drives.

They've made bad decisions - holding onto the ball too long, throwing into tight coverages, etc.,etc - they been sacked too much, and they've fumbled the ball a fair bit. Sometimes they've even been unlucky. But whatever the reasons, Viking quarterbacks have consistently been responsible for costly turnovers.

Joe Webb didn't do any of that in this game. And on a night when the Vikings defence finally played like the Vikings defence we expected coming into 2010, that was just as important as any passes Webb completed or runs he made.

Well done, Joe Webb. Well done.

Leslie Frazier - Week Five

2010-12-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Vikings - Eagles

I agree with Pacifist Viking - the Vikings have no chance in this one.

As bad as the offence has looked all year, the defence hasn't looked any better of late. The Eagles should shred the Vikings defensive unit.

The Eagles do give up some points, so the Vikings only chance in this one is to outscore Philly. But with Joe Webb probably starting, that's not happening.

I don't expect the Vikings to beat good teams like the Eagles, Bears or Giants with the kind of season they are having. But I would like them to be competitive and make their opponents work for a win. That hasn't happened the past two games. I don't think it is happening this week, either.

Eagles 48 Vikings 10

Leslie Frazier's future

We've been told the Viking players respect their interim head coach. But they haven't played like it the past two weeks.

If they want Frazier to be their head coach next year in Minnesota, I think the team's performance Sunday against Philadelphia might determine Frazier's future.

Another uninspired, turnover and penalty-filled blowout for the Vikings and Frazier won't get this job.

If the Vikings somehow play well, even in a loss, Frazier might stick around.

And that's all I've got today on Christmas Eve.

Sorry for the short post. Much like the Vikings, I'm already in offseason mode.

Happy holidays everyone.

Yuck

2010-12-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, more innocent and a less jaded Minnesota Vikings fan, I always watched the full 60 minutes of a Vikings game.

I never gave up hope. I always thought there was a chance the Vikings would pull out a victory – no matter how bad the situation looked. And I felt only fair weather Viking fans bailed on the team when the going got tough.

But I’m older now (and, I hope, wiser) and I don’t hold that view anymore.

Case in point: Monday night’s 40-14 loss to the Chicago Bears was about the fifth Vikings game this season I’ve stopped watching before the final whistle was blown. Joe Webb’s generous throw right to Bears safety Chris Harris with about 10 minutes to go was the breaking point for me. I can’t give you an answer why I stuck around that long.

While I think wins for the Vikings at this point in the season are counterproductive for the long-term health of the franchise, I’d still like to see the team show a pulse even if they lose. Well, the Vikings are losing, but a pulse they do not have.

And that may end up costing Leslie Frazier a shot at going from interim Vikings head coach to actual head coach.

Perhaps that is a good thing for Vikings fans. The loss to the Bears was the second straight game against a quality opponent that the defence Frazier has been in charge of struggled to stop the run and looked helpless at stopping the pass.

I expect a Vikings offence quarterbacked by Joe Webb – and with Darrell Bevell calling the plays – to struggle.

What I don’t expect is a defence with players like Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Antoine Winfield, E.J. Henderson, Chad Greenway and Ray Edwards to be unable to get off the field.

The last two Viking losses were as much on the defence as the offence. Frazier is the man in charge of that defence. If he can’t get more out of the talent he has than what we’ve seen the last two weeks, I’m not very confident he can turn this team into a Super Bowl contender (and winner) in the future.

Joe Webb

Monday night was our first extended look at Webb playing quarterback in a regular season game.

I thought Webb did okay. There were some moments where he flashed some nice skills. And there were moments where he made some ghastly plays. What I was most impressed with is that Webb didn’t seem to play scared, which is an important trait for a quarterback to have.

Still, my gut feeling is that Webb will never be a good starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s a great athlete and there’s got to be some place where his athleticism would allow him to be an asset on the football field. I just don’t think that place is at quarterback.

Maybe he can play safety.

The Leslie Frazier Era – Week four

2010-12-16T21:05:00.001-08:00

Vikings – Bears

Since Monday’s beatdown at the hands of the New York Giants, I’ve been trying to figure out if there is a reason why I should watch the Vikings game against Chicago.

When a team gets eliminated from the playoffs like the Vikings just did, what keeps a fan like me coming back is the future. I want to see the younger players performing. I want to see if any of them show the potential of being cornerstone players in the future.

The problem with this Vikings team is they don’t have many players like that. It’s a team with a lot of veterans whose pros and cons are well-known and a collection of a few younger stars who we already know are pretty good. There’s not much to discover with this team.

Even the fact that it looks like Joe Webb will get the start at quarterback doesn’t do much for me.

Yes, most Vikings fans are excited about Webb’s athletic ability (check out this YouTube video). But most of us also realize Webb is woefully unprepared to start an NFL game at this stage in his career.

And if he is the Vikings quarterback of the future, it’s a future that is likely two, three and maybe even four seasons away. This isn’t good because the Vikings need a quarterback of the future now.

So we’re likely in for some very bad football – particularly offensive football – from the Vikings over the final three games. It’s not going to be very fun to watch. But I will watch.

Leslie Frazier

I think the Vikings quarterback situation right now also makes it hard for owner Zygi Wilf to make his decision on whether Leslie Frazier should be the next head coach.

Of course, there is an interview process Frazier will have to go through. But the Vikings performance on the field during Frazier’s six-game stint as interim head coach will colour Wilf’s decision in some way. And it’s going to be hard for Frazier to look good if Joe Webb or Patrick Ramsey are his quarterbacks.

A bit more on Joe Webb

You hear coaches say it all the time – “We’ve got to put our players in positions to be successful.”

For Webb to be successful at all Monday night against the Bears, he’s going to have to run a lot.

Running a lot will put Webb in harms way. But he should still be encouraged to take off running whenever he feels like it by the Vikings coaching staff. Joe Webb isn’t beating anyone with his arm.

I'm glad I didn't waste three hours of my life on that garbage

2010-12-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

Maybe I'll still tape the game and watch it later. But sometimes you don't need to see something to know how bad it was.

Like Ishtar. Everybody knows it was a terrible movie. That fact seems indisputable. So is there any need for me to watch it?

The Vikings were clearly terrible tonight. The stats don't lie in this case. And they are gruesome.

* 164 net yards.
* 10 penalties
* 10 first downs
* 213 yards rushing allowed (and average of 7.6 yards per carry!)

And let's not forget the performance of Tarvaris Jackson tonight when the offseason rolls around and quarterback options for the Vikings are talked about. More importantly, let's hope whomever is the Vikings head coach in 2011 doesn't forget it.

Just looking at the stats, reading the early game recaps and looking over the play-by-play online of the game, does Jackson appear to be any different than the guy who produced a 15-35 for 164 yards, 0 touchdowns and a pick six clunker against the Eagles in a 2008 Wild Card loss?

Where is the progression? Where is the development? Sage Rosenfels must have been loving this over on the Giants sidelines.

Metrodome roof causes delayed reaction for this blogger

2010-12-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the collapse of the Metrodome roof yesterday and the NFL moving the game to Monday night, I won't be able to watch the Vikings - Giants game in "real time" tonight.

Instead, I will tape the game, which will re-aired on the NFL Network tonight and watch it then. Of course, that is going to make the delivery of a prompt post-game analysis a little more challenging.

And while this game doesn't mean much to the Vikings slim playoff hopes, it means a lot to interim head coach Leslie Frazier's future.

With Percy Harvin out, Steve Hutchinson out, Ray Edwards out and playing without a noisy Metrodome crowd to back them up, a solid showing (won or lose) against a strong New York Giants team probably earns Frazier a head coaching job somewhere in the NFL in 2011.

Let's see how this one plays out tonight.

Wins good for Frazier, not so good for the Vikings?

2010-12-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

You should never give up hope in pro sports. But when CBS analyst Solomon Wilcotts started talking towards the end of Sunday’s 38-14 blowout win over Buffalo about the Vikings getting back in the playoff hunt, that was a little much for my taste.

The Vikings will not win the NFC North in 2010. The Bears would have to lose their remaining four games (not happening) and so would the Packers (also not happening), while the Vikings would have to win their remaining four games.

Even if the former two scenarios were to somehow occur, could the latter happen? I can see upsetting the Giants and Bears at home and beating the Lions on the road. But do I see the Vikings also beating Philly on the road? No.

That leaves a Wild Card spot available, where the Saints, Packers and Giants are currently in line to grab those berths. The Saints have eight wins. The Packers have eight wins (and two over the Vikes). The Giants have eight wins.

Again, I can see the Vikings realistically winning three of their remaining four games. But they really need the Saints, Packers and Giants to lose all of their remaining games to have any chance at a Wild Card (I didn’t bother looking up tiebreaking scenarios.) While not impossible, this does seem improbable.

But you probably know all of this.

So what is this modest two-game winning streak for the Vikings accomplishing at this point in the season?

For interim head coach Leslie Frazier it’s providing him with a better sales pitch to make to owner Zygi Wilf when the time comes to pick a permanent head coach.

However, it also pushes the Vikings lower in the draft pecking order, reducing their chance of landing a top five pick in the first round and a potential franchise quarterback, which is what this team needs more than anything.

I never cheer for the Vikings to lose. But wins right now aren’t really helping the Vikings long-term. Unless you think Frazier is a brilliant head coach in the making.

Other thoughts

Leslie Frazier: I noticed a couple of little things that I liked from Frazier in this game.

At one point the cameras caught Frazier talking to his entire offence in the second half.

I doubt there was much X and Os teaching going on, Frazier is a defensive guy after all. But the players were attentive and I can’t remember ever seeing Brad Childress giving a personal pep talk to any of his units during his tenure. Frazier’s got a personal touch with his players, and it’s paying off.

I also liked the fact that with the game well in hand early in the fourth quarter, Frazier took Adrian Peterson out of the game.

In the past Peterson’s finished games that were out of hand, taking unnecessary hits in the process. Today, Albert Young took those shots – a wise move on Frazier’s part.

Tarvaris Jackson: Regardless of what Jason La Canfora thinks, I think we saw in this game why Jackson isn’t the future – or the present – for the Vikings quarterback position.

If not for two great plays by Sidney Rice, Jackson is looking at a 0 touchdown/four interception performance against the Bills.

Sidney Rice: He still doesn’t look as quick as he was in 2009, but this was his first impact game since returning to the Vikings lineup from his hip injury three games ago.

E.J. Henderson: The guy looks back to his 2007-2008 form to me.

Asher Allen: I know he got beat on a couple of plays in this game and he’s looked pretty bad in some games this year (notably against the Packers three weeks ago), but I think he’s getting better and this starting experience will pay dividends in 2011.

If Cedric Griffin can come back and be healthy from another knee injury, and Antoine Winfield’s performance doesn’t drop off a cliff, the Vikings could have three pretty solid cornerbacks in 2011.