At first, it was a "red alert, everyone abandon ship" kind of night. The Vikings had recently turned in two clunkers against Arizona and Carolina, but make no mistake about it, this time it appeared they were heading for their worst game yet. The Vikings were shut out in the first half, as Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson's protection was nonexistent and any attempts to establish the run were laughable. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler was playing excellent football.
But then something happened.
After a horrendous showing in the first two quarters that left the Vikings behind 16-0, the offense suddenly opened up. Brett was running the show. He had more options than ever before. Adrian was running the football like a man with something to prove. A team that appeared dead was taking the game to overtime.
Unfortunately, while the Favre-led charge was enough to tie the game, it wasn't quite enough to steal the win. And when handing out the blame, I'm going to put the special teams at the top of the list. An Adrian Peterson touchdown knotted the game at 23-23, but on the ensuing kickoff, Daniel Manning returned it 59 yards and set up a Cutler touchdown toss two plays later. And that brings up another key problem: The pass defense.
For much of the game, Cutler had his way with the Vikings defense. On one hand, the pass rush didn't get much traction until later in the game, and Jared Allen might as well have been on the inactive list. The issues in the secondary though are starting to piss me off. The tackling was once again awful, particularly in the first half. Then there's the game winning touchdown pass in overtime in which Antoine Winfield got absolutely torched. O-H.....OH NO!!
Aside from the defensive mishaps and shoddy kickoff coverage, quite a bit of attention will clearly center on Adrian's fumble in overtime. There were bigger reasons that the Vikings lost this game, but that fumble put the Bears in position to win the game.
The Vikings have now choked away homefield advantage and are no longer in control of their own destiny for even a bye week (which we desperately need to have any chance). We need a win against the G-Men and a Cowboys win over the Eagles to secure a first round bye. Quite a fall for this team, but the second half of this game shows that there are still reasons for optimism.
When Brett Favre is given options, when he is given control, and when he can spread things out, this offense remains dangerous. When they can generate a pass rush and can actually TACKLE...the defense remains a serviceable unit.
This is hardly the ideal way to be entering the playoffs, as the Vikings have clearly been on the decline throughout the past four weeks. Here's hoping their comeback on a cold night in Chicago, although ultimately unsuccessful, provides some momentum and some important lessons.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Vikings @ Panthers - Week 15
There's something about Sunday nights.....
Once again, the Vikings laid an egg in primetime. I don't get it. The two worst games of the season for the Vikings have come on Sunday nights, and it's not even close. Two weeks ago in Arizona, they had a thoroughly disastrous game that involved an absolute thrashing by Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, a bumbling missed-tackle fest on defense, and a complete inability to utilize this team's many offensive weapons. This past Sunday was largely the same story, but the caliber of the opponent was just much worse.
A single poor game in Arizona is unfortunate, but it probably isn't worth getting too worried about. However, when the same issues emerge against a team not nearly as tough as the Cardinals, you have to start wondering.
The offensive line? It got shredded by Julius Peppers. Favre's performance? Well..Jim Kleinsasser was the team's leading receiver in the first half..what's that tell ya? And for the record....if you are looking to this blog to see my thoughts on the whole Favre-Childress saga...look somewhere else. Adrian Peterson? When he actually had the ball, which wasn't terribly often, there was no room to run. The defensive performance? It had a tough time handling Matt Moore, a scrub who made high percentage throws and was sacked just twice. The tackling was ugly and the pass rush belonged on the side of a milk carton.
Despite my gripes about the defense, the offensive performance was horrendous. The #1 thing you can do to get beat by a mediocre team is allowing them to hang around early in the game. That's just what the Vikings did in this game. Check out the first four offensive drives of the game:
5 plays, 8 yards
3 plays, 0 yards
4 plays, 4 yards
3 plays, 8 yards
Embarrassing. The first half stats: 66 total yards, 1/5 on third down, Matt Moore passes for double the yards that Favre did. Yet, still 7-6 Vikes at the half.
Here is the second half for you:
3 plays, 5 yards
4 plays, 23 yards
3 plays, 4 yards
3 plays, - 3 yards
5 plays, 16 yards
4 plays, 15 yards
When you perform incompetently in the first half and come out and perform just as incompetently in the second half, you're an offense that stopped caring. You're an offense that faced adversity and flopped.
Some called this a trap game, and some said the Vikings got complacent after clinching the NFC North title earlier in the day. I'll call it this: GETTING CRUSHED. I'm not gonna make excuses for this team, because they don't deserve it. What's most disappointing of all is that they seemed to be on the right track just one week ago. After having quite a few problems exposed by the Cardinals, they responded in a big way against the Bengals.
Ultimately, don't call it a fluke when it happens twice in three weeks. The Beloved Purple are slipping at a time when they need to be building momentum, and suddenly, a first round bye is hardly a sure thing. However, I'm not so concerned with the bye or homefield advantage as I was Sunday morning after the Saints had lost. I'm just worried about this team even winning a playoff game..
Once again, the Vikings laid an egg in primetime. I don't get it. The two worst games of the season for the Vikings have come on Sunday nights, and it's not even close. Two weeks ago in Arizona, they had a thoroughly disastrous game that involved an absolute thrashing by Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, a bumbling missed-tackle fest on defense, and a complete inability to utilize this team's many offensive weapons. This past Sunday was largely the same story, but the caliber of the opponent was just much worse.
A single poor game in Arizona is unfortunate, but it probably isn't worth getting too worried about. However, when the same issues emerge against a team not nearly as tough as the Cardinals, you have to start wondering.
The offensive line? It got shredded by Julius Peppers. Favre's performance? Well..Jim Kleinsasser was the team's leading receiver in the first half..what's that tell ya? And for the record....if you are looking to this blog to see my thoughts on the whole Favre-Childress saga...look somewhere else. Adrian Peterson? When he actually had the ball, which wasn't terribly often, there was no room to run. The defensive performance? It had a tough time handling Matt Moore, a scrub who made high percentage throws and was sacked just twice. The tackling was ugly and the pass rush belonged on the side of a milk carton.
Despite my gripes about the defense, the offensive performance was horrendous. The #1 thing you can do to get beat by a mediocre team is allowing them to hang around early in the game. That's just what the Vikings did in this game. Check out the first four offensive drives of the game:
5 plays, 8 yards
3 plays, 0 yards
4 plays, 4 yards
3 plays, 8 yards
Embarrassing. The first half stats: 66 total yards, 1/5 on third down, Matt Moore passes for double the yards that Favre did. Yet, still 7-6 Vikes at the half.
Here is the second half for you:
3 plays, 5 yards
4 plays, 23 yards
3 plays, 4 yards
3 plays, - 3 yards
5 plays, 16 yards
4 plays, 15 yards
When you perform incompetently in the first half and come out and perform just as incompetently in the second half, you're an offense that stopped caring. You're an offense that faced adversity and flopped.
Some called this a trap game, and some said the Vikings got complacent after clinching the NFC North title earlier in the day. I'll call it this: GETTING CRUSHED. I'm not gonna make excuses for this team, because they don't deserve it. What's most disappointing of all is that they seemed to be on the right track just one week ago. After having quite a few problems exposed by the Cardinals, they responded in a big way against the Bengals.
Ultimately, don't call it a fluke when it happens twice in three weeks. The Beloved Purple are slipping at a time when they need to be building momentum, and suddenly, a first round bye is hardly a sure thing. However, I'm not so concerned with the bye or homefield advantage as I was Sunday morning after the Saints had lost. I'm just worried about this team even winning a playoff game..
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Bengals @ Vikings - Week 14
After last week's debacle I wrote:
"Plenty of problems were exposed, and plenty of challenges have emerged. Now we get to see just how resilient this team is."
Answer: Pretty damn resilient.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings jumped out to a two score lead over the Bengals by halftime, extended that lead by a touchdown in the third quarter, and iced the game in the fourth quarter. Between missteps by a sloppy Bengals team, an impressive defensive effort headlined by the return of Antoine Winfield, a productive afternoon for Adrian Peterson, and a solid special teams performance, the Vikings looked good during their 30-10 victory.
Having Winfield back was huge as Carson Palmer managed just 94 yards passing on 25 attempts. Beyond Ochocinco's 15 yard touchdown, there wasn't many highlights for the Cincy offense. Sure, Cedric Benson put up some impressive numbers, 16 carries for 96 yards, but nearly half of those yards came on a single carry. The teams also combined for 20 penalties in the game, 11 for Cincy and 9 for Minny. Although the Bengals' penalties seem to be more costly.
On the offensive side, AP rebounded nicely from a rough night in Arizona, finishing the game with 137 total yards on the ground and through the air. He also scored twice, breaking the team record for rushing touchdowns in a season.
Brett Favre continued to struggle a bit, completing just over 50% of his passes while tossing a TD and an INT. The absence of Percy Harvin couldn't have helped matters, but Brett never targeted Shank and Rice with any sort of consistency on Sunday.
Jasper Brinkley made three tackles in relief of E.J. Henderson, but the real story was the emotional lift provided to this defense through the return of Antoine Winfield. After nine tackles and a few push-ups..ha ha...Antoine had given everyone a reminder of just how valuable he is to this defense. You would have never guessed this guy had been sidelined for as long as he was, since he didn't miss a beat out there.
And that ladies and gentlemen was what this game was all about: Rebounding from a setback. And I'm happy to say, the Minnesota Vikings did just that.
"Plenty of problems were exposed, and plenty of challenges have emerged. Now we get to see just how resilient this team is."
Answer: Pretty damn resilient.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings jumped out to a two score lead over the Bengals by halftime, extended that lead by a touchdown in the third quarter, and iced the game in the fourth quarter. Between missteps by a sloppy Bengals team, an impressive defensive effort headlined by the return of Antoine Winfield, a productive afternoon for Adrian Peterson, and a solid special teams performance, the Vikings looked good during their 30-10 victory.
Having Winfield back was huge as Carson Palmer managed just 94 yards passing on 25 attempts. Beyond Ochocinco's 15 yard touchdown, there wasn't many highlights for the Cincy offense. Sure, Cedric Benson put up some impressive numbers, 16 carries for 96 yards, but nearly half of those yards came on a single carry. The teams also combined for 20 penalties in the game, 11 for Cincy and 9 for Minny. Although the Bengals' penalties seem to be more costly.
On the offensive side, AP rebounded nicely from a rough night in Arizona, finishing the game with 137 total yards on the ground and through the air. He also scored twice, breaking the team record for rushing touchdowns in a season.
Brett Favre continued to struggle a bit, completing just over 50% of his passes while tossing a TD and an INT. The absence of Percy Harvin couldn't have helped matters, but Brett never targeted Shank and Rice with any sort of consistency on Sunday.
Jasper Brinkley made three tackles in relief of E.J. Henderson, but the real story was the emotional lift provided to this defense through the return of Antoine Winfield. After nine tackles and a few push-ups..ha ha...Antoine had given everyone a reminder of just how valuable he is to this defense. You would have never guessed this guy had been sidelined for as long as he was, since he didn't miss a beat out there.
And that ladies and gentlemen was what this game was all about: Rebounding from a setback. And I'm happy to say, the Minnesota Vikings did just that.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Vikings @ Cardinals - Week 13
If the Vikings were going to have a game that needs to be forgotten immediately, I'm glad it came now rather than later. Because this was an ugly, tough to watch, all-around terrible game.
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Vikings completely shut down the rest of the night. The problems were numerous, the gaffes were many, and the game was easily the ugliest of the year for the Beloved Purple.
Take the ingredients of a Vikings win this year: Get an efficient game out of Favre, get a variety of receivers involved, feed the playmakers, get a productive performance from Adrian Peterson, pressure the quarterback, and make good tackles. Now...do NONE of the above and that's a recipe for an embarrassing loss.
Actually, embarrassing puts it too mildly. Favre threw a pair of interceptions, and a few additional should have been. AP had 19 yards on 13 carries..and no, that's not a typo. Rice and Shiancoe were...wait...did they even play?!? Ignoring these two guys is how you lose football games.
So with nothing going well on the offensive side, the defense was going to have to dominate this one for the Vikings to have any chance. But in a variety of ways, the defense wilted. Kurt Warner was hardly breathed on, let alone hit. Anquan Boldin caught a pair of touchdowns before the Vikings remembered they were on the field, and incompetent tackling resulted in too many big gains. And speaking of players not in the game...where was Jared Allen?
Things got worse...much worse. E.J. Henderson is done for the year. Don't need to wait for the official injury report to figure that out. An absolutely devastating and gruesome leg injury in the fourth quarter, after the result of the game was no longer in doubt. What a shame. Kudos to NBC for only showing ONE replay of this...it was disgusting and I had no intentions of rewinding the PVR to relive this. I just hope the injury isn't career threatening.
The 30-17 final score was actually deceiving. This game was far worse than the score indicated. Adjustments need to be made in the coming weeks. The tackling desperately needs to improve and we definitely need Antoine Winfield back on the field. Warner had all day to throw, can't let this happen especially if we meet Drew Brees in the playoffs. The Vikings for the second straight year are without Henderson, putting pressure on Chad Greenway and Ben Leber to step up. The lack of production from Adrian is frightening. The lack of throws to the best targets is concerning.
The Vikings left Arizona as a battered team. They come home with a lot of changes that need to be made for them to be a competitive team next Sunday....some related to player execution, others related to game planning. But amidst the endless list of problems from last Sunday, there's a chance for redemption in front of a friendly crowd next week against a good Bengals team.
Plenty of problems were exposed and plenty of challenges have now emerged. Now we get to see just how resilient this team really is...
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Vikings completely shut down the rest of the night. The problems were numerous, the gaffes were many, and the game was easily the ugliest of the year for the Beloved Purple.
Take the ingredients of a Vikings win this year: Get an efficient game out of Favre, get a variety of receivers involved, feed the playmakers, get a productive performance from Adrian Peterson, pressure the quarterback, and make good tackles. Now...do NONE of the above and that's a recipe for an embarrassing loss.
Actually, embarrassing puts it too mildly. Favre threw a pair of interceptions, and a few additional should have been. AP had 19 yards on 13 carries..and no, that's not a typo. Rice and Shiancoe were...wait...did they even play?!? Ignoring these two guys is how you lose football games.
So with nothing going well on the offensive side, the defense was going to have to dominate this one for the Vikings to have any chance. But in a variety of ways, the defense wilted. Kurt Warner was hardly breathed on, let alone hit. Anquan Boldin caught a pair of touchdowns before the Vikings remembered they were on the field, and incompetent tackling resulted in too many big gains. And speaking of players not in the game...where was Jared Allen?
Things got worse...much worse. E.J. Henderson is done for the year. Don't need to wait for the official injury report to figure that out. An absolutely devastating and gruesome leg injury in the fourth quarter, after the result of the game was no longer in doubt. What a shame. Kudos to NBC for only showing ONE replay of this...it was disgusting and I had no intentions of rewinding the PVR to relive this. I just hope the injury isn't career threatening.
The 30-17 final score was actually deceiving. This game was far worse than the score indicated. Adjustments need to be made in the coming weeks. The tackling desperately needs to improve and we definitely need Antoine Winfield back on the field. Warner had all day to throw, can't let this happen especially if we meet Drew Brees in the playoffs. The Vikings for the second straight year are without Henderson, putting pressure on Chad Greenway and Ben Leber to step up. The lack of production from Adrian is frightening. The lack of throws to the best targets is concerning.
The Vikings left Arizona as a battered team. They come home with a lot of changes that need to be made for them to be a competitive team next Sunday....some related to player execution, others related to game planning. But amidst the endless list of problems from last Sunday, there's a chance for redemption in front of a friendly crowd next week against a good Bengals team.
Plenty of problems were exposed and plenty of challenges have now emerged. Now we get to see just how resilient this team really is...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Bears @ Vikings - Week 12
Pictures speak a thousand words, eh?To put it bluntly, the Vikings were amazingly dominant in the second half of Sunday's 36-10 victory over Chicago. How dominant you ask? Here's how Chicago's four second half drives went:
Drive #1 - 3 plays, - 12 yards (yes, minus twelve)
Drive #2 - 3 plays, 9 yards
Drive #3 - 3 plays, 3 yards
Drive #4 - 3 plays, - 3 yards
Four three and outs, and a second half yardage total of minus three yards. As a result, the Vikings more than tripled the Bears' total yardage on the afternoon.
The Bears did exactly what Seattle did the week before, they focused most of their attention on stopping Adrian Peterson. All Day once again had an average rushing day (Still managed to get 85 yards and a touchdown) and proved once again that his only weakness is hanging on to the football. The Ol' Man once again stepped up, throwing for 392 yards (10 short of his career high), 3 more touchdowns and for the ninth time this season he threw ZERO interceptions.
In addition, Percy Harvin reached a personal milestone with his first 100 yard receiving game of his career. His sixth catch, in which he was blasted by the Chicago secondary, gave him 101 yards on the afternoon, and he also scored the first touchdown of the game. I still chuckle to myself when I remember on draft day that it was a mistake to draft this kid because he didn't know how to run routes properly.
So, should the Vikings be victorious this Sunday night against the Cardinals, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs for the second year in a row. They can also clinch the division with a win and a Green Bay loss on Monday night against the Ravens.
So Skol Vikings...and I know it's a total stretch...but... Go Redskins as well!!
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