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A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Antoine Winfield

By The Jazzy One on January 28th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings DEFENSIVE PROFILE 01 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Antoine Winfield

Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman: Antoine Winfield

Winfield has been a very solid defender for a long time in this league.  Last year he was finally recognized for that by earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

This year his reputation speaks loudly, because he was selected again despite the fact that he only played in 10 games.

Minnesota Vikings winfield A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Antoine Winfield

Winfield is the smallest guy on the team, but he might play one of the biggest games.  He’s never the kind of corner that is going to lead the league in interceptions, but one of the reasons for that is because not many quarterbacks like to challenge him.

He’s a hard hitter and a sure tackler, and it’s contagious.  During the 6 games he missed this season, it became evident at times that the Vikings secondary was lacking their leader, and from time to time their tackling became soft… something we haven’t seen from the Vikings in a lot of years.  When Winfield stepped back onto the field, those problems started fixing themselves.

Despite the fact that he only played in 10 games, Winfield finished the regular season with 53 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 1 sack, 5 passes defended,  1 interception, and 1 forced fumble.

Minnesota Vikings twitter 03 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Antoine Winfield

January 28th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Jared Allen

By The Jazzy One on January 28th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings DEFENSIVE PROFILE 01 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Jared Allen

Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman: Jared Allen

In two years with Minnesota, Jared Allen has been selected to the Pro Bowl 2 times.

Allen has completely changed the amount of pressure that Minnesota is able to get on opposing quarterbacks since he’s been on the team.  Not only does Allen get his fair share of sacks (he finished 2nd in the league this year), but his presence on the team frees up the rest of his fellow linemen.  During Allen’s first year as a Viking he drew a lot of double-teams, which led to Kevin Williams having a big year rushing the passer.  This year teams tried to find a way to double team Williams with linemen while putting a tight end or running back to help out with Allen… so Ray Edwards reaped the benefits by having a good year.

Minnesota Vikings jared allen A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Jared Allen

But besides his amazing ability to rush the passer, Jared also brings a lot of energy to the Vikings defense.  If you’ve ever been to a game in Minneapolis you know that before nearly every defensive play Allen acts like a cheerleader on the field, motioning for the crowd to make noise.  Before he gets down in his stance, he often points forward with his hand, indicating that the Vikings are going to drive back the other team.

Allen is also an insanely hard worker.  His backup Brian Robison, who is a pretty good pass rusher himself, jokes that he never gets to play because Allen refuses to take a play off.

This year Allen finished with 43 tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 14.5 sacks, 1 safety, 4 passes defended, 1 interception, and 5 forced fumbles.

Those are some pretty amazing stats!

Minnesota Vikings facebook 03 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Jared Allen

January 28th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Kevin Williams

By The Jazzy One on January 28th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings DEFENSIVE PROFILE 01 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Kevin Williams

Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman: Kevin Williams

Kevin Williams is a big part of the Vikings defensive line, and this year he was selected to his 4th Pro Bowl in a row, his 6th overall.

Williams started his career with Minnesota in 2003.  Initially it looked like his strength was going to be rushing the passer from the defensive tackle position.  In his first two  years as a Viking, he had 10.5 and 11.5 sacks.

Minnesota Vikings A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Kevin Williams

Since then, his sack numbers have declined, but he has established himself as one of the most dominate run-stopping defensive tackles in the league, and along with his fellow tackle Pat Williams has led the Vikings to a 2nd best run defense in the league this year, and best in the league the 3 previous years.

I really feel like Kevin’s pressure on the quarterback has increased over the last two years.  When the team acquired Jared Allen, teams were not able to double team Williams on passing downs quite as often.  His sack numbers aren’t quite as high as his first two years in the league, but these days it seems to be not so much that he’s not getting pressure on the QB, but rather than he has to beat teammates Jared Allen and Ray Edwards to the sack, which might be a tougher challenge than getting off the block!

This season Kevin Williams had 22 tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 6 sacks, and 7 defended passes.

Minnesota Vikings twitter 01 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Kevin Williams

January 28th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Heath Farwell

By The Jazzy One on January 27th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings DEFENSIVE PROFILE 01 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Heath Farwell

Pro Bowl Special Teamer: Heath Farwell

Heath Farwell has been a part of the Minnesota Vikings since the 2005 season.  He was picked up as an undrafted free agent linebacker out of San Diego State University, but he’s actually made a much bigger name for himself as a “Special Teams Specialist”.

Minnesota Vikings 97550 feature A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Heath Farwell

Heath has become the leader of the Vikings Special Teams unit, and it shows.  Farwell missed the entire 2008 season due to injury, and the Vikings special teams practically fell apart without him, becoming the worst in the league and tying and NFL record for giving up the most special teams points in league history.  This year, Heath returned to the team healthy and ready to play, and the kick coverage took a complete 180 degree turn.

Farwell’s contribution and importance to the Minnesota Vikings was recognized this year by fans and by the league as Heath was selected to be the Special Teams Specialist representing the NFC in the Pro Bowl.

Minnesota Vikings twitter 02 A Look At The Pro Bowlers: Heath Farwell

January 27th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




A Look At The ProBowlers: Percy Harvin

By The Jazzy One on January 27th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings OFFENSIVE PROFILE 01 A Look At The ProBowlers: Percy Harvin

With the Pro Bowl coming up this weekend, I thought I’d take a look at the Vikings players that were selected to play.

The Vikings had a league high 10 guys that were supposed to play in the game, but several of them have already dropped out due to being banged up from the NFC Championship game.  We’re going to ignore that these next few days, though, and look at all of them.

Today we’ll start with the Special Teamers.

Pro Bowl Kick Returner: Percy Harvin

Minnesota Vikings percy harvin vikings 20090913 zaf cp5 041 A Look At The ProBowlers: Percy Harvin

Percy Harvin is Minnesota’s explosive wide receiver rookie out of the University of Florida.  Harvin is a versatile player, capable of doing a lot of things with the football.  He can be a possession receiver out of the slot, a deep threat at the wide out spot, a running back, and he can even take the snap out of the Wildcat formation.

In his first season with the Vikings, Harvin had 60 catches for 790 yards, averaging 13.2 yards per catch… and most of this was out of the #3 receiving spot!  He became a valuable receiver on 3rd down.  He finished the season with 6 receiving touchdowns.  He also ran the ball for 15 times for a total of 135 yards (9.0 yards per carry).

Percy could have easily been selected to the Pro Bowl for any of those things, but the thing that got him the All-Star honors was his dangerous ability to return kicks.

Harvin returned 42 kicks this year for a total of 1,156 yards (27.5 yards per return)  He had two returns for touchdowns on the year, including a 101 yard return against San Francisco in week 3 at the home opener for Minnesota.   He returned the ball for 20+ yards 27 times for the Vikings, and 40+ yards on 5 different occasions.

Percy Harvin was voted the rookie of the year for his outstanding play.

Minnesota Vikings facebook 02 A Look At The ProBowlers: Percy Harvin

January 27th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




Vikings in the last 20 Pro Bowls

By The Jazzy One on January 26th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings HISTORY 01 Vikings in the last 20 Pro Bowls

This week the NFC’s best will take on the AFC’s best in the Pro Bowl…

Well, kind of.

14 players selected to the game will miss it because their teams went into the Super Bowl.  3 Vikings have already dropped out because of injuries sustained in the NFC Championship game.  Backup quarterback selections for the AFC have declined the offer when other players dropped out.

So instead we’ll call it “Some guys you might know from the NFC will play some guys you’ve heard of in the AFC.”

Anyway, the Vikings had 10 guys this year picked to the team.  At the moment, only 7 of them are playing in the game.  We’ll look more closely at those 10 guys before the week is over, but today I wanted to just give some information about the Vikings selected to the last 20 Pro Bowls (including this one).

Consider it a trip down memory lane.

1991  Pro Bowl (1990 Season)

The Vikings record was 6-10 this year.  Jerry Burns was the coach.  Despite the poor record, they finished tied for 2nd out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 5 players selected to the Pro Bowl that year:

Steve Jordan – TE
Randall McDaniel – OL
Chris Doleman – DL
Joey Browner – DB
Carl Lee – DB

1992 Pro Bowl (1991 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 8-8.  It was the last year with Jerry Burns as the coach.  They finished #3 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Steve Jordan – TE
Randall McDaniel – OL
Henry Thomas – DL

1993 Pro Bowl (1992 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 11-5.  It was the first year with Denny Green as the coach.  They won the NFC Central.  They had 6 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Randall McDaniel – OL
Gary Zimmerman – OL
Henry Thomas – DL
Chris Doleman – DL
Audray McMillian – DB
Todd Scott – DB

1994 Pro Bowl (1993 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 9-7.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished tied for #2 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 4 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Cris Carter – WR
Randall McDaniel – OL
John Randle – DL
Chris Doleman – DL

1995 Pro Bowl (1994 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 10-6.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They won the NFC Central.  They had 6 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Warren Moon – QB
Cris Carter – WR
Randall McDaniel – OL
John Randle – DL
Jack Del Rio – LB
Fuad Reveiz

1996 Pro Bowl (1995 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 8-8.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished #4 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 4 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Warren Moon – QB
Cris Carter – WR
Randall McDaniel – OL
John Randle – DL

1997 Pro Bowl (1996 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 9-7.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Cris Carter – WR
Randall McDaniel – OL
John Randle – DL

1998 Pro Bowl (1997 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 9-7.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished #4 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 4 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Cris Carter – WR
Todd Steussie – OL
Randall McDaniel – OL
John Randle – DL

1999 Pro Bowl (1998 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 15-1.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished won the NFC Central.  They had 10 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Randall Cunningham – QB
Robert Smith – RB
Cris Carter – WR
Randy Moss – WR
Jeff Christy – OL
Randall McDaniel – OL
Todd Steussie – OL
John Randle – DL
Ed McDaniel – LB
Gary Anderson – K

2000 Pro Bowl (1999 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 10-6.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 5 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Cris Carter – WR
Randy Moss – WR
Randall McDaniel – OL
Jeff Christy – OL
Mitch Berger – P

2001 Pro Bowl (2000 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 11-5.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished won the NFC Central.  They had 7 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Daunte Culpepper – QB
Robert Smith – RB
Cris Carter – WR
Randy Moss – WR
Korey Stringer – OL
Matt Birk – OL
Robert Griffith – DB

2002 Pro Bowl (2001 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 5-11.  Dennis Green was the coach.  They finished #4 out of 5 in the NFC Central.  They had 2 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Matt Birk – OL
Byron Chamberlain – TE

2003 Pro Bowl (2002 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 6-10.  It was the first year with Mike Tice as the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Michael Bennett – RB
Randy Moss – WR
Robert Griffith – DB

2004 Pro Bowl (2003 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 9-7.  Mike Tice was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Matt Birk – OL
Daunte Culpepper – QB
Kevin Williams – DL

2005 Pro Bowl (2004 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 8-8.  Mike Tice was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Daunte Culpepper – QB
Matt Birk – OL
Kevin Williams – DL

2006 Pro Bowl (2005 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 9-7.  Mike Tice was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 2 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Darren Sharper – DB
Koren Robinson – KR

2007 Pro Bowl (2006 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 6-10.  It was the first year with Brad Childress as the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 4 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Steve Hutchinson – OL
Matt Birk – OL
Kevin Williams – DL
Pat Williams – DL

2008 Pro Bowl (2007 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 8-8.  Brad Childress was the coach.  They finished #2 out of 4 in the NFC North.  They had 7 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Adrian Peterson – RB
Tony Richardson – FB
Steve Hutchinson – OL
Matt Birk – OL
Kevin Williams – DL
Pat Williams – DL
Darren Sharper – DB

2009 Pro Bowl (2008 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 10-6.  Brad Childress was the coach.  They won the NFC North.  They had 6 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

Adrian Peterson – RB
Steve Hutchinson – OL
Jared Allen – DL
Kevin Williams – DL
Pat Williams – DL
Antoine Winfield – DB

2010 Pro Bowl (2009 Season)

The Vikings finished the season at 12-4.  Brad Childress was the coach.  They won the NFC North.  They had 10 players selected to the Pro Bowl:

2010
Adrian Peterson – RB
Brett Favre – QB
Steve Hutchinson – OL
Bryant McKinnie – OL
Percy Harvin – KR
Kevin Williams – DL
Jared Allen – DL
Antoine Winfield – DL
Heath Farwell – ST

Minnesota Vikings twitter 01 Vikings in the last 20 Pro Bowls

January 26th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT




Winfield named the 10th Vikings Pro-Bowler

By The Jazzy One on January 19th, 2010

Minnesota Vikings TEAM NEWS 07 Winfield named the 10th Vikings Pro Bowler

Antoine Winfield was named to his 2nd consecutive Pro Bowl

Today the NFL announced that Antoine Winfield was selected to the Pro Bowl after an injury to a player in front of him.  This is the second straight year that Winfield was selected to the NFL’s all star game, and after the late addition of Percy Harvin, it makes Winfield the 10th Viking selected.

The Vikings that were selected to this year’s Pro Bowl are:

Brett Favre
Adrian Peterson
Sidney Rice
Steve Hutchinson
Bryant McKinnie
Jared Allen
Kevin Williams
Heath Farwell
Percy Harvin
Antoine Winfield

The Vikings lead the NFL in the number of Pro Bowlers, but the big problem with all of this is that the NFL has moved the game to the week before the Super Bowl this year.  I’m sure the NFL is thinking football interest is at an all time high right before the big game, so they’re hoping that the ratings for the game go up, but the Vikings are still in the running to play for the championship this year.  If they beat the Saints this coming Sunday, the NFL will lose 10 players from a 46-man team.  That’s almost 25% of the players that are supposed to be playing on a Pro Bowl team that won’t be able to play.

In my opinion, that really takes away from the impact of the game.

Can you imagine watching a Pro Bowl this year that doesn’t include Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, Sidney Rice, Jared Allen, or Percy Harvin?

What if the Colts make it to the Super Bowl, too.  No Payton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, or Dwight Freeney?

In my opinion the NFL dropped the ball when they planned this one.

January 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Pro Bowl | LEAVE A COMMENT
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