The Minnesota Vikings are now 2-1 in the 2010 Preseason.
Minnesota beat the Seattle Seawhawks by a score of 24-13 in the Week 3 Preseason Game last Saturday night.
I’m Not Worried About Favre
Brett Favre threw two picks and no TD passes on Saturday night, but to be honest, it doesn’t concern me. One of the picks Brett threw can’t really be labeled as being his fault, since the ball bounced out of the hands of Bernard Berrian and into the hands of the defender. The pass was good, but the defense was tight and Berrian couldn’t make the play. Those things happen.
As far as his second interception, at that point Brett was trying to get new receivers involved, and I don’t have a problem with that. He threw a few bad passes trying to get Javon Walker into the mix, and he did the same on another play or two for other receivers. I think some of those bad passes were throws that Brett wouldn’t have made if it had been a regular season game.
Our Two New Receivers Are Going To Fit In
Javon Walker only caught two passes, but his touchdown catch from Sage Rosenfels was a thing of beauty. Walker jumped up in a crowd of several defenders and strong-armed himself to a catch.
Greg Camarillo is not only going to fit in, but that guy is going to become one of Favre’s favorite targets. In fact, while Rice is out I could see Percy moving to the wide out spot and Camarillo being the primary slot receiver. He’s not incredibly fast, but I’m convinced the man can catch anything. I was really impressed by him, and I think Favre liked throwing him the ball.
Offensive Line: Still a Point of Concern
The o line had early problems protecting Favre, which is not good, but they seemed to adjust somewhat quickly in the passing game, and by the end of the half they were giving Favre enough time to throw.
The run blocking is still a mess, though. Where are the holes that the backs are supposed to run through?
The Defense Will Be Just Fine
There were a couple plays that looked a little sloppy out of the Minnesota defense, but over all they looked great from top to bottom. The Vikings have tons of depth on defense, and I’m pretty sure that several of the guys that the Vikings end up having to cut will end up contributing on other teams.
I decided that through the offseason I want to breathe some life into this blog on the weekends, so every weekend until football starts I’m going to give you some random Vikings highlights. Enjoy!
This week, Bernard Berrian’s 99 yard touchdown against the Bears in the 2008 season
The Viking Nation put up a great article this morning dissecting the Vikings Wide Receivers and Tight Ends.
Coming into last season it was obvious that they had a good group the start of last year. With the coming of Favre made this group even better. Face it this group would not have been as productive if T-Jack would have been the signal caller last season.
It will be interesting to see which receiver in this deep corps will step up this season. The Big 3 in Harvin, Rice and Berrian can strike at any time. It is hard for defenses to prepare the stop the entire group this is something that defenses did not have to worry about a couple of season back.
The Vikes receivers have improved under the Chilly “regime”.He had a bunch of player that could run, but could not play the receiver at the NFL level. Look at the corps that Chilly’s top 3 receivers in 2006: Troy Williamson, Travis Taylor, and Marcus Robinson. I sure do not miss the days to Williamson, now talk about a nightmare.
Okay, so that title might have been a little bit of link-bait, but it’s actually true.
No, LaDainian Tomlinson has not signed a contract to play for the Minnesota Vikings. He did, however, spend Wednesday evening and Thursday morning with the Vikes, and he was seen leaving Winter Park with a purple jersey in his hands.
Of course that doesn’t mean he’s coming to Minnesota for sure. He left Minnesota because he had promised the New York Jets that he would at least visit before signing with anyone else, and his word means a lot to him.
That’s actually pretty cool in my book.
Reports around the web are saying that Tomlinson enjoyed his visit, and he likes what his role would be in Minnesota. Childress has said that he will be “running back 1A” behind Adrian Peterson, meaning that Peterson is the starter, but Tomlinson would have an active role. I really think that Tomlinson would fill the role well. The idea of having Adrian Peterson and LaDainian Tomlinson on the field at the same time could be interesting. It gets even more interesting when you start thinking about adding guys like Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe to that mix.
Childress told the Star Tribune that he put Tomlinson on the phone with Adrian Peterson, and that the two had a good conversation.
Tomlinson will be visiting with the New York Jets today. Most people think that we’ll have some information on which way he’s leaning by sometime this weekend.
I was (and perhaps still am… I don’t really know anymore) leaning more towards Brian Westbrook as our new third down back, but Tomlinson would be a great pickup. I’m hoping to have good news to report by next week.
I’m still feeling pretty upset over last night’s game. That was probably the hardest game for me to take out of any sporting event that I have ever watched. The Vikings had numerous chances, but they let every single one of them slip away.
Statistically, the Vikings were the better team
If the Vikings could have held onto the ball last night, they would’ve walked all over New Orleans. The statistics show that the Vikes were more dominant in many aspects of the game.
-Minnesota had 31 first downs to New Orleans’ 15.
-Minnesota had 58% third down efficiency compared to 25% by New Orleans.
-Minnesota had 475 total yards. New Orleans had 257.
-Minnesota had 165 yards rushing compared to 68 by New Orleans.
-Minnesota had 310 yards passing compared to 189 by New Orleans.
-Minnesota had 32 penalty yards compared to 88 from New Orleans.
-Minnesota held the ball for 36 minutes and 49 seconds, and New Orleans had it for 27 minutes and 56 seconds.
The Turnovers were just too much
Of course, statistics don’t mean much if you can’t hold onto the ball. The Vikings hadn’t turned the ball over more than twice in a single game all season. Last night they turned it over 5 times. Inexcusable.
Adrian Peterson was credited for 2 fumbles (1 lost). In my opinion, he was more at fault for the botched hand-off that led to Favre being credited for a lost fumble, so really it should’ve been 3 drops and 2 lost. Inexcusable.
Unfortunately, the turnovers were contagious.
Bernard Berrian, who before last night had fumbled 5 times in a 6 year career, and only 1 time in a Vikings uniform, put the ball on the turf, ending a Vikings drive.
Percy Harvin, who has been such a clutch player, and only fumbled 1 time all season despite touching the ball enough times to gain over 2,000 all-purpose yards also dropped the ball, again, ending a Vikings drive.
The Vikings were still in the game, though
Despite turning the ball over 5 times, the Vikings took the NFC’s best team into overtime. The Vikings lost the coin toss, though, and were unable to overcome the odds.
The calls in overtime were a little suspect
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not blaming the refs for the Vikings loss here. If the Vikings had held onto the ball, there would not have been an overtime for the bad calls to take place in.
But the 4th down call, where the Saints guy dove over the pile? He fumbled the ball before crossing the marker, and he came down with the ball tucked in his gut. The guy’s head was at the marker, his gut (and the ball) was about two feet short. The booth reviewed it, but somehow didn’t catch it?
The call on Ben Leber for the pass interference was ridiculous as well.
The plays that are really to blame
Brett Favre’s interception at the end of regulation was bad. Lots of people around the web today are blaming Brett for the loss, saying that it’s “Brett being Brett”. While I do agree that it killed any chance that the Vikings had, I put more of the blame on two other things that happened earlier in the game.
First of all, after we forced a Reggie Bush fumble on a punt, the Vikings had incredible field position. It should’ve been AT LEAST 3 points, probably 7. Brett hands off to Adrian Peterson, who can not hold onto the ball. The Saints recover, and take away any possible momentum that the Vikings could’ve had going into the half. I completely feel that the game would’ve been totally different if the Vikings had scored there.
But even more so than that, the mistake that really cost the Vikings the game was the penalty directly before Brett’s last interception. The Vikings were already at the edge of Longwell’s field goal range, but a very stupid mistake that should never happen in an NFC championship game moved the ball back, and made Brett feel like he had to force a play to win the game. If it wasn’t for that penalty, the Vikings probably would’ve handed off to Taylor and given Longwell the chance to win the game.
Of course, that field goal would’ve been about 50 yards, which isn’t a guarantee, but I would’ve felt pretty confident putting the game in the hands of a kicker like Longwell.
So now what?
Well, now we spend the next few months debating whether or not Brett will come back (no matter what he says himself), we debate the value of Adrian Peterson, and we once again wonder what could have been.
As for the first two things, I’ll be discussing them in depth in the coming days and weeks.
As for the wondering… Vikings fans will be discussing that until we get another shot… whenever that may be.
Although the score looked very similar to last week (36-10 compared to last week’s 35-9), the Vikings weren’t quite as “perfect” this week. But, in the end, it didn’t matter. The Vikings were obviously too much for the Bears from the start, and they dominated the entire game.
The Vikings were simply too good
-537 net yards for the Vikings compared to 169 net yards for the Bears
-31 first downs for the Vikings compared to 8 first downs for the Bears
-66% Third Down Efficiency for the Vikings compared to 25% for the Bears
-1 Turnover for the Vikings compared to 3 for the Bears
-4 Sacks for the Vikings compared to 1 for the Bears
-66% Red Zone Efficiency for the Vikings compared to 0% for the Bears
-40:55 time of possession for the Vikings compared to 19:05 for the Bears
-Brett Favre had the 4th highest yardage total of his career (and only 10 yards away from his best game)
-Harvin, Peterson, and Taylor combined for 163 yards rushing
-5 Vikings receivers had 5 or more catches
But, unlike last week, it wasn’t all good
There were several disappointing things about this week’s game.
First of all, way too many penalties. The Vikings had 10 penalties for 70 yards. That’s unacceptable. Some of them were ridiculously absent minded, too… McKinnie going downfield on a passing play? Sullivan forgetting to snap the ball? These things should be worked out by now!
After the Bye Week, the Vikings were #2 in the NFL for fewest penalty yards. 3 games later, and they’ve slipped down to #12 on the list. They did well last week, but this week they fell back into the sloppiness. That has to be changed before the post season.
Second of all, Peterson has to hold onto the ball. His fumbling is down from last year, which is good, but it still has to be fixed. Fox kept showing how he holds the ball in his right hand even when he runs to the left. I think that’s a big part of the problem, and I’m not sure why the Vikings coaches haven’t changed that yet… especially since the left side of our line is the strongest.
The Vikings have the best receiving squad in football.
I know that’s saying a lot, especially since Arizona has Fitzgerald and Boldin, Pittsburgh has Ward and Holmes, New England has Moss and Welker… but I was so impressed by the play of Rice, Harvin, and Berrian yesterday, and then when you throw in Shiancoe and Taylor, it’s no wonder that Favre is having a career year.
Of course Favre has a lot to do with their success, but you can’t take away the fact that they have a lot to do with Favre’s success as well.
Final Grade?
I give the Vikings an B+. They were sloppy in several areas, but the passing game got them a few bonus points to raise the grade a little bit.
I have to admit, though… I don’t see many teams in the NFL that could compete with this Vikings team if they play at 100%.
On November 30, 2008 in the Metrodome against the Chicago Bears, Gus Frerotte, quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian which tied the record in the NFL.
The Vikings have improved to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in the NFC North.
Sunday afternoon the now 8-1 Vikings beat the now 1-8 Lions by a score of 27-10 at Mall of America Field in the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome (that’s a mouthful!) It wasn’t pretty, but what matters is the final score, and the Vikings won by 17.
The Vikings have now swept 2 of the 3 teams in their division this year, even though in a weird scheduling coincidence, they haven’t played the third team at all yet. (The first Vikings-Bears game of the year will come in 2 weeks)
The Vikings were not sharp in their win
Since the beginning of this year, the Vikings have been among league leaders in 3rd down conversions and in fewest penalty yards. Somehow, though, the team forgot how to accomplish these things during their week-long vacation.
The team went 3 for 11 (27%) on third down conversions, and had 13 penalties for 91 yards. Luckily, they were playing the Lions. If they were that bad against a good team, Minnesota would have a hard time winning.
Peterson needs to hold onto the ball.
I’m not going to completely blame the fumbled pitch on the reverse on Peterson. It was a bad pitch (Peterson’s fault), but it was still catchable (Harvin’s fault), and they were running a trick play when they probably didn’t really need to (Childress’s Fault). So I’ll give Peterson 1/3 of the blame for that.
On the other hand, the long run where he got the ball punched out of his hands was completely his fault. I don’t know if he thought that he had already outrun everyone or what, but he was not holding onto that ball well, and the defender knew it. The ball was punched out easily, and the Vikings lost out on 7 points because of it.
Ray Edwards is a beast
5 tackles, 2 sacks, who knows how many hits and hurries on Stafford, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovered fumble. The man was all over the place.
The Lions came into the game determined to stop Jared Allen. They were determined to stop Pat and/or Kevin Williams. Edwards reaped the benefits by facing lots of tight ends and fullbacks. He didn’t hesitate to take advantage of that. If it wasn’t for a few monstrous offensive performances, everyone in Minnesota would be talking about nothing but Ray Edwards today.
Adrian Peterson is a beast
133 yards, 2 more TDs. He had two big break away runs, including a 22 yard touchdown run where it looked like he was going to be stopped for a loss. Somehow he ducked under a defender, powered his way through the crowd, and took off for the score.
If it wasn’t for the fumble, he would’ve had another long touchdown run as well.
And he wasn’t used a lot in the passing game, but he did take one short catch and turn it into an 11 yard gain.
Brett Favre is a beast.
He continues to play smart, good football, but yet his stats keep anyone from labeling him as a “game manager”.
Sunday he threw for 344 yards and a touchdown. He completed 20 of 29 passes. He hit several long passes, including a 56 yard pass to Sidney Rice, and a 40 yard pass to Percy Harvin. He was only sacked 1 time, and he had a QB rating of 120.5. He threw for 1 touchdown and no interceptions. That brings his total for the year to 17 TDs and only 3 interceptions.
Speaking of interceptions, this is his best year of his career for keeping the picks under control. After 9 games, he has had 3 interceptions. Since he has been a full time starter (so not counting his first 2 years in the league), after 9 games he has averaged 10.7 interceptions per game. The only year he has been close to his numbers this year was in 2002 when he only had 4 interceptions after the first 9 games.
Sidney Rice is a Beast
7 Catches for 201 yards. Only 10 yards short of setting a Minnesota Vikings record. In fact, he knew that on his final route when Tarvaris Jackson threw him the ball, but he couldn’t come down with the pass.
Sidney Rice has turned into the ultimate reliable receiver. He’s the team’s leading receiver, but because so much attention in the passing game has to be put on Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin, and even Adrian Peterson to some extent, teams have a hard time justifying a double team on Rice. I’m sure Sidney doesn’t mind.
His sure handedness has built up a lot of trust in him with Brett Favre, so Brett keeps delivering him the ball.
His play Sunday was unbelievable.
Overall?
Overall it was a sloppy game for the Vikings, but they were still impressive. Hopefully they’ll work the rust out of their system before next week when they host the Seattle Seahawks.
Title: Guys Like These
Written by: Jason Hannah (The Jazzy One)
Parody of: Times Like These
Originally Performed by: The Foo Fighters
Guys, guys like Adrian Peterson
Guys like EJ Henderson,
The Williams wrecking crew
Guys, guys like Bernard Berrian
Guys like Chad Greenway and
Chester Taylor, too
It’s guys like these that make the Vikings win
It’s guys like these that will win it in Week 6
It’s guys like these that the Ravens can’t defend
Guys like these bring victory again
Guys, guys like Brian Robison
Antionne Winfield and
Jimmy Kleinsasser
Guys, guys like Steve Hutchinson
Guys like Tyrell Johnson
and linebacker Ben Leber
It’s guys like these that make the Vikings win
It’s guys like these that will win it in Week 6
It’s guys like these that the Ravens can’t defend
Guys like these bring victory again
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Brett Favre is a beast.
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