Week 8 Preview
Friday, October 26, 2007
Philadelphia (2-4) at Minnesota (2-4)
According to DVOA, both of these teams should be fighting for a playoff birth at the end of the season but thanks to a number of close losses, one of them will essentially be eliminated this Sunday.
First, some injury notes:
Philly:
From the sound of it, Brian Dawkins won't be playing again this week.
Last Thursday Jon Runyan slipped and fell on getting out of a tub at the Eagles practice facility. They initially thought he just bruised his tailbone and while he missed a practice, was able to play on Sunday. After missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday this week Runyan said that it turns out he actually fractured his tailbone. Considering he played last week, I'd expect him to again this week, but it is worth monitoring. If he can't go, Winston Justice would likely start in his place which could be a big boost for the Vikings pass rush.
Vikings:
It looks like Kelly Holcomb is going to start at QB. At this point it probably doesn't really matter who starts because the passing game is going to be bad, no matter who it is. Still, it is a little more exciting having TJ in there then Holcomb.
It also sounds like Dwight Smith is going to be out again this week. I'm not sure this matters too much either as I'm not convinced he is much better then Tank Williams, if at all.
Also worth noting is that Chester Taylor has been limited in practice this week due to a groin injury. While he will play on Sunday, it could mean more touches for AP and/or MeMo.
Vikings offense vs. Eagles defense:
So far this year, the Vikings are leading the league in YPC by running backs at 5.69. Second place is actually Philly, at 5.16. Sadly, the Vikings' passing game is almost averaging the same number of yards per attempt as its running game, at 5.86. Philly is pretty average against both the run and the pass, so expect the offense to move the ball a little better then it did against Dallas last week. The key matchup here will be the Vikings ability to run right up the gut, as that has been a problem for Philly's defense and a strength for the Vikings offense so far. Another thing to watch is for the Vikings to throw a lot of dumpoffs and swings to their RBs. Philly is 31st in the league in defending passes to RBs.
Eagles offense vs. Vikings defense:
As I just said, the Eagles have a very good running game. With Westbrook in, it probably is the most successful in the NFL. Luckily, the Vikings are still monsters against the run and McNabb is struggling so far this year. Even with everyone healthy their pass blocking has been sub-par, and if Justice is in the game it could be awful. I think the biggest key to the game will be the Vikings ability to get pressure on McNabb. If they can keep his numbers down and maybe force him to make a mistake or two, they will have a good shot. On the flip side of passing to the RB, Westbrook catching passes out of the backfield is usually a big part of the Eagles offense and happens to be the one part of the Vikings pass defense that works well. I'm sure others should get some credit for that, but I'm going to go ahead and say it is because of #26 being so awesome at tackling.
Overall:
Vegas has Philly as a 1 point favorite and expect it to be relatively low scoring, with the o/u set at 37.5. I agree that it will low scoring and also that Philly is the better team, but I think the matchup favors the Vikings a little and with home field advantage, I actually like them to win this week. Look for McNabb to have a good day but for it to be countered by the biggest dose of Purple Jesus we have seen to date.
Prediction: 20-17 Vikings.
Posted bySL__72 at 1:40 PM 2 comments
Labels: Eagles, Preview, Purple Jesus, Vikings, Week 8
Week 7 Review
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Its hard to stay positive at after falling to 2-4. Conventional wisdom has the Vikings as one of the worst teams in the NFL. After a tough loss to the best team in the conference, ESPN now has the Vikings rated 26th in the league, down from 22 last week. Other similar ranking systems seem to agree with that assessment.
There is still hope for this team though. While being on the wrong side of a number of close games has made their chances of making the playoffs very slim, it doesn't necessarily reflect their true ability.
If you take for example, ESPN's "NFL Power Rankings," you might notice that the order in which the teams are listed is almost exactly based on their win loss record. The problem with this is that your record isn't solely based on your team's ability. Things like strength of schedule and plain old variance (or luck) can easily turn a playoff team into a losing one. A good ratings system needs to look at every play, not just then end result of the game. A good ratings system likely wouldn't punish you too harshly for losing a close game to the Cowboys, who all rating/ranking systems agree are the best team in the NFC. Thats why it isn't a surprise that Football Outsiders' math-based DVOA rating system still has the Vikings rated 15th in the NFL, the same place it did a week ago.
In the first quarter Romo tore the Vikings secondary apart. There was some good conversation over on FO about the Vikings' cover-2 and how poor their pass coverage is. It certainly looked like it was going to be a long day for the Vikings after Romo completed 9 of 10 on Dallas' first possession including a 5yd TD to a wide open TO in the back of the endzone. It was hard to tell on TV, but from the replay it looks like the reason TO was so open was that Sharper blew the coverage, coming up to cover a RB in the flat and completely vacating his zone:
The Vikings first possession was their only remotely successful one. AP had a couple of more flashes of brilliance, specifically a 12 yard catch and run and later a 20 yard TD run. The run was made possible by another great block by Kleinsasser (which seems to be a developing trend) who pancaked DeMarcus Ware.
The rest of the game wasn't a lot of fun to watch and can be summed up pretty easily, although not necessarily few words. First, one of the longest play summaries ever:
T. Romo passed to P. Crayton down the middle for 7 yard gain. P. Crayton fumbled. B. Leber recovered fumble and returned for 10 yards. C. Griffin fumbled. C. Griffin recovered fumble. lateral to C. Griffin for 50 yards.
Later, Romo has too much time and finds TO in a popular cover-2 hole:
Then the long snapper gets bowled over:
And finally MB3 ran the clock out against a tired Vikings defense:
At 2-4, the Vikings would need to win at least 6, probably more like 7 of their final 10 games in order to make the playoffs. Unless TJ, a few WRs and the pass rush all improve a lot in the next week or two, that isn't going to happen. But the Vikings still are the 2nd best team in the NFC North and they do have a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. If I was going to bet on how many wins the Vikings will have the rest of the way, I'd say 5. All it takes for 5 wins to turn into 7 are a couple of good bounces, so there is still SOME chance of a 17th game. In fact, according to FO's playoff odds report, the Vikings still have a 13.8% chance of making the postseason.
Posted bySL__72 at 8:51 PM 5 comments
Labels: Cowboys, loss, Purple Jesus, rankings, Vikings
Week 6 Review Part 2, defense.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
This is going to be a little short due to getting seriously caught up in this story. If you are interested in the full story, check out this post explaining it thoroughly here.
Anyway, on to the defense:
Play 1: Hester punt return, 89yd TD:
I think this picture pretty much says it all:
The punt coverage team let him get out of that. He is an amazing athlete. The coverage was actually really good, they just failed to tackle him.
Play 2: 1st and 10, Griese to Berrian, 39 yd TD.
This play is mostly on Antoine who was manned up on Berrian. From the replays, it looked like he backpedaled for too long, got leaning back too far and then just fell over when he tried to turn around. If Winfield doesn't mess up here, it probably is a sack instead of a TD because Udeze puts a great spin move on Fred Miller and hit Greise JUST after he released the ball.
Play 3: 2nd and 10, Griese to Muhammad, 33yd TD.
Much like the Hester punt return, this isn't terrible defense, they just took bad lines and failed to make a tackle:
It was a nice read/throw by Griese, but he definitely shouldn't have scored.
Play 4: 2nd and 10, Griese to Hester, 81yd TD
The defense just failed to adequately account for Hester on this play. He ran a nice route and completely burned Dwight Smith. He probably should have been jammed, but other then that, not much could have been done.
That said, I think Smith is one of the problems with our pass defense.
Posted bySL__72 at 5:47 PM 0 comments
Week 6 Review Part 1, offense.
Monday, October 15, 2007
I've decided to use some new software to write this, because the way I was doing it sucked ass.
Anyway, since it was pretty much the only part of the game the general media has focused on, and with good reason, I'm not going to focus on AP's performance. He is sick, thats really all there is to it. He has great vision and uses it well. If you watch closely, he helps create holes by setting defenders up and then using his athletic superiority to blow by them. What he does to Lance Briggs on the first play I talk about later is a good example of what I mean by that. What I am going to talk about is the offensive line (including Kleinsasser and Shiancoe), yesterday's unsung heroes. If I haven't fulfilled your AP fix yet, this is probably better then anything else I can say about him:
Since most of the offensive plays I'm going to talk about are in that video, you can probably pretty much follow along with what I'm saying if you want.
Play 1: 2nd and 10, AP counter to the right for 27 yards.
The line does a great job of selling lead to the left. McKinnie dominates the Bears left end (Mark Anderson?), The other four linemen do a good job of double teaming the tackles and Jim Kleinsasser completely handles Ogunleye. Briggs, the playside OLB here, even takes a couple steps the wrong way before reacting to Peterson heading at him with the ball. Notice how AP completely freezes Briggs by running towards him for a step or two before cutting and accelerating to the outside. This is called making the defender look like a fool, something AP is particularly good at. After that, Rice (I think?) does a good enough job blocking Tillman and AP has the outside with only the safeties between him and the endzone. Archuletta, not realizing how fast AP is, takes a terrible line and the play goes for 27.
Play 2: 1st and 10, 60 yard TD, TJ to TWill.
Going by memory on this one, but if I remember correctly, Archuletta hesitates because of the play fake and Williamson just runs past him. The line does a great job giving TJ not only all the time he needs to make this throw but also enough for him to step into it. TJ makes a good read (cover-2, safety bites on a playfake = throw the ball over that safety) and a great throw. It was really nice to see that pair finally connect on a deep throw.
Play 3: 2nd and 10, off tackle left, AP, 67yd TD.
McKinnie's block on Anderson here is what sets up this play. He seals him so well that he simultaneously takes the play-side tackle (Adams?) completely out of the play. This allowed Huchinson to go upfield and take on Urlacher. Before Peterson even gets to the tackle it is apparent that this is going to be a 10+ yard run. Shiancoe makes a great block, running the corner who lined up on him completely out of the play, and Kleinsasser solidifies the hole by helping finish off Urlacher. After that AP makes about 4 guys look foolish and turns an easy 15 yard run into a 67 yard touchdown.
Play 4: 1st and 10, AP to the left, 73yd TD.
This appears to be designed to be an off-tackle to the right. Shiancoe blocks the end out and Cook doubles down on the left tackle. Chicago's defense quickly reacts and fills the hole as their LDT (Adams here?) does a great job fighting off the double team.
The key block on this play is, again, made by McKinnie. Mark Anderson, the Bears' right end, crashes down and McKinnie does exactly what he should do, ride him inside. AP sees this, quickly cuts left and runs by Ricky Manning Jr who got way too deep trying to pursue the play to the right. From there, AP make McGowan look foolish, does a great job of using a pair of good downfield blocks by Williamson and Wade and is gone.
Play 5: 2nd and 13, Peterson of the left tackle, 37yd TD.
The key blocks here, again, are McKinnie and Kleinsasser. They take their guys, Anderson and Briggs, and just run them both into the sideline. You can definitely mark McKinnie down for a pancake on this one. The only other two blockers that end up really mattering after that are Birk, who makes a nice cut-block to take Urlacher out of the play and Shiancoe, lined up at WR who does a good job of taking his corner out of the play. After that, AP hits and whole so fast no one else has a chance to catch up to the play.
Play 5: AP, 53 yard kick return.
All I can say about this is that either the front line did an amazing job blocking or Chicago's coverage really blew it because there was a HUGE hole on the left side of the field. Of the four players who make up the wall, Marcus Johnson is the only one who makes a significant block, taking out Isreal Idonije. From there AP just uses his speed to cruise down the runway that opened up in front of him until Robbie Gould makes the best attempt to of the day to tackle him in open space. It might be that he isn't fast enough to matter, but it looked like if Dugan hadn't completely taken himself out of this play, there was a good chance it could have gone all the way.
Like everyone is saying, AP is an absolute beast. He has all the tools that make up a great runner at this level and yesterday he showcased them beautifully. But hopefully I have been able to show that he did receive a little help. The offensive line completely dominated Chicago's front seven for most of the day, Shiancoe and Kleinsasser both had great games blocking and even the WR did a good job blocking down field...
Posted bySL__72 at 11:09 PM 0 comments
Week 4 Review
This is going to be more of a trip report then a review, since I was at the game.
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And since it was a fun weekend in general, it won't just be about the game.
Friday night:
7pm: Birthday Party. Meet at friend's house for drinks and food. Group of ~15 head to Williams in uptown for beer/darts/peanuts.
Brag: Bell's Two Hearted Ale on tap. Warsteiner too.
Brag: Clutch 3-bullseye round to conclude a gutsy come from behind victory in Cricket rubber match. Possibly the greatest moment in darts history.
Beat: Drank too much?
Variance: One of the girls in the cab ride home is convinced there is a place in Africa called Jared. My new friend/our Ethiopian cab driver disagrees. Google also disagrees but says there are some people named Jared in Africa.
Saturday:
9am: Wakeup
10am: Breakfast
11-12:30: Madden, call cab.
1pm: standing outside in heavy rain and strong wind. Happy as can be because I am waiting to enter the Autumn Beer Review.
Spend the next 5 hours drinking many many different beers. Rain ends for good by 3 and panchos are ditched.
6pm: Attempt to play more madden, pass out.
8:30: Wake up to find that someone made spaghetti!
9pm: Gasthof's for Octoberfest celebration. $5 for mug + $5 for fill doesn't sound attractive. Neither does drinking more beer anyway.
11pm: Downtown Minneapolis. Daydrunk fun, nighthangover not. Also, Gluek's is depressing. Spend most of the night sitting outside of a bar (Gluek's) watching people come and go from the bar next store (Lonetree/Annex) and listening to drunk conversations.
2am: home
3am: sleep
Sunday!:
9am: Wake up, shower, dress in Vikings gear.
9:30-11: Get lost in suburbs looking for house to pick up tickets from. Eventually find it and make it back to Minneapolis.
12-3: Sit in 17th row, 45 yard line, Packer's side of the field.
Game notes:
I was forced to applaud Favre for the first time in my life.
Adrian Peterson is a beast. Take him off the kick return team. Play him more on offense.
Mewelde Moore still needs to be our kick/punt returner!
Antoine Winfield and both Williams' are also beasts.
Live, that fumble/incomplete thing looked like a fumble for sure. Either way, Winfield made a great read and timed his hit perfectly.
Holcomb is bad. He threw the ball in to the line multiple times in important situations, didn't seem to have much (any) touch on the long ball and is just plain boring to watch. Looking forward to TJ's return next week.
Sidney Rice might turn into a "playmaker" at this level, but he isn't there yet. His TD catch was very nice. He's athletic and appears to have pretty good hands but is definitely a bit inconsistent.
Griffin appears to have regressed since last year and McCauley looks more like the senior version then the junior version we were hoping would reemerge. Basically, I'm not sure either of them will develop into a legit #2 at the NFL level.
Rewarded for following my "if there is any chance at all they are coming back, don't leave" policy as the Vikings almost pull off a comeback as miraculous as my Friday night darts triumph.
4:30pm: Finally home again, soaked from walking back to car in the rain.
6:30pm: Ride comes, go to Roy Wilkins for LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire.
7-10: Watch two awesome concerts.
10:30: Home again.
12:00: SLeeeeeeeeep.
Posted bySL__72 at 11:06 PM 0 comments
Internet Baseball Awards!
Go vote for the Internet Baseball Awards!
My ballot is below. I don't necessarily like the managers who I voted manager of the year, but thats too hard to measure anyway...
ALMVP
Alex Rodriguez 1
Magglio Ordonez 2
Curtis Granderson 3
David Ortiz 4
Grady Sizemore 5
Jorge Posada 6
Carlos Pena 7
Ichiro Suzuki 8
Victor Martinez 9
Vladimir Guerrero 10
ALCY
C.C. Sabathia 1
Johan Santana 2
Fausto Carmona 3
Josh Beckett 4
Erik Bedard 5
ALROY
Dustin Pedroia 1
Jeremy Guthrie 2
Daisuke Matsuzaka 3
Brian Bannister 4
Pat Neshek 5
ALMOY
Mike Hargrove 1
Ozzie Guillen 2
Mike Scioscia 3
NLMVP
David Wright 1
Matt Holliday 2
Chipper Jones 3
Chase Utley 4
Albert Pujols 5
Hanley Ramirez 6
Jimmy Rollins 7
Aaron Rowand 8
Prince Fielder 9
Miguel Cabrera 10
NLCY
Jake Peavy 1
Brandon Webb 2
John Smoltz 3
Cole Hamels 4
Jeff Francis 5
NLROY
Troy Tulowitzki 1
Hunter Pence 2
Ryan Braun 3
Yovani Gallardo 4
Peter Moylan 5
NLMOY
Bob Melvin 1
Clint Hurdle 2
Tony LaRussa 3
Posted bySL__72 at 11:06 PM 0 comments
Friday Vikings preview and some Twins offseason note
Last night Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune wrote a piece suggesting tat the Twins might consider signing Barry Bonds to a one year deal for next year. As this has been something I have been advocating for a couple of months now, that fact that they would even consider it is exciting. If the Twins are ever going to shell out money for a big-name free agent, this is the situation for them to do it. Considering he will most likely be looking for another big 1-year deal, there isn't any real risk of the move hurting the team in the long run. Also, assuming Torii is going to be gone, the lineup could really use another big hitter.
While I definitely think signing Bonds would be a good move for the team and would dramatically increase their chances of moving back to the top of the division next year, I know that at least a part of the reason I'd like to see it happen is that I have never gotten the chance to see Bonds play live. I would really like to see the best player in baseball history play live at least a few times, even if it is at age 44. Also, wouldn't it be fun, for once, to have a
From a fan standpoint, there isn't going to be another game this season that means what this one does. Playing the Packers is always fun and being at home makes it even more so. So, what is going to happen Sunday? Lets see what the FO numbers have to say about it:
Special teams:
So far this season, both teams have been pretty solid on special teams. Both teams have been very good in coverage but unimpressive on their returns. That could mean that special teams aren't going to play a huge role in this game. That is, unless Mewelde Moore gets some special teams touches.
Vikings offense vs. Packers Defense:
It looks like Kelly Holcomb will probably be starting again for the Vikings, which is probably a good thing as far as their chances for winning this game go. After going against a Chiefs defense that looks to be very good against the pass (they already were before Allen came back), I would expect Holcomb to have a little more success against a soft Packers secondary. If the Vikings offense is going to be successful this week, Holcomb is going to have to be a lot more impressive then he was last week. The Packers have been pretty good against the run this year. Their defensive line has been merely average, but they have a great core of linebackers lead by Nick Barnett and AJ Hawk. Hawk has been everything the Packers had hoped he would be when they selected him 5th overall last year and Barnett is a solid, speedy middle linebacker.
A big matchup to watch this week will be Aaron Kampman vs Ryan Cook. After having a breakout season last year, notching 15.5 sacks, Kampman only has 1.5 through the first three games. What he has done though, is help to completely shut down the run to his side of the field. Teams have averaged 0.6 yards per carry on runs outside to his side of the field.
Some numbers:
Vikings Pass DVOA:-21.2%, 27th
Packers Pass defense DVOA: 5.0%, 14th
Vikings Run DVOA: 5.5%, 11th
Packers Run defense DVOA: -12.7%, 7th
Vikings defense vs. Packers offense:
The Packers run game has seriously struggled so far this season. Their run game ranks 23rd in the NFL according to DVOA and their line ranks even worse, 29th. Considering the Vikings defensive line and defense as a whole is by far the best in the league at stopping the run, expect the Packers run game to play little to no part in this game. The big concern for the Vikings has to be stopping the pass. While they haven't been able to open holes for the run game, the Packers OL has been very efficient in pass protection so far this year and Favre has definitely been able to make the best of the time they are giving him. Favre is currently ranked 5th in the NFL in DPAR behind Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Carson Palmer. Pretty good company.
A lot of Favre's success this year has come from throwing to Donald Driver. Driver accounts for 25% of Favre's completions and over 30% of his passing yards. After DBowe's big second half last week there has been a lot of talk this week about matching up Antoine Winfield on Driver. Childress has downplayed the possibility of that happening, but I essentially agree with what Winfield said on KFAN earlier this week:“If I’m not matched up on Donald Driver one-on-one something is wrong,"
Now, I realize that the Vikings play a variation of the cover-2 and as a result, are in zone coverage a good percentage of the time, but lining Winfield up on Driver only when they play man is probably something Favre would notice. So I think if he had said "If I'm not lined up across from Donald Driver every play, something is wrong" and it would be a little closer to the truth.
Overall:
Both of these teams could easily be undefeated right now. They both probably should be 2-1. That said, the Packers are the better team right now. GB enters the game ranked 7th overall in the NFL in DVOA at 24.3% but the Vikings aren't too far behind at 13.6%, 10th overall, but when combined with preseason projections (45% weeks 1-3, 55% preseason) they drop to 9th and 15th, which is probably closer to the reality. If the Vikings can jump out to an early lead, or force Favre to make some mistakes, this is certainly a winnable game for them, but the chances are GB leaves
Posted bySL__72 at 11:03 PM 0 comments
Weel 3 Review
That was an ugly game. Things started off all right, but by the end of the game Tarvaris Jackson looked like he had no confidence and was completely gunshy. Bouncing back from the occasional bad game is an important thing for a young QB to learn.
For everyone calling for TJ's head at this point, calm down. There isn't a QB controversy, there isn't going to be one. There can't be. There is only one QB on the Vikings roster with any potential to develop into a legitimate starting QB. We HAVE to start him. The Vikings QB situation is the same as the Twins current situation at both 2nd and 3rd base. I'm just glad the Vikings staff is smarter then Gardenhire who is still consistently starting Punto and Rodriguez over Buscher and Casilla. The Vikings don't have a good QB right now. We have to accept that and move on. What we need to find out is if we have someone who can be a good QB in the future.
The Vikings also haven't exactly set TJ up for success. Last year, with a receiving core that was probably better then ours, Tom Brady managed to complete only 50% of his passes in his first two games and had 2 picks and 3 fumbles. After 2 games in 2000, Culpepper's 2nd year in the NFL and first as a starting QB, he had a 60% completion percentage, 4 interceptions and 3 fumbles. He was playing with Randy Moss and Cris Carter! Despite having 5 terrible games (weeks 1, 2, 9, 10, and 14), he finished the year as the 3rd most successful QB in the NFL (based on DPAR).
Basically, to expect TJ to go through the year without a game like that would be foolish. To expect the kind of results DC had in his rookie year would also be foolish. Starting a QB with no future because it might make us an 7-9 team instead of a 6-10 team would be even more foolish.
Hopefully, even if Holomb has a decent game this Sunday, Childress won't be blinded by the media outcry to make him a starter and will go with TJ again as soon as he is healthy again.
Posted bySL__72 at 11:02 PM 0 comments
Week 2 Review
That was an ugly game. Things started off all right, but by the end of the game Tarvaris Jackson looked like he had no confidence and was completely gunshy. Bouncing back from the occasional bad game is an important thing for a young QB to learn.
For everyone calling for TJ's head at this point, calm down. There isn't a QB controversy, there isn't going to be one. There can't be. There is only one QB on the Vikings roster with any potential to develop into a legitimate starting QB. We HAVE to start him. The Vikings QB situation is the same as the Twins current situation at both 2nd and 3rd base. I'm just glad the Vikings staff is smarter then Gardenhire who is still consistently starting Punto and Rodriguez over Buscher and Casilla. The Vikings don't have a good QB right now. We have to accept that and move on. What we need to find out is if we have someone who can be a good QB in the future.
The Vikings also haven't exactly set TJ up for success. Last year, with a receiving core that was probably better then ours, Tom Brady managed to complete only 50% of his passes in his first two games and had 2 picks and 3 fumbles. After 2 games in 2000, Culpepper's 2nd year in the NFL and first as a starting QB, he had a 60% completion percentage, 4 interceptions and 3 fumbles. He was playing with Randy Moss and Cris Carter! Despite having 5 terrible games (weeks 1, 2, 9, 10, and 14), he finished the year as the 3rd most successful QB in the NFL (based on DPAR).
Basically, to expect TJ to go through the year without a game like that would be foolish. To expect the kind of results DC had in his rookie year would also be foolish. Starting a QB with no future because it might make us an 7-9 team instead of a 6-10 team would be even more foolish.
Hopefully, even if Holomb has a decent game this Sunday, Childress won't be blinded by the media outcry to make him a starter and will go with TJ again as soon as he is healthy again.
Posted bySL__72 at 11:01 PM 0 comments
Vikings Week 1 review
NFL Week 1 review
Coming into this week I think I was a little more optimistic about the Vikings chances this year then most. Given their schedule, I wouldn't be surprised to see this team at 4-0 heading into the bye and pretty much expect them to be at least 3-1. Obviously everyone's biggest concern with this team is their passing game, especially Tarvaris Jackson.
Jackson: B-
Tarvaris looked more confident then in his brief stint as the starter last year. He made some nice plays and generally looked able to control the offense. At times it seemed like he locked onto his first receiver, but he did seem to be able to spread the ball around with 9 different players making receptions (none more then two). His 1 interception can mostly be put on Shiancoe. It wasn't a perfect pass, but it hit him in the shoulder. On the other hand there should have been another one that was completely Jackson's fault but was dropped. There was a play where Jackson showed off his strength by completely stiff arming a Falcon LB for what seemed like forever before throwing the ball away over his shoulder. A lot of people hated the play, but to me it looked like he was just throwing the ball to what he knew to be an empty spot on the field, in which case it wasn't so bad. He probably should have just thrown it away earlier though.
Receivers: C-
Wade and TWill showed some ability to get open, but combined had 3 catches for 50 yards. TWill did get open deep on a post early in the 2nd half but was overthrown by Jackson. Rice showed some ability and could have the best ball skills on the team, but the rest of his game is still very rough. Shiancoe looked like what he is, or was, a backup TE.
Backs: A-
Chester Taylor looked good on one of his 3 carries before going down with a phantom hip injury of some sort. From that point on AP played the role of feature back and more then handled the load. He ran for 103 yards on 19 carries (5.4y/a) and of coarse had the key play of the second half, a 60 yard TD reception on a swing pass where he really got to showcase his speed. The play was the only "nice catch" any Viking made all day. Coming into the season the Vikings were planning on going with a RB by committee with Taylor acting as the #1 but after one week, it looks like Taylor could see his role shrink a lot.
OL: B+
The run game was solid, >5y/a and they allowed 0 sacks. The run game was a little more boom/bust then I would have liked, even with the long run being <20yds. Also... the longest run was <20yds :)
DL: A
The line accounted for 4 sacks, an interception and a TD. KWill and PWill both played outstanding. Rookie Brian Robison, who seemed like a steal in the 4th round, continues to surpass anyones expectations. After showing that he could put on a rush in the preseason, he recorded 2 sacks in his first real NFL game. Udeze also recorded a sack after going all of last year without doing so. Even though it was on the meaningless last play of the game, it was good to see him getting into the backfield.
LB: B+
EJ Henderson played well in his first game back in the middle. He recorded 2 sacks and 7 tackles. In Greenway's first action as an NFL starter he showed the kind of talent that made the Vikings draft him in the first round last year leading the team with 10 total tackles (4 solo, 6 assists) and also forcing a fumble. The group also did a decent job in pass coverage, which is probably going to be the biggest worry here going forward. The dark spot was Leber's terrible roughing penalty in the 1st quarter.
DB: B
They were able to shut down Atlanta's terrible receiving core and accounted for a TD courtesy of Michael Jenkins on a nice play by Winfield. Antoine looked like his normal top-tier #1 CB self. McCauley made a few plays, but both him and Griffith look like really good #3 CB options. Obviously they are both still very young and they both look like they could develop into a good #2. The safties looked the same as last year, competent but not outstanding.
Special Teams: B+
The kicking game looked good with Klewe pinning the Falcons inside of the 20 on all 5 of his punts and Longwell nailing a 49yarder with plenty of room to spare. The coverage team also looked adequate to good. Peterson returning kicks was a surprise that we might not see again this year, especially if Taylor's health becomes an issue. Bobby Wade appeared to be a capable punt returned. Hopefully Mewelde dresses next week.
Overall: B+
This was a game the Vikings should have won. The defense played excellent and the offense didn't look terrible, which is a good sign. This could be a 7 win team, which means that in the NFC, they could be a few lucky breaks away from making the playoffs.
Rest of the NFC North:
The Bears looked shaky against the Chargers. Their defense was its old self and was able to shut LdT down for the most part. It looks like they might have to go another season without Mike Brown as he went down with a "knee sprain" which is now rumored to be a torn ACL. Surprisingly, Rex Grossman was the bright spot on offense. That isn't to say he played great, just that he played OK which is more then you can say for the rest of their offense.
The Packers upset the Eagles in Lambeau. It was a bit of a lucky win, but their defense played very well and even a lucky win over one of the best teams in the conference is something to get excited about.
The Lions also one their opener over a terrible Oakland squad. Kitna picked up right where he left off last year throwing 3TDs but also 2 picks. Scoring 36 points on what should be a decent Oakland defense was a good sign. Giving up 21 to what should be a terrible Oakland offense wasn't. Josh McCown had the kind of performance he often did in AZ, throwing for over 300 yards while still managing to not have a very good day...
Rest of the league:
The biggest surprise for me was Jacksonville losing to Tennessee. Their run defense and offense were both atrocious, when I expected both to be very good.
One game I wish I could have seen more of was Denver @ Buffalo. From the sound if it their offense moved the ball very well, their defense was outstanding, yet it took a last second field goal for them to win the game.
I'm really excited for both games tonight. First two teams that are polar opposites square off in Cinci. Baltimore has a sad, running based offense and a great defense. Cinci has a great passing game and terrible defense.
In the later game two young and should be improving teams go with AZ traveling to SF. There is a ton of young talent to see in this game and if Arizona's new staff has their OL working at a competent level, this could be a high scoring game.
Posted bySL__72 at 11:00 PM 0 comments
First Post
The Twins season is essentially over and the NFL season is officially underway. Commentary on football, baseball, fantasy for both and anything else that comes to mind might be found here.
Posted bySL__72 at 10:57 PM 0 comments