Share your hurts, Viking fans. More in the comments.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Coming off the ledge
There was a familiar story for the Vikings in '06, '07, and '08: the Minnesota defense doing everything it takes to win a game, and getting let down by frustrating, mistake-prone, incompetent offensive performances. It happened again today. Superb, admirable, incredible defensive effort from the Vikes, giving the Vikings the ball back time and again, doing everything they could to win a game--and a total letdown at every level of the offensive game (with the exception of Adrian Peterson, who did all he could to try will the Viking offense to points).
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I didn't think the defense played all the great in the first half. Beating the Lions next week looks increasingly doubtful with the way this team is playing right now.
ReplyDeleteI feel the defense played to their ability. The offensive line for the Dolphins can face the Vikings pressure. They gave up 7 points, what else do you want from them? I feel that the receivers Brett Favre was trying to throw to don't want to make any plays. They are easy to cover, require no double teams, no major deep threat (that can catch a football), and have no play maker...In my mind, Brett only threw one interception, and it was an under thrown fly ball to Berrian.
ReplyDeletePhenom
the vikings easily could have had 10 points early on, could have scored another field goal late. really, they played good enough for 23 or more points. they simply don't have playmakers right now... and even worse they don't have players who can get open. shiancoe is the only player who is bothering to get open. favre has shown that if the WR gets open he's going to hit him... but none of these players seem capable of doing so. it's tough, because easily they could be 2-0 with two ugly wins and hope for the future. 0-2 is hardly the end of the world, but i have no faith Berrian is ever going to come around, and i don't know what's going on with Harvin. the talent drops off so far after those two... i don't know who was on the field at the end but they didn't look very good.
ReplyDeleterk
I hope you now realize why so many of us consider Childress to be a terrible coach. Today's performance was Picasso-level incompetence.
ReplyDeletePut together a nice little drive early, get an early field goal...no, he bypasses a makeable field goal for no apparent reason. And what happens? The Vikings end up chasing those three points the rest of the game. 2nd to last drive, go for it on the 1 because we're down four rather than one. Last drive, have to go for a TD rather than field goal because we're down four rather than one.
Childress bypassed two makeable field goals for unsuccessful fourth down attempts and ended up losing by 4. That's an incredible level of incompetence.
Without Sidney Rice this receiving corps is among the worst in the league. Zero impact, Shiancoe is the only one making plays and he's the TE.
You're right in that today's game was eerily similar to 2006-2008, where the defense is heroic in giving us a chance to win but the offense bungles its way through the game, and we lose a game where we only allow 14 points (7 defensively). I used to think that you could autosave your synopsis for every Childress game with the headline "Passing game struggles," and these past two weeks have been a return to form. I couldn't tell if that was Favre out there or Frerotte, to be honest.
Phenom: Favre deserves blame for at least two of the picks: the one at the goal line, and the deep heave when he tried to do it all on one play (to double coverage, to Berrian!).
ReplyDeleteAnon, I basically agree: that game was so similar to recent games featuring great defense but lousy quarterbacking from the likes of Brad Johnson, or Kelly Holcomb, or Gus Frerotte, or any of the other mediocrities. When Favre threw over the middle today, rather than feeling confident, I felt terrified. The defense did it's job, not just on the whole, but again and again, getting the ball back when they needed to get it back.
Here's what I think of that early 4th and 2. That's a move you make with the '09 Vikes, an offensive juggernaut, and up to now Childress maybe thinks he still has the '09 Vikes. Maybe now he (and all of us) realize we have something more like the '08 Vikes. They're going to produce defensively. They're going to grind the ball on the ground. But they're going to be in a lot of close games, and they're going to need points. The '07 or '08 Vikes probably know they need to take those three points early. Now, I think, we know the '10 Vikes need to take those points early.
Really, that game was the game against the '07 Chiefs, '08 Colts, '08 Buccaneers: the defense plays extremely well, the offense plays well at times but misses some early opportunities for more points, but ultimately turnovers and incompetence in the passing game leave you with a loss that makes you say, "How the hell did we lose that?"
ReplyDeleteSometimes these games go the other way: for a while it much reminded me of the home game against the '08 Packers, when offensive turnovers very nearly cost the team despite a great defensive effort, but Adrian Peterson carries the team to victory. And sometimes, this year, they will go the other way. But we have to realize, this is the team we have. This is the '08 Vikings, but with a better QB (not that he played better today: his worse Viking game by far).
Childress is the problem! I'm done watching this team. Bring on Gopher pucks season.
ReplyDeleteI miss FIRE CHILDRESS NOW guy.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the only two things I really care about in sports are the Vikes and Wolves--so if THIS is the Viking season, my sports fandom is worthless until sometime in 2011 at the earliest.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been just me, but when Favre threw the interception at the goal line he was expecting Berrian to run a slant instead of a ten yard fade. Regardless, with one on one coverage Berrian should be able to make one strong move and catch a quick pass. Rice caught 8 red zone TD's last year, many of which he caught in situations like that one. If I were Favre, I wouldn't trust any of my wide receivers.
ReplyDeletePhenom
First, Chili makes Richie Kotite look like a genius.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Favre should have retired in semi-glory after last year. We all KNEW he would never post the same type of numbers this year as he did last year. Well, all of us knew except Favre and Chili. Egads, this is going to be a loooong year. Vikes will be lucky to be 8-8.
Oh, and third, after seeing a crap offense like Miami hang some long passes on the Vikes secondary, can you imagine the burn from Rogers and the Pack offense? scary times await my friends...
Hopefully, Cook and even Griffin will be back soon when the Vikes face better QBs.
ReplyDeleteI think the year can be saved if the Vikings realize that they aren't an offensive juggernaut anymore, that they'll need to win games like they did in '08, and that the plan this year should be what the plan was going into last year: win with defense and running, protecting and saving the QB for spots when needed. More play-action, more screens.
Favre was not expecting Berrian to run a slant, don't even try to pin that one on Berrian. He determined pre-snap he was going back-shoulder to Berrian, and threw it regardless of the fact that Jason Allen was all over it.
ReplyDeleteMiami did not "hang some long passes" on Minnesota. They completed one long pass, and scored 7 points offensively. Minnesota got gashed by the run game for awhile, but the 2nd half was a defensive domination and ultimately the Dolphins only scored 7 points on offense, zero after their first drive.
Childress may have bypassed the early field goal thinking he still has the '09 offensive juggernaut, but that still doesn't excuse it. You should spend the first three quarters collecting points, and if that includes field goals so be it. There are so many different ways a game can go that those three points should never be gambled away. Collect points for 3 quarters, and then in the 4th quarter when the end-game is in sight, you can adjust accordingly. Bypassing field goals and going for 2 before you have to are always idiotic, and often times bite teams in the ass.
I remember when there were initial rumors of Favre coming to the Vikings. I was so excited, not because I believed he could still be the passing phenom he was in the past, but because having a QB who ANY defenders would fear meant less coverage on the run game. Any pass threat is better than no pass threat. And really, with AP, we should still be able to pull it off. I had these absurd fears that Favre would throw a pass and his arm would break off at the elbow. He seems so old and fragile. But I figured he could throw a few passes throughout the game and take the heat off the runners. The 09 season was obviously a pass-heavy season, and it worked for us, but I wasn't expecting it. Until we have receivers we can depend on, and until we are confident Favre is going to be on the same page with the rest of the offense and avoid throwing into coverage, I am more than comfortable giving AP a chance to be the center of the offense again.
ReplyDelete-PW
yes it looks bad. but in both games the vikings have certainly flashed what they were last year. i can't give up hope. too much talent--and i still have faith in favre. they only scored 10 points but very easily it could have been 27. we'll see. 0-2 isn't a big deal if they start winning. maybe a rough start is the best thing that could happen to this team. or not.
ReplyDeleterk