Hey everyone,
It's been a crazy week so I haven't had a chance to write much. I have some topics other than sports I wish to rant about, just haven't had the chance yet. So for today, more Vikings talk.. Also, congrats to Alex and Danielle on their wedding :-D.
Was anyone else getting as nervous as I was during the Vikings/Lions game on Sunday? I, like the other Vikings faithful, fancy the Vikes as a Superbowl contender. They sure did not look like it though trailing the Motor-City Kitties, who have now not won in 19 games, 10-7 at half time. And our seven points came at the end of a late second quarter drive, capped off by a Favre-Shiancoe hook-up. I was feeling a little nervous.
But, with what seems to be the pace for the Vikings this year, they went on a 20-3 scoring streak to win the game with a final score, 27-13.
Some Highs and lows from the game: Adrian Peterson got off to a rough start, fumbling the ball in the Vikings first posession. Peterson flubbed the hand-off from QB Favre and it went rolling right to the waiting Lions. It was a fumble clearly on Peterson, as watching the replay he took his eyes off it before it was in his arms, looking for a good cut-back lane. Just like baseball, you have to watch the ball in before you do anything else with it. AP, like the rest of the Vikings, had a slow first half, but recovered in the second to finish with 92 yards and a touchdown. Including one very AP-like touchdown scamper for 27 yards.
Favre looked good, I really have no complaints with him thus far. He is taking quite a few sacks, which I would blame more on the offensive line. But being 40 years old and possessing litle ability to scramble, I'd rather him tuck the ball in and not try anything crazy that winds up in an interception. But you really cannot complain about 115.3 passer rating. This was Favre's 271 consecutive start, breaking former Viking Jim Marshall's record. To give you an idea of this length of span, to break This record, the Lions rookie QB Matthew Stafford would have to start every game from now until 2026. Yeah.
Speaking of the offensive line, Bryant McKinnie looked pretty terrible again. There were miscues all-around, and maybe I just focus on McKinnie's, but for someone who is a leader on the line, he needs to step up and protect his aging QB.
Defensively we were alright. Too much over-pursuit in the first half lead to some big gains by Lions RB, Kevin Smith. Jared Allen and company, seemingly trying to retaliate for a chop-block last year that landed Allen on the side-lines, looked angry and flabber-ghasted trying to stop the Lions in the first half, even taking some un-ncessiary penalties. They did settle down, getting two sacks throughout the game. Including one by Jared Allen, marking his first of the year. The other note-worthy player, Chad Greenway, had a funble recovery and two interceptions in this game, doubling his career INT total. He did miss a couple key tackles early, but made up for them with big plays. This also marked the 25th consecutive game in which the Vikings have not allowed a 100-yard rusher, though we might have some problems next week again Frank Gore.
Not much else to say except that Percy Harvin continues to look good, I would look for him to get at least one kick return TD this year. The Vikings have fared well against these weak teams, but will need to figure out a way to get some first-half potenc or they are going to have problems keeping pace with teams such as the Steelers and Packers later in the season.
Thats about it on the Vikings and for the post, later in the week I hope to post some thoughts on the Twins and Wild. As well as some other topics not sports related.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Easy Start
Alright, I started this blog which is something I have wanted to try for a while. I want a spot where I can rant about things that I feel like ranting about, so we'll see if anyone gets interested. For my first blog post ever I am going to talk about something I know very well: Minnesota Sports. Specifically the Vikings and Twins. I'll start with the Vikings tonight.
The Vikings beat a sub-par Cleveland team yesterday 34-20, although this game was not as close as the score would indicate. The Vikings offense lead by the aging Brett Favre took some time to get going, trailing 13-10 at halftime. Cleveland's first-half touchdown came on a punt return touchdown in which return-man Joshua Cribbs went 67 yards virtually un-touched. Special teams, along with poor quarterback play, was a real achilles heel of the Vikings team last year, a hole that was hoped to have been filled. With the exception of a few field goals and some good running by Adrian Peterson and his Cleveland counter-part Jamal Anderson, the first half shaped up to be a defensive battle. A battle in which the Browns should not have stood a chance.
The second half played out much more like expected. Brett Favre, though still having some trouble communicating with his receivers, apeared comfortable in the pocket, zipping the ball like the Brett Favre of old. He took four sacks, altough frustrating from an offensive line that prides itself as one of the better ones in the league, Favre did a good job of tucking the ball and not trying to force anything with his 40 year-old, bionic, NFL interception record holding arm. Cannot really complain though about 14/21 and two touchdowns. Including one to the ever-more impressing Percy Harvin.
Back to the offensive line, I expect some inadequacies from the center and right side. Phil Loadholt (RT) will be an excellent lineman down the road but is still a rookie in his first regular season game. Anthony Herrera (RG) in his sixth season out of Tennessee, who has never been too impressive and is a substitute teacher at best played to expectation. And 2nd year center John Sullivan, same as Loadholt, looked about as good filling Matt Birk's shoes as could be expected. The disappointment came on the left side of the line, in the mountain of a man: Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie is big and strong and can be an able Tackle, but he just looked slow and lost against the blitz, once even being beaten by a safety.
Adrian Peterson looked back to usual form, getting stuffed a couple times when trying to run against the blitz. He seems to be doing a better job of admitting defeat on running plays and just diving forward instead of dancing around and losing more yards. Other than that, you can't get upset over 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. Especially if he happens to be on your fantasy team...
Defense looked good, pass defense still needs a little work, but over-all was a good effort. Jared Allen got close to a sack on a couple plays, I look for him to have another outstanding season, as with the rest of the line. The Williams wall I have no complaint about, except the whole diuretic issue. Even Ray Edwards, with whom I have never been too impressed, managed a sack. Cedric Griffin had an excellent game with an interception, a forced fumble and a pass deflection. The only other thing I have to add on the defense is this: I love Antoine Winfield, but I hate how everytime I watch a vikings game, they only thing the announcers can do is talk about how hard he hits. We get it.
The NFC North will be a tough division this year, SI picked the Bears to win the division with Minnesota and Green Bay taking the two NFC wild-cards. I was at work so I didn't catch the entire Packers/Bears game, but what I saw Jay Cutler looked terrible. Not to take anything away from the Packers defense, which has only gotten better since an impressive year last year. But Cutler did not look competant at all, if the Bears are looking later in the season, maybe we dangle Tavaris Jackson to see what we can get. I maintain that the divison race will come down to a tight race between the Packers and Vikings. And hopefully the Motor-City Kitties can win something this year...hopefully a game against the Packers :-).
Well, that about wraps up my first blog post in a long winded fashion. To those of you who actually read through the whole thing, thanks. To those who just skimmed to the end looking for the conclusion, thanks for looking anyways. I hope to put these up in fairly common order. (Don't worry, they won't ALL be sports related, just most of them.)
That about wraps up my first blog post in a
The Vikings beat a sub-par Cleveland team yesterday 34-20, although this game was not as close as the score would indicate. The Vikings offense lead by the aging Brett Favre took some time to get going, trailing 13-10 at halftime. Cleveland's first-half touchdown came on a punt return touchdown in which return-man Joshua Cribbs went 67 yards virtually un-touched. Special teams, along with poor quarterback play, was a real achilles heel of the Vikings team last year, a hole that was hoped to have been filled. With the exception of a few field goals and some good running by Adrian Peterson and his Cleveland counter-part Jamal Anderson, the first half shaped up to be a defensive battle. A battle in which the Browns should not have stood a chance.
The second half played out much more like expected. Brett Favre, though still having some trouble communicating with his receivers, apeared comfortable in the pocket, zipping the ball like the Brett Favre of old. He took four sacks, altough frustrating from an offensive line that prides itself as one of the better ones in the league, Favre did a good job of tucking the ball and not trying to force anything with his 40 year-old, bionic, NFL interception record holding arm. Cannot really complain though about 14/21 and two touchdowns. Including one to the ever-more impressing Percy Harvin.
Back to the offensive line, I expect some inadequacies from the center and right side. Phil Loadholt (RT) will be an excellent lineman down the road but is still a rookie in his first regular season game. Anthony Herrera (RG) in his sixth season out of Tennessee, who has never been too impressive and is a substitute teacher at best played to expectation. And 2nd year center John Sullivan, same as Loadholt, looked about as good filling Matt Birk's shoes as could be expected. The disappointment came on the left side of the line, in the mountain of a man: Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie is big and strong and can be an able Tackle, but he just looked slow and lost against the blitz, once even being beaten by a safety.
Adrian Peterson looked back to usual form, getting stuffed a couple times when trying to run against the blitz. He seems to be doing a better job of admitting defeat on running plays and just diving forward instead of dancing around and losing more yards. Other than that, you can't get upset over 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. Especially if he happens to be on your fantasy team...
Defense looked good, pass defense still needs a little work, but over-all was a good effort. Jared Allen got close to a sack on a couple plays, I look for him to have another outstanding season, as with the rest of the line. The Williams wall I have no complaint about, except the whole diuretic issue. Even Ray Edwards, with whom I have never been too impressed, managed a sack. Cedric Griffin had an excellent game with an interception, a forced fumble and a pass deflection. The only other thing I have to add on the defense is this: I love Antoine Winfield, but I hate how everytime I watch a vikings game, they only thing the announcers can do is talk about how hard he hits. We get it.
The NFC North will be a tough division this year, SI picked the Bears to win the division with Minnesota and Green Bay taking the two NFC wild-cards. I was at work so I didn't catch the entire Packers/Bears game, but what I saw Jay Cutler looked terrible. Not to take anything away from the Packers defense, which has only gotten better since an impressive year last year. But Cutler did not look competant at all, if the Bears are looking later in the season, maybe we dangle Tavaris Jackson to see what we can get. I maintain that the divison race will come down to a tight race between the Packers and Vikings. And hopefully the Motor-City Kitties can win something this year...hopefully a game against the Packers :-).
Well, that about wraps up my first blog post in a long winded fashion. To those of you who actually read through the whole thing, thanks. To those who just skimmed to the end looking for the conclusion, thanks for looking anyways. I hope to put these up in fairly common order. (Don't worry, they won't ALL be sports related, just most of them.)
That about wraps up my first blog post in a
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