Archive for October, 2007

First-ballot slamdunk Hall-of-Famer. There was no one better along the sidelines and in the end-zone. And how many guys do you think contemplated taking a shot at him as he did his signature “first-down” point? I’m still shocked no one ever tried taking his head off. One of my favorite calls ever – can’t remember the announcer, but Carter had just made a sick one-handed catch, and the guy yelled, “Did you see what that man just did?” We felt that way a lot, actually.

It’s become a yearly tradition for the Vikings:  They fill their roster with useless QBs, a bunch of them get hurt and/or are ineffective, Jeff George sees this, calls his buddy Paul Allen and asks him to “gauge the team’s interest in him,” the team says it has no interest in an old, slow, occasionally-abrasive quarterback and we all move on. Of course, the team’s total disinterest in signing him doesn’t stop the 39-year-old George from trying.  Here’s what he told the Pioneer-Press: I know they’re banged up. But with a running back like Adrian Peterson, I would be licking [...]

#1 QB Carousel Settles On Bollinger – For Now Brad Childress asked for this mess when he went into the season with Jackson, Holcomb and Bollinger as his QBs – now he’s got to deal with it. Actually, it’s sort of already been dealt with for him – cause Tarvaris has a hurt finger and Kelly Holcomb has a hurt neck that left him looking like a punch-drunk boxer on the sidelines yesterday. So that means it’s going to be Brooks Bollinger this weekend against San Diego. Barring a recovery by T-Jack or the sudden appearance of Superman or The [...]

Whatever scant playoff hopes the Vikings may have harbored likely went out the door today, with the team losing at home to the Philadelphia Eagles 23-16. “Scant” may actually be too mild a word to describe the slimness of the team’s post-season chances going into today’s match-up with Philadelphia. The Vikings really were only holding on by the fingernails – and their prospects were not significantly improved by the insertion of Kelly Holcomb as starting QB, given Holcomb’s less-than-stellar performances in relief of Tarvaris Jackson earlier in the year. Holcomb did manage to lead the Vikings to an early score, [...]

Philly has no respect for our passing game.  They’re playing a safety up in the box whenever AD is on the field and he’s basically getting stuffed.  We might as well get used to this. Kelly Holcomb is Brad Johnson.  He has no arm.  He’s stationary in the pocket.  The only good thing about him remaining frozen in place after the snap is that, unlike T-Jack, he can’t bail too soon and lose track of where the receivers are.  He did manage to hit that semi-deep ball to Robert Ferguson after that idiotic interference call on Lito Sheppard. Again, we [...]

Tarvaris Jackson is hurt and Kelly Holcomb is in.  But one has to wonder, given some other moves the Vikes have made in the last few days, whether Tarvaris would’ve been the starter today against Philly even had he been 100% healthy. What do we make of the fact that, in an interview a couple days ago, Adrian Peterson announced that he is now officially the starter and will remain so for the rest of the season?  What did Chester Taylor do to lose his “starting” job besides pull his groin (not quite badly enough to be kept out of [...]

Hey guys. I’m Andy Reid, coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve been asked by the nice folks at The Viking Age to tell my ten favorite things about being part of the best franchise in the whole NFL, the Eagles. It’s not easy to pick out just ten things, but I’ll give it a try… 1. The wonderful Eagles fans. I would be remiss if I did not start out mentioning our terrific fans. They are definitely the most loyal in all the NFL. They never, ever get down on the team, or boo us, or engage in criticism when [...]

Zygmunt calls his head coach Chilly into his office to discuss the team’s season so far… Chilly: Hello Zygmunt. Zygmunt: Hello Chilly. Take a seat there… Chilly: Okay. (sits) Wow…are these real leather? Zygmunt: Uh, yes Chilly, they are… Chilly: These are real nice… Zygmunt: I had them shipped in from Armenia or some place like that. I forget… Chilly: Armenia. I went there on vacation once… Zygmunt: Oh did you… Chilly: Yeah. There were all sorts of cactuses and Indians weaving blankets… Zygmunt: In Armenia… Chilly: Yup. And there was this great big hole in the ground that we [...]

Today the Vikings continued their recent trend of locking up important players to long-term contracts by signing punter Chris Kluwe to a six-year extension worth $8.3 million.  Kluwe has arguably been the team’s MVP this year, with his league-leading 18 punts inside the 20.  And if his arm is feeling good and limber I say throw the guy in there behind the center – he can’t be any worse than that other crap.

It’s looking more and more like Kelly Holcomb is going to get the start Sunday instead of Tarvaris Jackson.  Kelly was not exactly dynamic in the two games he started, but I don’t think this game against Philly is going to call for exciting QB play anyway.  Neither team is much to speak of offensively, and it will probably come down to defense and who can sneak in that one big play.