Archive for January, 2009

Mike Florio revels in his reputation as one of the top provocateurs on the sports internet, and I have to confess I find the guy pretty amusing even though I know 90% of what he posts is bullcrap.  There’s a limit to that amusement though and I think I found it this morning when I read his post about a video that’s surfaced of Mike Tice whooping it up with some fans – a video Florio claims shows Tice is a drunk and therefore not qualified to get a head coaching opportunity.  Here’s the video…you decide if you think Tice [...]

Brad Childress may have gotten votes of confidence from both Zygi and Mark Wilf, but that doesn’t mean everyone currently employed by the Vikings organization is ready to also endorse him.  One guy not lining up to say nice things about Chilly is Gus Frerotte, who remains under contract with the Vikes until further notice.  Gus got the short end of the stick when Chilly decided to stay with Tarvaris Jackson even after his back fracture had healed well enough for him to play and, apparently, the veteran QB is bitter about the benching.  Frerotte told his buddy Michael Silver [...]

The Vikings‘ wild roller coaster season came to an abrupt and disappointing end Sunday afternoon at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, who gave our boys a nice lesson in how a real team goes about its business in the playoffs.  Hopefully the Vikings were paying close attention so that, if they make it in again next year, they will know how to utilize their big offensive weapons.  Adrian Peterson was completely shut down in the second half; meanwhile, Brian Westbrook, who did almost nothing himself most of the game, caught a screen pass and ran 71 yards to score [...]

I know a lot of people want Brad Childress fired and Tarvaris Jackson dumped, but neither looks like it’s going to happen, at least going by the various endorsements and votes of confidence that have come out in the hours since the season ended.  Childress, the architect of what many people view as a sub-par offensive scheme, has already received words of support from members of the Wilf family, including Zygi‘s brother Mark who was quoted by Sid Hartman: “We have a great team, we have a lot to be proud of this year and there’s something to build on [...]

All right I confess the headline is a little bit of a hype-job…Wade didn’t actually “call out” Childress but he did raise questions in a post game interview about the offensive adjustments that he believes were not made coming out of the half.  The quote I have – and I didn’t hear it myself but am getting this off a message board – is, “There were adjustments that could’ve been made and should’ve been made, but for whatever reason we came out in the second half doing the same thing…”  To be fair, the Vikings actually came out looking pretty [...]

The Vikings‘ season ended this afternoon with a 26-14 loss to the Eagles.  The Viking defense put forth a valiant effort but one huge play by Brian Westbrook trashed all that.  Meanwhile, the Eagles defense completely shut down Tarvaris Jackson, Adrian Peterson and the Viking offense in the second half.  The biggest factor of all may have been the punting and punt coverage which conspired to tip the field position advantage too far in Philly’s favor.  That needs to be shored up for next season for sure…but, there will be plenty of time to talk about that stuff later.  Many [...]

Both defenses have really clamped down in the second half.  Donovan McNabb has Brian Robison and Jared Allen both hanging off him like fungus and Tarvaris Jackson…well, he was decent in the first half outside of that pick, but hasn’t done much of anything since halftime.  Adrian Peterson and Brian Westbrook are both being stuffed right now.  The game seems like it’s going to turn on a big special teams play or a turnover.  The turn better happen fast for the Vikes cause they’re still down by two with only half a quarter remaining. Update:  Three seconds after I posted [...]

Being a Vikings fan this year meant being on a roller coaster, not just from one game to the next but most of the time one play to the next.  And this has been no different today…except that the highs and lows feel even higher and lower because it’s a playoff game.  The lowest point so far was undoubtedly when Asante Samuel picked off Tarvaris Jackson – really bad throw by T-Jack – and ran it in for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 16-7 lead.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only Viking fan thinking it might be about [...]

…cause just when you’re starting to get down on the guy over fumbles and injuries – boom, 40 yards, touchdown, Vikings lead 7-6.  So far, Tarvaris Jackson is handling Philly’s pressure very well too and is delivering the ball.  And the defense has made some big plays to hold the Eagles to two field goals when they could’ve easily gone up 14-0.

The punt coverage hasn’t been good all season.  It wasn’t good today either when DeSean Jackson ran one back for a whole bunch, setting up the Eagles in good field position.  Thankfully, the Vikes got mucho pressure on Donovan McNabb and held Philly to a field goal.  The other major development, so far, was an injury to Adrian Peterson who had to briefly leave the game.  He got kind of crumpled and twisted while being tackled and complained of a bad neck.  Chester Taylor came in for him and, frankly, looked better.  Peterson’s ankle is clearly bothering him.  Tarvaris Jackson [...]