Archive for October, 2009

Jared Allen had a pretty nice game Sunday against the Ravens, being credited with 7 tackles, 1 sack, 4 tackles for loss and 2 QB hits. Those stats don’t impress Michael Oher, who claims he shut Allen out in the second half, and did well overall against the Pro Bowl pass rush machine. “There is nothing really special about him,” Oher told the Baltimore Sun. “I think if we played them (in Baltimore), it would make a big difference. The false starts were just mistiming the snap. “I think he found out I’m an OK player. Guy makes like $100 [...]

How fast can jubilation turn to despair?  About as fast as Ray Rice can slice through a crippled, shell-shocked Vikings defense. About as fast as Joe Flacco can fire the ball down the field for a touchdown pass against a woefully over-matched back-up corner. As fast as Adrian Peterson can get his ankle rolled up on, forcing him to limp off.  As fast as Percy Harvin can get his bad shoulder banged into the turf, sending him to the showers early. As fast as Ray Lewis can come unblocked and plant Brett Favre into the ground. It was all going [...]

The Vikings got off to a fast start against the Ravens, scoring on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. Unfortunately, the offense bogged down after that.  Thankfully, the Ravens’ offense looked largely inept, even after Antoine Winfield and Benny Sapp both left the game with injuries. The score was just 14-3 at the half.  If form holds, the Vikings will come out with a huge third quarter and put the game away.  The thought of Joe Flacco going against a badly-depleted Vikings secondary – safety Hussain Abdullah was playing nickelback as of the late second quarter – [...]

The storylines are pretty obvious going into Sunday afternoon’s Metrodome tilt with the Ravens: Matt Birk returns to Minnesota as the enemy. Baltimore looks to rebound after a shocking loss to the Bengals. The Vikings hope to quiet the doubters who say that, despite their 5-0 record, they have not proven they are legitimate contenders. On the Vikings’ side, the most important storyline might be: “Will Adrian Peterson finally have himself an Adrian Peterson game?” Actually, the problem might not be AD.  The problem might be us.  Or, more precisely, our over-inflated expectations. Fact is that, despite having been held [...]

Kevin Williams has been fined $7500 by the NFL for an “unnecessary” blow to the head of quarterback Kyle Boller during the 3rd quarter of Sunday’s dismantling of the Rams. As I remember it, Williams came flying through the line, and his flailing hand happened to hook inside Boller’s helmet and pull it.  Williams was penalized 15 yards for the play, as he should’ve been, but it was obvious that the whole thing was unintentional. Obvious to everyone except the NFL don’t-touch-the-quarterback police who clearly read malicious intent into Williams’ actions, hence the fine. If Rodney Harrison were here, he [...]

Percy Harvin is listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report because of that bad shoulder.  Harvin himself has gone farther, saying his playing status will be a game-time decision. The doctors have told Harvin they want him to be able to protect himself and “take contact.”  If you’ve seen Percy play, you realize that he dishes out more contact than he receives, but the point is taken.  His shoulder ain’t all the way right. His stomach as far as I know is okay.

The Vikings have evidently been getting a lot of questions about their former teammate Matt Birk, who makes his Metrodome return this weekend as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. The questioning has gotten monotonous enough that at least one Viking, Pat Williams, lashed out in anger. “Everyone’s trying to make it a Birk thing, a Pat thing. But I don’t care,” Fat Pat said. “We don’t miss him around here. We don’t care about no (bleeping) Baltimore or nothing. “We’re on a mission. We’re worried about the Minnesota Vikings. That’s it.” Were I the type to read between the [...]

Artis Hicks has been slapped with a $5000 fine for unnecessary roughness against Rams defensive tackle Gary Gibson. The transgression happened on that big 47-yard pass to Sidney Rice, and was not flagged (obviously, or the Rice play would’ve been brought back).  Gibson was engaged with Anthony Herrera when Hicks shoved him, causing him to fall awkwardly and injure his leg. Hicks, who plans to appeal, said he didn’t mean to hurt Gibson. In other news, Percy Harvin is back at practice after missing Wednesday’s session with a bad shoulder.  Percy and the Vikings look forward to tearing up that [...]

Two items of interest from today.  #1:  Percy Harvin, who has missed practice in past weeks for various reasons, was out again on Wednesday thanks to a shoulder injury suffered during the Rams game.  Harvin had a big first half in that game but disappeared in the second half.  Now we know why. #2:  John David Booty is really gone, as in gone from the practice squad.  Seems crazy now that, at the end of the preseason, we were actually speculating on whether Booty would be kept on the roster.  He wasn’t even good enough to stick on the practice [...]

The recession is hitting everyone hard, including sports fans, who have been forced to scale back their merchandise purchasing, and in some cases resort to creating homemade alternatives. I salute this guy’s industriousness and thrift, but next time he should ask his mom or wife to do his arts-and-crafts for him. Joe Sports Fan