Archive for November, 2009

The Vikings ended up winning handily against the Lions, but that doesn’t mean things went according to plan. Unless the plan included getting called for 13 penalties for 91 yards, seeing Adrian Peterson fumble twice and having the one-win Lions stay in the game until the early fourth quarter. Luckily for the Vikings, every time it looked like things were about to head south for them, somebody stepped up and made a play.  And most of the time, that somebody was Sidney Rice. The Vikings’ now-undisputed #1 receiver failed to crack the end zone, but did go over 200 yards [...]

The Vikings dominated the first half vs. the Lions, at least on the statsheet.  That domination might have extended to the scoreboard had the team not committed a series of boneheaded gaffes. It started early, with Jim Kleinsasser getting called for a false start that cost the team a chance to punch the ball into the end zone.  They would settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. Things could’ve really turned around then for the Lions, who were given a gift first down when Brian Robison went offsides on a punt.  Jason Hanson, however, missed on a 48-yard [...]

When last we saw the Vikings on the field, they were fending off the scrappy but overmatched Packers to sweep that particular season series and bump their record to 7-1. Since then, the Bears and Packers have both suffered more embarrassing losses and fallen further behind.  As we roll into Week 10, the NFC North race is on the verge of becoming a rout. The Vikings can take another step toward putting away a second straight division crown with a victory today over the Lions.  In the teams’ first meeting, back in Week 2, Detroit took an early 10-0 lead, [...]

When Fran Tarkenton criticizes quarterbacks, people listen, and often get very angry. This summer, after Fran made negative remarks about Brett Favre, saying he could never accept the former Packer legend as a Viking, certain (unthinking and ungrateful) members of Purple Nation made Tarkenton numero uno on their crazy Kool-Aid drinker shit-list, calling him all sorts of names from “crazy old man” to “bitter jealous hater.” Since then, Favre has played brilliantly enough to shut up all his critics, including Tarkenton.  Meaning Fran has had to find a different NFC North quarterback to train his bitter, hating, jealous, demented sights [...]

Antoine Winfield got back onto the practice field this week, for the first time since injuring his foot early in the Vikings‘ win over the Ravens. Mostly Winfield was just testing the foot to see how it felt, and did not participate in any drills.  This should’ve been the first hint that he was not seriously targeting this Sunday’s game vs. the Lions as the date of his return.  And, in fact, today Winfield made it official, by announcing he will not suit up against Detroit. “I’m close,” Winfield explained. “I’ve been working the last, what, four weeks, three weeks trying [...]

Leslie Frazier knows why the Vikings defense has been disappointing throughout the first half of the season, and now finds itself ranked just 18th in the league: It’s the tackling. “We had far too many missed tackles and it really led to some explosive plays that we want to cut down on going into the second half of the season,” Frazier said.  “That’s probably the No. 1 area that we want to improve on. If we can do that, we’ll achieve a lot of our goals.” Frazier added, “We’re doing some good things with our run defense and think it’s [...]

It came as a semi-shock when we all learned that Brett Favre had tweaked his groin heading in to the Packer game two Sundays ago and momentarily contemplated not playing. Of course, since Favre is Favre, the bad groin not only didn’t keep him from the game, it made no difference whatsoever to his performance.  He still went out and made Ted Thompson look like even more of a fool for favoring that punk Aaron Rodgers over him. Bad groins unfortunately often linger, leaving open the possibility that the injury could become aggravated down the road and force Favre to [...]

Peter King loves Jared Allen and Percy Harvin, and so do the editors of Pro Football Weekly. SI’s King selected Allen as his midseason All-Pro at defensive end, calling him the NFL’s “most disruptive” player.  You’ll get no argument from me…or Aaron Rodgers. King digs Allen’s game so much that he bestowed upon him the title of NFL midseason defensive player of the year, over even Darren Sharper and his 7 interceptions.  PFW also likes Allen, naming him to their midseason All-Pro team opposite the Colts’ Dwight Freeney, while noting Allen’s oft-overlooked prowess against the run. Allen’s D-line teammate Kevin [...]

A day after they gained a half-game on both the Bears and Packers, the good news just keeps on coming for the Vikings.  This afternoon, it was reported that Antoine Winfield got on the practice field to test his injured foot, in hopes he will be able to start at cornerback this Sunday against the Lions. This is not only good news for the Vikings defense, it is great news.  The secondary has been shaky at best without Winfield, who is both the team’s best cover corner and its best run support guy among the DBs.  Winfield’s healthy return would [...]