Archive for September, 2011

Things were looking good when Percy Harvin ran back the opening kickoff of the season for a touchdown. Then Donovan McNabb got picked on his first Vikings pass, setting up a Chargers tying touchdown. Like The Viking Age on Facebook. Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter.

I’m sure Dave Richard is a fine reporter but today he flat out screwed up. In the hour leading up to the Vikings‘ opener against San Diego, CBS’s Richard tweeted out a report claiming QB Donovan McNabb had been deactivated. This came as a shock to Vikings beat reporters on site in San Diego who could clearly see McNabb warming up with teammates. It didn’t take long for Richard to realize he was wrong and retract his story via Twitter, blaming an erroneous report from an NFL source. Unfortunately, Richard’s retraction didn’t get to CBS announcer Jim Nantz in time [...]

Newly-acquired linebacker Xavier Adibi will have to wait at least another week to make his debut with the Vikings. The former Houston Texan is among the seven players listed as inactive for the Vikings in their week 1 match-up against the San Diego Chargers, meaning undrafted camp phenom Larry Dean will be active. Also inactive is CB Asher Allen who has been nursing a bad toe. In a bit of a surprise, the Vikings have also deactivated rookie CB Brandon Burton, meaning they will go at the Chargers with only four active cornerbacks. Punt returner Marcus Sherels will be the [...]

What’s the only thing worse than the NFL lockout?  Moving across the country, being without technology and being completely out of touch with the sports world.  What makes up for all of that?  Watching the Packers and Saints kick off the much anticipated 2011-2012 NFL season in a Techmo Bowl style shootout.  Enough random thoughts.  It’s good to be back from the dark ages and just in time for another Viking’s season.  Since the number five seems to be trending on this site, here’s five things I look forward to seeing from the Vikings this afternoon. Two TE sets and [...]

If 2011 is going to be better than 2010 for the Vikings, it has to start Sunday afternoon in San Diego. Last year the Vikings also began on the road against a tough opponent, the Saints, and ended up losing 14-9. As the score indicates, the Vikings were in that game till the end – they were actually ahead at halftime – but were unable to make the big play and pull it out. The big issue vs. the Saints last year was a lack of offensive rhythm related to Brett Favre having skipped training camp. The Vikings won’t have [...]

Well this is it. Will you be able to sleep tonight? We stand on the eve of the Vikings’ season opener vs. San Diego. Purple Nation has many questions and we will get some answers, not all, tomorrow afternoon.   What team will this be? The 2009 squad that went to the brink of a Super Bowl berth? Could it be last season’s squad that disappointed on almost every count?   It seemingly sounds like fans think last season is the true measure of who this team is and not that team that took the Saints to the 15th round [...]

When Chad Greenway‘s extension got done a lot of people predicted it wouldn’t take long for the Vikings to take care of Adrian Peterson. Turns out those folks were right. On Saturday the Vikings announced they have signed Peterson to a contract extension. Peterson leaving? Franchise tags? You can forget about all that stuff. AD is in the house, and will continue to be in the house through the prime of his career. We’re still waiting to hear the terms of this deal, but if things go down anything like they did last weekend with Greenway, that info should be [...]

Allen Reisner was the last man added to the practice squad last weekend after clearing waivers. Turns out his stay on the PS wasn’t very long: On Saturday the Vikings promoted Reisner to the 53-man roster. To make way for Reisner the Vikings waived offensive lineman Seth Olsen. I sort of had a feeling the Vikings wouldn’t stick long with only 3 tight ends on the 53-man roster, given the emphasis Bill Musgrave‘s offense puts on the position. With Olsen being waived, the Vikings now have 9 offensive linemen available. Reisner, a UDFA, impressed many during training camp, and was somewhat [...]

Five things to watch in Sunday’s sure-to-be-epic Vikings vs. Chargers clash: 1. Bryan Walters The UDFA from Cornell turned a lot of heads in camp and is now set to be the Chargers’ slot man with Patrick Crayton injured. He looked pretty dang good in the preseason tape I watched, a lot of it from the Cardinals game where he caught 5 balls for 61 yards including a couple of first down grabs from Philip Rivers. He did have a fairly glaring drop in that game as well but overall he looked like a tough little slot man who could [...]

Thursday night’s game featuring the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints confirmed something we already knew – We live in a passing era. Between Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees over 730 yards were thrown for on 84 attempts to 17 different targets and the ball was handed off less than 50 times. And it’s not just that… By my count both teams played with either a 3 or 4 WR set on over 50% of plays. 10 years ago that was unheard of, now its becoming the norm. Offenses are forgoing an extra tight end or leaving a [...]