Archive for November, 2011

Series: Raiders lead 9-4 Last meeting(s): In 2007, Daunte Culpepper returned to the Metrodome for the first time and threw for 344 yards and a touchdown. He also threw a pick and the Raiders settled for five Sebastian Janikowski field goals. Still, Minnesota needed a safety, a 79-yard pass by wide receiver Sidney Rice, and huge game from Chester Taylor, who was filling in for rookie Adrian Peterson (164 yards and three touchdowns) to overcome five turnovers and win the game 29-22. E.J. Henderson and Brian Robison each register a sack that day and Chad Greenway was the recipient of [...]

Still had a glimmer of a glint of a shard of a shred of a dollop of hope going into Monday night? Well forget it now. Even if the Vikings got bitten by a radioactive spider turning them into superheroes capable of crushing every team they play for the rest of the season, they still probably wouldn’t make the playoffs. To get into the postseason they would literally have to break into Roger Goodell’s office and hold him hostage in exchange for a berth, but even then they would probably ultimately be foiled by the government’s secret anti-superhero robots, which [...]

Awaiting our showdown versus the Oakland Raiders I had a nice conversation with Chris Shellcroft of the Raiders blog Just Blog Baby (www.justblogbaby.com) discussing some key points. You can catch Dan Zinski’s answers on their site as well. Away we go… 1) Oakland made a big splash in trading for Carson Palmer. How has Raider Nation responded to that trade & what are your thoughts on Palmer? Also is there an unluckier human being than Jason Campbell? I’d say Raider Nation is excited about the prospects of Palmer. He’s settled in very quickly and has already shown how valuable he [...]

Yeah there’s a game coming up this weekend. Hopefully the Vikings players will be more enthusiastic about this one than the fans are. Cheer yourself up a little bit by checking out this week’s Five Quirky Questions on our Raiders blog Just Blog Baby. Among the subjects covered:  If Leslie Frazier and Hue Jackson starred in a movie called NFL Horror Story which one would be alive when the credits roll? I said they were quirky. Like The Viking Age on Facebook. Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter.

The middle class town of Aberdeen, Maryland has been hit by tough times like the rest of the economy. Unemployment is too high, businesses are closing and job growth is bleak. At Aberdeen High School the budget is tight and the football field’s scoreboard has been in long need of repair. It’s currently missing lights and in need of a new paint job. So Vikings linebackers E.J. and Erin Henderson (who most everyone knows are brothers) came forward with an offer to their old high school: They’d be willing to donate $20k of the necessary $50k to repair the scoreboard [...]

It’s really dreadful to think the despised Green Bay Packers are superior to the Minnesota Vikings. They’re debatably the best run franchise in all of football having won last year’s Super Bowl, being undefeated in the middle of November (including sweeping us) and could very well win a couple more rings over the next few years. With the exception of running back and defensive end — they’re pretty much better than us at every position too. If there’s anything that we’ve learned from the 2011 season it’s that head coach Leslie Frazier makes terrible personnel decisions and his influence there [...]

Will the Vikings get to 5 wins?   Niles the Negative: Five wins? You must be out of your dang mind. Didn’t you watch them Monday night? This team will be lucky to win one more game this season, let alone three. I looked at their schedule and I’ll be darned if I can find even two more games that they have a shot in. They sure as heck ain’t gonna beat the Bears or Lions. Ditto Atlanta, New Orleans and Oakland. Maybe if they catch a couple breaks they can beat Washington or Denver but I wouldn’t bet money [...]

It was a minor blip on the radar screen in the hours leading up to Monday night’s Packer-Viking game: Visanthe Shiancoe said in a Facebook posting that Adrian Peterson found a piece of glass in his food while the team ate at Lombardi’s steakhouse in Appleton. Some got outraged at what they perceived to be a deliberate act of attempted sabotage by some angry Packer fan. Others dismissed the whole thing as mere internet hooey. The Vikings went on to get destroyed by the Packers and Glassgate became obscured by the fallout from the loss. But now Adrian Peterson himself [...]

Apparently Dom Capers is a genius. Turns out, if you blitz a rookie quarterback 75% of the time, your defense does well. Especially if you are up by 14 points after just a few minutes. OK, bitterness aside, the Packers did have a pretty smart (even if it was obvious) gameplan: Pressure Christian Ponder and understand that the Vikings will not abandon the run. The Packers were run-blitzing throughout last Monday’s game and generally gave Peterson the ‘containment’ treatment. But Capers took it a step further: He sent Charles Woodson about 600 times. According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the Packers [...]

Kyle Rudolph’s brilliant – but in terms of the game’s outcome utterly meaningless – one-handed catch against the Packers deserved the GIF treatment. Like many of Christian Ponder’s throws on Monday night, this one sailed high. Unlike many of Ponder’s targets, Rudolph actually has the athletic ability necessary to go up and snatch a bad throw like that. Plays like this are the reason a lot of people think that within the next few years Rudolph will become one of the top 5 tight ends in football. Like The Viking Age on Facebook. Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter.