Archive for December, 2011

Have a fun and reasonably safe New Year’s celebration everyone. Try not to punch any Packer fans. And try not to get carried away with the alcohol. You wouldn’t want to pass out for two days and miss the season finale on Sunday, would you? That’s a joke. Don’t let Jim Kleinsasser’s farewell game stop you from getting blind drunk. It’s your right as an American to annihilate yourself in celebration of a calendar date that has no actual meaning. Did you hear me people? It has no meaning! If you want to drink yourself into a stupor, drink yourself [...]

This is the end of the road for the 2011 season. One more to go versus our rival Chicago Bears in a game that has no playoff implications whatsoever. Before this battle we sat down with Lou DeCola of Bear Goggles On (www.beargoggleson.com) and had a nice little chat… 1. Bears have lost 5 in a row. Obviously losing Jay Cutler and Matt Forte were huge losses, however was it just those injuries or were there other things us fans of other teams didn’t obverse? Cutler and Forte were HUGE losses and given the Bears were on a 5 game [...]

It’s never too late in the year for a Vikings defensive back to get in trouble. Paul Charchian gave the skinny Friday afternoon on Twitter. Sapp, according to FOX 9 in Minneapolis, was arrested Friday following “an altercation with a security guard.” I’m sure this story will become exceedingly ridiculous once the full details are known. Even as we speak the Vikings are preparing their generic “we are aware of the player’s situation and have no choice but to let the legal process run its course” statement. For those worried about Benny’s status for Sunday’s game…why are you worried about [...]

Series: Vikings lead 52-47-2 Last Meeting(s): Chicago destroyed Minnesota 39-10 earlier this year at Soldier Field. Devin Hester caught a 48-yard touchdown pass on the Bears’ opening drive and took a kickoff 98 yards for a score in the third quarter. It could have been Donovan McNabb’s last NFL start ever: he went 19-24 for 177 yards before being replaced by Christian Ponder. The last time the Vikings played Chicago in a Week 17, it was an equally meaningless game—Chicago had already clinched its playoff seed and Minnesota had already clinched its barely-over-.500-seed. In the 2005 season finale, Kyle Orton [...]

Christian Ponder’s pretty face came out of Saturday’s game looking not so pretty. Most of the damage came courtesy of Reed Doughty who early in the first quarter flat-out smashed Ponder after the QB had given himself up by sliding. Doughty was flagged on the play, but everyone knew right away that would not be the end of the story. On Friday the rest of the bad news came for Doughty: the NFL has fined him $15,000 for the dirty hit. A lot of these fines are silly and excessive but the one on Doughty is totally justified. QBs who [...]

Adrian Peterson will undergo surgery on his torn ACL and MCL on Friday, it is being reported by everyone and their grandma on Twitter. The procedure will be done by the eminent Dr. James Andrews (let’s hope this guy never retires). Peterson is expected to do some of his rehab in Minnesota and some in Texas where he spends his off-seasons. The recovery period is expected to last 8-9 months. And that is about all that can be said about that. We could fill the remainder of this post with speculation about when Peterson will be back on the field [...]

First and foremost, the “Andrew Luck Pick” is 99% out of the question. If the season ended today, our vikes would pick 3rd. While from the outside, picking third doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, it is when you consider that the top prospect of the vikes greatest need (Matt Kalil-LT) will likely be gone by now. If that is the case and Kalil is gone, then there are a few moves our vikes could do. I’ve put together a list of all these possibilities.

Christian Ponder got his face busted up Saturday when the Redskins’ Reed Doughty hit him while he was on the ground (the play was flagged and Doughty will probably get a fine). And that wasn’t even the play that caused him to leave with a concussion. The concussion happened early in the third when London Fletcher hit him helmet-to-helmet. A pretty bad day for young Christian, to put it mildly. The good news is, Ponder’s concussion symptoms have cleared up and he can play Sunday. So his head is fine. I wish I could say the same for his face [...]

Good news for the Vikings: Christian Ponder has cleared the cobwebs from his Saturday concussion and is back at practice. Wait, is that actually good news for the Vikings? After the Adrian Peterson debacle maybe it would be better if Ponder’s cobwebs came back, giving Leslie Frazier a reason to sit him for the last game. Okay I admit, I have selfish motives for wanting Ponder to sit against the Bears. I want me some Joe Webb! Hey, it’s the last game of the season. I don’t care if they win or lose (yeah yeah, I know, it’s better if [...]

Going into the day defensive end Jared Allen was the only Viking who was considered a shoe-in for a free trip to Honolulu to represent the NFC in the Pro Bowl and when the rosters were released tonight it turns out Allen will be the only member of the Vikings going for his 5th trip. Allen has been an absolute monster this season netting 18.5 sacks (a career high) and currently sits 4 behind Michael Strahan’s single season record with only one game left. If every Viking played with Allen’s intensity we’d certainly have a lot less to worry about. [...]