The Viking Age » frank walker

Cedric Griffin Returns for Vikings

Dan Zinski — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:48:51 +0000

Cedric Griffin will suit up for the Vikings and play tonight, his first action since tearing his ACL against the Jets on October 11, 2010. If Griffin is able to make it all the way back, he will have the distinction of returning from not one but two ACL tears, his first having come in the latter stages of the nightmarish NFC title game against the Saints. The Vikings are banking on Griffin returning to the form he showed in 2009 when he developed into one of the better cornerbacks in the league, and helped the Vikes to a 12-4 record and a runner-up finish in the NFC.

When healthy Griffin is a sure tackler and a capable coverage man. After losing Griffin in 2010 the Vikings tried to fill in with a combination of youthful Asher Allen and veterans Frank Walker and Lito Sheppard, but no one they tried was able to give the consistent, solid effort they saw from Griffin before the injury. Needless to say, Griffin’s health is key to the Vikings in 2011. With Griffin they have a shot at fielding a decent professional secondary, but without him they will be in trouble.

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Vikings Come Out Flat Again in Loss to Rising Lions

Dan Zinski — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:17:25 +0000

We’ve seen this movie before. The Vikings have an opponent they should be able to handle, but for whatever reason come out flat as old tires on offense and uninspired at best on defense. The result, another head-scratching loss. The latest flopperoo, a 20-13 defeat by the Detroit Lions, meant little in the grand scheme of things: The Vikings were not fighting to get into the playoffs, were not even scratching their way back to .500. They were playing mostly for pride, and to avoid the shame of finishing last for the first time since 1990. A few guys were playing for contracts. Joe Webb was playing for an opportunity to be in the quarterback mix in 2011. In the end, none of this added up to sufficient motivation. Instead, the Vikes played like they just wanted to get their long, agonizing season over with and go home for the winter.

The Vikings fell prey to the same issues that dogged them all year: A porous offensive line not allowing enough time for their quarterback, shaky execution even on those occasions when the quarterback had time, questionable play-calling (a screen to Jim Kleinsasser on third down deep inside the red zone?), lack of reasonable effort by a few repeat offenders (so long Bernard Berrian), inexplicably poor tackling from a unit that was once among the league’s best in that area, atrocious cornerback play…the whole list. For much of the game, the Lions’ defensive line totally dominated up front, stuffing Adrian Peterson and with their pressure helping make Joe Webb look every bit the rookie. Offensively, Shaun Hill again showed his usual competent-if-unspectacular form, making plays to keep drives alive, picking on the right over-matched defensive backs (so long Frank Walker) and, most importantly, handling the Vikings’ pressure with an aplomb Michael Vick can only stand back and envy.

There were no heroics to be had for the Vikings. Adrian Peterson never ripped off the big run, Joe Webb never made the big throw, Sidney Rice was not on the field to make the big catch. Jared Allen did for a moment deliver a potential game-changer by picking off a Hill pass and returning it for a touchdown but the Vikings never really seized the momentum after this play. In the end Detroit looked more energetic, and frankly more talented. The Lions may not have a franchise quarterback on-hand, but they have a franchise defensive stud in Ndamukong Suh, a big-time backfield threat in Jahvid Best and some pretty solid complementary pieces scattered around the offense and defense. Yesterday’s game taught us little we didn’t already know about the Vikings, but it taught us plenty about the Lions, namely that their days as doormats of the division are over. If the Vikings are to turn things around in 2011, it looks like they’ve have three division contenders to climb over instead of two.

Thank goodness the Buccaneers aren’t still around.

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Vikings Take 17-14 Lead into Halftime

Dan Zinski — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:07:56 +0000

The Vikings finally found some offense in the first half against the Packers. Much of said offense came courtesy of Percy Harvin who scored Minnesota’s first touchdown on a running play, then had a big kickoff return, then appeared to score a second touchdown but had it reversed after a replay showed he stepped out of bounds. Overall, the Vikings offense mixed things up much better than in previous games this season, getting multiple players involved – including Visanthe Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian, who have been invisible lately – and, the most important point, protecting Brett Favre. It wasn’t a huge half for Brett, but it was efficient, and he didn’t take any big hits.

Defensively, the Vikings struggled early, getting gashed by Aaron Rodgers. Chris Cook, playing again after recovering from his knee injury, had to be pulled and replaced with Frank Walker. In the end, the Packers probably ended up stopping themselves more than the Vikings stopped them. Rodgers has sometimes been woefully out-of-sync with his receivers. The wild first half also included a couple of questionable calls on touchdowns – one Packer TD probably should’ve been overturned because the guy didn’t have possession going to the ground, while the Vikings saw a Shiancoe TD called back because he appeared to have the ball slip in his hands as he was going down. Aaron Rodgers also saw an impressive no-INTs-in-red-zone streak go by the wayside when he threw a pick to of all people Jared Allen. Frank Walker later tipped a Rodgers pass into the end zone, allowing Madieu Williams to pull down the Vikings’ second INT of the half.