The Viking Age » mark sanchez

Where is Jared Allen?

Dan Zinski — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:32:13 +0000

It’s been kind of a tough season so far for Jared Allen. After four games, the allegedly fearsome pass rusher has only one sack to his name – a fact that has not been lost on Viking fandom, which has been mercilessly ripping him. Amid the hammering, fans have offered up some pretty interesting theories about why Jared’s production has fallen so dramatically. The big one seems to be that getting married in the off-season has somehow sapped his manly energy. When Jared cut his mullet for his wife, this explanation goes, he symbolically chopped off his own – well, you know – and now he’s just not the same deranged quarterback-eating wild man he was before. The possibility has also been raised that, like a female tennis player distracted from her game by modeling, Jared has simply taken on too many outside media-related projects, and lost his football focus. I would tend to discount this though – sure, Jared is on Jim Rome‘s TV show more than Jim Rome, and also has a regular radio show on KFAN, and a hunting show, and a cookbook on the market, but even with all these extra responsibilities, he still has plenty of time to practice and work out.

I don’t know if Jared has heard any of these theories, or is aware of how much criticism he is receiving from the fanbase. I do know that his defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has heard all of it and is more-than-willing to leap to Jared’s defense. According to Frazier, Jared’s lack of dominance can be chalked up to the way teams have been game-planning against him. Furthermore, says Frazier, these over-adjustments to deal with Jared have opened things up for other guys on the defense, and are the primary reason why, after four games, the Vikings are ranked among the best pass defenses in the league.
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Vikings Roar Back in Second Half, Still Fall to Jets

Dan Zinski — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:47:20 +0000

If the Vikings were trying to set a tone by coming out the first play of the game vs. the Jets and running a crazy reverse-pass with Percy Harvin and Randy Moss…well, it worked. Unfortunately, the tone it set was not one of high-flying offensive abandon but head-scratching offensive ineptitude. The reverse-pass ended not in a defense-rocking, crowd-stifling gain as intended but a five-yard illegal man downfield penalty, and was, perhaps predictably, followed immediately by a Jim Kleinsasser false start that set the Vikings back another five yards to make it 1st and 20. That possession ended with a Chris Kluwe punt…as would the next four Viking possessions. The pattern was finally broken late in the second quarter when, instead of punting, the Vikings gave the ball away on a Brett Favre fumble.

Had it not been for the defense (and some butterfingers by the Jets’ receivers), the Vikings might’ve been blown out in the first half. Fortunately, as has been the case for most of the season, the D was up to the challenge. Each time the Jets penetrated into the red zone, the defense held, forcing New York to settle for field goals. Then mother nature got in on the act: The driving rain that had pushed back kick-off 45 minutes before subsiding now returned, helping to derail what looked like a sure Jets touchdown drive late in the second quarter against a winded Vikings defense. Mark Sanchez’s throws were accurate in spite of the rain, but the wet ball evidently was too slippery for the Jets’ receivers, and once again New York was held to a field goal.
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Vikings Trail Jets 9-0 at Half

Dan Zinski — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:47:16 +0000

The Vikings tried some trickery to throw the Jets off early, running a reverse that looked like it was supposed to end with Randy Moss throwing a pass downfield. Unfortunately, the play resulted in an illegal man downfield penalty, setting a tone of ineptitude that the offense would mostly continue right up until halftime.

The stats tell the story on this one: Through the first two quarters, the Vikings managed only 51 total yards, 15 through the air. Brett Favre was sacked twice and fumbled once on the exchange from Ryan Cook, resulting in the half’s only turnover. In his first half as a Viking (this time around), Randy Moss caught only one quick pass for 7 yards. No Viking receiver managed more than one reception in the half. Adrian Peterson ran just 8 times for 34 yards. Mistakes abounded, many directly attributable to Favre.

But it could have been worse. Thankfully, the defense was able to do a reasonable job…though, truth be told, the Jets had their chances to break the game open and simply failed to capitalize. LaDainian Tomlinson has found enough holes to run for 61 yards, and Mark Sanchez has made some good throws but hasn’t been helped by his receivers.

The biggest story of the first half, though, was the weather. Rain and lightning pushed back the start of the game 45 minutes, then returned late in the second quarter, helping the Vikings’ defense to slow down a potential Jets touchdown drive. If things are going to turn around in the second half, the Vikings will have to go heavily with Adrian Peterson, and hope – hope – that Favre can get things figured out at least a little. The defense, I believe, will not hold up if the Vikes continue failing to extend drives.

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