10 Points: Vikings Fall to Panthers in Controversial Fashion

This may seem a tad harsh, but trust me, it would’ve been harsher 12 hours ago.  I decided to let the anger subside…

1.  The Brad Childress/Brett Favre schism talk is good fun, but in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters much.  Chilly and Favre certainly aren’t the first coach/quarterback combo to have disagreements.  They’re not the first coach/QB tandem to get into it on the sidelines during a game.  And Favre is not the first quarterback who talked himself out of being pulled from a game.  You can say, “But what about the other times this season when Chilly reportedly tried to pull Favre and Favre wouldn’t go?”  I guess Favre is just good at talking himself back into games.  It only became an issue this time because people noticed the body language between Brett and Brad.  Newsflash:  Chilly and Favre are both stubborn mofos.  You thought they’d get through the season entirely harmoniously?  Nope.

2.  Favre became the headline because of the apparent Chilly dust-up, but Favre actually played halfway decent under the circumstances.  Other guys deserve way more hammering, starting with Bryant McKinnie, who should retire from football and go to work as Julius Peppers‘ bitch full-time.  And no, you will not convince me that Chilly just suddenly decided to yank McKinnie because he was having a bad game.  It’s been building for awhile.  McKinnie just flat-out can’t get the job done.  His pass blocking almost got Favre killed last night, and his run blocking all season has been sub-par, as evidenced by the Vikings’ reluctance to just line up and run left behind him and Hutch the way everyone thinks they should.  McKinnie, I am now convinced, is the weak link on this offense and I am calling for his permanent benching.  Shift Phil Loadholt over to left tackle now and put in Artis Hicks at right tackle.  And yes, I know, moving guys around the line is supposed to be bad.  Tell that to the Carolina Panthers who rolled with replacements at both offensive tackle positions and still got their running back 100 yards and still kept our alleged great pass rushers off their quarterback.  If they can do that, Loadholt should be able to switch to left tackle.  He can’t be worse than Mount Muttonhead, and who knows, maybe he’ll develop some amazing instant chemistry with Hutch and finally give us a chance to run the ball like our reputation says we should.

3.  Everyone needs to lay off Adrian Peterson.  He is not having a bad season.  He is having a great season considering that his offensive line is made up of Mount McMannequin, the possibly over-the-hill Steve Hutchinson, a center who is a disgrace to the good names of Kirk Lowdermilk, Jeff Christy and Matt Birk, Anthony Herrera aka A Guy, and Loadholt who is getting better but still isn’t there yet (a shift to the left could invigorate him and Hutch).  Behind a real line, AD would be knocking on the door of 2,000 yards, and would have about 25 touchdowns.  This team would be up poop crick without a paddle were it not for Peterson.  And yes, I know, he has stone-hands on screen passes.  Well, that’s what we have Chester Taylor for.

4.  We sucked on third down all night, and guess why?  Because someone decided that Percy Harvin should be excluded from the offense.  Three targets and one catch?  Who is he, Greg Lewis?  Okay, you’re right, it’s hard to get the ball to the guy you want when your line can’t pass protect.  That’s why end-arounds were invented.

5.  Ray Edwards isn’t worth the powder to blow him to hell, but he’s still worth four Tyrell Johnsons.  Enough Tyrell…forever.  And what the hell happened to our tackling in general?  When did Ben Leber, Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield decide to start bouncing off guys?  I remember when this team was one of the best tackling teams in the league.  It wasn’t that long ago.  Now?  It’s like watching oiled-up spastics trying to tackle crazed barnyard animals.  The fourth quarter last night was a disgrace to the very concept of defense.

6.  Know what I wish?  I wish we could take Steve Smith, connect him to a machine and transfer his heart and guts into our players’ bodies.  He has enough in him for every guy on our team with the possible exception of Mount McMoron whose heart is a cavernous void that can never be filled.  We need to make a trade for him in the offseason somehow.  What do the Panthers need?  Would they take Sage Rosenfels, Ben Leber and some draft picks?

7.  Matt Moore kicked our ass.  Just think about that for a second kids.  Matt Moore…kicked our ass.  Our team that is supposed to be at least the second best team in the NFC.  That is supposed to have a shot at the Super Bowl.  Got its ass kicked.  By Matt Moore.

8.  Was this game actually more frustrating than the Cardinals game?  I would say yes.  The Cardinals are a legit team, not a turdball like Carolina, plus, with the Cardinals, that sucker was over by halftime, whereas last night the Vikings still had chances to take control until well into the contest.  Unfortunately, every time we had a chance to grab the sucker, it slipped away.  Missed Ryan Longwell field goal.  Sidney Rice fumble.  Visanthe Shiancoe drop on what would’ve been a first down.  We had good field position all throughout the first half and into the third quarter, and did almost nothing with it.  Hell, the Panthers made so many damn mistakes, with penalties and what-not, the game was practically served up to us.  And we just flat-out did not cash in.  No excuse for it.  The chances were there and we didn’t make it happen.  We deserved to lose.

9.  Yo Jasper Brinkley…it’s called staying hydrated.  Look into it.

10.  Darius Reynaud is a nice return man.

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