Sunday"s Divisional Games...

So I was completely wrong on the Indy game and I was pretty close on the New Orleans win. I guess that just means Dungy won't get fired and he won't become a candidate for the Gopher job that he is already "not a candidate for." (Copyright Nick Saban).

Seattle @ Chicago

This game is just underway so I need to get this typed before Grossman throws an INT. This is a tough one to call. The Bears have not been playing well over the last few games, especially at QB. Seattle has been dramatically up and down. So if Seattle is playing well I wouldn't hesitate to call this game for them. Chicago has had extra time to prepare and hopefully for Bears fans Grossman has his bearings again. I don't think this one is pretty but Chicago eeeks it out at home.

Chicago - 17
Seattle - 14

UPDATE - "we want the ball and we're gonna score!" Seattle/Chicago have played a very entertaining game and are now headed to OT. Settle will get the ball. Will Hasselbeck repeat his OT playoff performance of 2003 @ Green Bay. At the coin toss Matt declared "we want the ball and we're gonna score!" He then threw a pick 6 to Al Harris and Green Bay won.

New England @ San Diego

This obviously is the premier game this weekend. The current best player in the league (that would be Tomlinson) vs. the premier playoff QB and coach. Both teams are well coached, both teams play great together as a team and both teams have playoff experience. My infinite knowledge tells me never to go against Belichick and Brady even if the other team has LT. The Belichick/Brady factor + Philip Rivers being essentially a rookie QB = a Patriot upset victory.

New England by 4

The Morning After...

Here are my thoughts...

Brian Belichick + Tom Brady > Brad Childress + Brad Johnson - I know this isn't much of a shocker but there has not been a truer statement typed on this blog than the equation shown above. Belichick's game plan was perfect and it was perfectly executed by Tom Brady. Childress' gameplan was not as good and even if it was we never would have known because of the flawful (I know I made that word up) execution by Johnson. If Brad throws 2 TD passes instead of 2 of his INTs this game is VERY different in the 4th Qtr. But he didn't and it wasn't.

Joe Theismann is terrible - I love ripping TV/radio guys and this one is almost as easy as ripping Joe Sensor. Theismann rips the Vikings for getting burned by Brady when they blitzed. OK, I can agree on this. We blitzed, Brady hits us where were vulnerable and New England looked good. Then in the same possession for the Pats, Joe rips the Vikings for only rushing the 4 down linemen, saying that if you don't put pressure on Brady he'll pick you apart. I'm not sure what the 3rd option is that Joe would suggest the Vikings defense choose but I'm sure there was something in that brain of his. Obviously the Vikings D was getting picked apart but it wasn't for lack of trying new things, New England was just one step ahead every time.

4th and 11, KICK THE FG - OK so this maybe isn't what is taught in Coaching 1o1, but the deal is that I was down 2.5 points in my fantasy league and I had Longwell. This compounded my frustration with Brad's red zone INTs and late in the 4th Qtr when you are NOT going to make a comeback just get some points to hit double digits. Really this game as all about ME and nothing else.

Don't forget this equation - So this may be a math heavy post but... Patriots + refs > Vikings. How on earth do you figure that Wiggins did not catch that pass? How does a mutual hand check become defensive illegal touch but a Patriot DB grabbing Williamson's right arm is nothing? Tough for the Vikes top win when the league tells the officiating crew which team they want to win before the opening coin flip (and who won the coin flip, that's right New England).

OK, so this game was ugly and for the first time we were underprepared and did not execute the intended gameplan. I'm changing the grades a little bit this week. Basically everybody got an F, but I want to single out a few players/coaches.

• Mike Tomlin - this is not an indictment on anything other than this single game. Tomlin has been very good this year and our D is the reason we went into this game 4-2. But this game was the perfect reminder that he is a young defensive coordinator and he his fast track to becoming a head coach is not as greased as it was appearing. This was the first game this year where it appeared the opposing offense changed their method of operation to counter our defense. Other teams seemed to tweak and just try to out execute us. New England ran on their first play, lost 4 yards then put us on our heals for the remainder of the game. We could not make the necessary adjustments to stop them.
• Brad Johnson - If there was a grade below F he would have received it. There is a lot of national media talk about how the Vikings should give Johnson a raise. His team is 4-3 and has beaten some very good teams but Brad has not played very well in most of those games. All 3 losses have some very poor decisions by Brad that were significant contributions to the loss. Brad has to show me more to prove that he should be paid more. He is paid and is asked to not lose the games for us and that is all that he has done. Also, was Bollinger in there because of an injury to Brad, the game was out of hand or Brad was benched?
  
• Napoleon Harris - I have been hard on Napo at times but praised him when he played well. Napo seems to be the kind of player that when the pressure turns up or the lights get brighter he comes up short. When the opponent is weaker or less is expected of him he certainly outperforms. Last night Napo was a step behind more often than not.
• Bryant McKinnie - Mt. McKinnie was brutal last night. I have felt for a couple years now that he has been slightly overrated and now after his monster contract extension coupled with last night's performance I am officially putting him in the overrated column. Bryant was beat way too often last night, he has to shore up his game.

Bright spots on a dark night.

• EJ Henderson - while I was not impressed with Napo, EJ seemed to be the defensive MVP last night. He was moving faster than usual and was in position more often than not. Forced fumble and a big sack of Brady even late in the 2nd half when much of the team seemed to be waiting for the clock to hit 0:00 so they could go home. But EJ was still playing hard.
  
• Darren Sharper - Sharper was ready to play. He closed on receivers, hit hard and was doing his part to try and stop the New England offense.
• Mewelde Moore - the punt return was the spark we needed to get back into this game (until the kick return unit and the defense gave up what momentum we had). And on offense he did as much as he could when given the opportunities. Get that kid a sticker for his helmet.
  

The best part about that game is that it is OVER. We can move on. In all fairness New England has been playing great football for a few weeks now. They took a couple games to get going but they are hot right now. Getting dominated like we did disappointing, but it wasn't like we lost to a poor or even average team. With that said if we want to be considered more than just a 1 and done playoff team this was the kind of game we needed to be competitive.

But we are moving on. Hopefully there will be some more room on the bandwagon for a couple weeks. We have the easiest schedule in November and this can easily go from 4-3 to 8-3 and in control of playoff destiny. Bring on the niners!

Vikings v Patriots Kool-Aided Preview

Week 8

OK so I have taken a pregame, Kool-Aided hiatus. Week 6 was the bye week and Week 7 I was in South Bend for the weekend. But I'm back. I didn't get a chance to post it but my Seattle prediction was going to be Vikings 31 - Seattle 14. That was a pretty good prediction if you ask me, of course you have no way of disproving it so that runs my prediction record to 4-2.

Anyway, enough about me. In this mostly liberal state that most of us live in this is the perfect week for all of us. All of the anti-war, anti-Bush and generally anti-patriotic football fans in this state get to take this un-patriotism to another level. Because this week we are all un-patriotic. Patriots suck.

Before I get into the nitty gritty of my prediction, does anybody else wonder why this game was picked a the MNF game this week? This is a rare AFC/NFC battle between two teams with no history between them and when the schedule was set nobody thought these two teams would have similar records. The fact that this will be 1 week before the elections and a certain DFL resurgance is not lost on conspiracy theorists around the state. The Patriots will be defeated and a message will be sent (and this is payback for Wellstone!)! OK, I really don't know what message will be sent, what exactly we are paying back or what this has to do with politics, but I am certain this game will be a certain victory for the Vikings (and here is why)...

The Trenches - There are plenty of intriging matchups on both lines this week. I think the Vikings have a slight edge on both O and D line. The Vikings O-line has an advantage of the Pats D-line but that could be thrown out the window if they are unable to adjust to the 3-4 Defense which they are seeing for the first time this season. The matchup of Vikes D-line vs. Pats O-line is nearly a draw. The Pats O-line has been an anchor for them as they have won a few championships recently. But they are not quite as strong as in recent years and the Vikings D-line (especially the Williams brothers) has been dominating and stuffing the run all year.

The Pretty Boys - The Pats do very well what the Vikings are trying to do this year. That is have a productive, ball control passing game with a WR by committee approach. New England has been successful with that approach while MN has struggled. Advantage New England. Tom Brady vs. Brad Johnson? Advantage New England. Dillion and Maroney vs. Chester Taylor, I give advantage to New England. BUT the matchups that matter are Tom Brady vs. MN secondary (OK, I'll still give that to NE) and Dillion/Maroney vs. the Vikings run defense (ADVANTAGE Minnesota).

Brady is the guy you want behind center for every single game. He is cool as ice and gets better as the lights get brighter. MN will need to stop the Patriot run game, make them 1-dimensional then get to Brady and rattle his cage.

The Ball Hawks - New England has a good secondary and they are in luck because they will be covering an average WR core. Minnesota has a very good secondary and they will be taking on a highly efficient and opportunistic passing game. Both team's linebackers are playing at a high level and making plays in both the run and passing games.

All that to say that if Minnesota plays well at home this will be a very tight game. Mistakes have to be minimized and opportunities cannot be squandered. Minnesota will stay hot and prove that Seattle was not a fluke.

Keys to the game

1. Dillion/Maroney vs. MN Run Defense - this is kind of a broad matchup, but this will be the primary key to the game in my Kool-Aided opinion. If Maroney thinks he's running against the Hoosier defense on the Metrodome turf again then the Vikings are in trouble. As stated above if they can shut down the run like they've done all year they can put Brady in comprimising positions and we have to jump on any (or the only) mistakes that Brady makes.
2. Marcus Johnson - Marcus is facing a 3-4 defense for the first time this year. I assume that blocking schemes are different and he has to be ready for varying blitzes from the LBs. He has to have his head in the game and do his part to give Brad time.
3. Don't let Brady be Brady - a scenario where MN is ahead late in the 4th qtr and New England has the ball is always scary when Tom Brady is the opposing QB. MN has to get in his face and make him uncomfortable and NOT let him be a road-hero.

It comes down to the team's logos. The old patriot is seriously gay and would not last a day on a Viking's ship sailing to Iceland.

Minnesota - 24
New England - 20