Vikings v Bill Kool-Aided Preview

Week 4
These teams are a combined 0-8 in the Super Bowl (for now!) so it is a battle of big game losers. This should be a solid test for the Vikes but one that is VERY winnable. A road game is always tough to win in the NFL especially against a team you are not very familiar with. Look for Pat Williams and Antoine Winfield to have big games in their return to Buffalo.

The Trenches - I think on both sides of the ball advantage goes to Minnesota. MN O-line should be able to protect Brad and open holes for Chester. The Bills D gave up 4.7 and 4.6 yards per carry vs. New England and Miami respectivly so this is an opporunity to establish the run and dominate the line of scrimmage all game. On the defensie side of the ball this is probably the weakest offensive line the Vikes have face all year. This is an opportunity for the Williams and the DEs to start getting pressure on the QB without help from the LBs.

Nobody on Buffalo's O or D line should be a factor, if he is then we are losing a position battle that we shouldn't and 2-2 becomes more likely than 3-1.

The Pretty Boys - Losman vs. Brad and I'll take Brad. RB and WR I'lll give the advantage to Buffalo. But when you factor in the offensive line I think our skill position players will have better games. I fully expect Chester to have a breakout game this week, start him on your fantasy teams! If we get pressure on Losman then Price and Lee Evans shouldn't be a major factor. Troy vs. Nate Clements is an interesting matchup, one that if we can win it will go a long way to being 3-1 on the flight home.


The Ball Hawks - If the D-line can get pressure on Losman then it will be intersting to see how our pass defense is with everyone in coverage. I am counting on 2 picks this week! In addition to solid pass coverage (an no blown assigments Whittaker!), we need to continue to be stout vs. the run. If anyone can take over this game for Buffalo it is McGahee. We must continue to stop the run, make them one dimensional and then be in position to create turnovers.

For Buffalo, London Fletcher has been playing great through 3 games. If we get a block on him, as stated I think Chester will have a breakout game.

Keys to the game

1. Chester - I've said it thrice times now, but Chester needs to have a breakout game. O-line vs. their D-line should be a win for us and if we can get a helmet on Fletcher I think Chester will put up big yards.
2. D-line getting 4 man pressure - we have been blitzing on a far too regular basis through 3 games. This is the weakest O-line we'll see all year so I'd like to see Udeze, Williams and Williams get to Losman without Napo or EJ blitzing. Let Napo and EJ get into coverage or flow to stop the run without taking them out of position.
   
3. Red Zone futility - both teams have struggled in the red zone this year. The team that breaks that funk and gets 7 instead of 3 might be the team that has the happy locker room.
   
4. Williamson vs. Clements - if TWill can be an open target for Brad (and CATCH the ball) on a regular basis we will move the ball and score this week.
   

This is a game that I am really excited for. I truly think the Vikings win most of the matchups that we'll be faced with. If Chester can run for yards and our D-line can get pressure on Losman I really think this game could get out of hand.

Vikings go 2-0 on road and dominate the line of scrimmage
MN - 27
Buf - 13

The Morning After...

So it is really the afternoon after the morning after, but I don't think anybody is frantically checking the blog hourly waiting for my post-game grades.

A very dissapointing loss for the Vikings. Leading by 4, with the ball, late in the 4th qtr is exactly where they wanted to be. 1 botched handoff and 1 blown coverage later the Vikes trail by 3 with under 2 min to go. I have a 3 month old baby, I can put things in his hands but he is not mature enough to grab a hold of said object. The Vikings are maturing from a team loaded with talent and negative headlines to a tough minded and accountable team. This game was in their hands but they did not grab a hold of it. Chalk this up as a learning experience, the wake up call that every Super Bowl team gets at some point throughout the season!!!

No game balls to go out this week, you have to win to get a game ball.

Grades...

Offense (C-) - I'm still sold that Chester Taylor was a very good offseason signing and is more than capable of being the #1 guy in the backfield, I'm looking forward to seeing him run vs. a team that isn't a run stopping force (Carolina and Chicago). Other than that the rest of the offense was very average. Another key dropped ball by Williamson, unimpressive O-line play and an average showing by Brad. I know Chicago's defense is very good, but we have to be better in the red zone and if we want to claim one of the best O-lines in the league we have to perform against the best defenses in the league.
QB (C) - didn't make any mistakes but also did not make any big plays happen. I am expecting better leadership and results in the red zone from this point forward.
RB (B+) - I see Chester making the first guy miss most of the time and falling forward through tiny holes. Don't let Moore be forgotten here. As we were trying to put the game away while leading in the 4th he had one of the guttiest runs I've seen on 3rd and long. There was no amount of arm tackling that could keep him from getting that 1st down.
WR (D) - Williamson had a drop that would have kept their 4th qtr drive alive, a pass interference call that killed a drive (although the validity of the call is surely questionabl) and the only contribution Travis Taylor made all day ended in a fumble. This group needs to step up more than anybody to get this offense jump started.
OL (C) - This is only a C because Marcus Johnson really stepped up his game since last week and made Ogunleye a non-factor for much of the game. But this group needs to live up to it's hype at some point. And I credit the 4th qtr fumble to the OL getting flat out beat by Tommy Harris more than I would fault Brad/Chester.

Defense (B+) - this would be higher if it were not for a couple big missed opportunities. Sharper with a dropped INT that would likely have been 6 points. EJ Henderson also dropping a sure INT. And of course the blown coverage on the Bears game winning TD. If you want to win big games (at home) you have to make the plays when you have the opportunities, and they didn't.
DL (A-) - Solid job of putting pressure on Grossman. They didn't get to him more than once but the Chicago O-line was consistently pushed back into Grossman's pocket. Also Pat Williams had a very good game.
LB (B-) - The DBs had way too many tackles, EJ's dropped INT and they were too easily blocked on 2nd half blitzes. It was not a bad game for this group but there is room for improvement. They did display very good lateral speed and flew to the ball on the edges.
CB (B) - This group was just OK today. I already discussed the missed opportunities by Sharper. But Smith and Winfield did not disapoint when they had their shots at the ball. It is hard to believe that Winfield had never scored a defensive TD before his pick on Sunday, but it was a monster play at exactly the right time. This group also lead the team in tackles so they were very active throughout the game.

Coaching (B-) - the team was well prepared as usual, but I would say that Lovie won the 2nd half battle from the sidelines. Their half time adjustments made more of an impact than Minnesota's. And the play call on 4th and 2 (whether it was Johnson or Childress) was a terrible call.

This was a highly entertaining game. There was a level of intensity and a feeling that every play was significant. I think we are far enough into the season to know that we have a team with a level of toughness and competitiveness that we haven't seen in several seasons. This defense is legit and the offense is not too far from being at the least more productive than it has shown. 15-1 will still be a pretty good season.

Positives to take away from this loss

Don't jump off the bandwagon just yet. My Kool Aid is still cold and has enough strength to last me well in to January. Grossman and the Bears just beat us on our turf, but there is a lot of season left...

1. Chester Taylor is going to be pretty good. He has a solid offensive line, but Kool-Aided viewing shows that he often makes the first guy miss and runs well when he can get past the line of scrimamge. I'm am really anxious to see him run against a team that doesn't boast a run stopping defense. I know that 2005 is getting further and further in our review mirror, but Was, Car and Chi were 3 of the best rushing defenses from a year ago. Buffalo and their 137 yds per game in rushing defense is next!
2. Marcus Johnson wasn't as bad as he showed last week. I kept a close eye on Marcus this week and he did a solid job vs. a very good DE in Ogunleye. We ran quite a bit to the right side this week and Marcus held his own. (BUT Hicks scares me)
3. Our defense is as good as we hoped. Chicago had been averaging 30 ppg, 372 yds per game and Grossman was the #1 rated QB in the league. Our D was not perfect but it kept Chicago from the big play and kept their offense out of the endzone for 58 min.

That's all I can come up with for now, but be encouraged Vikings fans. We will be in the playoffs and we have lots of time to perfect our execution and gel as a unit. The Bears can have this win, but we'll get them in the playoffs.

Ouch

It is not very often that you would describe a game with 165 yards in total penalties, 4 turnovers and 1 offensive touchdown as a great game.

There were plenty of mistakes...

• Grossman - 71.7% completion, 5 TDs to 1 INT and a league leading 128.7 QB passer rating coming into the game. 56% completion, 1 TD to 2 INTs and several other bad throws during his 3rd game.
• Bears D - several missed tackles in critical situations.
• Bears penalties - 10 which equaled their season total in 2 games.

• Sharper - dropped INT that would have been 6 points.
• Taylor - fumble on 3rd down in 4 qtr (not entirely his fault, but nonetheless)
• Brad - on 4th and 2 decided to go deep
• Williamson - dropped a huge pass on final drive

But in the end the Bears made the necessary plays to win the game.

• Tommy Harris with a great bull rush that caused a huge fumble in the 4th. Giving the Bears the ball at the Viking 37 instead of the Vikings punting on the next play.
• Grossman with clutch TD pass on 2nd and 10 to put the Bears up for good

This was an entertaining game. I hope the Vikings can take away from this game that there is not a big gap between the Bears and themselves. This game was a 1 play game and we are right there.

16-0 is no longer possible, but 15-1 is still out there! Lets go to Buffalo!

Vikes v Bears halftime thoughts

Let's review the keys to the game...

Keys to the game

1. Grossman - has not looked like the #1 rated passer in the NFL. He has thrown 1 pick, had 2 more picks dropped and missed Berrian on a big 3rd down play. We are getting pressure with our LBs and DTs, but not fully taking advantage of his mistakes yet.
   
2. Tony Richardson's blocking - not really a factor in the 1st half.
   
3. Safeties - Danieal Manning was beat on the Vikes first drive but other than that has been OK. Sharper dropped an INT that would surely have been a TD and Smith has a pick. Sharper needs to make those plays.
   
4. Penalties - What I assumed might bite the Vikings has killed the Bears to this point. 9 penalties for 77 yards is bad, if they don't cut that down it will be a long flight home to Chicago.
   
5. Special teams has to win again - MN wins the FG battle, Chicago is winning the return battle, neither team is clearly winning this one. Vikes have to keep Hester in check in the 2nd half.

Decent half for the Vikes but the Bears have to feel fortunate to be within 3 points after all of their mistakes.

Tecmo Agrees with PKA

Some brilliant bloggers simulate each NFL game on Tecmo Super Bowl with updated rosters. The results again point to the Vikings winning

MN - 20
Chi - 14

"But the Minnesota Vikings are a fully unstoppable force, and are impossible to defeat."

I could not have said it better myself.

Vikings v Bears Kool-Aided Preview

Week 3

The purple headed warriors are 2-0 heading into our first divisional game. We have been witness to 2 straight weeks of a solid gameplan that was executed till Longwell decided he wanted it to be over. I believe that every good team has at least 1 game per season where neither the offense or defense "wins" the game for you and special teams has to step up and make the plays necessary to win. This was that week for the Minnesota Vikings. Ryan Longwell was special teams player of the week after drililng 4 FGs and throwing a crucial TD on a fake FG. In addition to Longwell, the Viking's special teams recovered a critical fumble on Chris Gamble's ill advised punt return-throw back fumble. For the most part the offense played OK and the defense played pretty well but the special teams won the game.

Week 3 will be a similar type game but the O and the D need to step up their play if we are going to be 3-0. Here is how I see it happening...

If Bears fans think that Walter Payton, Jim McMcMahon, Mike Singletary and Dick Butkis are going to walk through the tunnel onto the HHH turf on Sunday they have another thing coming. In fact since most Bears fans live in the past, they probably do expect the 85 Bears to play on Sunday. But it won't help them because the Bears suck...

The Trenches - As good as the left side of our O-line was in week 1, the right was the ying to the left side's yang in week 2. Marcus Johnson was beat to a pulp on a regular basis by Julius Peppers. Fortunately for Marcus the Bears D-line is not as good as Carolinas, but it Ogunleye is pretty dang close. These are fairly even mathcups on both sides of the ball. The Bears D-line is pretty good but so it our O-line. The Bears O-line is also rather good, but our D-line is quickly becoming a strength of our defense. I expect these matchups to be a wash. We'll open some holes and give Brad time to pass on most plays but their D-line will occasionally make some plays to put us in 2nd or 3rd and long. Same thing will happen on the other side of the ball.

I think it is more important for Chicago to win the battle of O-line protection. Grossman is prone to more mistakes when rushed than Johnson is. As we saw last week even with a D-line in his face all day Brad was till able to make plays and not make mistakes.

The Pretty Boys - Going into the season neither team's skill position players really thrilled you or took up roster spots on your fantasy team. After 2 weeks though Grossman, Berrian, Williamson and Chester are either hot pickups or are moving from your bench to a start position. Both defenses now realize there is big play potential on these offenses so I wouldn't expect to see 8 men in the box all game long like we have in the past. If one team can come up with 1 or 2 big plays I think that is what will be the difference maker.

The Ball Hawks - this is a monster key for the Vikings. On the road in a hostile stadium, you can expect that Grossman will make a couple mistakes. We have to capitalize on them. LBs will have to do their job vs. the run so we don't have to pull up our safeties and the LBs can't get blocked when blitzing. I keep seeing visions of Napo breaking through the line, Grossman tries to hit his hot receiver but a DB jumps the route, picks it and takes it to the house.

Keys to the game

1. Grossman - we need to get some pressure on Rex and pounce when he makes a mistake. If he manages the game, can sit comfortably in the pocket and doesn't throw into coverage then I don't like our chances.
   
2. Tony Richardson's blocking - really this is Richardson vs. Chicago LB core, but specifically Urlacher. If MN wants to establish the run at any point it is critical that Richardson can get to a LB and hold a block (without holding of course) long enough for Chester to get into the secondary. Tony also needs to help on the pass blocking so we don't see visions of Peppers in our backfield again.
3. Safeties - the Viking safeties may also be a key to this game. They will need to fill quickly to stop the run but not bite on play fakes and keep the likes of Berrian in front of them at all times. On the other side the Bears are starting rookie Danieal Manning at Safety this week, if he makes rookie mistakes we have to cash in on those.
   
4. Penalties - The Vikes have had a few too many penalties of late. 2 TDs were essentially taken from us last week inside the 10. And conversely Chicago benefited from Detroit's rash of yellow flags last week to help them breeze to their W. Last week Detroit intercepted a Grossman pass and took it for 6, but was called back because of a personal foul. That is exactly what cannot happen if the Vikes want to win agian this week.
5. Special teams has to win again - Longwell needs to pass for 250 yds and 3 TDs, oh wait... special teams does not have to win the game for us but simply outplay Chicago's special teams. Don't give up huge returns and win the field position battle. This game will come down to the little things.

I think this is the perfect time to be playing Chicago. They have a lot of confidence following 2 offensive explosions and defensive beatdowns, but it was vs. GB and Det so I'm hoping it is a false confidence. Also they are playing Seattle next week and everyone outside of Minnesota assumes that is a better test for the Bears. I don't expect them to totally look past a divisional road game, as they are not prone to do that, but I'm hoping they are more confident than they should be heading into this game. Finally let's not forget that it has been a LONG time since the Bears have won in the Metrodome.

The Vikings win as Rex struggles in the Dome.
MN - 20
Chi - 16

Vikings / Bears Week - trash talk review

Well, it is Vikings / Bears Week.

One of the fun things in the NFC North is that the 3 teams in the division (Detroit not included) are relatively close together, have been rivals for decades, the 3 primary cities Minneapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee (Green Bay doesn't actually count) are full of transplants from the other cities, and nearly every family is divided at some level amoungst Bear/Packer/Viking fans. All 3 teams have spirited rivalries and always give us entertaining games.

With all that said, it makes for a lot of fun during the weeks which these teams play against each other. Before we get into breaking down the matchups and me telling you why the Vikings will roll over the Bears, I'd like to give you a quick reference guide to smack talk and rebuttles to be used towards your overweight, beer drinking, barely educated Bears fan friend or family.

You being on the offensive - here are some solid ideas/statements you can use to get under their skin. These are the buttons you should push but if you go down this road don't tread lightly, come out guns blazing...

"Walter Payton is the most overrated RB of all time, he couldn't hold a candle to Barry Sanders." - this will always get them riled up and fiesty. You will likely need to follow it up with something like, "If Barry would have had an offensive line he would have destroyed Payton's record and still could have retired early."

The Super Bowl Shuffle is gay! - this needs not explanation and really is not defensible.

When was the last time the Bears actually won a playoff game? - we all know their response to this one, but hold them to the fire don't let them redirect to 1985. I'll help you out, it was 1994. 12 years ago and really only 2 opportunities in the playoffs over that span (both at home).

Finally you could always just say something about Steve Smith, that one is still fresh in their memories.

You on the Defensive - sometimes you get that obnoxious Bear fan who thinks he is watching the reincarnation of the 85 Bears (man they are always living in the past) and decides to come at you all week with how bad the Vikings are and how the Bears will roll on Sunday in the HHH Metrodome.

1. Remain calm, no matter what they say don't show any emotion. They will feed off your fear so don't react to anything.

"The Vikes are the worst 2-0 team remaining, they haven't seen a defense like this one yet!" - RIGHT because beating Was/Car isn't nearly as impressive as beating the juggernaughts that are the Packer/Lions. And that defense was pretty stout when it mattered last year wasn't it.

"Rex Grossman is the highest rate QB in the NFL" - again, camly refer to him putting up numbers vs. the Packers and the Lions. Don't be afraid to throw in how that is just an unfair matchup, kind of like Santana facing the Cubs lineup.

"Your team parties on boats with strippers!" - AND?

"We don't even care about the Vikings, the only rivalry we have is with the Packers." - this one is just retarded. If he/she thinks you are going to get offended that we aren't the TOP rivalry then he needs some new material. And really when was the last time the Packer or Bears played a meaningfull game. When Green Bay was good, Chicago was terrible and when Chicago was good (in the 80s) Green Bay was aweful. So really who cares, Bears fans know that Green Bay is irrelevant this year and this game is their only meaningful divisional road game.

"When was the last time you won a Super Bowl?" - The Bears Suck!

Idiot Broadcasters

When watching or listening to football nothing is more frustrating than idiot broadcasters. I can handle the color-man being one sided or falling all over a particular player, that can upset me but generating an emotion is fine. But play-by-play guys or color-guys who say the dumbest things are annoying and painful to listen to. Here are just a couple of examples from this weekend...

Joe Sensor - Vikings Radio color-commentary guy
I am torn on the KFAN Radio broadcast. I tend to enjoy Paul Allen's play-by-play. He gives me the game with some flare, he is obviously a Kool Aid drinker but isn't a complete homer when he's giving the call. Joe Sensor on the other hand is just an idiot. Because you played in the NFL does not necessarily mean you have the qualifications necessary to give good commentary throughout the game. I think Joe feels that if he's talking he's doing his job so he talks out of his ass when he thinks there might be a nano-second of dead air. Knowing something about the game or the rules helps immensly when calling a game.
Case in point on Sunday I was driving home and listening to part of the 1st half on the radio. There was a play with offsetting penalties. Offensive holding on Carolina and defensive on Minnesota. Joe told us how that was not the right call because the ball was not catchable, therefore it should just be offensive holding on Carolina. Sounds great Joe, but if you knew the rules you would know that with defensive holding whether the ball is catchable or not is irrelevant. If that were an isolated incident I would say big deal, but he is constantly squabbling over official's calls saying things that are just absolutely false. He is terrible.

Bill "Beep Nice" Maas - Fox TV color-commentary guy
Maas is always bad, but he should probably win an award for his call on Sunday. After Carolina won the overtime coin flip, he actually suggested that if he were the coach he would have chosen to kick off. In his world of fuzzy logic and "purist football" the Panter defense was playing so well that it would have taken the pressure off of the offense. He was 1/2 right as the Panther offense stalled quickly and punted. But the Carolina defense as we all know let the Vikings march down the field on their first OT drive and kick a chip shot for the game winning FG.

Maas's second offense (really his first because it happened earlier in the game) was rather comical. Fred Smoot comes up to make a nice open field tackle in the flat for no gain. He gets up and does his usual little dance because he actually made a tackel. The Vikings fans started yelling "SMMMOOOOOOOTTT." Maas who is a self describe football purist assumes that the Minnesota fans are booing Smoot for his unneccesary dance for simply making a tackle. While that would be refreshing to see fans not rewarding such behavior, BM should listen, think for about 2 seconds then put the 2 together and realize that is sounds more like "SMMOOOOOOTT" than BOOOO.

Honorable Mention Idiot - Micheal Irvin - he is painful to listen to AND watch.

To be fair I should list some of the better broadcast individuals out there...
Erin Andrews (ESPN)
Melissa Stark (NBC)
Jill Arrington (CBS)

There are many more knucklhead broadcasters out there (as well as some good ones), please comment with ones I am missing.

The Morning After...

Another solid win for the Vikings in Week 2. The Panthers were a VERY popular pick to represent the NFC in this year's super bowl, 8 of the 12 ESPN "experts" had them winning the NFC and 2 had them winning the championship. Well, Chris Gamble better work on his punt return throw back if they plan to win any big games on the road this year.

In all seriousness this was another well played game by the Vikings as a team and winning games vs. good conference opponents are the games we'll look back on in December and be very thankful we came away with a W. We have now beat 2 teams that are expected to be in that mix of teams vying for a playoff spot. Beating them will only help in tie breakers for wild card or home field. Essentially we have a 3 game lead on Carolina and Washington. The Vikes can start airing their "it's not too late to get post season ticket priority" commercials any day now.

A month ago many would have looked at the first 5 games of our schedule and said 1-4 maybe 2-3 heading into the bye. Well things are now looking like 4-1 maybe even 5-0 before we take on Seattle and New England. This week vs. the Bears is another monster game for the purple.

My game balls go to...

• Ryan Longwell - for accounting for all of our points this week. 4 FGs and a passing TD.
• Napoleon Harris - I am a huge Napo skeptic, but he was huge this week accounting for 10 tackles and a big red zone sack.
  

Grades...

Offense (B) - Chester Taylor looked very good and Brad was as gutty as I've ever seen him. But the O-line was dissapointing. It is easy to put it all on Marcus Johson and the right side of the line, but Hutch was beat once and McKinnie was beat a couple times that I saw. In their defense this is hands down the best D-line we'll see all year, but Brad has to be pretty bruised today. The offense failed to score any points, had stupid penalties twice in the red zone and performed an abysmal 2-15 on 3rd down. With that said they got it done when they had to and had a nice drive in OT to secure the win.
QB (B+) - Brad had Julius Peppers in his face on virtually every play and still managed to complete 61% of his passes and post 243 yards.
RB (A-) - Taylor looked pretty good in my opinion. Much better rushing average this week and put up 113 while making guys miss once he got into space. Taylor is the best rushing threat we have had a few years.
WR/TE (B) - Williamson had the best game of his young career as he continues to look like a favorite target of Brad's. The rest of the crew was very quiet, someone needs to step up as a possession receiver so Troy can get downfield.
OL (C-) - I will grant that this D-line was very good if not the best in the League, but if you want to be considered one of the best O-lines you need to perform better than this against elite competition. Part of the blame has to be on the coaching staff for not giving better help toward Peppers, but this group could have done better.

Defense (A) - The defense came up big again this week. In the 2nd half we held Carolina to 102 yards, 6 points and came up huge in the OT period with a big sack (ruled imcomplete pass) on 3rd down to force the punt. We also forced 2 red zone FGs giving us 5 big red zone stops on this short season.
DL (B+) - I was hoping for this group to dominate the game more with the Panther's injuries on their O-line, but all in all these guys came up big. Both Williams boys made some big plays in the backfield and as a group they put serious pressure on Delhomme in the 4th qtr and OT.
LB (A+) - Napolean Harris finally had a breakout game. Defensive player of the game (for MN) with a huge red zone sack and 10 tackles. EJ had 5 tackles but had a couple nice coverage plays that will not show up in the stat book.
DB (B+) - Smoot and Smith both supported the run defense well and the group as a whole allowed only 164 yards passing (41 in the 2nd half). Keyshawn had a pretty good game with 5 catches for 106 yards, but I'd like to see how many times he was thrown to.

Special Teams (A+) - Good teams will have their special teams win about 1 game per year for them. No doubt that ST won this one for us. Recovering the Gamble fumble, Longwell creating a QB controversy, Longwell connecting on 4 FGs including the game winner again and Kluwe redeaming himself with a 46.3 punt average after 38.0 last week.

Coaching (A) - Once again we looked prepared and ready for the game. Opening drive was crisp and should have resulted in 7 points were it not for a stupid holding penalty inside the 10. The preparation for and execution of the fake FG was a much better gameplan than a reverse punt return. And the level of calm and poise of the entire team that elevates as the game progresses is encouraging.

Now it is on to the Bears. This will be the 1st of 3 games vs. Chicago this year, the winner of this game should decide who will host the other in the NFC Championship game!!