Number 2

It appears that getting the number two seed in the NFC is currently the best case scenario for the Vikings.  To ensure we get number two, we need to win out against the Bears and the Giants.  The Eagles are one game behind us, and supposedly if we tie with them on our records they will get the higher seed because they will have the tie breaker.  I just spent a few minutes looking through the NFL tie breaking rules and it seemed to me that we would have it, but whatever, just to be safe let's win them both.  I guess that might help us out a little with a somewhat popular in sports phrase known as MOMENTUM.  Plus, I am cheering for any scenario that will provide for both the Vikings and Giants to have reasons to play hard in week 17, because I have tickets to that game.  The last thing I want is to watch T-Jack play for an entire game against a half hearted Eli Manning, although maybe Favre will tell Childress to back down again and decide to play the whole meaningless game anyway.  So I guess good entertainment either way.

A Great Plan

Lost in all the recent controversy involving Favre and Childress and their supposed power strugggles and disagreements with each other is a not so distant problem involving our star rookie and his two week boute with a migraine.  Since there is no way the Vikings are going to have much success in the post season without Percy, I thought it important to report on the situation.

Harvin spent some time in the Mayo Clinic and met with a few specialists on the issue and left with "a great plan" for dealing with his migraines in the future.  I guess as fans we'll take that as a good thing.  Who knows what this great plan might be?  No specifics were revealed.  It doesn't really matter to me, the plan could be drink a gallon of coffee and eat three bags of purple skittles at the first sign of a migraine, and as long as it worked, I would be happy. 

Once Again

For whatever reason, I'm thinking the most likely right now is that someone who maybe financially really matters to the Vikings has something for Fox, or maybe just against NBC, and to help this person out our team wants NBC to not carry entertaining football games, explaining why the two times we've played the Sunday night game on NBC we've absolutely sucked.  That is the only explanation.  Tonight's game against Carolina was even worse than the game against Arizona.  I don't get it at all, oh wait actually I get it completely as I explained it all a couple sentences ago.

On the bright side, today we did clinch the NFC North and this is the first time we've one that in consecutive years since the '77 and '78 seasons.  Back to being negative again, Jonathan Stewart ran for over 100 yards on our defense and that is the first time we've allowed a 100 yard rusher in 36 games.  

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Percy is finally back practicing, as of Friday I believe, and wants to play tonight. We will see what happens. This would be an important step towards getting our offense back into high gear before playoffs.

With the Saints losing on Saturday to the Cowboys, that makes the last few games of our season a little more interesting. It gives us a slight chance of maybe stealing the #1 seed from them. Their last two games are against Tampa Bay and Carolina, so let me be clear, the chance is slight. Not sure how a tie is broken if we both go 14-2. I think it is tremendously to our advantage though if we could somehow get that number one seed. Or, somebody can do us a favor and beat the Saints in round two and then we'd have home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Having Antoine Winfield back did amazing things for our defense last week. Jasper Brinkley did fine in his first full game at middle linebacker. It will be interesting to monitor his performance for the rest of the season.

I was recently remembering the legend that was Jermaine Wiggins and all his glory with the Vikings. I looked up some old Vikings videos from 2004 when Wiggins was our starting tight end. The man looked like he hopped in an NFL time machine during the late eighties and it launched him into 2004. That season doesn't seem like so long ago, but back then Daunte was still our starting QB and we still had Moss. That was the infamous season where we went 8-8, sneaked into the playoffs, and went to Green Bay and upset them. Our now beloved Favre threw four interceptions for the Pack, leading to our victory, and Moss did his mock moon to Green Bay fans. That season Daunte threw for over 4,700 yards, had 39 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions, and had a 69% completion percentage. It looked like he was entering his prime, plus he had just perfected his really cool touchdown celebration, where he does the basketball traveling symbol a few times in a row while skipping and bobbing his head. I guess it was a short lived prime, as he completely fell apart the next season when we traded Moss, who is still my favorite Viking of all time.

Anyway, watch these two vidoes from 2004, they are entertaining. Daunte threw five touchdowns in back to back games.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d8015d7e7/Vikings-34-Texans-28

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d80165c2f/Vikings-38-Saints-31

What if....

-What if our coaching staff had a clue how to intelligently adjust a game plan to the flow of the game?  For example, not immediately abandoning the run game against Arizona and opting for the "Let's throw the ball every time plan even though it's not working at all and they are sitting back in coverage every play."  In the process, giving the ball back quickly to a hot Arizona offense that capitalized.

-What if T-Jack had started the Arizona game?  I honestly think we would have won the game.  We would have stuck with the run game, because with T-Jack, we know we HAVE to stick with the run game.  We would have controlled the ball and kept the ball out of their offense's hands, and I believe put up enough points to have won.

-What if Antoine Winfield's foot really did fall off at the ankle?  This is the only explanation that explains to me why we haven't seen him yet.  He has been out now for eight weeks.  We have been told since week two that he is questionable and may be returning, BUT HE NEVER DOES!

-What if the the 2009 Minnesota Vikings are the best team in the history of the NFL?  There is only one way to argue this point.  If the Colts and Saints go undefeated, and we beat both of them in the playoffs to win the Superbowl.  If we do that, I can and will say whatever I want about how awesome we are and how much better than any other team in history.

-What if EJ Henderson had remembered to take his Citracal pills?  AHHHHHHHHH!  I know little to nothing about his repacement, Jasper Brinkley.  I do know this though, the name Jasper Brinkley sounds like a tough dude who in a movie, would never be seen without a gun in hand or a fellow to his left or right with a gun in their hand.  Based on that, I think the rookie is going to do quite well filling in for EJ.

The Holidays

As we officaly embark on the Holiday Season, I thought it only fitting to write a holiday themed post, and here it is.

Thanksgiving : Five things the Vikings are thankful for.

1. Brett Favre. Has thrown 24 touchdowns now and only 3 interceptions.

2. Our record. 10-1, best since '98. Has Ryan Longwell missed a field goal this year? Please tell me he has.

3. Chester Taylor. An extremely good back up, scored two touchdowns today, and we know we can count on him if AP can't get control of his fumbles.

4. Our schedule. Has to be one of the softest in the league. Out of our 11 games so far, probably only one or two of those teams will make the playoffs. The three potentials are Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Baltimore. It's entirely possible that all three of those teams will not make the playoffs this year.

5. That we didn't trade for Jay Cutler. He has thrown for 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Christmas Wish List : Five things I hope will happen.

1. Favre most valuable player, and Harvin rookie of the year. After today, this is looking as possible as ever.

2. That Favre would give in to his old school ways and wear a tight on the shoulder pads jersey, so it doesn't seem like he's so old. At least just for one game, so we can see if it would work for him or if it would just look odd.

3. That Darius Reynaud would fair catch punts that are going to land on the 20, instead of not catching them, and then scrambling to appear that he cares and look like he will maybe pick the ball up, but in the end doing nothing as it rolls to the two yard line.

4. No more AP fumbles. He now has 15 since 2008, and 9 of them have been lost. Both of those stats are the most in the NFL for current running backs. His fumbles are usually easy to overlook due to all the amazing plays he makes, but that is a horrible stat, and it's depressing to see.

5. That we could get the #1 seed in the NFC. This will start to look much more plausible after tomorrow night when New England beats down the Saints by 10 points or more.

The Childress Extension

The Vikings have signed an extension to keep Brad Childress as our head coach through the 2013 season.  That’s good, I suppose.  My feelings about him are probably at an all time high right now, with let’s say an approval rating of around 75%, but previous to this year I would have mainly only had negative things to say, with an approval rating of about 20%.

Here is one thing that I have a hard time dealing with.  Why can’t the coach of an NFL team be held accountable to the job he’s doing in the same way any other position on the team is?  If an assistant coach has an unbelievable season, and impresses with his coaching ability to the point that most believe he would be better than the current head coach, why couldn’t the owner simply slide that coach into the “starting” role, and move the previous head coach into a smaller role or off the team?  Why is that not an option???

I’m really just pondering this because I wish Mike Tomlin was our head coach.  Tomlin, who was our defensive coordinator in 2006, guided us to having the eighth best defense in the league that season and our first season as the league’s best rush defense.  The following season he was hired by the Pittsburg Steelers and has since coached them to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth, followed by a 12-4 record and a Super Bowl victory last season.  He has proven he has a gift for coaching, but besides that, he looks about ten times more cool than Childress and having him as our coach would instill feelings of pride when our coach is shown on TV as opposed to feelings of semi-embarrassment.  Look at the pictures of these two.  Is there really any question which one you would rather see on the sideline guiding your team?

 

 

But Childress is who we have, so we must attempt to support him.  We will focus on the positives.  After his first season, in which we went 6-10, we have improved each season.  We went 8-8 in 2007 and 10-6 last year, making the playoffs for the first time under Childress.

He has done a wonderful job of drafting. 

In 2007 we drafted Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, and Brian Robison.

In 2008 we drafted Tyrell Johnson, John Sullivan, and Jaymar Johnson

In 2009 we drafted Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt.

In three years, we drafted six consistent starters, two significant role players, one superstar (AP), one budding superstar (Harvin), and one “player who isn’t a star but is capable of making a huge impact” (Rice).

As long as Childress keeps drafting top notch talent, and as long as we keep winning at least two more games every year, and as long as he never, and I mean NEVER, goes back to his mustache, than I guess he’s ok with me.  (There isn't a person out there who would trust a child with the man in that picture.) 

Also, here’s an interesting article on Percy Harvin.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?page=hotread10/Percy%20Harvin

Four Points and some Videos

1. We ended up with the easy win, 27-10. At times it seemed like we were doing all we could to give the Lions a chance to stay in the game. They couldn't catch up though, partially thanks to good defense, partially thanks to the Lions general lack of football skills. We ended up with 13 penalties during the game for 91 yards. I guess we can use the "rusty" excuse, coming off the bye week, and expect the penalty issue to get corrected before next week's game with Seattle.

2. Adrian Peterson had an awesome game, yet not a very good game at the same time. He racked up 133 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carriers, but lost two fumbles in disappointing fashion. First, he made a terrible pitch to Percy Harvin on an attempted reverse, pitching it well behind Harvin. Then, after a great run, busting his way through traffic, he was in the open field galloping towards the end zone before being caught from behind and stripped of the football. We lost both fumbles. Sidney Rice could have saved AP with a decent effort on the second fumble, which he could have recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Unfortunately Rice's coordination for recovering fumbles doesn't quite match his coordination for catching passes. It was kind of pathetic to watch.

3. Favre and Rice get an A+ for the day, even with Rice's aforementioned klutzy effort on the AP fumble. Favre threw for 344 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions. Favre's current total for interceptions this season is three. The fewest he has ever thrown in a season before this year is 17. Gunslinger? Maybe not anymore, or if so, at least an accurate gunslinger. Rice had seven catches for 201 yards. Seven catches of a total of nine passes that were thrown to him. Not a bad average.

4. I sincerely hope that we don't give up on using creative play calling after the AP to Harvin botched pitch on the reverse. I was secretly hoping all bye week that Childress had intentions of refining a Wildcat option with Harvin taking some snaps for the second half of the season. There wouldn't be a scarier combo in the backfield in all of the NFL than Harvin and AP. Both are capable of busting one at any time. For example, when Harvin bounced off a major hit against the Lions and took off for a 40 yard gain.

To see a number of Favre and Rice's highlights, check out this video. (skip to the 2:25 mark of the video to see Harvin's sweet play)

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d814356b8/WK-10-Brett-Favre-highlights

For a sweet Ray Edwards highlight, involving him flying through the air, not touching Mathew Stafford at all, then getting a 15 yard penalty for a helmet to helmet hit on the quarterback, check out this clip. It looks awesome though. It's at the 1:50 mark.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d81436652/NFL-Scoreboard-Lions-Vikings-highlights

Gotta Love Playing Detroit

With the Vikings on their bye week, I decided to take a bye week myself.  Hopefully both of us are now ready to come back in full force.  Well, hopefully the Vikings are at least. 

We are all glad to hear that Adrian Peterson made if safely back from his weeklong trip to Alaska during the bye week.  He spent the week there wrestling grizzly bears.

Same for Jared Allen, who spent the week off in 1984, taking fashion tips from the people of the time.  Kevin and Pat Williams went to Vegas for the week, to take part in the Martorano's Masters Meatball Eating Championship being held there.  Suffice it to say, all Vikings players used their bye week wisely and we are now more ready than ever to dominate the rest of our NFL season. 

Before moving on to this weeks game, let’s not forget what happened two weeks ago at Green Bay.  Favre walked into Lambeau for the first time as an opposing player and dropped a 4 touchdown, 244 hard, 128.6 passer rating bomb on all his old fans there.  As a Vikings fan, you couldn’t help but smile watching the footage of Favre walking on to the field amidst a roar of boos from the crowd.  It was another scintillating performance from Percy Harvin, who had five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, as well as 175 yards on five kick returns.  It was an all around good day, other than our defense in the 3^rd quarter, which could be described as lousy, or uninspired, or even just crappy.  We gave up 17 points in the 3^rd quarter, and it looked like things might be going the way of the Ravens game, but then Percy Harvin had a 48 yard return to the Green Bay 38 yard line, we drove for a touchdown, and that was that.

Let’s move on to the present.  Word is that Antoine Winfield is going to be missing his 3^rd straight game with his ankle injury.  He is a very key piece in our chance to wreak some havoc during the remainder of this season.  Thankfully, the next two teams we play, Detroit and Seattle, have a combined record of 4-12 right now.  Our defense should be able to scrape by without him for at least the next two weeks if need be. 

There is nothing really to say about the game against Detroit.  We better win it, and we better win it easily.  Anything less than an easy victory will be a disappointment.  They have ONE victory in the past two seasons.

Speaking of Detroit though, it reminds me of a game against Detroit back in 2007 that, as far as my memory serves me, is the most entertaining NFL game I have ever watched.  That whole season was insane.  It was AP’s rookie year, and he was dominating, yet Childress refused to make him the starter until something like the 12^th week of the season.  (I never doubt Childress’ impeccable judgment for our team.)  We oscillated back and forth between being an offensive force, and being an offensive stink bomb.  Of the eight games we won, we scored 27 or more points in six of them, scoring 24 and 20 in the other two.  Of the 8 games we lost, our average score was 14.13 points.  You never knew what you were going to get with that team.  We started three different quarterbacks that season, T-Jack, Holcomb, and Bollinger.  All this randomness came together for one perfect storm against Detroit, and we blew them out in entertaining fashion.  There were so many highlights during that game it could have filled a 10 minute slot on SportsCenter.  We had AP throwing a nasty juke on some unfortunate Lion leaving him grasping air, Andre Allison with a great kickoff return, a slow motion interception return, and a fake field goal. 

All great things, and there were two more I couldn’t even find highlights of that I specifically remember from that game.  One was a heads up/major bush league play by Cedric Griffin where a Lion receiver had fallen to the ground and it was disputable whether it had been caused by a Viking or if he had just tripped, so Griffin intentionally side-stepped out of the way to avoid touching him, then picked up the ball, which the receiver had just let go of and it was sitting on the field, and ran it back for a touchdown.  This was reviewed and eventually the receiver was ruled down by contact.  Later on in the game, there was another review, for what I can’t remember, and this review felt like it lasted about 20 minutes.  And in that time, we had shot after shot of all the players just standing around the field and talking to each other like they were having coffee with an old friend.  There were little clusters all over the field of players, not segregated by teams, taking advantage of the break to catch up with each other.  I specifically remember seeing John Kitna over and over again talking away, looking like he was explaining something in detail.  It was funny to watch.

Hopefully today’s game can be as entertaining.  Here are the videos I found from the 2007 game.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d804bed8d/NFL-GameDay-Lions-vs-Vikings-highlights

http://www.nfl.com/videos/minnesota-vikings/09000d5d804c2c7d/Chris-Kluwe-Highlight-WK-13-vs-Lions-2007

Moving On

Lingering thoughts on the loss to Pittsburgh:

-The Steelers did not outplay us. We didn't outplay them either, but it was an even game that could have gone either way. If Dugan doesn't have that tripping call go against him, which was a brutal call, we score on that play and they don't have the fumble recovery for a touchdown. That play put us in a big hole, but we charged back and probably still would have won the game if Chester Taylor makes that screen play catch, which he makes nine times out of ten. So yes, Pittsburgh got the win, but if the Vikings were to play them again, I'd bet on the Vikings.

-Players stepped up in this game. Adrian Peterson, who any Vikings fan already loves, had a sweet game, going for 69 yards rushing, and another 60 receiving, including one amazing play where he steamrolled William Gay. Percy Harvin, who is looking more and more like he's going to be a permanent fixture as a stud on this team, went for 3 catches for 42 yards and one perfectly timed 88 yard kick off return touchdown that gave us a chance when it looked like there would be none. Sidney Rice has been on fire over the past two games. Coming off a six reception game for 176 yards against the Ravens, Rice put up ten receptions for 136 yards against the Steelers, including a drive saving first down where he he had to elevate, make the catch, and somehow manage to get both feet in bounds before being shoved out. Our playmakers are doing just that and it is fun to watch and making me want to go out and buy all their jerseys. Speaking of jerseys, you can tell if your team is any good by the variety of jerseys being worn by the fans. If the team is pretty sucky, then there is usually only one or maybe two decent jerseys that you will seen worn regularly from that team. But, if a team is good, like we are this year, you have all sorts of quality jerseys to wear proudly around. We've got AP, Favre, Harvin, Rice, and Allen all being worn with regularity.

-Favre got hit the most of any game so far. There is nothing really to say about this. He didn't get injured and he is fine to play, but it is nerve wracking to see him get hit a lot. He is our season. Our offense being successful revolves around him being healthy. Favre has been sacked 18 times so far. Guess how many times Peyton Manning has been sacked? Twice. This has to be a priority for us because we cannot afford to have Favre go down.

On to Green Bay:

First of all, this game matters for more reasons than just Favre squaring off against his old team and being back at Lambeau for the first time. This game is to secure our position as the front runners in the NFC North. If the Packers win they will draw within a half game of us and could tie us up during our bye week next week. Plus, things will look vastly different at 7-1 for us heading into our bye than at 6-2 working with a two game losing streak. We need to build some positive momentum back up.

This Green Bay game is coming at the right time for Jared Allen. Allen had a pretty brutal game last week, and was nearly totally ineffective as a pass rusher. He had two tackles for the game, no sacks, and one pass deflection. Last time against Green Bay though Allen was a monster, recording 4.5 sacks that game. We need him to be a force again in this game. Aaron Rodgers is a good quarterback and will be able to pick us apart if we can't get pressure on him, especially since we have Winfield out for the second straight week.

Speaking of injuries, they are listing Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin, and Darius Reynaud as questionable for the Green Bay game. Harvin suffered from an illness this week, and Berrian and Reynaud both have hamstring issues. Harvin will play. He is tough, and there is no way being sick during the week is going to hold him back for this game. It is doubtful that Berrian or Reynaud will though, especially with the bye week coming up to really make sure they are at 100% before they do come back. Our passing game isn't quite at full force without Berrian, who with his speed is our best deep threat and can routinely turn quick passes at the line of scrimmage into five or ten yard gains. We are really missing Reynaud's playmaking ability on the punt returns, and the sooner he can come back the better. I used to be under the illusion that Reynaud and Jaymar Johnson were pretty much the same player, but Johnson has done little to nothing on the punt returns the past couple games and Reynaud looked like he was ready to break one for a touchdown just about every time he touched the ball on a return in his last game.

I expect Favre to have a big game today and for us to come out of Lambeau with a big win to go to 7-1 on the season. I think it is entirely possible that Favre will break Brady's record of five touchdown passes in a quarter, every quarter this game. Meaning, 6,7,8, and 9 touchdown passes, adding up to a total of 30 touchdown passes for Favre today. Throw in another 3 touchdown runs for Adrian, and we will probably win today with a final score of 231-24. Should be fun.

5 Reasons Not To Care About Loss To Steelers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By3kO1hYvrQ

Watch this video five times and there are your reasons. I was a little down after the game, but since then I've watched this clip probably about 20 times, and it has significantly improved my mood. More thoughts on this game later along with a preview to the second match up against Green Bay on Sunday.
Also, William Gay, who was the one getting trampled into the ground by AP, had this to say after the game, "He can't be human ... Dude's made of steel."
Gotta love AP. I mean, seriously, you HAVE to.

Becoming a Vikings Chat Nerd

This was my thought process as I watched the Vikings beat the Ravens 33-31 on Sunday.

Oh yes! This is looking good. We are dominating. This will be a statement to anyone out there who is wondering how good the Vikings are. Oh man, we aren't killing them by as much anymore, but we'll still win and this will still be a solid showing. Oh crap, what happened to our defense. Are we sending the real players out there still, or just body doubles. (Speaking of that, I think if I start dieting right and contract reverse Michael Jackson syndrome I can be Pat Williams body double in 2010.) OH MY GOSH we are going to lose this game! We are screwed. Any NFL kicker can easily make this short of a fiel – HE MISSED. Holy crap this schmo just missed and we are 6-0!!!!

The whole reason I started this blog was to experiment with becoming a hard core fan. With the Vikings being undefeated now six games into the season, it hasn't been hard. So, I decided to step up my fanliness this week. Not only did I closely follow the game on TV, I also participated in a live chat on Vikings.com with other die hard fans and a writer for the team website that was present at the game, giving updates while everyone else made comments. Was it enjoyable? Sort of. Would I do it again? Maybe, but not regularly. Anyway, here are some of the comments that were posted, and of course I had to get a few in there myself.

From Cowgirlwriter : “I heard the party was on the vikings.com Gameday Chat. Guess it is.

”From Krazy Katie : “I am so excited to find this chat! I'm often alone during games, will be great to talk with others on here.”

That made me feel bad for Krazy Katie, and kind of assume that she didn't have many friends. I then noticed that I too was sitting in an empty living room watching the game and chatting online by myself, so I typed in the same thing.

From Jodi : “I think Favre and Rice are BFF's”

From the way the announcers describe things, they definitely could be. Anytime Rice made a catch one of the announcers felt the need to talk about how much Favre likes Rice's skills as a wide receiver. It was a constant Favre to Rice love fest, executed by the play by play guys.

From Jodi : “Don't stop...believing!!!” (After Ravens kicked field goal to go up by one with three minutes left)

One thing to note. Not all of your comments get posted. You can send them in, and then the writer for the website must pick the comments that he wants to post. I would guess that he probably posts around half the comments. At least that was roughly my percentage of comments posted. I hope he isn't only censoring my remarks, like if he thinks they are too stupid for the others to spend time reading or some such nonsense. Here are a few of my comments that did make the cut.

“Favre is transforming Rice into a Stud.”

“Percy Harvin is an ANIMAL” (really insightful stuff on my part)

But then, my golden comment.

At 12:48, this comment from me posted.

“I see the Vikings defense forcing a turnover here pretty soon.”

At 12:49, Mike Wobschall, the Vikings.com writer, posted, “TD Vikings defense!!! EJ Henderson!!! Ryan was right!!!”

From Nick at 12:49 : “NICE CALL RYAN!”

From David at 12:50 : “Hey ryan.... what's happening in the markets tomorrow? :)”

I was the MAN! Of course, as you know, that touchdown got overturned, so I became slightly less cool. I then wrote a clever statement apologizing to my fellow chatters, which Wobschall in his infinite discretion decided not to post. That punk.

Lastly, I just saw that the Vikings are holding strong at number three in the ESPN.com Power Rankings. Team number four, the Denver Broncos. Nobody would have ever thought they would be good this year, especially after their pre-season. Why do I bring this up? The last year the Vikings were a force, 1998, who was right there with us? The Denver Broncos. I recall reading an article midway through the season as both teams were undefeated about who had the better chance to have an undefeated season. We ended up going 15-1, and they went 14-2, but they won the Superbowl. Oh dear... Where will 2009 take us?

Don't get your hopes up. Or should we?

This is going to be an especially good post. Everything has come together for me tonight. Not only did I just figure out the Genius button on Itunes, so I'm listening to a fantastic playlist, but I have returned to the Caribou Coffee where this blog was birthed. You're in for a treat.

The Vikings are 5-0 and we as a fan base have been on the joyride of having a team that is relevant and that we consider to “Have a chance.” Here's the deal, we have a REALLY easy schedule. So far, we have played three games on the road. It is widely known that those three times, Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis, order obscenely large amounts of Estrogen to distribute to their players. Thus, they kind of suck, at least under the scope of being compared to other teams in the NFL. All three are doing wonderfully in their scrimmages with the local police and fire departments.

The two decent teams we've played, Green Bay and San Francisco, have both come at home. Our advantageous schedule continues for the rest of the year. The three toughest games left in our schedule, the Ravens, Bengals, and Giants, are all in the Metrodome.

It's tempting to get caught up in the potential of our 5-0 start. It was anyway, until I read some statistics about past promising Vikings starts that ended badly.

In 2003 the Vikings started out 6-0. I was shocked when I read that. “We were not that good back then!” I thought to myself. We then went on to lose the next four games, eventually losing our season finale on a last second catch against Arizona that brought our record to 9-7 for the season, and forced us out of the playoffs. If the team could collectively have a nightmare on the night of the win that put as at 6-0, the rest of the season would be the real world version of that nightmare.

In 2000 we started 7-0, eventually getting to 11-2. At that point, we screwed things up and lost our last three regular season games. We then killed New Orleans in our divisional playoff game, 34-16, which I have no recollection of. Then we had to go to New York to play the Giants and we got beaten down 41-0. I remember that one. Watching that game, it came to a point where anyone who cared or remotely rooted for the Vikings was bitter and resented all the players, coaches, and staff associated with that performance. It was just too much to get beat by, especially in the playoffs. As a fan you can maybe mentally prepare yourself that it is plausible your team could lose badly, but NOT 41-0 badly.

Then, in 2008, the season that broke the heart of any Vikings fan, but especially the young, unhardened ones of those in my age demographic, who were roughly 13 at the time. We started out 7-0, going 15-1 for the season, and lost in the NFC championship game because Gary Anderson missed a THIRTY-EIGHT yard field goal. THIRTY-EIGHT YARDS. He hadn't missed ANYTHING all year. He made all 35 of his field goal attempts and all 59 of his extra points. That's right, 59 extra points. We scored on teams that year like we were Tim Riggins surrounded by rally girls with slightly below average morals. I had a friend at that game who left with his dad when Gary Anderson lined up for that kick. People had that much confidence in him. I also have at least two friends who admitted to crying after that game.

I would bet that most any Vikings fan would list the 1998 season as the last time our team was good, because we “had a chance” that year. Neither of those other two years ever felt like we had a chance, even with our good records. And I'm saying, at 5-0 in 2009, it feels like we have a chance.

We should finally get a good gage for this year's team this weekend when we play Baltimore at home. Two weeks ago the Ravens were regarded as the best team in the NFL by ESPN.com Power Rankings. Now, coming in off two straight losses, they should be ready to prove something. Get ready Vikings fans! This weekend we will get some questions answered as to how tough we really are. I have faith though. We are going to bring it.

4-0

Oh how good it feels to be 4-0!
It's been awhile, so I need to look back on a few things.

GREG LEWIS, YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Can't say enough about the amazing game winning catch and how crucial it was to keep the momentum going for our season. I also can't say that I've seen you on the field since. But still, that catch!....

BRETT FAVRE, I MEAN THE SILVER FOX, YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Favre looked his best of the season yesterday, by far, going 24-31 for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns.

We are officially firing on all cylinders. I know AP was held to only 55 yards, but he's still AP. He is still going to dominate for the remainder of the season. Last night was the first time this season that we actually were a force with our passing game. The first time in at least three years, if my memory is serving me correct. Let's think, we had T-Jack, Gus Ferotte, and a washed up Brad Johnson. I think my memory is serving me correct.
Not only that, but our defense was getting to know Aaron Rodgers considerably more than he wanted. By that I mean, we sacked the crap out of him over the duration of the game. We had eight sacks, four and a half of them by Jared Allen. When asked after the game if he ever gets tired, Allen stated, “Not usually, but tonight my arms are exhausted from doing my sack celebration so many times.”

The Vikings are officially #3 in the ESPN.com NFL power rankings. Behind a pair of Manning quarterbacks, with Indianapolis being at number one and New York at number two. Next Sunday should be an easy victory as we play the “Hey, are we still in the NFL?,” St. Louis Rams.

49rs Preview/Newsflash on the Silver Fox leading us to the Superbowl

The Vikings open up at home tomorrow against the 49ers, and this will be their toughest test thus far. It feels good to be at 2-0, but it would have felt better if we would have manhandled the Lions last week. Every Lions game I come in thinking we should kill them, because they haven't won in, like, a million years. But we never do. We beat them twice last year by a combined margin of six points. This time we ended up winning by two touchdowns. We got into a nice rhythm in the second half, but not before meandering our way through a brutal first half to eventually trail 10-7 at halftime.

Here are some thoughts heading into tomorrow's game.

Frank Gore rushed for 207 yards last week and two touchdowns. The Vikings defense gave up 83 yards to Kevin Smith last week, nearly losing their streak of not giving up a 100 yard rusher since 2007. The majority of Smith's yards came in the first half. We cannot afford to have another lackluster first half, and must control Gore throughout the game. Over the past three seasons, the Vikings rush defense has become somewhat of a juggernaut. I don't really know why we're so good at it, I think it might have something to do with Pat Williams and his 500 pounds of pure muscle frame, but I know I love watching it. We just straight up dominate teams that try to run on us, and eventually force them to stop trying. I want to be reminded of that this week against the 49ers and specifically Gore.

Please no brain farts by the coaching staff this week. I don't know what was going on with the play calling in the first half against the Lions. We refused to pass the ball. I was convinced that either:

a. Childress forgot that T-Jack isn't our starting quarterback anymore.

b. Childress had some friends over for a bonfire the night before, and since they didn't have much around to get the fire started, he used part of the Vikings playbook to help with the fire, that part being the one containing passing plays.

Finally, on the last drive of the first half against the Lions, we suddenly remembered there are two ways to gain yards and opened up the passing game. Favre ran the offense fantastically, going 7-7 on that drive, eventually leading to a touchdown pass to Shiancoe.

The increased use of Percy Harvin. I have been nothing but impressed with Harvin so far. Every kickoff return he looks dangerous. It's only a matter of time before he scores on one. He is our leading receiver thus far, scoring a touchdown in each game, and is a running threat out of the wildcat formation. This is what I like about him the most. He looks tough when he plays. Yes, he can be elusive and can make people miss, but when he gets going he is TOUGH to tackle, and for someone with his skill set, that makes him special. One thing I don't like about him though, but I'll forgive him for this; I looked at his team photo, and he looks a little too much like Daunte Culpepper. See for yourself.

While we're making comparisons, Bernard Berrian looks a lot like someone I know.

The Vikings roster lists Berrian as being 6-1, 185 pounds. That might be a tad generous. Sometimes I get nervous for him out there.

Other Important Things

-Jared Allen, and hopefully others, have nicknamed Favre the Silver Fox. In a recent interview Allen stated, “Can you please stop calling him Brett Favre? It's the Silver Fox.” I may or may not be the only one that obliges to this.

-Chris Kluwe is more than just a punter for the Vikings. He also plays bass guitar in his band Tripping Icarus. They are an alternative rock band, and they only have 270 friends on Facebook, so be one of the first to go check them out. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tripping-Icarus/95281731386

Here is Chris as a punter.Here is Chris as a rocker.

With that being said,

THE VIKINGS ARE GOING TO DOMINATE THE 49ERS TOMORROW!!

Power Rankings

The Vikings have moved up to number 8 in the ESPN power rankings. Look out Steelers, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Colts, Chargers, and Falcons. WE ARE OUT FOR YOUR BLOOD. We moved up one spot from last week. Another team that moved up one spot from last week is the Detroit Lions, only they moved from 32nd to 31st. Watch out for those guys. They are going places.
Speaking of the Lions, we play them this week. I expect a three touchdown win. The current betting line on the game has the Vikings at -10. Bet on them. It will be a 17 point win or more. This is the team that just gave up six passing touchdowns to Drew Brees, and some random guy named Mike Bell ran for 143 yards. What does that mean Adrian will probably run for, 250 or so?
Also, Percy Harvin is ranked as the 3rd best rookie so far according to ESPN.com.

Good Start

We beat Cleveland by two touchdowns. Not bad. Things to take note of.

1. Again, AP is the man, and I fully expect him to break the single season rushing record this year.

2. Percy Harvin is a legitimate weapon. He can run the ball and catch the ball, showing good skills as a wideout thus far. Great day returning the ball as well, averaging 33 yards a return.

3. Favre did exactly what we needed him to do under the circumstances.

4. We have to get our coverage situation under control. It was an area of weakness for us last year, so giving up a punt return touchdown on week one makes me a little nervous. Chris Walsh! Where are you????

5. We gave up 89 rushing yards, shutting down the run for most of the game. I continue to love watching teams try to run the ball against us.

6. Bernard Berrian did not catch a pass. That concerns me.

7. Adrian Peterson made a number of players look foolish in his last touchdown run, making me jump off my couch yelling and clapping. He is the man.

Things My Wife Knows About Football

This is a rebuttal to an earlier post where I insulted my wife's knowledge about football. She compiled this list in about two minutes.

Football:
1. wide receiver
2. quarterback
3. touchdown
4. field goal
5. running back
6. blitz
7. penalty
8. tight end
9. "the line"
10. hold
11. sacked in the pocket
12. hand off or throw
13. defense/offense


I guess I was wrong... Also of note, the Vikings regular season kicks off in exactly 14 minutes!!!!!!! This is going to be a season for the ages. The sooner you recognize that the better.

7 Reasons The Vikings Will Kill The Browns

7. We are better than they are. We are 9th in ESPN power rankings. They are 28th.

6. Visanthe Shiancoe is anxious to show off his new touchdown dance. He has been staying late after practice for the past week perfecting it.

5. Brady Quinn just came out of the closet... for being an inept sucky quarterback.

4. The Williamses STILL don't have to serve their 4 game suspension. It's really more of a hypothetical suspension at this point.

3. Adrian Peterson, who has only been tired in one football game in his life.

2. The Browns coaching staff all took IQ tests this past weekend and their collective average score classification was Cretin.

1. Favre heard that a Wrangler Jeans scout will be at the game.

Vikings vs. Chiefs

I had tickets to the Vikings game against the Chiefs this past Friday. It was Favre's debut, and I was pumped to watch the one or two series he was going to play. I bought the tickets before we acquired Favre, so naturally I was all the more exited about going to the game once that whole situation came about.
Being an inexperienced fan, I managed to screw things up a bit. I forgot to KISS, (keep it simple, stupid) sound advice I was given one Thursday a year or two back by Michael Scott. I invited my wife to come along, who is not much of a football fan. If she was given the instruction, “Write down ten things you know about football,” she would struggle.
I figured I needed to compensate for dragging her to the game by tying something else fun into the night. We planned to go eat at a bar downtown a few exits past the Metrodome. We picked this place because it's a favorite of hers, however, we did not allow ourselves adequate time for this. Game time was at 7:00 and we cruised by the Dome at around 5:25 on our way to eat. As soon as we passed it, I became stressed because really all I wanted to do was be inside the building, in my seat, and taking in the atmosphere of Favre's debut.
We got to Matt's Bar at 5:35, waited for a few minutes to get a table, decided it would be better to get it to go, asked if we could order to go, were told that we could but it would still be a 20-30 minute wait, then I made the decision for us to leave. All the excitement my wife had shown for eating there and for the evening instantly turned into heavy disappointment and zero enthusiasm for the remainder of the night. I, on the other hand, after wasting around 20 minutes at this place, wanted to eat wherever was closest and wherever was fastest so we could get on our way to the game. Mentally, we were in very different places. We ate at a Subway just down the street, with what could be considered a light amount of table conversation.
We arrived at the station to ride the light rail to the Metrodome at 6:25, plenty of time I thought. My goal was to be there by 6:30. Trains were supposed to come every seven minutes and it was about a two minute ride to the dome. By the time we bought our tickets, the next train to come was at 6:38. It was completely full. Maybe 30% of the people there were able to get on. We were not in that group. Next train comes by at 6:45, same story, it was crowded. We made an attempt to step into a door and were met with nothing but cold stares and a total resistance to make any kind of movement whatsoever that might help us be able to squeeze in.
The train pulled away and left. I was pissed. In my head I replayed the scene, but with me throwing bodies out of that train and shoulder charging my way in without hesitation. I really don't even know what kind of point there is to be made here, but there was a group of five people waiting next to us, two of them mentally handicapped. That group made it on. Again, I don't know what point there is to be made, but I remember taking stock of that in my brain, and it was irritating.
The minutes passed. I spent most of the time scowling, looking at my watch, and repeatedly beating my fist against a metal pillar. The next train did not show up until 7:01! SIXTEEN minutes after the previous train. I was mentally defeated at that point. My only hope was that the Vikings had started on defense.
We arrived at our seats with 10:24 left in the first quarter and the Chiefs had the ball. “WE DIDN'T MISS FAVRE,” I thought to myself. My mood instantly lifted and I was able to enjoy the rest of the game, even though Favre did nothing remotely good in the three plays I saw him play.
I didn't ask anyone if we had been on offense yet earlier in the game, partly because I didn't want to know and partly because I didn't think there was anyway that was possible given the time on the clock when the Chiefs had the ball. I learned after the game though that we had already been on offense and that I missed the first three Favre plays. That was pretty discouraging to hear, but I have moved on and plan to learn from this mistake for future games that I attend.

A few quick thoughts on the actual game.
-Favre did not play well. It sucked that he didn't really do anything good, but I am convinced there is nothing to worry about given he only had three days of practice in him.
-T-Jack did play well. This was encouraging to see, but a mute point given he is obviously not going to start this year and that he has played well before and then come back and given stink bomb after stink bomb performances. If he plays well again against Houston though it could be a little more interesting of a story.
-Percy Harvin was so-so. It was fun to see him return a couple kicks, and he did a fine job, but nothing to get too worked up over.
-There were an impressive amount of Favre jerseys being worn despite only having a few days to purchase them. There were also a large amount of Hovan jerseys. Please, as a Vikings fan, if you have a Chris Hovan jersey from a few years back, PLEASE THROW IT AWAY, or donate it to your nearest thrift store.
-In the 2nd half, when people started to lose interest in the efforts of the bench players, they took interest in getting the wave going. There was a solid wave going throughout the whole Dome for about ten times around. It was sweet.
-We won. Undefeated so far, even though the games don't matter, it is still fun as a fan for the Vikings to win.

Brett Favre

Brett Favre is a Viking. This is awesome.

Obviously there are some interesting story lines to this whole Favre saga, but, it is an irrefutable fact that the Vikings have upgraded at the quarterback position. Sure it sends a message showing shaky at best, to absolutely zero confidence in our other quarterbacks, but I'm not all that concerned with their psyche. I just want to see us win as many games as possible. Perhaps if I felt we owed either of them loyalty, but they haven't earned that.

A picture in the Minneapolis Star Tribune printed today that summed up the whole situation perfectly. It is a picture of Brett Favre shaking Tarvaris Jackson's hand. Jackson has a half forced smile on his face which mainly just looks like a straight up grimace. It is exactly what you picture of two people meeting when one of the parties is being replaced by another who is far superior and obviously outclasses the other.

For example, let's say there is a guy named Damien who really has the hots for this girl Bianca. He is out with her dancing and he is not in any way a good dancer, but he is not horrible either and he is really trying hard. Damien thinks things are going well and he's going to have a chance with this girl. Then, out of nowhere, Jake saunters across the dance floor, who is much better looking than Damien, and a far superior dancer, and steals Blanca away in a second. But, not before making sure to politely shake Damien's hand as he does so. T-Jack's face in the picture is the exact face Damien would have had shaking Jake's hand.

Then you have Sage Rosenfels off to the right standing and staring with his thumbs in his practice shorts; may as well have had them in his butt. He will be perfecting that stance as the 2009 season moves on.

The best part of the picture is seeing Jim Kleinsasser in the background with a huge giddy grin on his face. I can only imagine he is either that excited to have Favre there, or that he's that excited to be able to witness the awkward encounter that is currently occurring between Favre and T-Jack. I hope it's the latter. That's the one I would be thinking about.

Thoughts on Vikings Debut

A few thoughts on yesterday's game against the Colts.

PROS

-This has to be the biggest pro of what I watched and in the opinion of anyone who knows what they're talking about, an omen of success for the Vikings in 2009. Brad Childress got rid of his mustache!!! No longer do we as a fan base have to be embarrassed when our coach is shown on TV. No longer do we need to say to ourselves, “Hey what's that child molester that I saw on Dateline doing on our sideline with a clipboard... oh wait that's our coach.” What a relief.

-We won the game 13-3.

-Sage Rosenfels played well, leading our offense to a touchdown and a field goal on our first two drives. Rosenfels completed 10 of 13 passes for 91 yards and took a step in the right direction for convincing me he is a competent quarterback. The only previous video footage that I've seen of Rosenfels playing in the NFL was from this play last year, which pretty much made him look like an idiot.

-Defense. First team defense sacked Peyton Manning three times in their only series of play.

CONS

-Bernard Berrian being carted off the field after sustaining an injury. The word so far is that it's some kind of a hamstring injury. It is scary, being that he is the biggest receiving threat for an already weak passing game.

-Tarvaris Jackson. More of what we've grown accustomed to seeing out of Jackson. He completed 7 of 15 passes for a meager 39 yards. It would be easy to have zero hope in Jackson, if it wasn't for the two game stretch that we watched him play out of his mind at the end of last season, proving to us what he is capable of when he is confident and using his brain. He definitely lost some ground in the battle for the starting quarterback spot with this performance.

-Adrian Peterson didn't have a 50 plus yard run where he burst out of a pile of would be tacklers, made a linebacker look foolish on a juke, and a safety look like a high school kicker with a lowered shoulder. I'll forgive him for now though. It will come.

Intro

This blog is to document my experiences as I become a Minnesota Vikings fanatic. I have lived in Minnesota all my life, and would consider myself to be a "Vikings fan," however, I've never been more than a fair weathered fan. This season I am committing to much more than that. I am committing to watch every game and cheer with boyish naivety even though it appears all hope has been lost. I am committed to talking up one to possibly two or three quarterbacks as being right on the cusp of fully grasping how to be a success in the NFL, all the while knowing that based on my definition of "right on the cusp," I would also fall into that category.
I am 23 and am a big sports fan. I have never dedicated myself to a team though. I pick and choose teams that I like currently, based on if they have an interesting story or fun players to watch. My allegiances hop and skip around and it is great because I can take pride in the success of my recent favorite team and never have to feel the pain of the teams I once supported but dropped when things went awry. I want to test the waters of this hard core fan business though. I am ready. I want to feel the pain of the Viking's failures and inexplicably burst into tears at their successes.
This blog will keep track of my journey.