Quotulatiousness

December 16, 2010

Vikings sign Patrick Ramsey, but Webb still likely to start against Bears

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:49

With injuries to Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson, Joe Webb was the only remotely healthy quarterback on the roster (and he has been working through a hamstring injury), so the Vikings had to scour the free agent market for a bit of additional insurance. As a result of their search, they’ve signed Patrick Ramsey to back up Webb:

The Vikings unsettled quarterback situation took a new twist Wednesday as the team signed veteran free agent Patrick Ramsey.

Ramsey, joining his eighth team, has not played in a game since 2008 or started one since 2005. It’s unlikely that he will start Monday night against the Chicago Bears, according to coach Leslie Frazier.

The starter likely will be rookie Joe Webb, who has served as the No. 3 quarterback all season until Monday and even played wide receiver two weeks ago. Last week’s starter, Tarvaris Jackson, won’t be able to play because of a turf toe injury, Frazier indicated.

The game promises to be no picnic for the rookie, as the Metrodome has suffered yet another panel tear in the roof, so it’s impossible to get it repaired and back into use by Monday night. It will be the first outdoor home game for the Vikings since 1981, and the Chicago Bears are probably eager to prove that last week’s embarassment was an anomaly. He’s been used to running the scout team, which means every week he’s running a different offence — he hasn’t had many chances to run Vikings plays.

The game will probably be hosted by the University of Minnesota at their new outdoor stadium, which has a few downsides:

  • Open air means that they’ve got over 100 casual labourers currently working to clear accumulated snow from the stands and the field (and more snow is anticipated over the next few days).
  • The field itself isn’t equipped with heating coils, so under that 16 inches of snow, it’s frozen solid (as one player remarked, it’d be like playing on concrete).
  • The stadium has 13,000 fewer seats and far fewer luxury suites than the Metrodome (and the University’s suite owners have the right of first refusal on any event held at the stadium).
  • Perhaps the toughest thing for the fans: no beer. The university doesn’t have beer sales for their home games, so the concession areas are not equipped (and may not be licensed) to serve beer.

Update: Tarvaris Jackson has been put on injured reserve, ending his season. His roster spot will be taken by Patrick Ramsey. That makes it all but certain that Webb will start his first NFL game on Monday Night Football.

December 15, 2010

This should help cure nostalgia for Metropolitan Stadium

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:48

The Minnesota Vikings won’t be able to play their last home game at the Metrodome, so the game will be hosted at TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota:

Unlike yesterday’s trek to Detroit for an indoor contest against the New York Giants, this game will not only be outdoors but also at a facility that has roughly 13,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome. Both facts will provide unique challenges.

This is the first outdoor home game for the Vikings in 29 years. And TCF Bank Stadium has been completely shut down and “winterized” for the season, prompting one University of Minnesota official to describe the upcoming preparation of the stadium as a “monumental task.”

In addition, some of the aforementioned ticket holders to this game against the Bears will not be able to attend because of the shortage of seats.

On a positive note — and perhaps the biggest reason the game is committed to being played locally — is so the Minnesota Vikings organization can celebrate 50 seasons of Vikings football on a special celebratory evening.

Today’s Vikings fans are probably not as hardy as their parents and grandparents . . . unless the weather is particularly mild next Monday, expect a big uptick of support for a new domed stadium to replace the Metrodome.

December 14, 2010

Jackson fails to impress in relief of Favre

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:16

It may have been Tarvaris Jackson’s best chance to prove his value to the Vikings, but he was unable to generate much of a passing game:

It would be nice to say that the transition from Brett Favre to Tarvaris Jackson was smooth and seamless. It also would be untrue.

Finally getting his chance to lay claim to the quarterback position, Jackson played poorly against the New York Giants on Monday night. Save for an early first-quarter drive that resulted in the Vikings’ lone three points, Jackson was terribly erratic, and the offense seemed helpless virtually all night. There were fumbled snaps, trip-ups in the backfield and the usual ghastly interception.

Overall, Jackson completed 15 of 30 passes for 118 yards. He was sacked four times and finished with a 46.2 quarterback rating. The worst part of it was that the Giants were daring him to throw. They were putting eight men up front in an effort to stop Minnesota’s running game. That often left single coverage on the wide receivers.

“We all would have liked for him to play better,” coach Leslie Frazier said gingerly.

It would be unfair to put all the blame on Jackson, however, as the Minnesota run defence allowed two running backs to gain more than 100 yards (after allowing only two 100 yard rushing games since 2006). Between no rush (Adrian Peterson was held to 26 yards on 14 carries), no passing game, and no run defence, the game wasn’t much of a challenge for the Giants.

The roof of the Metrodome turns out to have been a harbinger of the whole Vikings 2010 season: caving in.

December 13, 2010

Favre’s Iron Man streak ends at 297

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 18:07

Just saw an update from the Star Tribune‘s Jim Souhan saying that Brett Favre isn’t on the Vikings’ active roster for tonight’s game. Others on the inactive list are Percy Harvin, Hank Baskett, Tyrell Johnson, Chris Cook, Steve Hutchinson, and Ray Edwards. That’s a lot of talent sitting on the sideline.

Says SouhanStrib: “Does that mean he’ll wear Wranglers and cut-off t-shirt on sideline, with a sweaty golf cap? Maybe a piece of grass between his teeth?”

The latest twist of fate in an already twisted season

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 12:51

John Holler has a few thoughts on the bizarre trainwreck of a season the Vikings are experiencing:

The Vikings season has been filled with more twists and turns than a “I wouldn’t take that” mountain road shortcut. Throughout it all, the dysfunctional Vikings family had a home. Until Sunday morning. When the roof caved in on the Metrodome, it might have caved in on the craziest season in recent memory for the Vikings.

Not only are the Vikings not going to be hosting the Giants on Monday night — Detroit gets that free privilege, which begs the question what sort of fan is going to show up in Detroit to watch two teams they don’t like? — but there are significant questions as to what to do next Monday when the Vikings are scheduled to host the football world for the Monday Night Football largesse. Initial word out of TCF Bank Stadium is that the field has been put to bed — ice-encrusted mothballing if you will — and that not only wasn’t it an option for tonight, but it may well not be an option for next Monday either.

Yesterday’s games upset a lot of post-season calculations for other teams in the NFC North:

The Vikings could have been eliminated from postseason contention with a win by the Green Bay Packers Sunday, but both the Packers and Bears got beat. Chicago got pounded at home by the Patriots in a wind-swept smackdown and the Packers, who lost QB Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter, scored just three points in a 7-3 loss at Detroit. Vikings fans denied watching their own team play got both games on TV…well, sort of. The Patriots-Bears game became such a laugher that the powers that be in New York deemed it better to send most of the country that was watching the game to a “more competitive” game — the Dolphins-Jets 10-6 yawner. As such, a win tonight would put the Vikings back into the “still alive” fringe of the playoff bracket tables.

If they win tonight’s game, they’ll move out of the “mostly dead” category. They still won’t be really “alive” in playoff contention without a massively unlikely combination of lucky outcomes in other games.

Sunday’s loss by the Packers could be the death knell for their own playoff hopes. Unless the Vikings can knock off the Giants tonight, the Packers will be behind whichever team (New York or Philadelphia) doesn’t win the division and at a current tie-breaker disadvantage with Tampa Bay in the Packers’ search for a wild card spot. Making matters worse, their final three games are at New England, currently the hottest team in the league, at home against the Giants and at home against Chicago. They must win two of those three at a minimum to make the playoffs and may well need all three.

As hard as it may be for most of them to stomach, the Packers and their fans need to become Vikings fans really quick. Green Bay’s best shot at getting to the playoffs may well end up being winning the division. There is a very good chance that the NFC North will produce just one playoff team. The Bears’ closing schedule has games at Minnesota, vs. the suddenly-desperate Jets at Soldier Field and at Green Bay. If the Vikings can knock the Giants down into a tie with Green Bay at 8-5 and beat the Bears next week, the Packers would level the playing field in terms of tie-breaker advantages in the division and the conference. At it currently stands, from head-to-head to division record to conference record, Chicago holds every edge on the Packers. Green Bay’s loss to Detroit was devastating, so, just as the Vikings have become desperate for a 20-game domino effect to happen in the next three weeks to make the playoffs, the Packers may have just about as significant a hill to climb, leaving them hoping the Vikings play as well as they can and Green Bay’s season sweep comes into play.

Update: Mike Tanier gets in on the act:

Tired of building vinegar-and-baking-soda volcanoes for your children’s science projects? Recreate the collapse of the Metrodome roof instead.

Materials needed: green construction paper, some wooden dowels, a paper towel, about 500 artificial sweetener packets, and a cellphone. Glue some wooden dowels to green construction paper. Moisten a paper towel and fasten it to the top of the dowels. Then puncture it slightly and keep dumping artificial sweetener on or near the puncture spot until the roof gives way. Once the “field” is covered in white powder, use the cellphone to send a series of text messages from Brett Favre to explain how the Midwestern blizzard and the breathtaking footage of a major architectural landmark caving in is really just a backdrop for his personal saga.

December 12, 2010

Vikings-Giants game moved to Detroit after Metrodome roof failure

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 19:38

It’s kinda remarkable to watch:

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&#038;brand=foxsports&#038;from=foxsports_en-us_videocentral&#038;vid=ca15cffb-3b66-49a0-84ca-20ed0a175567" target="_new" title="NFL on FOX: Metrodome collapse">Video: NFL on FOX: Metrodome collapse</a>

The game will be moved to Detroit’s Ford Field as the repairs to the Metrodome will take at least a week, and the other venue in Minneapolis can’t be made ready in time.

December 9, 2010

The Two Scotts say thumbs down on the Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 12:51

Not surprisingly, the two Scotts think that the Giants are going to win their matchup with Minnesota on Sunday:

New York Giants (minus 2.5) at Minnesota

Reid: Favre is listed as questionable for Sunday after being knocked out of last week’s game on his first passing attempt. Of course, no one really expects the Vikings to bring Brett’s crusade for 300 straight starts to an end — so Tarvaris Jackson has, once again, been sent out to pick up smokes. In a sad effort to convince the coaches he was ready, Jackson even pretended last week to be Favre by tossing three interceptions. No luck. This streak ends at season’s end or with Jenn Sterger moving into Favre’s bungalow. Pick: New York.

Feschuk: Brett Favre is having an annus way more horribilis than that one the Queen had. With Dong-gate now in the hands of the Commissioner, it’s worth reflecting on the details of the poorly understood NFL Code of Conduct policy. Exactly what does it demand of players like Favre? Here are a few excerpts of note:

     * Players are expected to report ON TIME for all meetings, scrimmages and police lineups.
     * Mandatory snickering in the huddle when the quarterback calls for a “two-minute drill.”
     * If you’re buying prostitutes, make sure you bring enough for the whole team.
     * When getting dressed for a public appearance, players are asked to remember that the penis goes on the inside.

Pick: New York.

December 6, 2010

Vikings win in Turnover Bowl

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:26

Yesterday’s game in Minneapolis wasn’t expected to be very entertaining: a 2-9 team visiting an out-of-conference 4-7 team isn’t quite ratings gold. The turnovers started early in the game, as Brett Favre went down to a backside hit while throwing, putting the ball up for grabs. Buffalo got the ball and, at least for a few minutes, the momentum.

Favre was injured and Tarvaris Jackson came in to start the next series. Jackson threw an interception that Buffalo ran back for the first score of the game.

After that, it got entertaining — if you were a Vikings fan, anyway.

A month ago, the play that transpired with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first quarter Sunday would have led to the Vikings’ undoing.

Tarvaris Jackson, in place of injured Brett Favre, threw a pass that Buffalo cornerback Drayton Florence stepped in front of and returned 40 yards for a touchdown and a seven-point lead. Under Brad Childress, that would have been a “here we go again” moment.

But under interim coach Leslie Frazier, Florence’s touchdown ended up as a footnote following the Vikings’ 38-14 demolition of a Bills team that looked every bit a bad as its 2-10 record at Mall of America Field.

Favre’s injury was reported as a sprained sternoclavicular joint and he’ll undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the damage. Interim head coach Leslie Frazier said that if Favre could play next week, he’d play — that is, there’s no quarterback controversy here.

Rookie Chris DeGeare made his first start, replacing Steve Hutchinson, and only got mentioned for a false start penalty. That’s good: when you don’t hear the names of your offensive linemen, that usually means that they’re doing a good job. Also on the injury list were Percy Harvin and Ray Edwards. Adrian Peterson was a game-time decision with his sprained ankle from last week (he played, gained 107 yards and scored 3 touchdowns).

Sidney Rice played a great game — he’s finally back in 2009 form, going over 100 yards receiving and scoring two TDs. He clearly was the missing element in the first half of the season.

Joe Webb, the Vikings’ third string quarterback was on the active roster for the first time this season, as a receiver/kick returner, but injured his hamstring and left the game. Running back Toby Gerhart was the replacement KR (replacing Webb, who was playing in place of Harvin). This might have created a problem if Jackson had been injured, as neither Favre nor Webb could go back into the game. Luckily, the issue didn’t arise.

It seemed like a good idea, but Webb’s day ended in the first quarter when he suffered a pulled right hamstring while playing on a punt return.

“I was expecting a lot” of action at receiver, Webb said. “The coaches told me during the week. We had a couple of banged-up guys and they were going to need me to lineup there. I just had my chance to do a couple of things. My [hamstring] just gave out on me but it’ll be all right.”

Frazier acknowledged the Vikings had a “package” of plays for Webb.

Webb’s athletic ability is such that the Vikings decided to give him his first-ever reps on kickoff returns Friday and then trusted him enough to have him return Sunday’s first kick. Webb took the ball 30 yards to the Vikings 35.

“I was trying to pop it out,” he said. “That was my first time ever running a kickoff return. Now that I’ve got a chance to see it and know how I can read it up, I’m sure the next one will be a lot different.”

December 5, 2010

Vikings and Bills “proved they didn’t deserve to be among the league’s elite”

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 11:39

John Holler looks at today’s matchup with a jaundiced eye:

The national interest in the Vikings-Bills game likely isn’t going to draw flies. Nor should it. A non-conference matchup between a 4-7 and 2-9 team isn’t the kind of thing that garners a lot of attention. But perhaps there are no teams in the league more snake-bit than the Vikings and Bills.

They have both faced schedules that, while both were considered gauntlets from the outset, have turned in a Murderer’s Row. Neither team has done anything to take control of their own destiny from the start, but the teams that have beat them have been among the league’s elite.

The records of the teams that have beaten both teams is both troubling and impressive. The Vikings’ seven losses have come to New Orleans (8-3), Miami (6-5), the New York Jets (9-2), Green Bay (7-4), New England (9-2), Chicago (8-3) and Green Bay (7-4).

Buffalo’s nine losses have include defeats against Miami (6-5), Green Bay (7-4), New England (9-2), the Jets (9-2), Jacksonville (6-5), Baltimore (8-3), Kansas City (6-5), Chicago (8-3) and Pittsburgh (8-3).

Perhaps the moral of the seasons for both teams is that they have faced the league’s elite teams throughout the season and, on regular basis, proved they didn’t deserve to be among the league’s elite teams

December 2, 2010

The Two Scotts in a split decision

Filed under: Football, Humour — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:56

Scott Feschuk and Scott Reid like different results in this week’s matchup between Minnesota and Buffalo:

Buffalo (plus 6.5) at Minnesota

Feschuk: So Buffalo’s Steve Johnson butterfingered a game-winning pass against the Steelers and, naturally, rushed to Twitter to blame it all on God.

Good for Johnson. It’s about time someone had the courage to call out God for the terrible season He’s having. Dude is the Randy Moss of deities — totally going through the motions. Come on, God: we’ve seen you torment the Bills and Lions for the last eon. TRY SOMETHING NEW. And what were you thinking when you let Satan get away with working his evil magic so that both Matt Millen and Joe Theismann are calling the Thursday night games? Not cool, God. Not cool at all. Pick: Buffalo.

Reid: You mean God isn’t a Buffalo fan? This IS news!

Pick: Minnesota.

Feschuk also has an excellent question that the league hasn’t yet answered:

The league’s ruling on Andre Johnson warrants a revisiting of what occurred on the field. Responding to the trash talk and rough play of Cortland Finnegan — the only NFL player whose name sounds like an Irish hotel chain — the Texans’ receiver ripped off Finnegan’s helmet and punched him repeatedly in the head and face.

Johnson’s punishment? The exact same fine that Chad Ochocinco had to pay for tweeting too close to game time. It raises the question: what do you have to do to get suspended by the NFL? Do you have to actually murder a linebacker? Defile the corpse of a Hall of Famer? Fail to gently lower Tom Brady to the ground and tenderly kiss him on the forehead while sacking him?

November 29, 2010

Vikings get first road win since November 2009

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:47

It was the second-longest losing streak on the road, after Detroit, and now it’s broken. The Vikings won in Washington yesterday, 17-13, without the services of Adrian Peterson who was injured in the first half and did not return to the game. Peterson was replaced in the lineup by rookie Toby Gerhart, who did a good job on the ground (22 runs for 76 yards and a touchdown).

Three other factors were a change from the rest of the season: it was into the fourth quarter before the Vikings had a penalty assessed against them, they had zero turnovers, and they scored on their first drive of each half. Even with all of that, they were lucky to get a Redskins special teams TD called back on a block-in-the-back penalty.

Judd Zulgad wrote:

Frazier indicated there would be tweaks in the offense and defense in the week leading to his first game as an NFL head coach. Quarterback Brett Favre appeared to roll out more often, and Fred Pagac, who is serving as de facto defensive coordinator, called more blitzes than Frazier had when he was coordinating that unit. McNabb was sacked four times.

Favre passed for only 172 yards, but one of his most important plays came with his feet late in the game. That’s right: A 41-year-old playing with a stress fracture in his left ankle, another fracture in his heel and a head and chest cold he speculated might be pneumonia took off on a 10-yard scramble that produced a first down at the Redskins 14 with two minutes left and effectively secured the game.

“That’s always the best play in the playbook,” Favre said after taking a knee three times to run out the clock. “It felt good to be able do that. [We] did that a lot last year. This year we haven’t played with the lead. We had the lead most of the game, but it didn’t really seem like it. We were up, but we’re just missing that knockout punch. Once again we hung in there [and] collectively each and every guy had a part in it.”

November 25, 2010

The Two Scotts disfavour the Redskins

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 12:12

In their weekly football predictions, Scott Feschuk and Scott Reid both pick the Vikings to win:

Minnesota (plus 3) at Washington

Feschuk: First Wade Phillips is canned. Then Norv Turner’s team starts winning. And this week Brad Childress gets fired. Together, these events represent an unspeakable tragedy for football comedy. What are we supposed to do now? Who among NFL coaches shall become the new target of lazy jokes about vacant stares and gravy sandwiches? The obvious choice is Marv Lewis, whose team quit on him so badly against the Bills that I’m pretty sure his linebacking corps was a trio of avatars being controlled by the ghosts of the Three Stooges. But I’m backing a long shot — I’m putting my money on Mike Shanahan. With Donovan McNabb as his quarterback, with Clinton Portis out for the year, with a defence that ranks among the worst in the NFL, he’s going to have every opportunity to deploy his famed Flaring Nostrils of Dismay. Pick: Minnesota.

Reid: Vikes new head coach Leslie Frazier used the word ‘wholeheartedly’ to describe the way he’ll welcome Brett Favre’s input on the offense. That’s a good word. Another one would ‘temporarily’ since Favre’s first suggestion was the worst idea he’s had since he mistook his swinging single for postcard material. Favre complained the playbook is too long, too hard to remember and the schemes are too complicated. And remember, this is no dummy talking. He’s the leading passer of all time and a member of the Kodak Picture Maker loyalty program. If he develops more than 50 photos at one time, he gets his doubles for free. Maybe Jenn Sterger has a friend. Pick: Minnesota.

November 24, 2010

Sexting . . . or was it attempted extortion?

Filed under: Football, Law, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 15:02

A report at Viking Update may explain why the NFL’s investigation into the Favre-Sterger “sexting” situation has taken so long:

Reese told The Associated Press that he called Bus Cook, Favre’s agent, to let him know about an Internet story — first thrown out by Deadspin.com — that was going to purport that lewd photos had been sent by Favre to Sterger. Apparently, Reese was doing a pre-emptive professional courtesy.

However, Reese said that Cook’s response was to ask “if there was a specific figure that could make this go away.”

Asked about that, Cook responded with a statement claiming that Sterger’s manager and lawyer have made “numerous overtures to me” — claiming six such calls between the two of them. Cook said there was never any intention of paying them because there is no reason to pay them, adding that “their attempts to negotiate privately and through the media have failed.”

If it can be proved that Sterger’s people were seeking out some form of cash settlement, extortion is a crime that is investigated and prosecuted. It would seem the truth lies somewhere in between the polar opposite stories being told by the agents. But, if there is a case of hush money being thrown around or blackmail being requested, this story may have more legs than anyone could have imagined.

I had wondered why the NFL’s investigation — which should have occupied a few days at most — still hasn’t come to any conclusions.

November 22, 2010

Wilf pulls the trigger, fires Childress

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 13:37

I didn’t expect this, at least not until the end of the season, but the Vikings have fired head coach Brad Childress:

The Vikings fired their head coach late Monday morning, less than 24 hours after an embarrassing 31-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers eliminated whatever remained of the team’s playoff hopes and cast Childress’ job into obvious and imminent jeopardy.

Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, the team announced in a three-sentence statement that included no quotes from management.

The Vikings sent a media release a little before 9 a.m. Monday saying Childress would hold his regularly scheduled press conference at 12:30 p.m. So, owner Zygi Wilf presumably informed Childress and team staffers sometime between then and the time Fox’s Jay Glazer broke the story on Twitter around 11 a.m.

A 3 p.m. media conference with Wilf and Frazier was scheduled to discuss the move. It’ll be the first time Wilf — who appeared angry as he hastily left the locker room following Sunday’s loss — has talked directly about the coaching situation in spite of rampant and growing speculation in recent weeks.

Here’s a brief introduction to the interim head coach from Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune:

Frazier joined the Vikings as defensive coordinator in 2007 after Mike Tomlin left to become head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Frazier, who had been an assistant on Tony Dungy’s staff with the Colts for two seasons before being hired by the Vikings, was given the added title of assistant head coach by Childress in March 2008.

Frazier, 51, played for the Chicago Bears from 1981 to ’86 and was a starter at cornerback for the 1985 team that won the Super Bowl. He led Chicago in interceptions in 1983, ’84, ’85 but his career was cut short by a severe knee injury suffered in the Super Bowl.

Frazier began his coaching career at what is now known as Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill., in 1988 and remained at the school before moving to the University of Illinois in 1997. Frazier began coaching defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999 and served as defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 2003-04.

Frazier has interviewed for seven head coaching jobs in the past three offseasons, including Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, Buffalo and Seattle.

Update: Bob Sansevere has some advice for Frazier:

To succeed, Frazier needs to change a few things. The worst thing he could do is keep things status quo. Interim or not, it’s his team now. It’s his call how to run the joint.

The first thing he needs to do is decide what to do with Brett Favre. Here’s a thought: Pull Favre aside and tell him, “Thanks for trying, but we’re 3-7 with you and we both know you’re not coming back in 2011. We need to find out if this franchise has a quarterback for next season, so tell everyone your shoulder is about to fall off and retire for good this time.”

Frazier already should have seen enough of Tarvaris Jackson to know he’s not the future. So like he’s auditioning to be head coach, he should let rookie Joe Webb audition for the quarterback job. Fans would love it and, when you’re 3-7 and your owner wants a new stadium, fans aren’t a bad bunch to have on your side.

It’s be an amazing thing if Frazier put Favre on injured reserve, wouldn’t it? There goes the ironman’s record right there . . .

I’d like to see Joe Webb be given some game time, but I’d be more than astonished if he’s ready to start this soon. Most rookie quarterbacks need at least a full year before they’d have much hope of success. Still, as Sansevere points out, it would engage the fans and isn’t likely to make the final record for this season any worse.

Seventh worst home loss in Vikings history

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:44

Has the team given up? I’d suggest that letting your biggest rivals whip you by a score of 31-3 on your home field is pretty strong evidence that the team is no longer viable. I didn’t see the game, but the score was 3-0 Vikings as I left the house. I had no idea that was the high point of the game . . .

It was apparently no party on the sidelines:

As if a 31-3 loss wasn’t bad enough, the Vikings’ tensions boiled to the point that heated exchanges were considered normal on Sunday.

Brett Favre and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell argued after a Favre interception late in the first half.

“We’re fine. I was mad at myself,” Favre said.

Defensive end Ray Edwards barked at rookie cornerback Chris Cook by consistently getting burned on the left side. Cook got benched in favor of Asher Allen, who didn’t fare much better as a facilitator of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ 301 yards and four touchdowns.

The defensive linemen had beef with Cook and Allen giving up several big gains from the sideline on fade routes.

“I never thought we’d get beat on four fade (routes),” defensive tackle Kevin Williams said.

Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield both said they talked with Edwards about keeping such conversations in-house instead of on the sidelines.

To make the soap opera complete, Brett Favre didn’t answer reporters’ questions about whether he’ll finish the season (that is, whether he’s now considering retiring immediately).

If Zygi Wilf was thinking about firing Brad Childress, as the home fans are demanding, yesterday’s game would give him a good reason. I don’t know if the Wilfs are willing to do that, as they’d still owe Childress for millions on his contract, but it would certainly please the fans.

Update: Childress has been fired.

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