Quotulatiousness

October 7, 2009

Monday night’s Packers-Vikings game set new cable record

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:00

Who knew that the secret to setting cable television records was to pit a future hall-of-fame quarterback against his former team? ESPN reports:

ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” was watched by more than 21.8 million people. The previous record was more than 18.6 million viewers for last year’s Monday night game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

ESPN also said Tuesday that the game drew the highest rating in the network’s 30-year history. The 15.3 rating beat the 14.4 for a Bears-Vikings game on Dec. 6, 1987, during ESPN’s first season of televising NFL games.

October 6, 2009

Fear the mullet!

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 07:19

Jared Allen had a career game last night, as the Vikings beat divisional rivals the Green Bay Packers at the Metrodome. As hyped as this game was, I was expecting it to be tense, but not particularly exciting . . . I was delighted to be wrong: it was a high-scoring game with lots of drama. Allen sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers four and a half times, and added a forced fumble and a safety. Rogers had a miserable time, being chased all over, sacked eight times, but still managing to throw for 384 yards.

As Jim Souhan tweeted, “Rodgers is going to be dreaming about Jared Allen all week. How’d you like to be haunted by that mullet?”

JaredAllen
Photo detail from the Star Tribune

Brett Favre had downplayed the confrontation with his former team all week, and he played very well indeed. His timing with wide receiver Bernard Berrian was everything he could hope for, unlike last week’s game, including a beautiful TD pass. His numbers for the night were 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and an impressive 135.3 passer rating.

Adrian Peterson had a much less satisfying experience: the Packer defence bottled him up after the first drive, and he lost a fumble which was run back for a Packer TD by rookie Clay Matthews. His numbers for the game were a very un-Peterson-like 25 carries for 55 yards, with one (short) TD. He also appeared to injure his leg on the play, although he did return later in the game.

Favre got another record in this game:

Monday’s victory means Favre has now beaten all 32 NFL teams. The Vikings’ 4-0 start is their best since beginning 6-0 in 2003 and with a game Sunday at winless St. Louis (0-4) their chances to remain undefeated appear to remain strong. Childress also now has two consecutive victories over the Packers after starting 0-5 against them — Favre was the quarterback for four of those Packers victories.

There is little doubt at this point Favre appears to be a very solid $12 million investment. “I’m trying to not be surprised because it’s what we expected,” owner Zygi Wilf said. “I’m happy to say from last week to this week shows us that you can never be surprised. He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. We’re just going to enjoy this win and move on to the next game. We have larger, bigger goals ahead of us and that’s what we’re going to strive for as a team.”

October 5, 2009

It really is just another game

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:49

Judd Zulgad on tonight’s Monday Night Football extravaganza:

The NFL’s version of the perfect storm is about to hit the Metrodome.

After a week of buildup, hype and denial of a quest for revenge, Brett Favre is finally going to get the chance to face his former team. And did we mention the Vikings will be playing host to the Packers, too?

Try as Favre might to downplay the magnitude of tonight’s matchup — “It’s just another game,” he said with a straight face last week — there is no denying what this means. Not only to Favre but to many others who have eagerly anticipated an event that will be as much theater as football. The scorned superstar, playing for his former team’s arch-rival, given his chance at redemption on a national stage.

It’s no wonder ESPN executives were giddy when Favre ended his retirement on Aug. 18. That made an already attractive Monday night game between the Vikings and Packers a must-see spectacle that could break the cable viewership record ESPN set on Sept. 15, 2008, when 18.6 million tuned in to watch the Eagles-Cowboys.

September 28, 2009

Vikings get last-second TD to beat 49ers, 27-24

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:54

The Minnesota Vikings moved to a 3-0 record on the season with a squeaked-out victory against the San Francisco 49ers yesterday. I got to watch most of the game, until the two-minute warning, when Fox — or the CTV sports programmer carrying the Fox feed — switched over to the already-decided Patriots-Falcons game.

Minnesota appeared to have the game well in hand until the final play of the first half, when Nate Clemons scooped up a blocked Ryan Longwell field goal attempt and ran for the go-ahead TD. A huge momentum-changer, as the Vikings went from a potential 2-score lead to one point down. The stats were all in Minnesota’s favour, except for the only one that matters, the one on the scoreboard.

In his first regular-season home game with the Vikings, Brett Favre managed yet another fourth-quarter game-winning drive, this time connecting with recently signed wide receiver Greg Ellis.

The first five series of the second half: Three punts, Favre’s first interception, and a turnover on downs. The Vikings (3-0), who gained only 85 yards on Adrian Peterson’s 19 carries, still had three timeouts left and were able to force a punt. They got the ball back at their 20 with 89 seconds remaining.

“I didn’t say a whole lot,” Favre said. “I knew what I was thinking: We blew our chances.”

Well, not quite all of them.

The last play began with 12 seconds left, and Favre stepped forward in the pocket and slid to the right by design to buy time for his receivers to move in position. Instead of throwing a ball up for grabs, he figured he could get close enough to the line of scrimmage to fire a line drive that would be tougher to defend.

Lewis watched the quarterback’s eyes, and broke the other way — Favre said he didn’t even know who was running across the end zone — to find room near the right corner.

He caught his first pass from Favre, who completed six throws on that drive, and looked forward to the next one.

September 21, 2009

Vikings go to 2-0 with win over Detroit

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 07:46

Every team that plays Detroit has a nagging fear that they’re going to be the ones to end the Lions’ losing streak. Detroit played the Vikings well in the first half, getting to a 10-0 lead during the first half, before Minnesota could get their act together:

The Vikings left Ford Field on Sunday atop the NFC North with a 2-0 record. Both victories have come on the road, they have outscored opponents by 28 points and Brett Favre has yet to throw an interception.

So all is going according to plan in the land of Purple, right?

Not exactly.

Favre made that very clear after the Vikings rallied for a 27-13 victory over a Detroit Lions team that has lost 19 in a row, second-most in NFL history.

“To think that we can continue to win games that way, is not going to happen,” Favre said. “Detroit played hard, played well. I was worried.”

September 16, 2009

Adrian Peterson makes the cover of Sports Illustrated

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:20

After his very impressive outing on Sunday, Adrian Peterson’s photo was chosen for this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated:

Adrian Peterson on the cover of SI

That’s great, but I do feel sorry for Cleveland’s number 52: he makes the cover too, but not at all the way you want to be shown to a national audience.

September 13, 2009

Are they the big story in the NFL?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 11:30

Jim Souhan looks at whether the Minnesota Vikings can turn all that potential into solid achievement:

This is a unique day in Vikings history.

Today, the first Sunday of the 2009 NFL season, the Vikings become the biggest story in the most popular sport in America for a reason other than an epic loss or an embarrassing scandal.

Today, the Vikings present a Hall of Fame quarterback who is a defector from their greatest rival and will lead one of the most talented teams in football.

Today, your Vikings will not be the franchise of Super Bowl losses, championship game chokes, 41-0, Love Boat, Ticketgate, Denny Green’s homemade videos and myriad arrests.

Today, your Vikings become the biggest story in the NFL because of what they are capable of doing, not what they are chagrined to have done.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch the Vikings-Browns game, but with Buffalo playing on Monday night, there’s a stronger chance that the Buffalo FOX affiliate will show it in our area.

September 11, 2009

NFL refused permission to suspend Kevin and Pat Williams

Filed under: Football, Law — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 12:15

ESPN reports that a federal appeals court has ruled that the NFL cannot suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams:

The NFL wanted to suspend the Williamses for four games after they both tested positive for a banned diuretic during training camp in 2008.

They had taken the over-the-counter weight loss supplement StarCaps. It did not state on the label that it contained the diuretic — which can mask the presence of steroids.

Neither player tested positive for steroids.

September 7, 2009

Another record attempt?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:18

Along with all the other records Brett Favre currently holds, he apparently has a chance to break another long-standing record currently held by “Ironman” Jim Marshall:

Brett Favre will play his first regular-season game as a member of the Vikings on Sunday in Cleveland already holding just about every significant NFL career passing record.

Most touchdown passes? Favre’s got that one with 464. Yards? That belongs to Favre, too. Completions, attempts and yards? Check, check and check. Heck, Favre even has thrown the most interceptions.

But there is at least one record Favre stands to break this season — and the guy he would surpass couldn’t be happier about it. Favre will enter Sunday having played in 271 consecutive regular-season games, putting him 12 games from Jim Marshall’s longstanding record for a non-kicker or punter. (Punter Jeff Feagles has appeared in 336 consecutive games.)

September 5, 2009

Vikings choose to keep only 3 Quarterbacks on the roster

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 21:21

. . . but to my surprise, and possibly to the dejection of sportscasters nationwide who will now not have the opportunity to announce that “Coach Childress just made a Booty call” . . . the team chose to keep Tarvaris Jackson and released John David Booty, to get down to their 53-man final roster:

DB Colt Anderson, QB John David Booty, FB Nehemiah Broughton, DE Martail Burnett, OL Chris Clark, OL Brian Daniels, OL Juan Garcia, DE Otis Grigsby, S De’von Hall, LB David Herron, DT Antoine Holmes, RB Ian Johnson, DT Tremaine Johnson, OL Andy Kemp, CB Marcus McCauley, TE Garrett Mills, WR Nick Moore, TE Jake Nordin, WR Vinny Perretta, OL Drew Radovich, DB Marcus Walker and WR Bobby Williams.

The Vikings could still try to re-sign Booty to a practice squad spot next week, if he’s not picked up by another team. You’d have to assume that his performance in Friday’s game was a determining factor in this decision.

Update, 7 September: Yep, Booty was indeed signed to the Vikings practice squad, along with “safety Colt Anderson, offensive tackles Chris Clark and Drew Radovich, running back Ian Johnson, defensive tackle Tremaine Johnson, tight end Garrett Mills and wide receiver Nick Moore”. Unfortunately, free agent Jon Cooper who’d made the 53-man roster was cut to make room for Kory Lichtensteiger who was cut by Denver.

Rosenfels doesn’t dispel the doubts

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 10:18

Last night’s final preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys could have gone better, both for the team and for Sage Rosenfels, who is fighting for the backup QB spot behind Brett Favre:

Brad Childress knows he has his starting quarterback now that Brett Favre is wearing purple. But with eight days until the regular-season opener in Cleveland, the Vikings coach cleary isn’t happy with his quarterback situation as a whole.

That became clear after Sage Rosenfels and John David Booty threw third-quarter interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the Vikings’ 35-31 loss to Dallas on Friday night in their preseason finale before an announced crowd of 62,334 at the Metrodome.

“At times [the quarterback play] was embarrassing,” said an upset Childress, who rarely is critical of his players in his postgame news conferences. “I’ll end up putting that on myself. Not having them ready to come out of the locker room at halftime. But all the quarterbacks I’ve ever coached have some regard for the football, and you can’t throw it to them.”

I’m still hoping that the Vikings hang on to Tarvaris Jackson, rather than cutting or trading him. He showed that he’s still got lots of potential:

Jackson started and played through the Vikings’ first series of the second quarter, completing two of four passes for 42 yards with a touchdown and a 127.1 passer rating. Rosenfels entered in the second quarter and finished 7-for-15 for 115 yards with a subpar 45.1 rating; Booty was worse, going 7-for-13 for 85 yards with a 42.1 rating. Childress said he benched both quarterbacks after their interceptions, meaning Booty replaced Rosenfels, threw one pass and then was lifted for Rosenfels.

“It always seems like you want to take back one play, and I wish I could take that one back,” Rosenfels said of a pass that was picked off by Cowboys cornerback Pat Watkins and returned 23 yards down the near sideline for a touchdown. “It was just a bad play by me. Other than that, I felt real comfortable out there, and I thought I did a pretty good job executing the offense other than that one play.”

Today is the worst part of the season for aspiring young players, or for veterans trying to catch on with a new team: it’s when teams have to cut down to their 53-man roster.

September 3, 2009

Tarvaris Jackson on the trade block?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:19

Last month I wrote,

Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson try to avoid saying anything newsworthy to the media. Hard to blame them . . . they’ve each just had their best chance for professional success kicked out from underneath them. I’m sure each is thinking “it’s only a one-year deal . . .”

Of course, there’s the other aspect: most NFL teams only carry three quarterbacks into the regular season — who’ll be the odd man out? Rosenfels played well in the pre-season opener, and was brought in for a 4th round draft choice. Jackson was a 2nd round pick, but still hasn’t shown that he’s able to be consistent. Booty is still the total unknown. Who will be given their walking papers?

The answer is apparently Tarvaris Jackson:

The Vikings have called teams to see what they would be willing to offer in exchange for backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, according to a league source.

The Vikings have four quarterbacks on their roster, which must be trimmed to 53 players by Saturday. Coach Brad Childress said recently the team possibly could keep four quarterbacks, but it seems more likely that it will trade or release one.

Jackson has been the subject of trade rumors since Brett Favre arrived. However, it remains unclear which direction the Vikings will go if they are unable to trade Jackson.

I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed. Jackson has the potential to be very, very good, as he demonstrated in the second pre-season game. Unfortunately, he’s not been as consistent as he needed to be. It’s likely he’ll be picked up by another team, but not many teams are looking at adding players right now: mandatory roster cuts are looming (teams must be down to 53 players by Saturday).

September 2, 2009

Gregg Easterbrook looks at “Favre-a-palooza”

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:41

Gregg Easterbrook’s annual NFC preview column includes his potted history of the previous two years of the adventures of Brett Favre:

Favre played well for Green Bay in 2007, then looked old and unhappy during the frigid NFC championship loss at Lambeau. In 2008, Favre played well for the Jets when the weather was clement, then looked old and unhappy once frost hit the pumpkin. Both 2007 and 2008 ended for Favre’s clubs with him throwing a killer interception on a cold day. Going to a dome team in Minnesota, Favre will mainly play indoors. This year the Vikes are likely to have only one cold-weather contest, at Chicago just after Christmas; in November, all their games are at home while their other outdoor December contests are at Arizona and at Carolina. It’s a schedule that could not be better if Favre drew it up himself.

There is obvious potential for fiasco in Minnesota’s bringing aboard Favre, and not just because his $12 million salary becomes guaranteed on opening day. Vikings players know Favre single-handedly dynamited the Jets’ organization last season — the starting quarterback was waived, the coaches fired — then walked out the instant it suited him. He demanded special favor after special favor from the Jets, then gave nothing back. Management and other players couldn’t wait for him to get out of Green Bay, so weary were both of Favre’s self-centeredness. Now he brings his “I love me” show to Minnesota. If the Vikings win, Favre will grab the credit; if they lose, Favre will once again say he was mistreated. No Vikings player other than Favre will get any media attention in 2008; if Adrian Peterson runs for 3,000 yards, Favre will claim the credit. Plus Childress waffled so much in his pursuit of Favre that now he seems weak, as if he were a factotum awaiting Favre’s instructions. Late in July, Childress told the Vikings’ locker room there was “not a chance” Favre would join the team, and that he expected them to rally around quarterbacks Jackson and Rosenfels. Now it turns out Childress was continuing to talk to Favre the entire time he was telling his team otherwise. What credibility can Childress have when it appears that he looked his players in the eye and lied to them?

The only way Childress retains his credibility is if the team wins through and goes deep into the playoffs . . . if they stumble, he’ll have sacrificed his chances of being re-signed as head coach for nothing.

September 1, 2009

Vikings beat Texans in 3rd preseason game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:30

The Brett Favre era may have opened, but Adrian Peterson is still the heart of the team: he took a handoff from Favre for a 75-yard TD on the first play of the game. Here’s the press reaction:

Two weeks after joining the Vikings, Brett Favre played into the third quarter of his team’s 17-10 victory over the Houston Texans. The future Hall of Fame quarterback threw his first touchdown pass as a member of the franchise, twice lined as a wide receiver as the Vikings unveiled their version of the Wildcat offense and even threw a vicious block from that formation.

And if that wasn’t enough, Favre also caused a pregame stir when ESPN reported he might be playing with a cracked rib. But no matter what Favre was able to accomplish in his first extensive action in purple, one thing was made abundantly clear to the Vikings and a national television audience.

This remains Adrian Peterson’s offense.

It’s still very much the preseason, as the Vikings committed a disturbing number of penalties; they’re averaging 12 per game. Favre was scheduled to play the first half, followed by Tarvaris Jackson in the third and Sage Rosenfels in the fourth, but Favre lobbied the coach to get another series after halftime, so Jackson’s appearance was very short. Rosenfels got on the field after both teams had switched to second- and third-string players, so it wasn’t a great opportunity for him to shine like Jackson did in the previous game.

Favre will probably be getting a fine from the league for his illegal block on Eugene Wilson, who was injured on the play and did not return.

Update, 5 September: Yep. The league penalized Favre $10,000 for the illegal hit.

August 22, 2009

What a contrast!

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 08:56

I didn’t get to see this game (no surprise at all during the pre-season), so I’m depending on press reports for the details. Wow! The amazing quarterback seems to have arrived in Minnesota, although he was booed by the crowd when he took the field: 12 completed passes from 15 attempts, 2 touchdowns, 202 yards, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. I’m very impressed . . . with Tarvaris Jackson.

Oh, and Brett Favre was also in the game: 1 of 4 completions for 4 yards over two series. But he got a standing ovation from the Metrodome crowd when he ran on to the field.

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