Quotulatiousness

October 13, 2010

Vikings lose CB Cedric Griffin to torn ACL

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

Cedric Griffin has had a terrible year: he tore his left ACL in overtime against the Saints in the NFC championship game, and tore his right ACL on Monday against the Jets. He’s out for the remainder of the season:

Griffin suffered the injury while making a tackle in the fourth quarter in Monday’s 29-20 loss to the New York Jets. This is a tough blow for Griffin, who tore the ACL in his left knee while covering a kickoff in the NFC Championship game last January.

Griffin worked extremely hard to return from that injury and made his season debut in the third game against Detroit. Griffin surprised the coaching staff by playing the entire game. Griffin tore the ACL in his right knee while tackling Braylon Edwards on a short pass in the fourth quarter. He left the locker room on crutches and received words of encouragement from several teammates.

Coach Brad Childress acknowledged Griffin is done for the season and said he talked to the player about 3:30 this morning after the Vikings arrived back at Winter Park. “I think he was in a little bit of a fog,” Childress said. “He was in this morning and got in and got out of here very quickly, which we wanted to facilitate. I think he’s probably just taking it all in right now. … It’s probably kind of a, ‘Why me’ thing right now.”

As rookie Chris Cook is recovering from a minor knee injury, the Vikings will probably have to start Asher Allen in place of Griffin.

October 12, 2010

Vikings fall short in 2-minute drill

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 07:39

After either a thrilling defensive struggle or a boring low-scoring affair (take your pick), the Vikings suddenly became dangerous through the air, with two touchdowns to Percy Harvin and one to Randy Moss. The Favre-to-Moss score was historic, as it was Brett Favre’s 500th TD (and he went over the 70,000 yards of total passing milestone on that series — nearly 40 miles through the air).

Minnesota’s defence kept them in the game, limiting the Jets to only field goals through the first half, but spending far too much time on the field — the Vikings managed just barely more than 50 yards of total offense through 30 minutes. The end of the first half must have seemed more like the end of a regular game for the tired defenders.

In addition to the other records, Favre also passed Warren Moon for the top all time in another category: fumbles. He fumbled the ball twice (both times the Jets came up with the ball), including one that he dropped onto Adrian Peterson’s foot for an unplanned punt.

After the second Harvin TD, it was a two-point game (the Vikings having missed a conversion to tie the game). The Vikings finally appeared to be clicking, with the offensive line keeping the pressure off Favre and the receivers managing to get open for passes.

The Jets gave Minnesota a gift in their second-to-last series, stopping the clock twice and going incomplete on third down to give the Vikings nearly two full minutes to close out the game with a score. Favre then re-gifted the opportunity back to New York with an intercepted pass that was run in for the game-sealing score.

The game, however interesting, may have been less important than the latest scandal to excite the media feeding frenzy:

The Vikings shocked the NFL world by orchestrating a trade that brought Randy Moss back to Minnesota. Who would have guessed it would become a secondary story by the end of the week?

The Moss trade became a sidebar to the evolving scandal involving Brett Favre and alleged inappropriate messages and photos sent to former New York Jets employee Jenn Sterger in 2008.

The story, broken by the website Deadspin.com, gained steam throughout the weekend and serves as a juicy subplot to the Vikings’ Monday night game against … you guessed it, the New York Jets.

The “sexting” story actually broke a while back, but for some reason didn’t catch the media’s attention until this week. The NFL is investigating, which may end up with some disciplinary action against Favre if they determine that the story has validity.

October 11, 2010

Let’s hope it’s 1975 all over again

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 11:17

I find it hard to believe it, but that’s the only time the Vikings have ever beaten the Jets:

With WR Randy Moss expected to play, the Vikings now have the vertical outside threat they need to allow Percy Harvin to play the slot, where his versatility is put to better use. And stretching the defense will only make RB Adrian Peterson more explosive as the Jets will have to pick their poison. Moss will likely be shadowed by CB Darrelle Revis (hamstring), who returns after missing a game and last week said Moss didn’t always play 100 percent during their Week 2 matchup against New England.

Jets QB Mark Sanchez has thrown eight touchdown passes over the past three games and gets WR Santonio Holmes back from suspension to add another downfield weapon. Sanchez’s ability to keep moving the offense will be key as the Vikings allow just 3.6 yards per carry and back quarterbacks into consistent third-and-long situations. Minnesota’s pass defense has improved with the returns of CB Cedric Griffin.

[. . .]

– The Vikings’ only victory over the Jets came on Oct. 12, 1975, when they beat New York, 29-21, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minn.
– The Vikings will be happy to be playing in the New Meadowlands. They never beat the Jets in their former home, going 0-4 at the Meadowlands against them.
– The Vikings have played the second fewest games out of any NFL team against the Jets, only having met them eight times since 1970.

[. . .]

SERIES HISTORY: 9th regular-season meeting. Jets lead series, 7-1. York has won six in a row dating to the 1979 season. The Vikings’ only win in the series was in 1975.

October 7, 2010

Feschuk and Reid don’t think adding Moss will help the Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 17:22

The Two Scotts are rather sniffy about how much, if any, improvement the Vikings will see by adding Randy Moss:

Feschuk: So Randy Moss is back with the Vikings — because nothing inspires a veteran to new heights than returning to the scene of his greatest suckouts, hissy fits and feigned moonings that make Joe Buck cry. Clearly, this is an attempt to appease Brett Favre, which is a waste of time because everyone knows you can’t please old people.

     Coach Childress: Hey, Brett, look! I brought you a shiny new deep threat!

     Brett: Bah. Nobody visits me and ham doesn’t taste like it used to.

Pick: New York.

Reid: The Moss deal got me to thinking: Mabye we could get traded back to the PMO. Sure, Harper would be a bit different to work for than Martin — there would be fewer free-wheeling debates, more cats and way more waterboarding. But wouldn’t it be nice to tear it up big in the old town again? I guess that’s the nostalgic glow that’s roped Randy Moss back to Prince territory. Here’s a fun party game: Add Randy Moss’ age to the number of seasons Brett Favre has played, then divide by the total touchdown passes that Bernard Berrian has caught this year. If it comes out zero, congratulations. You’re not only correct, you’re Brad Childress — watching your season circle the toilet bowl. I’m not saying this looks desperate but the Vikings may have to change their name to Danny Bonaduce. Pick: New York.

October 6, 2010

Patriots trading Randy Moss?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 09:02

An interesting development, indeed: NFL.com is reporting that a deal to send wide receiver Randy Moss back to Minnesota is “99 percent complete”:

The Patriots would receive a 2011 third-round draft pick in exchange for the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, who started his NFL career with the Vikings in 1998. Had New England allowed Moss to leave in free agency next offseason, it would have received a third-round selection in the 2012 draft as compensation.

Moss, who’s in the final year of his current contract, is scheduled to make $6.4 million in base salary this season. He wants a new deal, but he wouldn’t receive one from the Vikings as part of the trade, Lombardi reported.

[. . .]

What could change is the uniform that Moss wears, although he knows it well.

A first-round draft pick out of Marshall, Moss played in Minnesota from 1998 to 2004 and posted six 1,000-yard seasons. He was traded to the Oakland Raiders and had two mediocre seasons before being dealt to New England, where he enjoyed a resurgence. He caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes in 2007, his first season with the Patriots, and hasn’t had fewer than 1,000 receiving yards in a full season with the team.

If so, great! I was very sorry to see Randy leave the team, and it’s been an open secret for years that Brett Favre wanted to play with Moss. The Vikings are desperate for a number one receiver while Sidney Rice recovers from surgery, so this would be a no-brainer. I really hope this isn’t just empty rumours . . .

Update: It’s supposedly a done deal.

More than 38 years after quarterback Fran Tarkenton returned to the Vikings after once being traded away, receiver Randy Moss has gone home, too.

With the chances of the deal hovering in the high 90th percentile only an hour ago, the deal has been completed, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

The Vikings get Moss, and the Patriots get a third-round pick in the 2011 draft.

The looming deal was first reported by Jay Glazer of FOX, who also reports that the deal is done. Glazer reports that the Vikings hope to get Moss to Minnesota ASAP in order to commence preparations for the Monday night game against the Jets. Practices begin on Thursday.

We haven’t done the research, but we’re assuming that Moss is the first player in NFL history to appear in back-to-back Monday Night Football games.

The parallels between Moss and Tarkenton are eerie. Both players started their careers with the Vikings and spent six years with the team. Both players were gone for five years. Both players eventually returned.

Let’s hope that the Tarkenton parallels continue . . . Tark was a key component of the dominant Viking teams that went to three Superbowls.

Update, the second: Randy Moss jerseys already on sale at the Vikings store:

October 4, 2010

Jared Allen needs a new post-sack celebration routine

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 08:57

Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins report that the new head of NFL officiating wants the “calf roping” routine stopped:

An NFL spokesman confirmed Sunday that the league has informed Allen and the Vikings that the All-Pro defensive end will be penalized and possibly fined if he performs his “calf roping” celebration after a sack. FOX Sports first reported the story.

The league prohibits players from going to the ground in celebrations. After sacks, Allen takes a knee, pretends to rope a calf and then throws his arms in the air. Allen presumably can still perform his celebration as long as he’s standing on his feet.

Allen has performed his post-sack celebration for years so it’s curious the league is threatening punishment now. Asked about the new stance, a league spokesman wrote in an e-mail: “That is how the new head of officiating wants it enforced.”

It is odd that something that’s been okay for Allen’s entire career is suddenly singled out as having been in violation of the rules for all this time. If this trend continues, how long will it be before any celebration by the players will draw an unsportsmanlike penalty?

October 3, 2010

Interesting speculation for the 2011 NFL season

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:57

In a post advising Vikings fans which games this weekend will be of particular interest (our boys having the week off due to an early bye), this item was quite interesting:

After beating Dallas in Week 1, a loss today will be the ‘Skins’ third straight. There will be fingers pointed, which, from the Vikings’ perspective is good. Those who know their history know that the Vikings offense is a glove fit for certain quarterbacks. One was Brett Favre. When his time ran out in Green Bay, the Packers knew that he could kick butt running the same offense with the Vikings. They shipped him off to the Jets, where he was in a foreign offense for the first time in his career. He posted an 8-4 record before injuring his biceps tendon, but, in the end, failed with the Jets. The next year, he ended up with the Vikings. McNabb is being asked to adjust to a Redskins offense that Mike Shanahan has devised — not a West Coast Offense he has spent his entire career running. McNabb hasn’t signed a contract extension — which many insiders thought was a prerequisite to the Redskins making a trade to get him. Unless the Redskins franchise McNabb next year, he will become a free agent. Déjà vu? Let us be among those to throw out the possibility of McNabb replacing Favre as the Vikings QB in 2011. Just sayin’.

I think that might be a worthwhile scenario . . . if Tarvaris Jackson isn’t re-signed next year, it leaves only rookie Joe Webb on the roster at QB. What little I’ve seen of Webb gives me hope for the future, but I’d be astounded if he was ready to start next season (assuming there will be a 2011 season, of course). Bringing in another aging veteran might make a lot of sense in that situation.

September 27, 2010

Detroit improves, but not enough to beat Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 08:36

Yesterday’s 24-10 victory was a result of two things going well for the Vikings: the base defence and Adrian Peterson. Peterson ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns (including a career-long 80 yard run), while the defence kept Detroit to three-and-out several times. All of Detroit’s points came from turnovers. Brett Favre had a less-than-stellar outing, with only 201 yards passing for one touchdown and two interceptions, being sacked twice and hit several other times.

On their first offensive play, the Vikings lost starting center John Sullivan to a calf injury. Ryan Cook looked quite good coming off the bench to replace him. Later in the game, Visanthe Shiancoe had a leg injury and left the field.

Minnesota’s passing game is still very much a work in progress: although Favre distributed the ball to lots of receivers, it was almost all short passes. The longest pass was the touchdown reception by Percy Harvin, and that appears to have been a defensive miscue, leaving Harvin uncovered.

It was the first NFL start for rookie cornerback Chris Cook, who was injured in the preseason and the first start of the season for Cedric Griffin, who is now fully recovered from his torn ACL in the NFC championship game.

September 26, 2010

Vikings-Lions . . . the NFC North’s basement dwellers

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 10:40

After missing going to the Superbowl by inches last season, the Vikings are on a two-game losing streak. They look nothing like last season’s dominant squad, and there’s a hint of desperation in the air. Normally, facing the Detroit Lions would be a gimme for the Vikings. It might still be today, but as Jim Souhan points out, things may be changing in Detroit:

The worst Midwestern franchise this side of the Timberwolves will play in the Metrodome on Sunday, and the Vikings may leave a trail of rose petals between the Lions’ hotel and the stadium, just to make sure they show up on time.

In a sink-or-swim league, the Lions have long been the Vikings’ water wings. Sunday, the Vikes have the privilege of facing a should-lose team in a must-win game.

Where would the Vikings be without the Lions? Bud Grant (26-8-1 against Detroit) might not be in the Hall of Fame. Mike Tice (8-0 against the Lions) wouldn’t have kept his job so long. Brad Childress (7-1 against Detroit) would have a lower approval rating than house mold.

The Lions are to the Vikings what the curtain was to the Wizard of Oz.

Here’s the problem for The Purple: This might be the last day for a long time they can treat the Lions like kitty litter.

It’s frequently said that football teams are built from the lines. No matter how good your quarterback is, if the offensive line can’t keep him upright long enough to throw the ball or hand off to the running back, you’re not going to win games. On the defensive side of the ball, the more pressure your linemen can get on the opposing quarterback, the fewer options they have and the less likely they are to score. Detroit has done a good job of building their defensive line for this season, adding Kyle Vanden Bosh, Corey Williams, and rookie Ndamukong Suh.

Minnesota has been having trouble keeping Brett Favre standing upright and wearing a clean jersey this season. The Lions are starting to become the kind of team opposing quarterbacks hate to face (they sacked Michael Vick five times in last week’s game against the Eagles).

And all of this doesn’t mention that Detroit appears to have a franchise quarterback (although injured for this game), a very impressive rookie running back, and a legitimate number one wide receiver. The kind of line-up the Lions have not been able to boast of since their glory days — and nobody seems to remember when those glory days might have been.

As Souhan says, maybe it won’t be this year for Detroit, but they have started to improve and may not be the cupcake of the NFC for much longer.

September 24, 2010

You know your football season is in trouble when . . .

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 10:24

. . . even the funny guys are picking Detroit to beat you:

Detroit (plus 10.5) at Minnesota

Feschuk: Did you get a good look at Brett Favre last week? He looked as utterly dazed and defeated as Frodo climbing Mount Doom or Robert DeNiro suddenly realizing he was starring in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I haven’t seen anyone regret a decision so intensely since the last eight women to marry Larry King. Conventional wisdom holds that the Vikes will turn it all around this week. But the Lions have 10 sacks in their first two games and — just as important — a talent for scoring late, otherwise inconsequential touchdowns that result in a cover. Pick: Detroit.

Reid: According to a new book, evidence has recently been uncovered that it was a crew member who mistakenly steered the Titanic into the iceberg, guaranteeing its doom. Any resemblance to Brett Favre is coincidental. Brad Childress? That resemblance is better described as entirely accurate. Pick: Detroit.

Okay, to be fair, they’re just picking Detroit to do better than lose by 10.5 point, but still . . .

If Detroit’s new defensive line is as good as they’ve been in the first two games, Brett Favre will not have fun in this game. Better ensure that Tarvaris Jackson (and even Joe Webb) get properly warmed up.

September 23, 2010

Chargers don’t get sweet enough offer for Vincent Jackson

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 09:23

The Minnesota Vikings still don’t have an answer for their wide receiver woes: the San Diego Chargers decided not to accept any of the offers for their disgruntled-but-talented Vincent Jackson. The NFL had set a deadline of 3pm yesterday for a deal to be struck, but San Diego didn’t get what they wanted from the Vikings or other teams, so Jackson will have to serve the full six game suspension and may not play at all this year.

As Judd Zulgad points out, this leaves the Vikings even thinner going in to this weekend’s matchup with the improving Detroit Lions:

The Vikings were hoping to end Wednesday with Pro Bowl wide receiver Vincent Jackson in tow. Instead, their receiver situation became even more unsettled as Jackson remained a holdout in San Diego and injury issues continued to mount.

Percy Harvin, already battling a hip strain, missed practice after another recurrence of migraines, and Bernard Berrian was limited because of an issue with his knee.

[. . .]

Jackson would not have been an immediate help to the Vikings, but he could have been on the field as early as Oct. 17 against Dallas, if a trade could have been worked out. Coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, Jackson was considered a potential short-term replacement for the injured Sidney Rice.

Jackson, who is 6-5, would have given Favre the type of big target that he’s lacking, with the 6-4 Rice expected to miss half the season after having hip surgery.

The Vikings reportedly had agreed to a one-year deal with Jackson’s agents that would have been worth more than $6 million for 12 games of work. There also was believed to be a potential option year in the contract. However, the Vikings, and other teams, were unable to reach an agreement on trade terms with the Chargers by a 3 p.m. deadline Wednesday.

I’m in two minds about the deal: the Vikings are getting desperate enough at wide receiver to suit up Brad Childress or perhaps give Pat Williams a chance, but the Jackson situation had the potential to bring as much trouble to the team off the field as his play might have helped on the field.

With so many of their talented players coming up on the end of their contracts, it would send a terrible signal to reward a player like Jackson for his behaviour. I have to assume that’s why the Vikings didn’t pony up the kind of offer San Diego was looking for, and in the long term, I think it was the right decision. Brett Favre may have a different opinion, however.

September 22, 2010

NFL still not setting the right example for concussed players

Filed under: Football, Health — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 07:20

Gregg Easterbrook shows that the NFL’s thoughts about the proper way to address concussions still haven’t changed:

The core problem is that football coaches at the high school, college and professional levels are rewarded for winning games but not penalized for allowing their players to be harmed. A coach who sits a player down out of concern for the player’s health may pay a price, if a game is lost. A coach who sends a concussed player onto the field may never be penalized in any way if that player suffers another concussion. Human beings respond to incentives, and right now the coaches’ incentive is to be irresponsible with players’ health.

Yes, the culture of football macho contributes to the problem: Many players ask to return to action when battling injury, including neurological harm. But coaches are the ones who make the decisions. They’re the adults in charge. And their incentive structure is all wrong.

Coaches receive money and accolades if they mistreat players and win; they are not disciplined, or seemingly even criticized, if players are harmed. Same for the front office in the NFL, the athletic department in college and the athletic director in high school. If the team loses, the fans and boosters are furious. If players suffer harm, there are no consequences whatsoever for the people making the decisions. And at the high school level, legally they are caring for children!

September 20, 2010

Vikings put themselves deeper in the hole

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:35

I didn’t see yesterday’s game . . . and it sounds as if I missed a really disappointing viewing opportunity:

Sunday’s loss came down to missed opportunities for the Vikings, who wasted Adrian Peterson’s first regular-season 100-yard rushing performance since last Nov. 15 against Detroit.

The stats indicate this was a one-sided game — in the Vikings’ favor.

They ran 72 offensive plays to 46 for the Dolphins. They had 364 total yards to 226 for Miami and controlled the ball for 35 minutes, 48 seconds.

But when faced with crucial situations, the Vikings failed. They converted five of 14 third-down opportunities and were unsuccessful on three of four fourth-down attempts. The Vikings brought the ball into the red zone five times but came away with only one touchdown.

Favre threw three interceptions — one more than all of last season at home — and committed a crucial fumble in the third quarter, recovered by Miami linebacker Koa Misi in the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-0 Dolphins lead.

Tom Powers wonders how long it’ll be before the team (or the fans) reach for that panic button:

The magic is gone. Or at least it has been misplaced.

Brett Favre and the Vikings’ offense had labored all game Sunday at the Metrodome. But with 1:42 left, they took the field, trailing by four points, 55 yards from victory. Favre has made a career out of situations such as these. And not one soul from among the sellout crowd for the season’s first home game had dared move toward the exit. This was Favre time.

On the sideline, coach Brad Childress felt confident. Despite watching Favre occasionally misfire against the Dolphins and watching a sub-par receiving corps struggle to make plays, he was convinced something good was about to happen. He could sense it.

“You do,” he agreed afterward. “And we had a timeout left.”

Not this time. What in the past would have been a final, glorious Vikings touchdown drive fizzled. The last play was a raggedy-looking short pass toward Visanthe Shiancoe over the middle. Then the Vikings walked off the field, heads down, staring at an oh and two record after their 14-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Somewhere in Vikings Land there is a big red button just waiting to be pushed. Then sirens will wail and buzzers will bellow. Then it officially will be time to panic. Can that button be pushed after just two games?

So, Brett Favre has now had his post-pre-season workout . . . will he be back in synch with his receivers next week? It took three regular season games last year, against weaker opponents than the first two this year. The defence is in late-season form: they’ve been doing more than their share of the fighting, it’s the other guys in the passing attack who haven’t been picking up the slack.

Bernard Berrian is making a case for him not being with the team next year: this was his big opportunity to prove that he’s a number one receiver, but he’s not making the case (Powers is even harsher, “Bernard Berrian is about as useful as a hood ornament”). Visanthe Shiancoe once again was the leading receiver, and Adrian Peterson had his best running performance in more than a year . . . but the wide receivers didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

It’s not impossible for the Vikings to right the ship and sail on to a division title . . . it’s just the next thing to impossible at 0-2 with the Packers doing everything right.

September 15, 2010

Fantasy football strategies

Filed under: Football — Tags: — Nicholas @ 07:28

I’ve been participating in simple fantasy football pools for a while, although the closest I’ve come to winning was a tie for second place in the first year I took part. Picking winners and losers isn’t too hard — except when lots of upsets occur (see, for example, opening weekend this year) — but picking against the spread is much tougher. If you’re not doing as well as you’d like in your fantasy football picks, Gregg Easterbrook has a formula you might be interested in trying:

The Isaacson-Tarbell Postulate, proposed by TMQ readers Eric Isaacson of Indiana University and Catey Tarbell of Kirkland, Wash., holds: Best Record Wins Unless Records Equal, Then Home Team Wins. If you’d picked 2009 NFL games using this simple algorithm, you would have picked 167 of 267 contests correctly, a better performance record than many professional touts. The Isaacson-Tarbell Postulate is a huge time-saver because you don’t have to think about picks — you don’t even need to know who’s playing! Eric and Catey’s system works well except in the first week of the season, when the formula simply chooses the home team, and in Week 17, when many winning teams have locked in their highest seed and are resting starters. So last year I tested a Transformed Isaacson-Tarbell Postulate, which uses the formula except in Week 1 and Week 17; those I forecast the old-fashioned way, by thinking. Using the Transformed approach, I called 174 games correctly. That beat nearly all NFL writers and television personalities; the only one I saw who did better was Pete O’Brien of USA Today, who got 176 right.

This year TMQ will test a new auto-predictor, proposed by Tom Davis of Las Vegas. Davis writes, “A while back you noted in a column, ‘Studies have shown that the prediction most likely to be correct is simply forecasting that existing trends will continue.’ Why not apply this to the NFL? If a team won the previous week, predict them to win the following week; if they lost, predict them to lose again. If you have two teams who won last week or two teams who lost last week playing each other, default to the generic and choose the home team. It’s basically a tit-for-tat strategy, but I’d assume it would be as accurate as any of the ‘experts’ out there. And it does not require time-consuming thinking.”

The Davis Postulate holds: Existing Trends Continue; If Trends Same, Home Team Wins. I will track games using this predictor and also using a Transformed Davis Postulate in which I predict the first and final weeks of the season the old-fashioned way, by thinking.

I went 9-7 on the opening weekend (could have gotten 10, but I always take the Vikings to win). I may try the Isaacson-Tarbell Postulate this week, to make up lost ground.

September 12, 2010

Vikings face uphill struggle in new season

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 00:08

The acid-penned Jim Souhan points out the difficulties facing the Vikings this season:

For months, the Vikings’ opener at New Orleans, in a rematch of an epic NFC title game, in the home of a city believing the Saints offered proof of its rebirth, felt as consequential and symbolic as Christmas.

Turns out it was more like Halloween — a holiday signifying little, featuring loud costumes and leaving half the participants with queasy stomachs.

Ugly and overhyped as it was, the Vikings’ 14-9 loss to the Saints doesn’t mean much. Losing on the road to a championship team early in the season is hardly fatal. It was just another Fleur de Loss in “The City That Doesn’t Sleep In Its Own Bed.”

What the loss means is that the Vikings suddenly have little margin for error. They haven’t dealt with this predicament previously with Favre at their helm.

Last year, they started with easy victories over Cleveland and Detroit, stole one from the 49ers and started the season 6-0. The early winning streak gave them immense confidence and a cushion in the NFC North that allowed them to survive unsightly late-season losses at Arizona, Carolina and Chicago.

In fact, that early winning streak obscured the Vikings’ struggles on the road under Favre. Including the end of last season, the playoff loss at New Orleans and Thursday’s loss, the Vikings have lost six of their past seven road games with Favre under center, a strange occurrence given his experience.

As I’ve enumerated before, the Vikings were lucky to return so many of their 2009 starting players and key backups, but luck had a lot to do with their early season last year. They’re not as lucky this time around, and it’ll be easy for bandwagoners to bail in coming weeks. The Vikings still have the talent to go deep into the playoffs — once Favre gets into synchronization with his wide receivers. That will take a few more games, if last year is a guide.

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