Quotulatiousness

August 23, 2010

San Francisco 15, Vikings 10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:43

Last night’s preseason game had a brief cameo appearance by Brett Favre, who only completed one pass to Adrian Peterson, and then took a big sack. Favre got up smiling after the sack, so he wasn’t hurt by it, but it was Peterson’s man who got through to Favre. Peterson needs to be better at picking up blitzes in order to stay on the field in third down situations (Chester Taylor used to do third down blocking, but he’s with Chicago this year).

Tarvaris Jackson took over at quarterback after the first series, and played the remainder of the first half. The Vikings’ offensive line didn’t show great form, allowing another sack of Jackson (that was Chris Clark’s man getting the sack) and allowing several hits on him as he released the ball. The defensive line wasn’t its usual dominant self either, as the 49ers were able to score the first points of the game against the Vikings’ starters. E.J. Henderson got his first start after coming back from a late-season injury that many thought might be a career-ender. The defensive backfield had a different look to it, with cornerback Antoine Winfield only playing one series, then giving way to second-round pick Chris Cook. The other corner was manned by Lito Sheppard and Asher Allen playing alternating series. Jamarca Sanford started at strong safety, then alternated with last season’s starter Tyrell Johnson.

Joe Webb, who the Vikings originally planned to convert to wide receiver, made a strong case for sticking on the regular season roster:

Webb, a sixth-round pick out of Alabama-Birmingham, completed seven of 14 passes for 47 yards in the fourth quarter and, more important, ran for 53 yards on three carries, including a 48-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 54 seconds left. He then showed his inexperience by getting sacked on the final play of the game for a safety.

The Vikings likely won’t get much of a look at Webb on Saturday night in their third game of the preseason against Seattle. It will be the Vikings’ exhibition home opener and, as is usually the case, the starters are expected to play into the third quarter. That will include Favre, who must get settled back into this offense after missing the first two weeks of training camp.

The problem for the Vikings is that they plan to carry only three quarterbacks on the roster, and Favre, Jackson, and Sage Rosenfels all returned from last season. Webb could be a good quarterback — given a year or two of seasoning — but he’s looked too good in his brief opportunities to risk trying to sneak him on to the practice squad, which may mean the Vikings need to hold a regular roster spot open for him.

August 4, 2010

QotD: Keyshawn keeps his priorities straight

Filed under: Football, Humour, Media, Quotations — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 17:30

For as much as the network has made fun of Favre over the last couple of years for his decision to keep playing, when he speaks — or texts — people listen, and ESPN became “All Favre All the Time” Tuesday. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., almost every minute of coverage was devoted to Favre and, considering that ESPN employs just about as many NFL people as the league itself, it had a variety of people to draw from.

Steve Young thought he would play three or four more years. Mike Golic said the Vikings are a borderline playoff team without Favre and not a Super Bowl contender. Trent Dilfer was “shocked.” Andy Reid said, “I’ve been asked that question once or twice.” Antonio Freeman said he won’t believe it until Sept. 9 when the Vikings play and Favre isn’t there. Mike Ditka said, “He’s a 40-year old 17-year old.” Jon Gruden said he is “one of the toughest human beings to ever walk the planet.” Keyshawn Johnson talked about himself.

John Holler, “With Favre, everyone has an opinion”, Viking Update, 2010-08-04

Favre retirement story switches again

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 13:15

Yesterday, the sports news was full of the “Brett Favre is retiring” meme. Today, we’re back to “Of course he’s going to play”. Favre denies having sent any text messages announcing his decision:

Brett Favre told ESPN’s Ed Werder in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Wednesday that he has not made any decision about returning to play for the Minnesota Vikings this season and says he will play if healthy.

Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, said in a statement to the NFL Network on Wednesday that the quarterback has an appointment with Dr. James Andrews next week and will know more at that time. Andrews performed surgery on Favre’s ankle in May.

Favre denied sending text messages to Vikings teammates and club officials that might have indicated he had decided to retire.

Favre told ESPN that he has decided to play for Minnesota in 2010 if his surgically repaired ankle heals but said the fact he has not been able to decide his future reflects his level of concern about regaining his health.

Tarvaris Jackson isn’t the happiest man in Minnesota today (but then again, he probably didn’t take the story seriously yesterday either).

August 3, 2010

Brett Favre announces his retirement

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 11:13

Either he’s really worried about that ankle, or he’s upset that his intentions are being taken for granted . . . and this will certainly shake things up in the NFC North. Bleacher Report has a quick summary:

Brett Favre began to inform Vikings officials Monday night he will not return for his 20th season, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Jay Glazer of FOX.

Favre reportedly told teammates and coaches that his ankle has not responded and he doesn’t plan to play this year. Favre is expected to issue a press release later Tuesday and the team hopes he changes his mind.

If the retired-then-unretired-then-re-retired Favre doesn’t change his mind again, the happiest man in Minnesota today is Tarvaris Jackson.

Update: ESPN report:

Update, the second: Of course, for some people this news means that the sad-sack Vikings will be lucky to beat anyone this season. Apparently the only thing that matters for success in the NFL is your quarterback: running backs, wide receivers, offensive line, defence, they’re all immaterial compared to the quality of your quarterback.

July 31, 2010

Vikings training camp opens

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:41

The Minnesota Vikings opened training camp yesterday at Mankato. Not attending, as expected, is quarterback Brett Favre. Two players started camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list: cornerback Cedric Griffin (recovering from a torn ACL) and wide receiver Sidney Rice (hip injury from the NFC title game).

Pat Williams reportedly lost 18 pounds over the off-season, prompting coach Brad Childress to say “Pat’s big enough to eat hay and (poop) in the street. I’m not sure how he lost those 18 pounds, but I’m happy he did.”

July 27, 2010

It must not be Favre-centric enough yet . . .

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:41

. . . now instead of playing the “will I/won’t I” game, he’s tossing out the notion of playing for another decade:

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre figured he was “done” playing football at 40 years old immediately after the NFC Championship Game, but now isn’t ready to say whether he will return for 2010, retire — or maybe hang around for another decade.

In an interview published today in USA Today, Favre compared the latest left ankle surgery he underwent 10 weeks ago to “doin’ patchwork on a your truck or lawn mower.

“If you do enough patchwork, eventually you’ve got to a get a new one,” he joked. “Hell, you gotta quit sometime. Then again, maybe I will be doing this when I’m 50 years old, who knows?”

While I expect Favre to decide to play just after training camp breaks (as he’s on record as hating to attend, and arranged to sign with Minnesota at that point last year), I could do without the constant public indecision . . .

April 30, 2010

Favre’s ankle still not recovered from NFC Championship game

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

For a second year in a row, Brett Favre will have to consider surgery in order to play in the coming season. Ed Werder has the details:

Favre, who would turn 41 during the 2010 season, told ESPN the ankle injury that he suffered three months ago in the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints continues to be swollen and painful.

That prompted tests to determine why healing had not occurred and Favre sent the results of those scans to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who told the quarterback his opinion that surgery is unavoidable.

“We have spoken,” Favre said in an e-mail. “To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 — much like Green Bay for many years. That’s what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging.”

Favre said he must determine whether his affection for the Vikings and his belief they are capable of winning the Super Bowl overrides his disdain for surgery.

Of course, the Vikings may have their quarterback of the future in Ryan Perrilloux . . .

January 25, 2010

Vikings dominant in all categories, except the most important one

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:04

Minnesota looked great in the stat sheet: total yards — 475 yards to 257, passing — 310 yards to 189 and rushing 165 to the Saints’ 68. But there was one big number they couldn’t overcome: turnovers. It was as if someone had greased the football, with Adrian Peterson fumbling twice (once on the Saints’ goal line) and recovering a third. Even Percy Harvin let one get away from him, while Brett Favre was picked off twice (once to kill the Vikings’ best chance to win in regulation time). The Saints, by comparison, played almost turnover free, except for a bad decision on fielding a punt by Reggie Bush.

Brett Favre took a beating, as Saints defenders took every opportunity to hit him (only drawing a penalty once for a flagrant hit). Near the end of the third quarter, Favre was so slow getting up again that it appeared he’d be leaving the game. After having his ankle examined and re-taped, Favre re-entered the game on the next series. He must have been quite emphatic about it with the coaches, as backup Tarvaris Jackson didn’t even start warming up.

Chip Scoggins talked with Adrian Peterson after the game:

Adrian Peterson came out of the locker room — still dressed in full uniform — to watch the New Orleans Saints celebrate their first trip to the Super Bowl. As fans cheered, confetti fell and the Saints gathered on a stage at midfield, Peterson stood silent and watched the scene from the tunnel.

“It was painful,” he said. “Especially the way the game ended. Our guys fought hard and I honestly feel like we just gave the game away. Too many turnovers. It came back at the end to bite us.”
Peterson had a hand in that. Though he finally rushed for 100 yards and scored three touchdowns, Peterson also fumbled two times and took responsibility for the botched handoff at the end of the first half.

Peterson finished with 122 yards rushing on 25 carries, ending a streak of eight games without reaching the 100-yard mark. But his performance was marred by his fumbles and he admitted afterward that he started thinking too much about his mistakes.

“After the first one close to the goal line, I let it play in my head too much,” he said. “I came out the second half and was thinking about it too much. I had to get my mind back focused and not thinking about it when I was out there.”

Peterson’s fumbling problem became a major issue in his third season. He fumbled seven times, losing six of them in the regular season. He said he will spend the offseason trying to solve it.

January 19, 2010

TMQ’s view of the Minnesota-Dallas playoff game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 13:05

I don’t always agree with Gregg Easterbrook, but I always find him an interesting writer. Here’s some of his observations on the Vikings-Cowboys game:

Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees — the run-up to Title Weekend is sure to focus on them. For my money, the Colts, Jets, Saints and Vikings made the championship round because they have the league’s four best offensive lines.

Ninety percent of the action in football occurs away from the ball. When Jersey/B runners burst into the clear, or Favre casually dissects a defense, what’s going on is terrific blocking. Manning was sacked less than any other NFL quarterback this season because the Colts’ offensive line is tremendous. The Jets are in the championship round because of the holes their blockers open. The Vikings’ and Saints’ offensive lines both pass-block and run-block equally well, which is a rare combination. The TV commentators will be watching the glory boys holding the football. I’ll be watching the offensive lines. All four are tremendous.

[. . .] between a first-ever chance to host an NFC title game, and the travails of the city of New Orleans, there will be more energy in the Superdome on Sunday than in Iron Man’s pulse reactor. The sheer atmosphere-power within the facility may exceed the crowd feeling of any other game in NFL history. The Vikings are 9-0 at home this season, and 4-4 on the road — the only quality team they beat on the road was the Packers. NFL players are not intimidated by crowd noise. But it won’t just be crowd noise, it will be energy. The Vikings face an uphill climb.

Adrian Peterson — remember him? He hasn’t had a 100-yard rushing game since Nov. 15. The New Orleans run defense is weak, while its pass defense is strong. A conservative, rush-oriented game plan might be just what the doctor ordered considering New Orleans’ personnel and the need to keep the Saints’ league-leading offense off the field. But with Brett Favre and Brad Childress both preoccupied with pumping up Favre’s stats (see below) will Minnesota be able to bring itself to do the smart thing and use a conservative game plan?

When the Saints have the ball, you just never know what is going to happen. They probably don’t either, which is the joy of watching this team. When attention turns to the Vikings, all eyes are on Favre. But what makes Minnesota special is the best pair of lines in the league. The offensive line is stout, the defensive line is fantastic. The Vikings just clobbered the Cowboys via superior line play — if they are to win in New Orleans, their lines will be the key.

I’m looking forward to watching the Saints-Vikings game, but Easterbrook’s praise of Minnesota is a tad overdone. The offensive and defensive lines are good, but they have had some bad outings in the last month, and the offensive line is much better at pass blocking than run blocking (Adrian Peterson is one of the best running backs in the NFL, but even he can’t run if there are no running lanes opened up for him). It’s also not yet known how bad the leg injury to Ray Edwards was (no official word until tomorrow). If he can’t play, it’ll depend on Jared Allen fighting through double-team blocking without the same threat from the other side of the line.

The Brett-Favre-to-Sidney-Rice connection has been wonderful, but after Sunday’s game, New Orleans will be double-teaming Rice all afternoon. Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe will have to get open much more this week than they did this time. New Orleans is supposed to be weak against the run (they’ve jumped ahead in most games, so teams have had to throw against them to try to catch up). I hope that’s true, and that Adrian gets some good run blocking to let him do what he’s proven he can do best: hit those lanes and take it to the house.

January 17, 2010

The nailbiter-that-wasn’t

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 17:29

With most media reports emphasizing how Dallas on their five-game winning streak had the advantage over Minnesota, the results didn’t bear out the prognostications. DeMarcus Ware was going to make Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie look like rag dolls. The Dallas nose tackle was going to use Vikings centre Sullivan as a welcome mat. Jason Whitten was going to have a career game against Minnesota’s notoriously bad secondary.

34-3 was the final score, clearly showing the experts knew what they were talking about.

Well, in another universe anyway. Dallas had a great start to the game, putting up lots of yards against the Vikings, while the Vikings had negative yardage. But Dallas couldn’t get into the end zone, while the Vikings started getting there on a regular basis. Brett Favre set yet another record (his 4 TD passes were a personal playoff mark), and receiver Sidney Rice was on the receiving end of three of them, the fourth going to Visanthe Shiancoe. Jared Allen made lots of noise in the Dallas backfield, drawing attention away from the other side of the line, where Ray Edwards tallied three sacks (half of the Vikings’ total in the game).

Although the Vikings’ offensive line kept Favre relatively untroubled, they still didn’t do enough to open running lanes for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. Facing New Orleans for the NFC title game next week, the line had better do more to create those lanes, as the Saints are not good at defending against the run.

January 3, 2010

Vikings break out of slump with 44-7 win over Giants

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 23:26

It’s been a tough month, but December is over and the Vikings put on a convincing show to defeat the New York Giants and claim a first round bye:

“I think it’s proof of what we’re capable of doing,” said Favre, who completed 25 of 31 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns in less than three quarters without a turnover. “Where it takes us from here, I have no idea. But it was definitely a momentum boost and confidence.”

Controlling the game from the very first drive against a Giants team sitting five players who started at least four games this season, the Vikings (12-4) cruised into the locker room to start watching the Philadelphia-Dallas game, sounding unconcerned about the outcome.

When the Cowboys emerged with a 24-0 victory, the Vikings became the No. 2 seed behind sputtering New Orleans in the NFC field with a bye for the first round.

Favre surpassed 30 touchdowns for the ninth time in his career and 4,000 yards for the sixth time, finishing with a mere seven interceptions — the fewest of his 18-year run as a starter.

December 30, 2009

Eight Vikings to represent NFC in Pro Bowl

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

The voting for the Pro Bowl tends to trail actual performance by a year or more, as evidenced by the inclusion of Bryant McKinnie with the Viking players selected:

The Vikings lead all NFL teams this year by getting eight — yes eight — players named to this year’s NFC Pro Bowl roster. The next closest were the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles with six nods.

First, there are the usual suspects: Adrian Peterson and Steve Hutchinson got the starting nod at running back and guard respectively, which shouldn’t shock too many people. Kevin Williams and Jared Allen will once again start along the defensive line. Even Señor Schism himself, Brett Favre, made the team for the eleventh time. He’ll back up starter Drew Brees at QB.

Then there are a couple pleasant surprises. Wide receiver Sidney Rice made his first Pro Bowl, a very worthy selection in my slightly biased opinion. Heath Farwell was the NFC selection for Special Teamer. Besides last night’s debacle, Farwell has been the main reason for the vastly improved special teams unit this year.

A big difference from Pro Bowls in the past is that this game will be played before the Super Bowl, in an attempt to capture a larger viewing audience than the Pro Bowl traditionally garners. It also means that the Pro Bowl players named from teams going to the Super Bowl won’t be playing in the Pro Bowl.

December 29, 2009

Vikings fumble away chance for a first-round bye

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:34

If all you watched of last night’s game was the second half, you’d think the Vikings were unstoppable. Unfortunately, there was the first half and then the overtime period which showed Minnesota in their more traditional guise (for the last few games anyway). The first half was the worst 30 minutes of football the team has played all season. In overtime, Adrian Peterson’s fumbling issues came back with a vengeance.

At the end of the first half, the Bears were up by 16 points, and the Vikings were lucky the margin wasn’t worse. The offensive line was again unable to open lanes for the running game and Brett Favre was under steady pressure, throwing for only 36 yards up to halftime.

Minnesota’s special teams looked like a throwback to last year’s line-up, giving up two long returns, setting up Chicago with a short field. A bad hold on an extra point allowed Chicago to deflect the ball away from the uprights. That point might have been useful at the end of the game. Chicago felt comfortable enough with their kick coverage team to allow Percy Harvin a chance to receive the kickoffs. None of Harvin’s six returns were as long as his season average (his best was 27 yards, but his season average was over 28). Even Harvin can’t run where there are no running lanes.

The beat writers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune both picked Chicago to win this game. Here’s Judd Zulgad:

I know a few of you thought Chip and I were crazy for picking the Chicago Bears to beat the Vikings on Monday night. My reasoning for the pick was based on the fact that not only had the Vikings put on awful performances in their recent prime-time losses at Arizona and Carolina but this also seemed to me to be a team that had lost its confidence.

Even as the Vikings rallied from a 17-point deficit against the Bears on Monday to force overtime — they eventually lost 36-30 — I never had the definite feeling that the Vikings were going to pull this one out. That, of course, should have been the feeling. The Vikings appeared to be a superior team to the Bears on Nov. 29 when they crushed them 36-10 at the Metrodome and considering Chicago was 5-9 entering Monday it appeared the Bears had little reason for which to play.

The Vikings (11-4) had every reason to play hard and try to put away the Bears early based on the fact that Minnesota was still alive in the race for the top seed in the NFC — the Saints have now clinched that spot — and are fighting for at least the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. But the Vikings came out flat and as a result right now the Eagles own the second seed because they have the tie-breaker over the Vikings.

And here’s Mark Craig:

One more thought: In trying to decide who is better, the A, Vikings or B, Saints, I’ve decided my answer is:
C, The Eagles.

December 21, 2009

Vikings put on terrible performance, get beaten badly by Carolina Panthers

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

In another late game on Sunday, the Vikings didn’t do anything right. The offensive line was terrible, making it impossible for Adrian Peterson to get any kind of running game going, and putting lots of pressure on Brett Favre. With no running game, the Panthers defensive backs were able to concentrate on stopping the pass — and did. Favre was sacked four times, and Carolina’s Julius Peppers made both Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie look helpless and lost.

If the loss to Arizona was bad (and it was), this was easily much worse. There were no indications that the Vikings cared about this game, and Carolina took the game to them.

The defensive line had nearly as bad a night as the offensive line did, giving up a 100 yard rushing performance for the first time in 36 games. The loss of middle linebacker E.J. Henderson was painfully apparent, as the linebackers were far too frequently caught out of position or, even worse, failing to wrap up on tackles. Steve Smith totally dominated Antoine Winfield, who had a forgettable night.

And, just to complete the night, Brad Childress and Brett Favre got into an argument that the network TV cameras caught:

“Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it,” said Favre, who finished 17 of 27 for 224 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. “We were up 7-6 at the time. No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays. We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, ‘They’re not moving the ball, they’re not getting points.’ Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game.

“We were up 7-6. Yeah, it’s not 70-6, but we’re up 7-6. So I said, ‘I’m staying in the game, I’m playing.’ I don’t know if it was exactly to protect me, or we had seven points, I’m not sure. That’s his call. But we talked it out. We didn’t have time, I didn’t have time to sit there and say why or what. My response was, we’ve got to win this ballgame and I want to stay in and do whatever I can. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t do that, but that was my intention.”

Despite losing, the Vikings benefitted from an earlier game where the Steelers beat Green Bay on a last-second TD, which gives the Vikings the NFC North title for the second year in a row.

December 8, 2009

Can’t disagree with this, either

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 14:02

Also from today’s TMQ column:

Minnesota boasts about its defensive line, but against Arizona, the front four were getting little pressure on Kurt Warner, so defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier started calling blitzes. The result: Touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald against the blitz, with safeties nowhere to be seen. But good Arizona defense carried the day. Cardinals leading 24-10 in the third quarter, Minnesota went: Adrian Peterson loss of 5, sack, interception, and TMQ wrote the words “game over” in his notebook. Brett Favre stayed on the field till the final snap despite the fact the hosts led 30-10 with a couple of minutes remaining, which indicates coach Brad Childress is concerned with padding Favre’s stats — a bad sign.

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