Quotulatiousness

May 27, 2012

Looking back at the start of the Christian Ponder era

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:07

I know it’s still very much the off-season, but I thought this analysis of last season’s week 6 game between the Vikings and the Chicago Bears was very interesting. It starts off with the end of the Donovan McNabb experiment:

We all suspected that McNabb was done after he flatlined in Washington with the Redskins, but how little he had left in the tank was, frankly, shocking. By this time it was like watching an extraordinarily slow train wreck.

In the first five games, he averaged 169 yards a game. In his first game he threw for 39 yards. I actually had to go back and double check the stats on that game to make sure I had that right.

[. . .]

Even early on, McNabb was inconsistent and off. The Bears came in with absolutely zero respect for him, choosing instead to focus on shutting down Adrian Peterson.

The Bears’ Defense stacks the line vs an obvious run, with one safety deep just in case (footage courtesy NBC)

You can see in the attached screen caps that safety Major Wright isn’t even pretending to back into coverage — very clearly he’s coming for Peterson.

Eventually, after three quarters of futility, McNabb is pulled from the game and rookie Christian Ponder is sent in to replace him:

So you’re a rookie, being thrown into the fire against one of the better defenses in the league (and playing like it for once) with minimal snaps because you were a backup.

Christian Ponder, welcome to the NFL.

In one quarter, Ponder amassed more than half the yards McNabb threw for in three.

[. . .]

This allowed Ponder to do one thing McNabb was definitely not capable of anymore — scramble. Ponder broke off several good runs, one a bootleg and one a collapsed pocket.

Then he started completing passes and the defense started backing off the run and stacking the line. They fell into more of a basic base set, dropping players into coverage and rushing four or five guys most of the time.

Unlike McNabb, Ponder was able to find some open seams and complete some passes.

While people hack on Ponder for some of his accuracy issues, he actually did a fair job on short notice, of getting the ball where it needed to be for his receivers.

While it’s become cliché, the Vikings are tied to Ponder’s development for the 2012 season and beyond. Now that they’ve drafted Matt Kalil as their left tackle for the next ten years, and restaffed the receiving corps, they have to hope that Ponder will continue to improve from the brief flashes he was able to show in the catastrophe that was the Vikings’ 2011 season.

December 2, 2011

Vikings part company with Donovan McNabb

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

In a move that was only surprising for its timing — that is, that it took this long — the Minnesota Vikings placed quarterback Donovan McNabb on waivers yesterday afternoon. McNabb had been brought in on a one-year contract to give the Vikings some veteran leadership while rookie Christian Ponder got familiar with the Vikings’ playbook and the speed of the NFL game.

As the first half of the season showed, the McNabb who joined the Vikings in training camp wasn’t the dynamic player of Philadelphia Eagles vintage, but the fading player the Washington Redskins benched in favour of Rex Grossman. The Vikings didn’t give up a lot to get McNabb (a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft and a conditional pick in the 2013 draft), but it’s hard to say that they got their money’s worth from the deal. McNabb’s only positive in his games as a Viking was that he didn’t turn the ball over much. As a negative, his arm strength and accuracy were lacking — he seemed to be aiming at his receivers’ feet when he wasn’t bouncing the ball to them.

McNabb always seemed like a good person and he had been a great player for over a decade, but he’s now a poster child for how quickly NFL players go from first string to backup to retired. He apparently doesn’t think he’s done yet, but based on his play in Minnesota, a team would have to be absolutely desperate to sign him now. [Insert snide comment about Chicago or Houston here.]

Update: Ah, now I think we have the real reason that McNabb asked for his release:

From the moment the Donovan McNabb was granted his release on Thursday, speculation centered on whether the veteran quarterback had lined up someplace else to play.

Turns out McNabb wasn’t even getting to practice the same way with the Minnesota Vikings anymore.

Multiple NFL sources told 1500ESPN.com on Friday that McNabb had been relegated to running the scout team in recent weeks, and it’s believed he asked for his release after being informed he would be No. 3 on the depth chart for the rest of the season, beginning with Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

The change meant McNabb, 35, would have had virtually no chance to get back on the field this season even if something happened to rookie Christian Ponder and he would have given up even more snaps in practice to second-year pro Joe Webb, the only other quarterback on the roster.

October 19, 2011

Vikings finally hand the keys to Christian Ponder

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:31

Most of the reaction to yesterday’s announcement that Christian Ponder will start the Vikings’ next game against the Green Bay Packers follows the same line: it’s about time. Ponder comes in with the team sitting at 1-5 and out of playoff contention. Green Bay, defending Super Bowl champs, are unbeaten this season. It’s a tall order for a rookie, but he clearly showed enough of a spark in last weekend’s disastrous outing against Chicago to get the nod to replace Donovan McNabb.

Dan Wiederer at the Star Tribune:

Truthfully, it was becoming awfully hard to find a risk-reward scenario that didn’t lead to Ponder replacing McNabb. As quarterback controversies go, this one sure seems clear-cut. For a Vikings squad whose 2011 season is going down in flames, the chance to develop a promising young quarterback far outweighs the value of possibly scratching out an extra two or three wins with an aging veteran whose contract will be up at season’s end.

It was quickly becoming a foregone conclusion that Ponder would start at some point this season. Frazier said as much Monday. So why delay the inevitable?

The Vikings head coach might say Wednesday he believes Ponder gives the Vikings the best chance to win now — this week and for the rest of 2011. But really, this is a prudent move designed to build toward a more promising future.

October 17, 2011

The Vikings’ litany of mistakes, miscues, and brain farts yesterday

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:52

Vikings stink up Soldier Field, losing 39-10 to the Bears

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 00:11

The difference between this loss and the earlier losses is that the Vikings were never in this game. Chicago jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back. The normally great first-half defence didn’t show up tonight, and the offence was its usual anaemic self.

The Vikings had done well to avoid injuries so far this season, but lost several players to injury over the course of the game, including safety Jamarca Sandford, offensive tackle Phil Loadholt, and centre John Sullivan. With two offensive line starters out, Donovan McNabb was running for his life back there.

On the good side of the ledger, after a quiet start, Jared Allen got a sack and stripped the ball from Jay Cutler. The Vikings turned that into 6 points on an Adrian Peterson run. Late in the game, Christian Ponder took over at quarterback for Donovan McNabb, and showed some nice situational awareness (avoiding the pass rush) and good accuracy and distance downfield. Other than that, there wasn’t much for Vikings fans to cheer.

After the game, coach Leslie Frazier was careful not to commit himself about who will start next Sunday’s game, but Andrew Kulha at Bleacher Reports is sure that we’ve seen the start of a new quarterback era:

It may be time for former Philadelphia Eagles star, former Washington Redskins mistake and current Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb to take his curtain call.

It’s been a great run for McNabb, but it’s probably best to stop digging while he still has a chance to get out of the hole that is the latter stages of his career.

Christopher Gates at the Daily Norseman agrees:

Statistically, if you look at Donovan McNabb’s line from Sunday night, it doesn’t look like he played all that badly. . .he only threw five incompletions on the evening, and put up 177 passing yards. However, as the fourth quarter started at Soldier Field on Sunday evening, Minnesota Vikings’ head coach Leslie Frazier decided that the time had finally come.

And, with that, the Christian Ponder era got underway in Minnesota.

Sure, by the time that Ponder got into the game, the Vikings only had five healthy offensive lineman. . .Phil Loadholt was out of the game with an (as of now) undisclosed injury, and John Sullivan suffered a concussion early in the second half. As the Vikings only had seven offensive linemen dressed on the evening, another injury probably would have seen Jim Kleinsasser lining up at tackle or guard. However, despite that, and despite spending most of the evening running for his life, Ponder was not sacked once in 18 pass attempts, and completed 10 of his passes for 99 yards in his quarter of work.

Update: Tom Pelissero sums up the brief (about a quarter) appearance of Christian Ponder:

Ponder made his NFL debut with 14 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, who led 39-10 and sacked starter Donovan McNabb five times.

“I don’t see it ending like this, as you say,” McNabb said. “But it’s tough. You’re one-and-five at this particular point. I felt like we did a lot of great things (Sunday). But I guess we’ll sit down to talk, but I still expect to be in there next week.”

Ponder was 9-of-17 passing for 99 yards (52.9%) and a 70.5 rating over two drives, both ending with fourth-down passes caught short of the first-down marker. But the rookie first-round picks’s skills were on display as he repeatedly escaped pressure and made several rhythm throws into tight windows.

He scrambled for 8 yards and a first down on his second snap. His first throw was a swing pass to Adrian Peterson for no gain and his second a touch pass to Percy Harvin for 20.

“I thought he did a good job under the circumstances,” Frazier said. “We’ll go back and look at the tape and fully evaluate it. But it seems like he moved around pretty good.”

Ponder was 5-of-10 passing for 58 yards on his first drive, which went 69 yards in 12 plays before a fourth-and-10 throw to Visanthe Shiancoe gained only 9, stalling the Vikings at the Chicago 12-yard line. The Vikings’ next drive went 40 yards in eight plays before stalling at the Chicago 30.

“I was very grateful for the opportunity that Coach let me go in,” Ponder said. “I thought I made some plays, thought I missed some plays, missed a couple throws. But I definitely had fun. It’s always hard to have fun when you’re losing that bad, but I was grateful and I definitely had fun.”

Update, the second: In his column at the Pioneer Press, Tom Powers suggests it’s time for a fire sale:

Vikings for sale! Vikings for sale! Cheap!

Not the team, but individual players. Hey, all you NFL general managers out there, get your very own Minnesota Vikings player. Take him home to play with your kids. Let him tend to the petunias in the garden. Have him wash the car. All we ask for is a seventh-round draft pick in return. And, of course, you take over paying his salary.

The NFL trade deadline almost always passes unnoticed. It’s not a big deal the way it is in other sports where there is a flurry of last-minute activity. The Vikings desperately need to change all that.

The 2011 deadline is Tuesday. It should be a very big deal. There ought to be balloons, parades and free hot dogs at Winter Park if Rick Spielman, the Vikings’ Invisible Man, can partially salvage a lost season by dumping veterans for draft picks. Even very low draft picks would be swell. So would a bag of Doritos.

October 10, 2011

Vikings finally keep a lead through an entire game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 11:00

The 2011 Minnesota Vikings had developed a terrible habit of only playing well in the first half of games, allowing teams to beat them in the second half. Last week’s game didn’t fit the pattern, as the team played terribly in both the first and the second half. This week started to look like the pattern had been re-established as the Vikings played an excellent ground game and took advantage of turnovers to jump out to a 28-3 lead at the half (time of possession favoured the Cardinals 2:1 at this point).

Cynics among the fan base were wondering how Arizona was going to come back from that deep a deficit — not if, but how. Well the cynics were wrong: the Cardinals couldn’t come back from being that far down, so the Vikings finally win their first game of the season. The pattern did hold true, though, as Arizona did outscore the Vikings in the second half, just not by enough.

Christopher Gates of the Daily Norseman:

The Vikings were paced by a huge first quarter, in which they tied a franchise record by scoring 28 points in the game’s first fifteen minutes. The only other time they’ve accomplished that was in a blowout victory over the Green Bay Packers on September 28, 1986. The four touchdowns in that game were all touchdown passes by Tommy Kramer. . .the four touchdowns the Vikings got today all came via the ground, with three from Adrian Peterson (from 4, 24, and 14 yards) and a 4-yard run by Donovan McNabb.

The defense keyed the fast start as well, as they were dominant in the first quarter of play. The Cardinals’ first 13 offensive plays consisted of three three-and-outs, two turnovers, another fumble that went out of bounds, and one completed pass. Jared Allen and Brian Robison each had two sacks on the afternoon, and JaMarca Sanford intercepted two Kevin Kolb passes on the afternoon, with Asher Allen throwing in a third.

As several people have noted, Sanford’s two picks now give him the same number of catches on the season as our putative number one receiver, Bernard Berrian (who was deactivated for this game). The other player on the hotseat, quarterback Donovan McNabb, didn’t make a strong case for himself either, completing only 10-of-21 for 169 yards which moves his passer rating to a very mediocre 80 for the season.

Jeremy Fowler at the Vikings Now blog:

But the spotlight is still placed directly on the passing game, which has struggled with or without the inactive Bernard Berrian. Take away McNabb’s 60-yard gain to receiver Devin Aromashodu midway through the third quarter — an impressive across-the-middle throw, to be sure — and McNabb was 9-of 21 for 109 yards.

He was 3-of-10 on third down for the day while routinely missing receivers short on short or intermediate routes — sometimes five or six yards short. Cardinals defenders dropped what should have been two easy interceptions. Percy Harvin, the Vikings’ top receiver, got two targets and caught one pass for 12 yards. “There is no go-to guy right now,” McNabb said. “We’re all still getting comfortable in this offense and working on each other’s timing and chemistry.”

Maybe Christian Ponder’s not ready, and that’s fine. But McNabb must improve the accuracy for the Vikings to survive the next two weeks entering the teeth of the NFC North schedule. Speaking of the schedule…

Dan Zinski at The Viking Age:

Much of the anxiety, expressed by Metrodome fans in the form of boos, was no doubt the lingering result of psychological trauma incurred during the previous three second half choke jobs – but a lot of it was due simply to the shaky play of McNabb. The quarterback once again showed a sometimes alarming lack of accuracy on his passes, and even his better passes were wobbly and not quite on-target. The big pass of the second half, a 60-yarder to Devin Aromashodu, looked like some kind of dying bird fluttering through the air before finally landing safely in the receiver’s hands. And even worse: an attempted short pass to Visanthe Shiancoe that landed five yards in front of the intended receiver, causing the fans to jeer, McNabb to laugh and Shiancoe to get into it with his quarterback on the sideline.

This week McNabb got away with his lame-duck passes, thanks to Adrian Peterson’s hard running and the defense’s uncharacteristic ball-hawking, but that doesn’t mean the McNabb problem has suddenly disappeared. Accuracy remains a big issue for this quarterback and I don’t see that reality changing any time soon. The Vikings were fortunate that this week they faced a quarterback, Kevin Kolb, who is possibly even worse than McNabb. The defense stepped up big and Peterson did his part – even though he once again found tough sledding in the second half – but you can’t expect that sort of performance every week. At some point you need your quarterback to contribute more than 169 yards on 48% passing. A win is great but it doesn’t erase the fact that the passing game is still not anywhere near effective enough for this team to compete consistently.

Does a win keep Berrian and McNabb afloat for another week?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 00:01

It must be bad if the home team is up 21 points and the fans in the stadium are still booing the starting quarterback. McNabb is a tough guy: he’s heard the boo-birds often enough in Philadelphia, but it must be hard to cope with this level of rejection at this stage of his career. Bernard Berrian was benched for this game and his replacement does more than enough to make a case for being his permanent replacement. Will this be the week that the team parts company with their under-productive number 1 receiver?

Tom Pelissero:

The Vikings raced to a 28-0 lead in the first 12½ minutes on Sunday in spite of McNabb, not because of him. They held on despite a remarkable series of misfires that drew boos and chants of “WE WANT PONDER!” from the first quarter to the fourth.

“I can’t worry about that,” McNabb said. “I don’t worry about it at all, because at the end of the day, they look up and they see a win.”

This win was all about a defense that was opportunistic and unrelenting, sacking Kevin Kolb four times and forcing four turnovers on a day top cornerback Antoine Winfield was sidelined with a neck strain.

The offense fizzled after first-quarter touchdown drives of 18, 24 and 25 yards set up by defense and special teams, plus a 73-yarder keyed by Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson’s 36-yard pass interference penalty. McNabb completed only 10 of 21 passes, nearly was intercepted twice and threw a handful of others into the ground.

October 3, 2011

Time to consider a change at quarterback?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:46

Tom Pelissero of ESPN1500.com reports after yesterday’s game in Kansas City.

October 2, 2011

Vikings finally break habit of stinking in 2nd half by stinking equally in both

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 18:03

After showing some excellent results in the first half of each of the first three games of the season, then mentally checking out for the second half, Minnesota finally broke the habit. Unfortunately, they broke the good habit, not the bad one, falling to the 0-3 Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 22-17.

One thing most seem to agree on is that even if he’s not the worst problem, Donovan McNabb has failed to live up to expectations. He’s been throwing the ball erratically and off-target (one Twitter comment jibed that he’s the perfect QB if receivers could catch with their feet). He was brought in on a one-year contract to take care of the team until Christian Ponder was ready to take over. “Taking care” of the team isn’t quite what you’d describe what he’s done in the last four games.

The argument is that it can be very bad to throw a rookie quarterback in before he’s ready to take over: some thrive, but many sink (taking their teams with them). The counter argument is simple: we’ve already taken four torpedoes, so why not give the keys to Ponder? If we continue to lose, we’ll be early favourites for the first pick in the draft next year (the “Suck for Luck” pick).

Here’s the immediate reaction to the game from various folks in the Vikings fan base and in the media:

  • Clint Starks, Viking Age: “With the Vikes moving to 0-4 and McNabb playing at what looks to be an all-time low the question moves to Ponder. Fans across Viking Nation are wondering when we were see the cocksure rookie from Florida State. Next week could present a good opportunity for the young rookie as the Arizona Cardinals are coming to Mall of America field.”
  • Eric J. Thompson, Daily Norseman: “For the fourth straight week, the Vikings have wrestled defeat away from the jaws of victory. It was more of the same for the hapless Vikes, coming up small against the Chiefs at the most inopportune times. Donovan McNabb missed passes with alarming consistency. Adrian Peterson was largely ignored in the second half game plan. The tired and inept secondary got burned. The pass rush disappeared.”
  • Tom Pelissero, ESPN1500.com: “Leslie Frazier said the Minnesota Vikings must “reevaluate everything” in the wake of their fourth consecutive loss on Sunday.

    • “That apparently won’t include giving consideration to replacing starting quarterback Donovan McNabb with rookie first-round draft pick Christian Ponder beginning next week against Arizona.”

  • Ray Tannock, BleacherReport.com: “Without giving away too much, some of the rising whispers in Minnesota have been for the possible sacking of quarterback Donovan McNabb in favor of the anticipated “quarterback of the future” Christian Ponder.

    • “Another comment that has passed in the wind over the weeks is whether or not this set of coordinators even know what they are doing.

    “Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac’s inability to adjust to the opposition and Offensive coordinator’ Bill Musgrave’s inability to get the right players on the field and involved, have been a growing concern in the minds of Vikings fans; concerns that haven’t had much resolution through three games.”

September 26, 2011

Vikings blow big halftime lead: this is not a repeat of the last two weeks

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:22

Oh, wait. No, it actually is a repeat of the last two weeks. This time the team had a 20-point lead to fritter away, and the Detroit Lions had to go to overtime to win.

Christopher Gates sums it up nicely:

The Vikings took a team that had been averaging 37.5 points per game over the first two weeks of the year and won by 45 points the week before, and held them off of the scoreboard in the first half. In the first thirty minutes of play, they held that offense to 50 total yards.

And then, in the second half, it all happened again. . .Stafford tore apart a soft zone again. Adrian Peterson got hardly any touches in the second half again. Percy Harvin, like many of us, spent a great deal of the second half throwing up. Donovan McNabb did very little in the second half.

Jim Souhan renews his call from yesterday to bench Donovan McNabb and give Christian Ponder his first NFL start:

This is what a football apocalypse looks like: Fans jeering, players screaming on the sideline, coaches making irrational decisions, players committing destructive penalties, and a proud group of veterans collapsing in the second half for the third consecutive week while their owners beg for a new stadium.

The meaningful portion of the Vikings’ 2011 schedule concluded on Sept. 25 at the Metrodome, as they blew a 20-point halftime lead and lost in overtime, falling to 0-3. Only three teams since 1990 have made the playoffs after starting 0-3, and none of them was outscored 67-6 after halftime in their first three games, as the Vikings have been.

[. . .]

So it’s time for the Vikings to start thinking of “Ponder” as a noun, not a verb.

The decision to sign veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb made sense. If he played well, he could guide an ambitious team into the playoffs. If he didn’t, he could buy time for rookie quarterback Christian Ponder to develop.

Having failed at the former, McNabb has already accomplished the latter. Ponder has had a full training camp and three game weeks to learn the Vikings offense.

[. . .]

McNabb is not solely responsible for the Vikings’ woes, but he is the only member of the organization whose demotion could prove beneficial. You can’t fire a head coach or coordinator three games into their tenures, and changing left tackles has never inspired a team or changed the direction of a franchise.

The Vikings will play at Kansas City on Sunday. Giving Ponder his first NFL start there would make sense. The Chiefs are 0-3, and Ponder, having played at Florida State, may think that all of the Indian symbolism was put in place to welcome him.

Eric J. Thompson tries to put it in perspective:

Yep folks, that’s what the 2011 season has come to already. Bad attempts at humor to deflect pain from the worst 0-3 start imaginable. And when I say “imaginable”, I mean it — because you couldn’t make this sh*t up. Seriously: outscoring your opponents 54-7 in the first half only to be outscored 67-6 after halftime?! And all of that incredible ineptitude without committing a single second half turnover? You couldn’t even lose like that on purpose if you were playing Madden. We’d all be amazed if we weren’t all so damn depressed.

But fear not, fellow Vikings fans. I’m giving you an out. I’m saying right here and now, before the calendar even turns to October, that it’s OK to emotionally check out from expecting anything for the 2011 season.

Now before you jump all over me in the comments section calling me a sell out or a fair weather bandwagon jumper, let me explain. I’m still going to watch all 13 Vikings games that remain on the 2011 schedule, and I’m still going to vehemently root for them every step of the way. I’ll still be extremely pissed when they lose and I’ll still be overjoyed when they win. It’s in my DNA, whether I like it or not. But I am officially done believing that this season will result in anything else but watching other NFC North team(s) in the playoffs after Week 17 is completed. It’s awful to admit, but them’s the facts, folks.

September 22, 2011

Detroit Lions favoured over the Vikings this Sunday

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

It’s actually a rare thing for Detroit to be the favourite when playing the Vikings at home. It hasn’t happened for quite some time. In fact, the last time they were the favourites was in week three . . . of the 1981 season.

Usually, when Minnesota sees Detroit coming up on the schedule, they can mark a win for that week. That is no longer true: Detroit has been improving at about the same rate that the Vikings have been disintegrating. They beat Tampa Bay at home in the season opener, then hung a vicious 48-3 beating on the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend. They’re coming in at 2-0, while the Vikings are 0-2 having blown halftime leads in both games so far this season.

Judd Zulgad, now with ESPN1500.com, thinks that a Vikings loss this week means the team will have to accept that they’re in rebuilding mode — that the current team is on the downward slide and no quick fixes are available.

It’s going to be very hard for Frazier to reverse course now and tell anyone that it’s time to look to the future. He already convinced his players that he is all in and it’s very difficult (almost unfair) to ask any coach to give up on a season.

That means Spielman would be the logical candidate to be the bad guy and set in motion a rebuilding process that could land a top-five draft pick. Spielman doesn’t have the general manager title but he is the guy that must take the long-term view of what’s best for this franchise.

A loss to the Lions means the Vikings must begin thinking about when first-round pick Christian Ponder will be ready to replace Donovan McNabb at quarterback and when other personnel changes might make the most sense.

The Ponder for McNabb swap is the obvious one — and should only be done when there is a belief that Ponder is ready to take over — but there are other veterans who could be replaced in 2011 with an eye on making sure a younger player is ready to go in 2012.

[. . .]

It also would become important to begin plucking talent off the waiver wire each week, meaning a once valuable veteran might have to be shown the door. This approach would mean sacrificing a few potential and meaningless victories in the name of upgrading the roster for the future.

None of this would be pleasant for Frazier or anyone else associated with the Vikings franchise in the short term, but in the long run it likely would be the quickest and most efficient way to get back on track.

September 12, 2011

Vikings drop season opener to Chargers, 24-17

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:20

Aside from an electrifying start, as Percy Harvin ran the opening kickoff all the way back for a TD, this game was forgettable for both teams.

(more…)

August 21, 2011

Vikings 20, Seahawks 7 in second preseason game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:28

A much better game for the Vikings than last week, although the score somewhat flatters them. I think the game did provide lots of justification for not re-signing Tarvaris Jackson, who had a less-than-stellar game against his former team.

The Vikings had a long list of players who were inactive for this game, including Percy Harvin, Greg Camarillo, Anthony Herrera, and Visanthe Shiancoe. This provided some opportunities for less experienced players to get extended playing time and — in a few cases — give the coaches reasons to keep them on the roster after mandatory cut-downs.

Cedric Griffin started the game (although he was only on the field for part of the first quarter) and showed that he can still play at a high level. He may be the first pro football player ever to make a recovery from torn ACL injuries in both legs. He got involved in the very first play, breaking up a pass intended for Golden Tate.

Jared Allen had a great opportunity to sack Jackson during the first Seattle series, but somehow couldn’t wrap him up. A rare miss for Allen. The Vikings’ first team defence was getting very good penetration all through the first half, forcing Jackson to dodge and run more than Seattle’s game plan probably called for. He was elusive enough to avoid most of the pressure, however.

The Vikings’ first offensive series was brief, but eventful: Charlie Johnson let Seattle’s Raheem Brock get a clear run at Donovan McNabb’s blind side for a sack. The tight end on that side went immediately into a receiving pattern, and nobody touched Brock. Suddenly the left tackle position is up for grabs again. Jeremy Fowler reported on his Twitter feed: “LT Charlie Johnson on early sack on McNabb: ‘Yeah, I messed up. I own up to it. I went the wrong way'”. Minnesota only managed three offensive plays in the first quarter.

Marcus Sherels had a bad time on a punt return, fumbling the ball and giving Seattle another set of downs. He then more than made up for the error four plays later by catching a deflected pass from Jackson to Tate, and running it 64 yards for the first touchdown of the night.

The Vikings had a nice goal-line stand, keeping Seattle from scoring on four attempts from the 2-yard line. McNabb then led the attack on a nice drive, going 6 of 8 for 81 yards, but couldn’t get into the end zone, so Longwell kicked the field goal to make the score 10-0.

Christian Ponder took over after the next series, completing 4 of 9 attempts for 31 yards (plus some help on penalties) leading to another Longwell field goal.

Seattle finally got on the board early in the second half, with an Anthony McCoy touchdown after a bad snap — the second game that the Vikings’ opponent has scored on a bad snap. I somehow doubt that teams will add it to their playbooks, however.

Joe Webb took over from Ponder early in the fourth quarter, with the score at 13-7. Seattle saved a sure touchdown by Manny Arceneaux by punching the ball out just before Arceneaux could cross the goal line: the ball rolled out the back of the end zone for a touchback. Arceneaux was a stand-out wide receiver for the BC Lions, but is considered a rookie in the NFL. This is a rookie mistake that could keep him from making the team.

Another unknown hoping to make the final roster, Tristan Davis, scored a late touchdown on a nice 35-yard run to put the game out of reach for Seattle.

August 14, 2011

Titans 14, Vikings 3 in first preseason matchup

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 15:45

I didn’t see the game live, but I caught about three quarters of it on NFL Network’s replay this morning. As anyone could have predicted, it was a sloppy game for both teams. Both Titans scores came off turnovers, while the Vikings quarterbacks and receivers still haven’t quite gelled (miscues and missed catches were far too common).

Here’s Judd Zulgad‘s summary after the game:

The Vikings unveiled what could be best described as a soft launch of their new offense Saturday night in their preseason opener against Tennessee.

It was far from a success.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb, making his Vikings debut, played two series in a 14-3 loss at LP Field. The Vikings’ only points came from a 37-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell in the third quarter. But no one in the visitor’s locker room expressed any concern — not with three preseason games and plenty more installation to go before the Sept. 11 regular-season opener at San Diego.

“I thought their effort was good, and the execution was good up to a point,” new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said. “We always want points. We’ll have to make bigger strides next time with that first unit.”

I tuned in just as McNabb was finishing his time on the field, and the time of possession seemed to be strongly in Tennessee’s favour, so Joe Webb played into the second half and Christian Ponder finished out the game (Rhett Bomar was supposed to play, but didn’t get a chance).

Several starters were held out or only made the briefest of appearances on the field, and some backups made good use of the extra playing time (Jaymar Johnson for one). Other players, unfortunately, lowered their stock by making mistakes (Chris Cook’s name came up far too often in the wrong context here, for example).

Just watching the players in game mode shows how different things are from seeing footage of them in team drills at camp: some players who were said to have had “great camps” were nowhere near as effective in the real game situations. On the other hand, the offensive line did better than expected given the training camp picture.

If nothing else, the coaches now have a lot of things on film to help evaluate players and fix problems that showed up during the game.

July 27, 2011

Washington trades Donovan McNabb to the Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 07:17

I have to admit, I didn’t see this one coming: I’d expected the Vikings to either go with Christian Ponder or Joe Webb as the starting quarterback, not to bring in a big name veteran:

The Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins have agreed in principle to a trade sending QB Donovan McNabb to Minnesota.

The deal is contingent upon McNabb taking a significant pay cut, but according to Jay Glazer, “FOXSports.com has learned the Minnesota Vikings have agreed to acquire McNabb in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2012 draft and possibly a conditional 2013 draft pick.”

That’s a much lower cost in draft picks than Washington was supposedly asking, so it works well for Minnesota in that dimension. It’ll be interesting to see how McNabb works with the two young quarterbacks in training camp.

Update: Of course, no trade will satisfy everyone, but this particular one has Ryan Boser incensed:

If you’ve read my work here, you’re well aware of my disdain for McNabb. At 10:15 tonight, Jay Glazer tweeted that the Vikings have agreed to send two sixth-round picks (2012, and a conditional 2013) to Washington for the 34-year old.

The deal is contingent on the egotistical vet taking a massive pay cut from the $12.5M he’s owed this season (he’s just one year into a six-year, $89.2M deal).

The optimist in me hopes that the delusional McNabb, who still thinks he’s elite, will put the kibosh on it. Realistically, it’s a lock that the Vikings will head into the season with their third (or fourth) choice under center.

[. . .]

He’ll obviously take a pay cut, but he’ll still cost a sub-.500 team chock-full of holes way too much cap space (in addition to the draft picks). Specifics for the restructured deal are expected tomorrow.

If the coaching staff were really worried about throwing first-rounder Christian Ponder (who’s been preparing like a maniac) to the wolves, then spend pennies on the backup mentor and let Joe Webb take the early-season starts.

Ponder’s the future, so you have nothing to lose by letting a sixth-round wide receiver be the sacrificial lamb. Who knows, you might just discover that you stumbled on to a gem. As it stands, you can stick a fork in Joe Webb, the quarterback.

Update, the second: Dan Zinksi has a bit of advice for McNabb:

The drama this time reportedly revolves around McNabb himself and his apparent hurt feelings over not being shown a level of deference comparable to that which the Vikings showed Brett Favre during their pursuit of him the last two seasons. As ESPN puts it, “McNabb was concerned Tuesday night about how the Vikings’ side of the situation was handled.” Evidently McNabb expected several Viking veterans to fly to his home in Zygi Wilf‘s jet bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh and possibly a six-pack, and was bothered when this did not happen.

[. . .]

Here’s my advice for you Donovan as you embark upon your new career as the quarterback the Vikings had to settle for because they lost out on Tyler Thigpen: Get your hands on that playbook as fast as possible. Also, get hold of Sidney Rice‘s phone number and start working on him to stay with the Vikings. You could have a nice array of weapons in Minnesota — better than you had last year in Washington for sure — but only if Rice stays. Third, try to be humble. Come in and say all the right things and do all the right things. And if your coaches ask you to wear a wristband? Remember that it’s for your own good and just wear the damn wristband.

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress