Quotulatiousness

October 23, 2013

Josh Freeman has a concussion – Christian Ponder likely to start against Green Bay

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 15:37

Can this season get any more convoluted? This afternoon, it was announced that Josh Freeman is suffering from concussion symptoms from Monday night’s game and probably won’t be able to play against the Packers on Sunday night. If he can’t go, Christian Ponder will be back at quarterback for the Vikings.

Reactions have been unkind:

October 22, 2013

The Vikings’ Josh Freeman era begins with a painful loss to the Giants

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:24

From the moment he was signed, some Viking fans were eager to see what former Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman could do. Last night, those same fans were introduced to the notion that a quarterback can’t magically make up for an entire offseason of practice, drill and team familiarity. Freeman stood tall in the pocket to deliver downfield throws, but those throws were far too often over the heads or out of reach of his intended receivers … timing and route accuracy were both in short supply. Freeman was only intercepted once, but the Giants had other opportunities to pick him off over the course of the game.

All of the problems the Vikings have displayed on the field up to this point were pretty much unchanged despite the change at quarterback: the defence gave up far too many yards and stayed on the field far too long, and Adrian Peterson was not able to get the rushing game going (although he had been on the injury report with a hamstring issue this week). If Marcus Sherels hadn’t scored his second career kick return touchdown, the Giants would have blanked the Vikings. Unfortunately, Sherels also had a few key errors, including coughing up the ball near the Vikings goal line on a punt return. Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd also had a bad special teams outing, fumbling the ball on a kickoff return (the Giants kicked short to keep the ball away from fellow rookie Cordarrelle Patterson).

1500ESPN‘s Andrew Krammer:

Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said the game plan was going to be simple for quarterback Josh Freeman, who made his first start in a 23-7 loss on Monday Night Football against the previously winless New York Giants.

The end result left many saying he was set up to fail.

Simplicity took a bad seat to ineffective as Freeman threw 33 incompletions, dropping his league-low 43.5% even further during his first outing as a Vikings quarterback.

A member of the team for just two weeks, Freeman looked rusty as he hadn’t played since Sept. 22. However, in his last game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Freeman completed just 19-of-41 passes in a loss at New England.

Struggles aside, it was obvious from Freeman’s midseason signing that the Vikings wanted to evaluate him as their potential long-term answer. But that philosophy was taken to the extreme on Monday night as Freeman threw 53 passes to running back Adrian Peterson’s 13 carries.

Phil Mackey:

On Sept. 4, prior to the start of the regular season, FootballOutsiders.com – one of the top football analytics sites on the web — projected the Minnesota Vikings as the team most likely to pick No. 1 overall in the 2014 draft.

Football Outsiders gave the Vikings a 4.9% chance to make the playoffs and a 0.1% chance to win the Super Bowl.

We all laughed.

While the Jacksonville Jaguars are leaders in the clubhouse to pick No. 1 overall, nobody should be laughing anymore at the notion that the Vikings are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Not after the embarrassment we saw on Monday night in front of a national audience.

Consider this: The previously winless New York Giants averaged 2.0 yards per carry and 4.9 yards per pass on offense. Eli Manning needed 39 passes just to reach 200 yards. The Giants also fumbled four times, were hit for 72 yards in penalties and handed the ball 18 times to Peyton Hillis, who they signed off the street on Wednesday. Check that. Hillis was actually volunteering as an assistant coach at a high school in Tennessee last week.

And the Giants looked like the 1999 St. Louis Rams standing next to the Vikings.

Everyone deserves to be ripped here.

Jim Souhan at the Star Tribune:

Last time the Vikings played in New Jersey, their quarterback spent most of his postgame interview answering questions about sending illicit texts.

Monday night, the Vikings visited Jersey again, and this time it got embarrassing.

To be a Vikings fan these days, you need a gallon of Pepto-Bismol and a Hazmat suit. Winless in the United States this season, the Vikings might be the worst team in the NFL that does not reside in the state of Florida.

They have failed to look professional in consecutive weeks, and in unpredictable fashion: by imploding at home against an unremarkable Carolina team, then looking unfamiliar with the concept of offensive football on Monday night against a terrible Giants team.

Their 23-7 loss buried memories of their 2012 playoff appearance and transported them back to 2011, when they won only three games and began another desperate search for a franchise quarterback.

Worse, these kinds of losses transport them back to 2010, when they got their coach fired in the middle of the season.

They might be searching for a coach and quarterback this winter. Or by November.

October 18, 2013

Vikings move Harrison Smith to injured reserve list

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 14:58

Earlier today, the Minnesota Vikings announced that free safety Harrison Smith will be moved to the injured reserve list (but with the designated to return notation so he’s out for at least eight weeks, but not the whole season). Minnesota’s defence was already near the bottom of the league in all measurements even with Smith playing … Monday’s game is starting to look like a great opportunity for the Giants to regain something like their normal form.

In other Vikings news, Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press published an article today calling for the team to trade Adrian Peterson for a boatload of draft picks.

He’s wasting his prime here. And the Vikings need bulk, not one superstar player. So trading Peterson for enough components to jumpstart the team’s development is a sound strategy. It would be tremendously unpopular, of course. But it doesn’t make sense to keep Peterson around for what could be a drawn-out rebuilding process. The team already is a long ways off and likely will be without Jared Allen and Kevin Williams next season.

[…]

Trading Peterson should be seriously considered. It would be good for him and good for the Vikings. He’s out of place here, like a Rolex on the wrist of a hobo.

There are a few problems with this notion, not least of which is that Peterson is a huge fan favourite and it would look very bad for the team to trade him away. It’s also not clear how much of a haul in draft picks any team would be willing to give up for him, as few teams depend as much as the Vikings do on a dominant ground game.

Beyond that, there’s also the concern about what the team would do even if they did get a valuable set of draft picks in exchange for Peterson. This year, the team ended up with three first-round picks, all of whom were expected to contribute on the field.

  • Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd is on the field relatively little: less than half as many snaps as Kevin Williams. Maybe it’s those tragically short arms holding him back.
  • Xavier Rhodes is playing more (he’s in the nickel package), but the team considers Josh Robinson a more valuable cornerback than Rhodes because Robinson is the starter over Rhodes. That’d be the same Robinson that comes in dead last among all starting cornerbacks in the league. The guy who has allowed nearly every pass thrown in his direction to be completed.
  • Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson also gets on the field for a token number of snaps per game, but less than any other receiver on the roster.

One has to assume that the coaching staff don’t consider any of the 2013 first-round draft picks to be worth playing much. Given all of that, what hope is there that getting a bunch of extra picks in exchange for reigning league MVP Adrian Peterson would work out any better?

October 15, 2013

Tune in Wednesday for another thrilling episode of “As the stomach turns”

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

It’s rather sad that a losing team tends to generate more interesting — and more amusing — media coverage than a team that’s currently winning. TV execs, however, may be wondering how they can possibly earn a profit when they’re contractually obligated to broadcast games like next Monday’s matchup between the 0-6 New York Giants and the 1-4 Minnesota Vikings. How do you get even hardcore football fans to waste several hours of their Monday evening watching teams that are this bad?

One minor point of interest is figuring out who will be starting at quarterback for the Vikings. Christian Ponder may have started his last game for the purple, and Matt Cassel didn’t do himself any favours in Sunday’s debacle against the Carolina Panthers. Newly signed QB Josh Freeman appears to be the odds-on favourite to start this game … after all, as Christopher Gates says, how bad can it be?

In one corner of this Triangle of Mediocrity … and I use that term because I’m feeling unusually generous today … we have the guy that began the season as Minnesota’s starting quarterback in Christian Ponder. In another corner, we have the guy that took over for Ponder when he was injured, Matt Cassel, who was last seen in a heap on the turf at the Metrodome. And in the final corner, we have the newly-acquired Josh Freeman, who has been on the team for a week and is probably already wondering exactly what the heck he’s gotten himself into.

[…]

That leaves us with Freeman, who this week could … and probably should … start an 11-game audition for the rest of the NFL to show that his rough start to the season was due to being trapped in Greg Schiano’s House of MRSA and Innuendo. There’s a concern that he doesn’t know the playbook yet, but considering that Bill Musgrave’s offense is slightly less diverse than the menu at your local Five Guys, I’m not sure how big a concern that actually is. Freeman’s next start will be his 60th as an NFL quarterback, and he’s got to be to the point of his career where he’s seen quite a bit from opposing defenses. Besides, what’s going to happen … this offense going to get worse?

Frankly, I think Freeman gets the start because, at this point, he’s the only option that makes sense. There’s a chance that the team could go with Cassel again, and basically no chance that they go with Ponder.

Tune in Wednesday for the thrilling conclusion of It Doesn’t Matter: We’re Screwed No Matter What Because None Of These Guys Can Play Corner.

Update: “How bad is the Vikings defence?” I pretend to hear you ask. They’re among the most generous in the NFL, giving up 418 yards per game (which is second-worst in the league) and allowing nearly 32 points per game (third-worst). Opposing teams convert third-down opportunities 49% of the time (as Chip Scoggins points out, that’s even worse than their putrid 2011 season where they allowed a 44% conversion rate). They’re third-worst in the league for getting off the field, staying on the field nearly 34 minutes per game — time of possession isn’t a total measurement of defensive ineptitude, but teams that don’t score quickly (or at all…) put extra pressure on the defenders.

October 14, 2013

Vikings stumble to embarrassing loss at home to the Panthers

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 10:14

Yesterday was our family Thanksgiving dinner, so I didn’t even turn on the TV to find out if the Vikings game was available to watch in our area. I checked my Twitter feed every now and again, to see how the game was going … and became a bit more thankful I hadn’t tried to watch even part of the game on TV. As Jim Souhan posted to his Twitter account, “this is the kind of game that gets coaches fired”.

Carolina scored first, and soon put the Vikings in a deep enough hole that Adrian Peterson was not going to be a factor for the rest of the game. Matt Cassel, after a good performance against Pittsburgh in the last game, reverted to being inconsistent against the Panthers. Josh Robinson continued to be the opposing quarterback’s favourite target, while injuries started to pile up among the other defenders (Bishop, Smith, and Rhodes). There were few good individual performances to stack up against overall team inadequacies.

Christopher Gates:

I have no idea how a team coming off of a bye week, and with all the emotion that this week contained, can come out as completely flat and lifeless as the Minnesota Vikings did today. They just got throttled on both sides of the ball, with the Carolina Panthers dominating in time of possession for the afternoon, and just looked overmatched everywhere.

Matt Cassel is terrible. Whine about Christian Ponder all you want, but this team didn’t have a 10-point performance under his watch. Sometimes, a quarterback change can have a ripple effect on the team. . .assuming that you’re not changing to Matt Cassel. Ah, well, the Josh Freeman era starts next week, it appears.

Josh Robinson is the worst defensive back to wear purple and gold since the days of Wasswa Serwanga and Robert Tate. Seriously, rather than a #21, his jersey should just have a giant bulls-eye on it.

Update: Christopher Gates discusses the elephant in the room … the putrid state of the Vikings defence.

But Cassel’s performance today brought to light the gigantic elephant in the room, one that people were a bit reticent about during the first three or four games of the 2013 NFL season … and that’s the fact that this just might be the worst defense in Minnesota Vikings history.

Think I’m exaggerating or engaging in hyperbole? Well, I took a look back at the Vikings’ defenses over the years, particularly since the advent of the 16-game schedule. Since 1978, the most points the Vikings have given up in a full 16-game season (excluding years where there were strikes and/or games with replacement players) is 484. That was the figure given up by the 1984 Minnesota Vikings, generally regarded as the worst team in franchise history and a team that outright quit on their reviled head coach, Les Steckel, about halfway through the season.

The 2013 Minnesota Vikings’ defense is on pace to be worse.

The Vikings, through the first five games, have allowed 158 points, an average of 31.6 points per contest. If they keep up that clip for 16 games, they will allow opponents to put up over 500 points (506, to be precise) for the first time in franchise history. For some perspective on that, the record for the most points allowed since the advent of the 16-game schedule is 533, currently held by the 1981 Baltimore Colts. The 2008 Detroit Lions, the 0-16 outfit, allowed 517 points during that season. Such a pace would make the 2013 Vikings only the third team in NFL history to allow more than 500 points in a 16-game season. (The 1966 New York Giants allowed 501 points, but that was in a 14-game slate, which is even worse.)

Nobody seemed to want to discuss the defense very much when Christian Ponder was the starting quarterback … but we pretty much have to talk about it now, as it’s continued to be horrible. This defense is awful at every level, with only a few guys that should be allowed to collect their paychecks on a weekly basis. This team has allowed at least 27 points in every game this season (and, yet, was still in position to win a couple of those games if they could have made so much as one play), the defensive line isn’t getting nearly the pressure they should, the linebackers are at least a step slow, if not more, the secondary can’t cover anybody, and Josh Robinson has been so awful they should just give him a jersey that says “Serwanga” on the back.

October 13, 2013

Adrian Peterson’s personal tragedy

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:14

I didn’t post about this yesterday, first because the news was still rather confused (some sites claiming other sites had fallen for a cruel hoax) and second because the story was still unfolding. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson’s son died after what appears to have been a beating from his mother’s boyfriend. This isn’t Adrian Peterson Jr., but another child the media didn’t know about until Friday.

In spite of the tragic news about his son, Adrian Peterson said he intended to play in today’s game against the Carolina Panthers, which has surprised some of the fanbase. The Star Tribune‘s Jim Souhan explains:

Of all the fiery rings of imaginable hell, none could possibly sear the soul like the loss of a child.

Adrian Peterson’s son died this week. This is the worst loss a human can suffer, and it happened in the worst possible way. A man allegedly beat his 2-year-old son to death.

When he was 7, Peterson watched his older brother get hit by a drunken driver and die.

While he attended the NFL combine, he learned of a half-brother being shot and killed.

Now, he has lost a son. He will grieve, and it appears he will play football while grieving.

How do athletes do this? How do they summon the competitiveness to play a game while bearing a heavy heart and a cluttered mind?

How will Adrian Peterson?

To the layman, the concept of playing a game while grieving makes little sense. No one would want to go to the office on the day their son died.

Great athletes are different from us in many ways, and this is one of those ways.

Games are their milieu. As hoary as the cliché has become, teams are their temporary families. The playing field is where they pour out their emotions, where they honor those they love.

If Peterson decides to play on Sunday, he will not be demonstrating insensitivity to his personal tragedy. He will not be displaying misguided priorities, or placing football above real life. There is no correct choice for Peterson to make, only the choice that allows him to grieve as he sees fit.

If he decides to play, he will be honoring his son the best way he knows how.

October 12, 2013

Souhan’s steps to turning the Viking ship around

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

In the Star Tribune, Jim Souhan has a few suggestions for head coach Leslie Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman that might just set the Vikings on course for a playoff berth this year:

1. Transition to Josh Freeman as quickly as possible.

Even when Christian Ponder was at his best, he didn’t take full advantage of defenses crowding the line of scrimmage to stop Adrian Peterson. Matt Cassel, while playing well last week, didn’t even take full advantage because he threw inaccurately on deep routes.

Whatever his flaws, Freeman is willing and able to throw deep, and he is working with quality receivers. If the Vikings can force defenses to choose between stopping Peterson and stopping the deep passing game, the offense could become unstoppable.

2. Keep Peterson on the field.

[…]

3. Find a role for Patterson.

It’s simplistic to say that rookie receiver Cordarrelle Patterson should be on the field all the time. Peterson is most productive when running behind fullback Jerome Felton. Kyle Rudolph is a Pro Bowl tight end. Greg Jennings should be the No. 1 receiver, and Jerome Simpson has made the most of his opportunities this season. Put Patterson on the field, and either Felton, Rudolph or Simpson has to come off.

While playing Patterson for a tremendous number of snaps might not make sense, getting him the ball more often when he takes the field is common sense. At the very least, Patterson should be on the field when Felton is not. Patterson might be the second-most-spectacular athlete on the roster, after Peterson. He should play a larger role.

4. Put Bishop on the field.

Vikings linebackers are having a terrible season as a whole. Desmond Bishop might not be the player he once was, he may not even be an every-down linebacker, but he’s good enough to start for this defense.

5. Put Rhodes on the field.

Josh Robinson should not be starting at cornerback in the NFL. Rookie Xavier Rhodes might make some mistakes if he replaces Robinson as a starter, but he’s a superior athlete who will also make positive plays. Robinson is the weakest link on what has been a mediocre defense.

This is a season of positional turmoil for the Vikings, and some areas where the team has traditionally had solid play are much weaker than anyone expected. The whole defence has taken a few steps back and even the strong individual performers are not as good this year as in previous seasons (Harrison Smith, Chad Greenway, even Jared Allen and Kevin Williams). Cornerback Josh Robinson has been cover-your-eyes awful in coverage … almost everything thrown his way gets caught, and often for big gains. Marcus Sherels, who most people assumed only made the team due to his special team work, has been one of the most efficient defensive backs this year, but he’s one of the few bright spots on the defensive roster. Xavier Rhodes has played hot and cold, but he’s certainly demonstrated that he should be ahead of Robinson on the depth chart. Chris Cook is — all together now — coming back from injury, and it’s not clear if he’ll be healthy soon.

I realize that Leslie Frazier has a strong desire to protect his veteran players and bring rookies up to speed gradually, but Patterson and Rhodes have certainly played well enough so far to earn more playing time. I don’t know that Bishop is as solid, but the linebackers are another group not playing up to expectations … let’s find out if Bishop can return to his earlier form.

October 8, 2013

Decoding Vikings management-speak

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 08:27

In the Star Tribune, Jim Souhan explains how to interpret classic management lines that have been deployed in profusion since the news of Josh Freeman’s signing became public:

Reporters and fans crave access. So when the Vikings sign a new quarterback, hold news conferences and allow interviews in their locker room, 40 reporters will show up to ask questions and fans will devour the resulting quotes.

Here’s the key to covering and following the NFL: Step 1: Ask the right questions. Step 2: Listen carefully to the answers. Step 3: Ignore just about everything you hear.

[…]

Frazier is as honest a man as you’ll find coaching an NFL team. He’s also a member of management, so he is much more interested in avoiding statements that could hurt him and his team than he is in being blunt.

There is no upside for Frazier in admitting the obvious: That Freeman was brought in to be the starter, that Cassel should start on Sunday, and that Ponder’s career with the Vikings is nearing an end.

[…]

With management, always judge actions, not words. The Vikings wouldn’t have signed Freeman if they believed in Ponder, or if they thought Cassel was a long-term solution. Freeman wouldn’t have signed with the Vikings, choosing them over a half-dozen other suitors, unless he was assured he will get a chance to start.

Ponder’s rib injury has enabled the Vikings’ attempts at vagueness and protected Ponder from the truth. If he were completely healthy, the Vikings would be forced to reveal more of their plans. The rib allowed the Vikings to start Cassel in London, in a move that might have saved their season. The rib allows them to pretend Ponder is relevant this week, and that there is a difficult decision to be made about the future of the quarterback position.

Update: At the Daily Norseman, Ted Glover uses all the technological tools at his disposal to provide a managementspeak-to-English translation of Leslie Frazier’s remarks:

Q: What’s the primary reason you signed Josh Freeman?

What Frazier said: We’re hoping that he’s another good football player that our personnel guys, along with myself, felt like could help our team. That was the primary reason. We’re always trying to find guys who you think can help your team win and we think he’s one of those guys.

What Frazier Meant: Well, Christian Ponder is about as popular as the bubonic plague, and we really feel that after he throws his first incompletion on Sunday, people would rather see Bane come out on the field and start blowing it up than watch Ponder anymore. And Matt Cassel is on borrowed time. He’s about three quarters of football away from remembering he’s Matt Cassel, and when that shit tsunami hits, we want to be able to throw a quarterback life jacket to the seven fans we will have left in the state of Minnesota. Hopefully, he’ll keep us afloat long enough to get my house packed up and out of the state before people realize what the hell just happened. It’s a long shot, but that’s plan A. I don’t have a plan B.

Q: Are you afraid it’s going to mix up the chemistry a little bit?

What Frazier said: No, our guys want us to do whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to help us improve and they understand the business we’re in and we’re trying to do something to help us win, so it should help our chemistry.

What Frazier Meant: Nope. They are so desperate for anything that resembles a pulse behind center, they’d get behind Miley Cyrus if she could throw a football on a rope and hit a glass of water at 60 yards. Also, I was told there would be no chemistry involved in this Q and A. Ask another one, or a math question, and this presser is over.

Q: Can you go forward with those three quarterbacks — Ponder, Cassel and Freeman — or do you have to make a move?

What Frazier said: No, you don’t. We’ve had three guys on our roster throughout these first four weeks of the season so it wouldn’t be unusual to do that, so we don’t have to make a move.

What Frazier Meant: Well DUH, of course we have to make a move. We have a starter going to the third string, a second string guy that’s on borrowed time, and a free agent signee we’re going to give more latitude to than AA gives to Lindsay Lohan. But yeah, we could keep all three quarterbacks, because we want to watch the world burn.

October 7, 2013

I didn’t see this deal coming

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 08:32

The bye week is supposed to be a fairly quiet time for an NFL team … get away from the team facilities, rest up, and (especially) stay out of trouble. It’s not such a quiet time for the coaches or the front office, of course, as the business side of the league year continues through the bye week pretty much without a pause. One of the things a team will often do during a bye is look for players who could help the team out due to injuries or sub-par play. I would not have been surprised to see the Vikings work out a number of defensive backs over the last week — the corners have been a significant weak spot so far this season.

What I didn’t expect, however, was a move to sign another quarterback:

1500ESPN‘s Andrew Krammer has more:

Freeman, 25, was in his fourth full season as the starter in Tampa Bay before the Buccaneers benched their former 17th-overall pick after an 0-3 start. A reported schism between Freeman and coach Greg Schiano led to Freeman’s attempted trade and ultimate release.

He’s got a 24-35 record as a starter, regressing after his best statistical season in 2010, when the Buccaneers finished 10-6 off of Freeman’s Pro Bowl year — 25 touchdowns and six interceptions.

In a little more than two seasons since, Freeman is 11-23 as a starter, with 45 touchdowns to 42 interceptions. He lost eight of his last nine games in Tampa Bay.

Freeman was the third quarterback selected in the 2009 draft, behind Matthew Stafford (1st) and Mark Sanchez (5th). He’s the only of the three without a playoff appearance.

The Vikings now find themselves with three somewhat serviceable quarterbacks in Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel and Freeman. Ponder began the season to the tune of five interceptions and two fumbles in an 0-3 start before a rib injury sidelined him before the team’s Sept. 29 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in London. Cassel threw for two touchdown and no interceptions in the 34-27 win, but coach Leslie Frazier was noncommital during the bye week in choosing a starter.

Last week, when Freeman’s release from the Buccaneers was announced, Arif Hasan was quick to point out that he might be an excellent fit for Minnesota:

But there’s significant reason to believe that’s not the final chapter on Josh Freeman. Over the last two years, Freeman generated 6.5 net yards per passing attempt and 6 adjusted net yards per passing attempt-good for 11th and 16th in the league, respectively.

He hasn’t been the most accurate passer, but he generally makes up for it with deep throws, having hit 13.3 yards per completion was the second-best in the league, just after Cam Newton. In fact, his average depth of target-passes completed and missed-was an astonishing 10.7, tied for first in the league alongside Colin Kaepernick and Andrew Luck (second was Joe Flacco at 10.6).

It would be a far cry from the offense that Minnesota has run so far, and it may even turn out that Josh Freeman isn’t a fit in the Bill Musgrave offense.

But the designs of an offensive coordinator who may not even be around next year shouldn’t hold back signing a talented young quarterback who could take full advantage of Cordarrelle Patterson, Jerome Simpson and Greg Jennings.

[…]

in Pro Football Focus‘ game tracking, Josh Freeman was asked to throw outside the numbers on deep passes nearly twice as often as an average NFL quarterback.

And he does better than the average quarterback on those passes, too. Generally speaking, quarterbacks in the NFL will connect on deep, outside the numbers passes 32.8 percent of the time and average 10.8 yards an attempt.

Josh Freeman has a lower completion rate on those passes (30.8 percent) but better yards per attempt (11.8) along with better touchdown and interception rates.

But being asked to pass those difficult throws without much outlet relief or other options makes him too easy to defend and creates a wholly inconsistent offense. It cannot be overstated how important it is to have intermediate and shorter routes available (especially over the middle of the field) if there are a number of routes that go deep. It is one thing to have a poor deep ball passing completion accuracy, but it is another thing entirely to be forced to throw passes, even when covered, because there are no other options available because of the scheme.

September 30, 2013

Vikings beat Steelers 34-27 in London for first win of the season

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:34

London fans of American-style football must have been worried that the NFL had dumped their worst possible combination of teams into Wembley Stadium for yesterday’s game. Both the Vikings and the Steelers were sporting 0-3 records and their respective fanbases were setting off distress flares and starting to man the lifeboats. On the day, however, both teams put in a very creditable performance and the London fans got one of the best games in the international series as the Vikings ran up a scoring lead and (just barely) managed to hang on to it for the full 60 minutes of play.

Matt Cassel, starting in place of injured starter Christian Ponder, had a very strong game with only a few glitches, but he was bailed out a couple of times by his wide receivers. He ended up with a 123.4 passer rating: 16 of 25 for 248 yards and 2 TDs. Jerome Simpson had 124 yards receiving and Adrian Peterson notched 140 yards rushing on the day with two touchdowns. Greg Jennings had a highlight reel catch-and-run 70-yard touchdown. Blair Walsh started the scoring with a 54-yard field goal, but missed on a shorter kick later in the game (his first miss of the season). He’s now 12-for-12 on field goal attempts longer than 50 yards in his career — a new team record.

The Vikings secondary hadn’t stellar up to this point in the season, but on Sunday they were missing two starting players (CB Chris Cook and S Jamarca Sanford). For the first defensive series, The Daily Norseman suggested that the most appropriate music for them taking the field was Yakkity Sax (the Benny Hill Show theme). It wasn’t as bad as that, but every quarterback the Vikings will face for the rest of the season will be throwing as often as they can to wherever Josh Robinson is on the field … Roethlisberger made him look really bad. To be fair, Robinson is an outside corner and he’s having to play the slot this year, but you’d hope he would be better than he’s showing so far.

Late in the game, Big Ben appeared to suffer an injury to his throwing hand. The CBS announcers made a remarkably dumb comment about it somehow being worse to hit another player’s arm/hand than a helmet. Chris Kluwe’s twitter comment sums up the science behind that:

After giving up the last two games on last-minute scores, the Vikings defence finally managed to close out a game, sacking Roethlisberger close to the goal line and forcing a fumble.

A much-needed win going into the bye week … and the beginnings of a quarterback controversy. Should be a fun two weeks until the next game.

September 28, 2013

Christian Ponder’s injury and the Vikings’ QB decision

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 11:12

As mentioned the other day, the Vikings have named backup quarterback Matt Cassel as the starter for tomorrow’s game in London against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 1500ESPN‘s Judd Zulgad makes the case that the decision was driven less by Ponder’s actual injury than by the team’s need to spark something by making the change at QB:

A fractured rib means the Minnesota Vikings don’t have to face the reality of the Christian Ponder situation for a few more weeks.

Obviously, the general public doesn’t know the extent of the injury to the Vikings’ first selection in the 2011 draft, but for now the team is well within its rights to sell us on the fact that a quarterback change to Matt Cassel has been made for injury-related reasons.

Eventually, however, the Vikings almost certainly are going to have to come clean and admit that Ponder has been benched. What makes this so intriguing is that many in the organization privately have to be holding out hope that soon a day will come when that admission can be made.

That’s because if Cassel plays the way that coach Leslie Frazier, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, wide receiver Greg Jennings, running back Adrian Peterson and many others are hoping he does, Ponder won’t see the field again this season.

And that’s not being overly dramatic.

The quarterback play hasn’t been anything like the only issue the Vikings have faced this season, but it’s the one that attracts by far the most attention from fans. The backup quarterback is pretty much always the most popular player on a football team (well, one that isn’t winning consistently, anyway), and Matt Cassel got a relatively big contract to come to Minnesota for two years (second year voidable by the team or by Cassel). Tomorrow is his big test to find out if he’s really the answer for the Vikings.

For now, Frazier is downplaying any potential quarterback controversy and Ponder is saying all the right things about playing against the Panthers. What else would you expect anyone to say?

But if Cassel gets on a roll we all know he will start for the Vikings coming out of the bye and we also know he will have a good chance to remain in that role the following week against the Giants.

Eventually, the Vikings are going to have to take Ponder off the injury report and admit he’s healthy. The second they do that, and he still doesn’t play, the admission will have to be made: Christian Ponder has been benched.

The only question then will be if he will get one last chance to try to get his job back – that might not be until training camp 2014, if Cassel stays healthy – or if he will go down as one of the Vikings’ most disappointing first-round picks.

September 27, 2013

Matt Cassel to start London game against the Steelers

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 07:58

The Vikings announced earlier today that quarterback Christian Ponder’s rib injury is severe enough that he won’t be playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend. In his place, backup Matt Cassel will get the start:

Cassel, who is replacing an injured Christian Ponder (ribs), will try to steer the Vikings towards their first win of the season, and comes into a situation that few expected a month ago. The Vikings are 0-3 and on the verge of their season imploding, if it already hasn’t. With issues at QB, offensive line, and all over the defense, the Vikings have stumbled badly out of the gate, and they really need a spark.

Will Cassel provide that? It remains to be seen. This is the reason Cassel was signed in the off season. Last year, the Vikings had serious deficiencies at the backup position, as was evidenced by the tire fire that was Joe Webb in the Wild Card playoff game against Green Bay. As a starter, Cassel 29-33. In his career, he has a completion percentage of just over 58%, with 82 TD passes and 57 interceptions.

There’s already fan speculation that this is a “designed” play:

Update: The cynics are already hard at work:

September 24, 2013

Vikings considering trades?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 07:58

With the team finding ways to lose so creatively on their way to their current 0-and-3 record, the fans are starting to face the strong possibility that the Vikings are going to be wheeling and dealing before the trade deadline. Backup running back Toby Gerhart was reportedly one of the options the Colts considered before acquiring Trent Richardson from the Browns. With Gerhart in the last year of his rookie deal — and unlikely to get much playing time behind Adrian Peterson — a trade to another team might be the best thing for the Vikings and for the player. Pretty much the entire defensive line are in contract years, although you might not think so based on the way some of them have disappeared between the starting whistle and the end of the game.

The Daily Norseman‘s KJ Segall has a bit of a moan before getting down to trade scenarios:

This team stinks. From top to bottom. Special Teams, which won ST (maybe) guru Mike Priefer an award last year, has been shaky (again outside our kicker) to say the best. They were embarrassed in Chicago by Devin Hester and at home against a team that ran not one, but two fake kicks. The defense has netted 8 turnovers in 2 games, hooray! Except for every turnover they’ve gotten, they give up multiple 3rd and long conversions, points, and not to mention game winning drives. Flashes of brilliance filled in between by glooming shadows of utter incompetence with the fundamentals isn’t winning football, and it sure as hell isn’t the shutdown D I thought we were growing into. And the offense……. Oh, the offense. When the D does step up and give them the ball back, they either do squat with it, or go ahead and give the ball right back to our opponents. Even the cybernetic machine known as Adrian Peterson has two fumbles in as many games — which I think was also exactly how many he had last year. I will say by and large he remains a fairly solid running back, but when your team is built almost exclusively around said running back, “fairly solid” ain’t cuttin’ it. Our coaches make what is charitably described as “bad” calls, challenge plays that can’t be challenged*, and make what can only be called ‘bizarre’ personnel decisions.

That being said — and it’s hard to pull much positive out of the dumpster fire the team has been so far — he’s not calling for a deliberate collapse:

If you think, by the way, this article is ever going to go the route of “Lambs to the slaughter for Teddy Bridgewater” (the best I’ve heard yet, and I’ll have to give Joshua Deceuster, twitter @DB_JoshD, full credit for it), you’re reading the wrong writer.

He also joins the chorus calling for the head of offensive co-ordinator Bill Musgrave:

In terms of coaching, I’m down for firing Bill Musgrave any time now. Maybe after the season, I suppose I can choke through it until then. But the second the final game clock ticks 0, Musgrave better have security surrounding him, holding boxes filled with the items from his desk and politely offering to escort him to his car. And quite frankly, if Leslie Frazier does anything but, I think as soon as Musgrave has left the parking lot said security guards begin packing his desk.

September 23, 2013

At 0 and 3, the Vikings bandwagon is pretty much empty

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 07:41

Yesterday’s game at the Metrodome was supposed to be an easy romp for the Minnesota Vikings. The visiting Cleveland Browns had supposedly given up on the season, starting their third-string quarterback and trading away their top running back to the Colts. The only challenge was to be whether Adrian Peterson would score his first touchdown before Jared Allen recorded a sack. That’s certainly not how the game worked out…

Right after the final whistle blew on this mess, 1500ESPN‘s Jeff Dubay and Judd Zulgad have a few thoughts on the catastrophe:

The strength of the Vikings is supposed to be their running game and the offensive and defensive lines. Adrian Peterson can’t do much if there are no holes being opened for him — just as Christian Ponder can’t do much if the defenders are getting to him (six sacks yesterday). The Vikings’ defensive scheme depends on the front four getting pressure on the opposing quarterback, but Cleveland’s third-string guy, starting his second career game, threw the ball more than fifty times. The weakest area for Minnesota is the defensive secondary, and they were about to suit up the head trainer to go in by the end of the game — Chris Cook was injured, Jamarca Sanford was injured, A.J. Jefferson was injured … there were no more fresh bodies to throw on to the field after that.

Even the special teams — normally a strength — gave up some highlight reel plays including falling for a fake punt and a fake field goal. Cleveland’s Spencer Lanning was apparently the first player since 1968 to have a punt, PAT, and a touchdown pass in the same game.

Adam Carlson of The Viking Age had this to say:

  • The Vikings secondary got beat on a regular basis. We saw AJ Jefferson get burned so bad by Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon that the fire department is still working on putting out the flames. The injures to Cook and Sanford didn’t help, but today Josh Gordon looked like Calvin Johnson out there.
  • The offensive line struggled. There’s no polite way to say this. For the Vikings to win games, the offensive line needs to play better. Pressure came from everywhere to get to Ponder and Peterson before they had time to get things going.
  • The play calling and personnel were questionable at best all day. When the Vikings needed to go the distance of the field in less than a minute with only one time out, short passes to the middle of the field were called. In that situation, the team needs to be more aggressive.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Overall, the Minnesota Vikings should be extremely disappointed to be at 0-3 right now will have to have a major turnaround soon to even try to get back into this season. If the Vikings fail to get things going, we could see major changes to this team coming much sooner than expected.

The Daily Norseman‘s Ted Glover calls this week’s Stock Market Report the ‘Cleveland Steamer’ edition (don’t Google that term if you don’t recognize it):

Junk Bonds:

The Offensive Line. Mother of God, how can you be so terrible? HOW? There is very little running room for Adrian Peterson, Christian Ponder has zero time to throw, and collectively, this group got pushed around more than the French Army. Do you guys remember when we were relieved that Phil Loadholt got re-signed to his big contract right as free agency was beginning? Me either.

The Defensive Line. Mother of God, how can you be so terrible? HOW? Run defense was okay today, but quite frankly, the Browns didn’t need to run. Brian Hoyer…BRIAN HOYER…looked like a first ballot hall of famer. Why? Because there was zero pressure for almost the entire game. None. Look, I’m aware that the Tampa-2 scheme is one that emphasizes pressure from the line…but this isn’t 2009. Pat Williams is gone, and Kevin Williams isn’t what he was, and Jared Allen and Brian Robison have been non-factors to this point (although Robison did get a sack today). This line has gotten old and ineffective, and they need help generating pressure.

The Entire Coaching Staff. Other than the first offensive and defensive series of the game, this team looked and played uninspired football, and it seemed like they were expecting Cleveland to just throw in the towel. It doesn’t work that way in the NFL, and all credit to the Browns here. They played like they wanted it, and the Browns coaching staff ran circles around the Vikings staff all day. Leslie Frazier challenged a play he couldn’t, Bill Musgrave…oh, Bill Musgrave…apparently only has two plays in the playbook (more later), Alan Williams let Brian Hoyer become the talk of the NFL, and Mike Priefer was caught flat footed on special teams not once, but twice.

AJ Jefferson. In the litany of terrible Vikings defensive backs, AJ Jefferson is moving into Wasswa Serwanga territory. He leaves more cushion on a receiver than you would find on an oversized couch, is more allergic to contact than Miley Cyrus is to normal, and has absolutely no ability to make a play. Other than that, he has all the qualities one would possess to play in the NFL.

Update: Arif passes on some PFF grades for yesterday’s game:

September 19, 2013

Easterbrook – The NFL should be called the “Nonprofit Football League”

Filed under: Business, Football, Government — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:40

In The Atlantic, an excerpt from Gregg Easterbrook’s new book The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America, talks about the fantastic legal and financial advantages enjoyed by the National Football League:

In his office at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must smile when Texas exempts the Cowboys’ stadium from taxes, or the governor of Minnesota bows low to kiss the feet of the NFL. The National Football League is about two things: producing high-quality sports entertainment, which it does very well, and exploiting taxpayers, which it also does very well. Goodell should know — his pay, about $30 million in 2011, flows from an organization that does not pay corporate taxes.

That’s right — extremely profitable and one of the most subsidized organizations in American history, the NFL also enjoys tax-exempt status. On paper, it is the Nonprofit Football League.

This situation came into being in the 1960s, when Congress granted antitrust waivers to what were then the National Football League and the American Football League, allowing them to merge, conduct a common draft, and jointly auction television rights. The merger was good for the sport, stabilizing pro football while ensuring quality of competition. But Congress gave away the store to the NFL while getting almost nothing for the public in return.

The 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act was the first piece of gift-wrapped legislation, granting the leagues legal permission to conduct television-broadcast negotiations in a way that otherwise would have been price collusion. Then, in 1966, Congress enacted Public Law 89‑800, which broadened the limited antitrust exemptions of the 1961 law. Essentially, the 1966 statute said that if the two pro-football leagues of that era merged — they would complete such a merger four years later, forming the current NFL — the new entity could act as a monopoly regarding television rights. Apple or ExxonMobil can only dream of legal permission to function as a monopoly: the 1966 law was effectively a license for NFL owners to print money. Yet this sweetheart deal was offered to the NFL in exchange only for its promise not to schedule games on Friday nights or Saturdays in autumn, when many high schools and colleges play football.

Public Law 89-800 had no name — unlike, say, the catchy USA Patriot Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Congress presumably wanted the bill to be low-profile, given that its effect was to increase NFL owners’ wealth at the expense of average people.

While Public Law 89-800 was being negotiated with congressional leaders, NFL lobbyists tossed in the sort of obscure provision that is the essence of the lobbyist’s art. The phrase or professional football leagues was added to Section 501(c)6 of 26 U.S.C., the Internal Revenue Code. Previously, a sentence in Section 501(c)6 had granted not-for-profit status to “business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, or boards of trade.” Since 1966, the code has read: “business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues.”

The insertion of professional football leagues into the definition of not-for-profit organizations was a transparent sellout of public interest. This decision has saved the NFL uncounted millions in tax obligations, which means that ordinary people must pay higher taxes, public spending must decline, or the national debt must increase to make up for the shortfall. Nonprofit status applies to the NFL’s headquarters, which administers the league and its all-important television contracts. Individual teams are for-profit and presumably pay income taxes — though because all except the Green Bay Packers are privately held and do not disclose their finances, it’s impossible to be sure.

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