If nothing else, it was a far more entertaining game than anyone expected. Percy Harvin had a career day, Kyle Rudolph had a highlight reel catch for a touchdown, and Devin Aromashodu stepped up and had a great day receiving. Christian Ponder set a new Vikings record for passing yards by a rookie quarterback, but also threw the game-sealing interception in the final minutes.
Aside from two bad decisions, Ponder played well enough to win and the Vikings could have won the game if the secondary had played even slightly better. Missing three of their top four cornerbacks, and two of their top three safeties, the secondary is cover-your-eyes awful. It’s hard to express just how wide-open Denver’s receivers were during the game. Tebow didn’t have to throw anything difficult, because the Vikings weren’t covering his receivers.
Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 10:05
The Tim Tebow show comes to Minneapolis today . . . which I plan to watch if the Winnipeg station is picking up the game. It’s the first time in a while that Minnesota is favoured, although it’s only by a single point.
√ Philadelphia 14 @Seattle 31 @Buffalo vs Tennessee (1.5) Sun 1:00pm @Chicago vs Kansas City (7.0) Sun 1:00pm @Miami vs Oakland (3.0) Sun 1:00pm @Minnesota vs Denver (1.0) Sun 1:00pm @New England vs Indianapolis (20.0) Sun 1:00pm @Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (6.5) Sun 1:00pm @Tampa Bay vs Carolina (3.5) Sun 1:00pm
New York (NYJ) vs @Washington (3.0) Sun 1:00pm
Atlanta vs @Houston (3.0) Sun 1:00pm Baltimore vs @Cleveland (6.5) Sun 4:05pm Green Bay vs @New York (NYG) (7.0) Sun 4:15pm Dallas vs @Arizona (4.5) Sun 4:15pm @San Francisco vs St. Louis (13.0) Sun 4:15pm @New Orleans vs Detroit (9.0) Sun 8:20pm San Diego vs @Jacksonville (2.5) Mon 8:30pm
Last week: 7-6 (3-10 against the spread)
Season to date 106-70
I was at the urinal next to Bob Costas once. It was at the 2010 Winter Olympics, just before the Closing Ceremony, during which Canada said goodbye to the world with a nightmarish glowing dreamscape of giant beavers and plaid-wearing lumberjacks and dancing Mounties and flying moose and looming table hockey players and William Shatner, among others. Pretty sure we, as a country, were drunk.
But Bob Costas was not drunk, because Costas is a sober and professional man who disapproves of you and your shenanigans, probably. Costas is among the great broadcasters of his generation, as witnessed most recently by his stellar on-camera interview with accused Penn State pedophile Jerry Sandusky. And despite some creases in his face, and perhaps a whisper of greying hair, Costas remains youthful, even boyish.
Like just about everything in television, however, that is at least partly a facade, as Costas’ monologue on Football Night in America on Sunday last week demonstrated. As if channeling Andy Rooney in 1978, Costas inferred that touchdown celebrations are basically ruining the minds of our children, with their iPhones and their pornography and their touchdown dances. If life is a football field, it is time to leave Bob Costas’s lawn.
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.
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Cullen Loeffler was expected to be placed on the injured reserve list, after sustaining a second injury in Sunday’s game that can take up to six weeks to heal. His replacement was signed by the Vikings yesterday. The other players going to the IR list were less anticipated:
The downward spiral continues at Winter Park.
If it seemed things couldn’t get much worse for the Vikings, who are off to a 2-9 start and threatening to become the worst team in franchise history, they’ll now enter the final month with four key contributors lost for the season.
On Tuesday, a quartet of starters — receiver Michael Jenkins, long snapper Cullen Loeffler and safeties Husain Abdullah and Tyrell Johnson — were all placed on injured reserve, another major gut punch to a team that is sinking fast.
To fill the holes, the Vikings re-signed receiver Stephen Burton to the active roster and also agreed to terms with long-snapper Matt Katula and safeties Jarrad Page and Andrew Sendejo.
The loss of Jenkins registers as the most surprising news. The eight-year receiver, who had 38 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns this season, suffered a knee injury at some point during Sunday’s 24-14 loss in Atlanta.
In other news, you can tell when your team is just playing out the string when both the fanbase and the professionals start talking about draft prospects with five games left in the regular season.
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Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 08:26
Ugh. After a great start on Thursday, Sunday was grim (against the spread, anyway). I’m dropping like a stone in the AoSHQ pool, down to 30th spot after this weekend.
Thursday’s games: 3-0 (2-1 against the spread)
√Green Bay 27 @Detroit 15 √@Dallas 20 Miami 19 √@Baltimore 16 San Francisco 6
Sunday’s games:
∅ @Atlanta 24 Minnesota 14 √@Cincinnati 23 Cleveland 20 ∅ @Tennessee 23Tampa Bay 17 √Carolina 27 @Indianapolis 19 ∅@St. Louis 20 Arizona 23 √@New York (NYJ) 28 Buffalo 24 √Houston 20 @Jacksonville 13 ∅ @Oakland 25 Chicago 20 ∅@Seattle 17 Washington 23 √ @Philadelphia 20 New England 38 ∅@San Diego 13 Denver 16 √Pittsburgh 13 @Kansas City 9 √@New Orleans 49 New York (NYG) 24
Sunday’s games: 7-6 (3-10 against the spread)
Season to date 106-70
Yesterday’s game had some great work by Percy Harvin, fewer rookie mistakes from Christian Ponder, and random guys pulled in off the street playing in the Vikings’ secondary. Okay, that last part isn’t quite true, but when you’re playing your fourth-best corner against the opponent’s number one receiver (at least, until he leaves the game with a shoulder injury), and your third-best safety (until he leaves the game with a hamstring pull), it’s going to be a long, long day for the defence.
In traditional Viking style, Harvin entered the record books, but not in a good way: his 104-yard kick return is almost certainly the longest in NFL history that didn’t conclude with a touchdown.
Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 09:03
I did well on Thursday’s picks, going 3 of 3 (2 of 3 against the spread). I hope that trend continues with today’s games. Early game results:
√Green Bay 27 @Detroit 15 √@Dallas 20 Miami 19 √@Baltimore 16 San Francisco 6
Thursday’s games: 3-0 (2-1 against the spread)
Season to date 99-64
Today’s games:
@Atlanta vs Minnesota (9.5) Sun 1:00 @Cincinnati vs Cleveland (7.0) Sun 1:00
@Tennessee vs Tampa Bay (3.0) Sun 1:00 Carolina vs @Indianapolis (3.5) Sun 1:00 @St. Louis vs Arizona (0)) Sun 1:00 @New York (NYJ) vs Buffalo (9.0) Sun 1:00 Houston vs @Jacksonville (3.5) Sun 1:00
@Oakland vs Chicago (4.5) Sun 4:05 @Seattle vs Washington (3.5) Sun 4:05
@Philadelphia vs New England (0) Sun 4:15 @San Diego vs Denver (6.0) Sun 4:15 Pittsburgh vs @Kansas City (10.5) Sun 8:20 @New Orleans vs New York (NYG) (7.0) Sun 8:30
Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 08:37
Our American friends are late in celebrating Thanksgiving, which is why your favourite US websites are full of turkey jokes and pumpkin pie photos. Because they know they have a captive audience who may well be desperate to get away from their distant (or not-distant-enough) relatives, the NFL schedules three games on Thursday:
Green Bay vs @Detroit (6.0) 12:30pm @Dallas vs Miami (7.0) 4:15pm @Baltimore vs San Francisco (3.5) 8:20pm
Last week: 9-5 (5-9 against the spread)
Season to date 96-64
After Sunday’s mistake-filled outing against the Oakland Raiders, Minnesota sits at the bottom of the NFC North division with a sad 2-8 record. On top of the loss, Adrian Peterson was injured in the second quarter and did not return to the game.
If the season ended today, that’d merit a top-four pick in April’s NFL Draft. Only Indianapolis (0-10), Carolina (2-8) and St. Louis (2-8) have matched the Vikings in the loss column, and at least the Colts have a valid excuse.
No one circumstance can bear the blame for penalties, turnovers and missed opportunities that continue to haunt the Vikings week after week — save for the reality of a second consecutive lost season that has eviscerated any sense of urgency in the locker room.
“It’s a difference from last year, just being in there,” receiver Percy Harvin said. “Everybody has a high spirit. We were just talking about it before this game. One of the coaches pulled me to the side and was like, ‘This doesn’t feel like a losing team.'”
No, but they’re playing like one. Not always for 60 minutes, but for stretches long enough to cripple them — even against a Raiders team that hemorrhaged 117 yards on 12 penalties, had a field goal blocked and fumbled when it was trying to run out the clock.
Christian Ponder’s 37-yard strike to Visanthe Shiancoe up the seam set up a 1-yard touchdown throw to Kyle Rudolph on the next play, pulling the Vikings to within six with 5:08 to go. The defense forced a punt but the offense stalled, with Tyvon Branch breaking up Ponder’s out-breaking throw for Harvin on fourth-and-8.
“We just kept making mistakes, especially me,” said Ponder, who threw three interceptions. “I kept making mistakes, kept turning the ball over. You can’t win games that way. I’ve got a lot of learning to do.”
There were times during the 2009 season you could have argued that the Vikings were the best team in football. Today, they are contending to become the worst.
Well before they lost to Oakland, the Vikings, a dubious stew of uninspired coaching and overrated talent, had blown their chance to contend. Beating the Raiders would have been like putting Neosporin on a broken tibia.
When you’re as bad as the Vikings have been, winning the odd game accomplishes nothing.
Losing offers hope.
The Vikings now have a realistic chance of landing the second pick in the 2012 NFL draft.
That should be their goal. The way they played for most of Sunday’s game, they should be up to the task.
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Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 09:46
After a strong start to the season, my picks have been regressing to the mean over the last few weeks. I’m hoping that this week’s predictions will turn that trend around (getting the Thursday night game wrong didn’t help):
∅New York (NYJ) 13 @Denver 17
@Cleveland vs Jacksonville (0.0) Sun 1:00pm @Detroit vs Carolina (7.0) Sun 1:00pm @Green Bay vs Tampa Bay (14.0) Sun 1:00pm @Miami vs Buffalo (2.5) Sun 1:00pm
Oakland vs @Minnesota (1.0) Sun 1:00pm Dallas vs @Washington (7.5) Sun 1:00pm @Baltimore vs Cincinnati (7.0) Sun 1:00pm @St. Louis vs Seattle (1.5) Sun 4:05pm @San Francisco vs Arizona (9.5) Sun 4:05pm @Atlanta vs Tennessee (6.0) Sun 4:15pm @Chicago vs San Diego (3.5) Sun 4:15pm @New York (NYG) vs Philadelphia (4.5) Sun 8:20pm @New England vs Kansas City (14.5) Mon 8:30pm
Tom Pelissero has the task of going through the tape of Monday night’s game against the Packers, doing the stats and assessing the play of the team. It’s not a happy job:
Here’s the tale of the tape from the Minnesota Vikings’ 45-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, with grades on a scale of 0 to 5 in parentheses:
Quarterbacks (1)
Packers DC Dom Capers pulled out all the stops to chase and confuse QB Christian Ponder (62 snaps), who looked truly flustered at times for the first time in his young career. Using 11 different combinations of blitzers and mixing man and zone coverage behind them, Capers sent 28 patterns (rushes involving inside linebackers or defensive backs) in Ponder’s 36 dropbacks (77.8%), including the last nine in a row despite leading by 30-plus. MLB Desmond Bishop blitzed most frequently (13 times), followed by CB Charles Woodson (seven), BLB A.J. Hawk (seven), subpackage CB Jarrett Bush (six), FS Morgan Burnett (three) and CB Tramon Williams (one). The result was three sacks, 17 total QB pressures, three passes batted at the line and a 16-of-34 passing line (47.1%) that could have been worse if Ponder hadn’t stuck several tough throws into traffic. A flat-footed strike up the seam for 33 on third-and-4 was as good as it got. Ponder made one terrible decision, turning a flea-flicker into an interception for Williams even though the Packers had the right defense to defend it. Woodson missed chances for two more interceptions — one on a late crossing throw, the other when two players collided in pattern. A fumble caused by LOLB Clay Matthews’ sack was recovered by a teammate. Ponder scrambled twice for 17 yards. It seemed like Capers was in the Vikings huddle with the way the Packers kept taking away bootlegs, screens and other manufactured plays. One of Ponder’s three “explosive” completions and 38 of his 190 passing yards (20%) came on the final drive, after Green Bay had pulled several starters. The rookie has long way to go, but don’t they all? Joe Webb (three) took a counter option for 6 yards on his lone snap under center and played two snaps at receiver, catching his first NFL pass for 9 yards on a long drag against Woodson on third-and-18.
The rest of the article is just as depressing as this. The highest mark he hands out is a bare (2) to the defensive line. The receivers and the defensive backs each got half a mark, which may be too generous. You may have the best running back in the NFL (and I think they do), but if you can’t pass and you can’t stop your opponent from passing, it is not going to make enough of a difference.
This was an ugly game. It will turn up on Wikipedia as the definitive video illustration for both “ugly” and “futile”. Unlike the last match-up between the Vikings and Packers at the Metrodome, there are no positives to dwell on: it was an old-fashioned butt-whipping. It was so bad that the Vikings looked pathetic against the Green Bay backups. According to a tweet from Jeremy Fowler, this is the Vikings’ worst loss since “a 51-7 clubbing by San Francisco on Dec. 8, 1984”.
For next week’s game, the Vikings are going to be starting the press corps in their secondary: injuries against Green Bay included cornerback Antoine Winfield with a fractured clavicle (probably ending his season), safety Husain Abdullah with a concussion (his second of the season), and cornerback Cedric Griffin just being himself (playing on two reconstructed knees). What would have been even more depressing for Viking fans — if the sportscasters had bothered to mention it — was quarterback Christian Ponder heading to the locker room for X-rays (negative, thank goodness).
Filed under: Football — Tags: NFL — Nicholas @ 08:39
It seems appropriate that an ugly weekend should end in an ugly loss at Lambeau Field. My only consolation is, um, well, I’m sure there’s something there to take consolation from. I now have a half-share of 13th spot in the AoSHQ pool, six points back of the leader.
∅@San Diego 17 Oakland 24 √ @Atlanta 23 New Orleans 26 √Pittsburgh 24 @Cincinnati 17 ∅@Cleveland 12 St. Louis 13 ∅ @Dallas 44 Buffalo 7 √Jacksonville 17 @Indianapolis 3 ∅@Kansas City 10 Denver 17 √@Miami 20 Washington 9 ∅@Philadelphia 17 Arizona 21 √Houston 37 @Tampa Bay 9 ∅@Carolina 3 Tennessee 30 ∅Baltimore 17 @Seattle 22 ∅ @Chicago 37 Detroit 13 √@San Francisco 27 New York (NYG) 20 √ @New York (NYJ) 16 New England 37 ∅ @Green Bay 45 Minnesota 7
This week: 7-9 (7-9 against the spread) Season to date 87-59
If nothing else, it was a far more entertaining game than anyone expected. Percy Harvin had a career day, Kyle Rudolph had a highlight reel catch for a touchdown, and Devin Aromashodu stepped up and had a great day receiving. Christian Ponder set a new Vikings record for passing yards by a rookie quarterback, but also threw the game-sealing interception in the final minutes.
