Quotulatiousness

October 12, 2010

Vikings fall short in 2-minute drill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 10, 2010

Saints 14, Vikings 9

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:38

It wasn’t a pretty game, aside from the opening New Orleans drive. Drew Brees had a great start, making the Viking backfield look like statues, but that was the only really “magic” part of the game. From that point onwards, it was a very pedestrian performance by both teams.

This is similar to the start of last season: Brett Favre came in after training camp and only had the playing time in preseason games to learn about his new teammates. The difference is that last season, the Vikings had an easy start to their schedule.

Both Favre and Percy Harvin showed the effects of too little practice, and appeared to be on different pages of the playbook for too much of the game. It’s not surprising that they both have rust, especially for Harvin, who suffered from migraines all through training camp (and had other medical issues). At one point during the game, TV reporter Andrea Kramer reported that Harvin’s heart had stopped after he collapsed on the practice field during training camp, and that he’d then been diagnosed with sleep apnea (the migraine medication may have caused the collapse).

In spite of the early problems, the Vikings went in to the locker room at the half holding a 9-7 lead, thanks to a drive that showed what they’re capable of (given more time to gel). Visanthe Shiancoe got behind the covering linebacker for a touchdown, and Ryan Longwell had put the Vikings on the board with a field goal earlier. A blocked extra point kept the Vikings at 9.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the game was how well the Vikings’ patched-together-with-string-and-bailing-wire defensive backfield held up under the pressure:

Despite a few lapses, it’s hard to complain with a Vikings defense that held the NFL’s best offense to 14 points. In the first half, the Vikings showed they are still one of the league’s best at stopping the run. In the second half, the Saints managed to methodically push through the game. After the ugly first drive, the cornerbacks held their own. Lito Sheppard played well after a quiet training camp.

But the Vikings offense has 10 days to work out the offensive rustiness in time for Miami next Sunday in the Metrodome.

“This won’t get us derailed from our goal of the Super Bowl,” said Shiancoe, who finished with a team-high four catches for 76 yards. “It’s nothing to panic over.”

Update: Jim Souhan isn’t as kind:

Thursday night, in their season-opening, 14-9 loss in New Orleans, the Vikings’ skill-position players performed as if they needed nametags on the front of their jerseys, as if they should have taken time in the first huddle of the season to reacquaint themselves.

As in, “My name’s Brett, I’m from Hattiesburg, and I’m real sorry I held out for more money.”

On this visit to New Orleans, the Vikings needed a 12th man in the huddle just to make introductions.

Favre lived a charmed existence in 2009. He didn’t pay for his belated arrival because the Vikings started the season against Cleveland and Detroit, enabling him to make more warmup tosses than Mariano Rivera.

By the time the Vikings began facing real teams, Favre had developed a bond with Sidney Rice and a football version of telepathy with Percy Harvin.

Thursday, Favre played as if he had just driven over from his hometown of Kiln, Miss. On his tractor. With a cattail between his teeth.

August 29, 2010

Vikings beat Seahawks 24-13 in 3rd preseason game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:39

I didn’t get to watch this game, so I’m depending on the nice folks at the Star-Tribune to fill in the details for me:

Brad Childress has taken to describing the Vikings’ offense as being “in flux.” Exhibit A came with 4 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first quarter of the Vikings’ 24-13 preseason victory over Seattle on Saturday night at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome.

Wide receiver Greg Camarillo, who arrived on Wednesday in a trade with the Dolphins, caught a 12-yard pass from Brett Favre on third-and-8 to put the ball at the Seahawks 6. The play looked to be perfectly executed. Afterward offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell admitted there was one problem: Camarillo wasn’t in the right spot when he made the catch.

That’s what happens when two receivers, Camarillo and Javon Walker, arrived in the past five days, beating the quarterback to town by only a week. That’s what happens when another receiver, Percy Harvin, plays in his first preseason game after participating in only six training camp practices because of issues with migraines. That’s what happen when the starting center, John Sullivan, remains sidelined by a calf injury and the starting right guard, Anthony Herrera, is shifted to center and a rookie, Chris DeGeare, takes over at guard.

So, with all that flux, how the heck did they win the game?

January 25, 2010

Vikings dominant in all categories, except the most important one

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

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

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

Chip Scoggins talked with Adrian Peterson after the game:

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

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

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

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

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

November 29, 2009

Vikings beat Bears 36-10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 22:28

For a game I was worried about, it sure didn’t support my anxieties, with Minnesota rolling to a decisive victory at home. Brett Favre was a bare 11 yards short of a career record passing game (he did tie the all-time record for games started by non-kicker/non-punter with former Viking Jim “Iron Man” Marshall at 282):

Favre passed for a season-high 392 yards and three touchdowns, and the Vikings intercepted Cutler twice in a 36-10 victory over the Bears on Sunday.

Favre went 32 for 48 without a turnover and was 10 yards off his career best, throwing touchdowns to Visanthe Shiancoe, Chester Taylor and Percy Harvin, the unflappable rookie who had his best game yet.

The Vikings (10-1) outgained the Bears by a whopping 537 yards to 169 and breezed to their fifth straight win, despite two more fumbles and a pedestrian 85 yards on 25 carries by Adrian Peterson.

His short, late touchdown run put Minnesota over 32 points for the sixth time this season. The Vikings had 31 first downs, the Bears just eight.

Cutler was precise in the short passing game and effective in the no-huddle, keeping the Bears (4-7) in it until late in the second quarter. He was picked off by a diving Cedric Griffin in the end zone. Then on the next possession, E.J. Henderson got his hand on a ball over the middle that Jared Allen jumped up and caught with 57 seconds left in the half.

Adrian Peterson’s fumbles continue to be a concern for the Vikings, although only one of the two in this game caused problems. A player with a reputation for fumbling attracts all kinds of extra attention, and especially for Peterson, who often refuses to go to ground, attempting to gain extra yards after being stopped.

Jared Allen had two sacks and several hurries, while Benny Sapp and Karl Paymah substituted for injured cornerback Antoine Winfield.

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October 25, 2009

Vikings lose to Steelers, 27-17

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

It was a very competitive game, but the difference was penalties and turnovers. Minnesota had a touchdown called back on a tripping penalty (one of 11 total penalties), while Brett Favre had a fumble and an interception returned for touchdowns.

The Vikings couldn’t gain a half-yard when it might have turned the game, then watched the Steelers’ big-play defense end their unbeaten season with two long touchdown returns in the final 6½ minutes.

LaMarr Woodley’s 77-yard fumble return and Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return on turnovers by Favre allowed the Steelers to turn back Minnesota’s repeated comeback attempts, and the Steelers rode three major defensive stands to an important 27-17 victory Sunday.

The anticipated quarterback showdown between Favre and NFL passing leader Ben Roethlisberger became a defensive duel. And the Super Bowl champion Steelers (5-2) — No. 1 defensively the last two seasons — are tough to beat in any game that’s decided by defense.

The Viking defence actually did very well in the absence of Antoine Winfield (who may be out for 4-6 weeks), although Benny Sapp had a couple of bad plays during the game. If the Vikings weren’t hurting for DBs, he might have been benched . . . but he worked hard after the mistakes. Sidney Rice continues to develop as a big-time receiving threat, adding another 136 yards after his career performance last week. Percy Harvin had a beautiful kick return for a TD, which put the Vikings back into contention, and Adrian Peterson had good combined rushing/receiving numbers, although he didn’t break 100 rushing yards.

Still, if you had to pick a game to lose, losing to the defending Superbowl champions in an out-of-conference away game would probably be the one to choose. Not that I’m happy they lost, mind you.

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