Where do you even begin? I have been delaying this post for two weeks thinking I could get an identity of the Minnesota Vikings. Here I am two weeks later and I still feel the same way I did then. First off, lets go over some thoughts from last nights game:
- How does Childress not challenge the Quarless Touchdown??? Doesn't every NFL team have someone that watches every play to see if there is something that needs to be reviewed? Especially touchdowns and close plays? There is no excuse for what happened on that play.
- The entire Visanthe Shiancoe play was unbelievable. I saw the replay and said, "there is no way they can reverse the TOUCHDOWN CALL ON THE FIELD." Then he comes out and says that, "the ground helped him catch the ball..." it was at this point that I lost it. If the ground helped him catch the ball that should in turn mean HE CAUGHT THE BALL! I have never, ever, in my short lifetime of watching football, heard the phrase that the ground helped a player catch the ball. It makes absolutely no sense. The ground can cause a fumble, it can cause a player to drop the ball, but helping him catch it?!?! Absolutely terrible officiating. On top of it all, what a terrible pass by Brett Favre. He is wide open running down the middle of the field, hit a receiver in stride, MY GOD.
- The Vikings killed themselves with penalties, especially at the end of the game. AP gets a huge 25 yard pass and gets the Vikings down to the 15 ish yardline with under a minute left and we go false start followed by facemask to move us back to 1st and 30. Unlike Childress I'm not bitching about the facemask call, you would have to have been blind to not call it, but in that situation you have to try and push him by Favre, you CANNOT take the penalty.
- I didn't think the officials cost us the game, unlike the rest of the state of MN. I saw no problems with the non-interference calls at the end of the game. It is tough to make that call in that situation. I don't believe it was offensive interference on Moss on his huge gain, but the live look made it look like it was. It looked like interference, so they are going to call it, not much you can do, that didn't lose us the game. Play smart at the end of the game! The way we were moving the ball, I think we would have gotten in had we not set ourselves back to 1st and 30.
- I'm not worried about the Packers, they are injured and honestly didn't play that good last night. We lost 7 points on the Shiancoe call, we lost 7 more on the non-challenge, and Favre gift wrapped 14 points of two interceptions in the 3rd quarter. We play them again, and I think we will be ready, not to mention upset.
- Do we have defensive line?
So now we sit here at 2-4 with the New England Patriots staring us in the face. Good Luck. I don't think that is a winnable game for our current team. Brady is arguably the best Quarterback in the league, especially with time. Our line can't get pressure, and our D-backs can't cover receivers all day long, I think that will equal a very very very long day for the Vikes.
The worst part is that we have basically beat ourselves in every single game. This is not a 2-4 team, this should be at worst a 4-2 team and honestly it should probably be better than that. The nice thing is that the NFC is a battle right now and no one is out of it. We are only one game back in the loss column to our division leaders, and we play them each later this year. The season is by no means over, but a few things need to change.
- The D-Line needs to show up, the defense has played fine this year, but if the D-Line actually got some pressure, the defense could be elite.
- AP needs to be used more in the offense. He is the best player in the NFL and we use him like an everyday running back. Throw him the ball, screen him the ball, sweep him the ball, get him the ball!
- Stop turning the ball over - it is hard to win when you are turning it over time and time again.
- Play smart - ESPECIALLY IN CRUCIAL POINTS OF THE GAME - stop killing ourselves with penalties...... PLEASE - YOU CAN ACTUALLY CONTROL THIS ONE!
- It is time for a change of scenery at the QB position. Yeah, you read that correctly, in my mind the time has come. Favre has a broken ankle, and probably a lot more in his body that is broken. He is holding onto the ball too long, and he can't run for first downs. This is huge because with our system, there are many times when a scrambler can take 5-10 yards no problem. It makes the defense respect the run more. If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out, but we are 2-4, and it is time to go! Give Jackson a shot, he is fresh, maybe he will surprise us. Brett isn't exactly winning us games with his arm right now anyway. One could argue he is losing us games.
So that's where I'm at right now. Again, I think this team is destined for 2-5, an then hopefully we can go on a huge 8-1 run to end the year, I know it sounds crazy, but it's our only shot! This team has the talent to beat anyone, and they are starting to slowly bring it together, but it has to happen, and it has to happen soon.
Looks like we're on the same page, based on what I wrote this morning on my little internet nook.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the refs. Quarless's TD should have been a GB field goal, and our Longwell field goal was Shaincoe's TD, so voila 8 point swing we'd win the game all things being equal. However, the refs blew the Jennings spot -- he had that 1st down -- and generally sucked so whatever.
Moss's PI was too bad. I agree...he really did almost nothing -- but it didn't look good with both hands. Loadholt was obvious. He had gotten away with it earlier, and basically any fast outside rusher eats him up. It's a legit problem.
Our D-Line was PATHETIC.
Seems like the entire state has wanted more AP screens, etc. for years. I will say now that Harvin is rapidly developing into a star, he's better suited to the role. However, Gerhart has NO business being in the game on the last drive. I don't care about personnel packages. You get AP out there EVERY play, period.
I agree. You've gotta give TJack a shot, at least against New England. Brett's had two games where he took care of the ball and we won. His other four games he's combined for like 11 picks and 3 lost fumbles, and we've lost by 22 pts. combined. Take away the turnovers this is absolutely a 4-2 team at worst. I think I heard Brady has won 26 straight regular season games @ Gillette? Wow. But TJack can't really be substantially worse than 3+ Turnovers per game. That's just awful.
Who knows. It's too bad we are where we are.
Just an observation:
ReplyDeleteSitting Brett against NE would make sense, especially if he's hurt. But I would be willing to guarantee that if you bench a healthy Favre in favor of TJack the ol gunslinger will pack his shit and head back to Kiln to sit on his tractor and drink beer.