Saturday, November 5, 2011
Here are the standings after Week 9, 2011...
| NFL Standings - Updated: Nov 6, 2011 | |||||
| NFC NORTH | W | L | T | PF | PA |
| Green Bay Packers | 7 | 1 | 0 | 183 | 144 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 3 | 0 | 187 | 170 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 5 | 0 | 163 | 179 |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 6 | 0 | 164 | 191 |
| Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers | |||||
| Oct 30, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Minnesota Vikings (3-4) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Carolina Panthers (3-4) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 28 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| MIN | CAR | |
| Total Offense | 253 | 292 |
| Rushing Yards | 98 | 88 |
| Passing Yards | 155 | 205 |
| First Downs | 13 | 10 |
| Punt Return Yards | 29 | 9 |
| Kick Return Yards | 75 | 63 |
| Total Yards | 357 | 364 |
| Turnovers | 2 (+1) | 3 (-1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 8-17 | 5-11 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 3/0 | 2/0 |
| Penalties | 2-20 | 3-20 |
| Posession Time | 27:24 | 20:36 |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ponder debut was a good, but not great one.
When we were looking ahead to this week on the schedule we thought about two things. The first was facing Cam Newton. Granted here's a rookie, but he's quickly learning his craft and truly is the first really mobile QB that we've had to face. The second thing was the fact that the Panthers have done a good job lining up some Newton weapons with which to attack.
We keep things close, Christian distributed the ball well and we had them tied right to the bitter end. It didn't help that things were a bit wet for the first time on a game day, hampering Christian's debut somewhat, but all-in-all I thought we played a decent game right up until the last several minutes when we let it slip away.
We were tied at 7's after one half. In the third quarter Christian marched the team down the field smartly and hit Avery on a four-yard pass for a TD. But then came the 4th...
Newton answered early in the 4th quarter, but we returned that volley with a short Gerhart TD after another extended drive. But Cam would not be denied and in the last three minutes hit Gettis for an 80-yard TD, which I think really hurt us as a team, followed by the 2-minute drill that ended in a 29-yard pass, Newton to Barnidge for the game winning TD with only 30-seconds left.
This one was a heart-breaker. But, taking away positives, we stayed with these guys on a muddy track and Christian Ponder had a respectable debut as a starting NFL QB!
We will enjoy the BYE week coming next and have plenty of time to prepare for Week 10.
| Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings | |||||
| Oct 23, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Green Bay Packers (5-1) | 3 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 20 |
| Minnesota Vikings (3-3) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| GNB | MIN | |
| Total Offense | 289 | 249 |
| Rushing Yards | 74 | 158 |
| Passing Yards | 215 | 91 |
| First Downs | 15 | 11 |
| Punt Return Yards | 47 | 21 |
| Kick Return Yards | 74 | 125 |
| Total Yards | 410 | 395 |
| Turnovers | 3 (-1) | 2 (+1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 3-12 | 5-16 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 1-1 | 0-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 1/3 | 2/0 |
| Penalties | 4-17 | 3-15 |
| Posession Time | 26:11 | 21:49 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Close, but...
We seem to be slow starters this year. It's the end of week seven and I think I've used that line almost every week. I'm not sure what it will take to light a fire under a few behinds, but that will certainly be the plan for week eight!
We seemed to come alive in the second quarter against the Packers, who only had 3 points on the board at the time. A 2-yard run and then an 11-yard run from both our running backs put us in great shape and aside from an answering field goal, I was feeling pretty good at half-time.
I'm not sure if the three previous winning weeks and being up on the Packers at half-time lulled us to sleep, but we seemed to come out flat once again in the second half and never managed to put another point up! Not good enough.
Aaron Rodgers found Donald Driver in the 3rd and then Crosby added a couple of field goals in the 4th, one a staggering 57-yard kick, to salt this game.
With only 91 net passing yards in this game, I've had a chat with Coach Frazier and we believe, with the Panthers next on our schedule and also struggling a bit at 3-4, it's time to sit down McNabb and go with Ponder to see what he might be able to give us from the start of a game.
Minnesota Vikings
Today we would like to announce the signing of free agent WR Donnie Avery, to replace the injured Percy Harvin. Donnie brings speed to the wide out position, we feel has a knack for finding the end zone and will provide another quality target for both Donovan and Christian.
Without a doubt Percy's shoes are tough to step in and fill, but with another tool we feel we have a great team of wide receivers that will provide balance to our Viking offense.
Donnie will work out this week and will dress for the Packers in Week 7.
| Minnesota Vikings - Injury Report | ||
| Pos | Player | Injury Note |
| ROLB | Dylan Appleby | Partial MCL Tear (5 weeks) |
| CB | Chris Cook | Partial MCL Tear (6 weeks) |
| WR | Percy Harvin | Broken Leg (Out for Season) |
The Vikings were dealt a significant blow this week. Immediately after the Chicago game the team announced that WR Percy Harvin had sustained a broken fibula in the game and would be lost for the rest of the season. The team will obviously put Harvin on the IR and assess the WR position for the next week.
The team also announced that backup ROLB Dylan Appleby would sit for five weeks with a partial MCL tear. That will leave a hole at the LB position. The team will evaluate.
| Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears | |||||
| Oct 16, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Minnesota Vikings (2-3) | 7 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 40 |
| Chicago Bears (1-4) | 0 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 21 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| MIN | CHI | |
| Total Offense | 493 | 297 |
| Rushing Yards | 212 | 63 |
| Passing Yards | 281 | 234 |
| First Downs | 21 | 7 |
| Punt Return Yards | 46 | 24 |
| Kick Return Yards | 100 | 202 |
| Total Yards | 639 | 523 |
| Turnovers | 1 (0) | 1 (0) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 7-13 | 2-12 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4/2 | 0/2 |
| Penalties | 2-20 | 2-10 |
| Posession Time | 28:26 | 19:34 |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
That's 3 in a row!
Once again we seemed to start a little slow. After an opening drive run by Gerhart for a TD, we exchanged some field goals in the second quarter.
By the second half we seemed to kick things into gear and started to put up some points. Not lost on the entire organization was the fact this also coincided with Christian Ponder being given some more time behind centre. He looked good, distributing the ball in the air and on the ground.
We traded TD's in the third. Two Peterson runs produced probably his best game yet this season. A pass to Aromashodu was a nice surprise for a TD through the air.
Then we closed it out in the final quarter with another passing TD. Christian looked good!
The Chicago defense is still pretty impressive. The Briggs/Urlacher bookends produced a ton of tackles, but we stretched them vertically and horizontally and I think simply wore them down through the game.
So, after starting 0-3 we have come back with three pretty impressive wins, showing great character in the process. Our quarterback situation is a challenge at the moment. We'll continue to start Donovan, but will not hesitate to go to Christian at the first sign of trouble. I do hope they can both put that in perspective the rest of the way.
Up next, the first big test of our season with the Packers. This will be a very important game for us and will give us a very good indication on where the rest of 2011 might go. Win and we will be in great shape. Anything else will prove that we will have to improve even more to remain in the race.
Friday, November 4, 2011
| Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings | |||||
| Oct 9, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Arizona Cardinals (0-4) | 0 | 3 | 14 | 21 | 38 |
| Minnesota Vikings (1-3) | 3 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 45 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| ARI | MIN | |
| Total Offense | 469 | 334 |
| Rushing Yards | 70 | 190 |
| Passing Yards | 399 | 144 |
| First Downs | 15 | 8 |
| Punt Return Yards | 24 | 30 |
| Kick Return Yards | 197 | 222 |
| Total Yards | 690 | 586 |
| Turnovers | 2 (-1) | 1 (+1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 8-21 | 2-13 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 2-2 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 1/0 | 0/2 |
| Penalties | 2-10 | 4-20 |
| Posession Time | 27:04 | 20:56 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Vikes win their second.
This game was a track meet. It seemed to start so very slow, but quickly exploded for us in the second quarter with a 78-yard Adrian Peterson run. We traded blows in the third quarter, which included an 83-yard WR screen pass from Donovan to Percy Harvin that went all the way for a TD.
By the end of the third it was 30-17, then shortly into the fourth we had the Cards hemmed in at their goal line when Kolb threw a pick six that went back only 4-yards. At that point we thought we had things well in hand and that our defense would allow us the luxury of giving Christian Ponder some snaps in the final quarter.
In the space of five minutes Kolb tossed TD's to Fitzgerald (his second of the game), Stuckey and Wells and, combined with a bit of a lapse on both offense and defense, we we really in danger of throwing this one away completely!
Then came - The Return!
With just over a minute left Percy Harvin caught the ball near our goal line and took it 98-yards to the house! A 2-point conversion followed and we pulled this one out of the fire 45-38 to win our second of the year.
Combined with another surprising Bears loss and we're sitting third in the division at the moment. In no way would I suggest that we're the least bit confortable, but I do think we learned a few things, felt our audience come to life for at least part of the game and had enough successes both passing and running that I can feel our confidence growing.
Our next game is extremely crucial. We take on the 1-4 Bears and can both bury them and gain separation as we chase the rest of the division. And I also think that the Arizona game has caused us to re-evaluate making drastic moves prior to the trade deadline. We're betting we might have the tools to make an impact in the NFC North.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
| Minnesota Vikings at Kansas City Chiefs | |||||
| Oct 2, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Minnesota Vikings (0-3) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| MIN | KAN | |
| Total Offense | 260 | 260 |
| Rushing Yards | 146 | 130 |
| Passing Yards | 114 | 130 |
| First Downs | 7 | 15 |
| Punt Return Yards | 27 | 53 |
| Kick Return Yards | 71 | 103 |
| Total Yards | 358 | 416 |
| Turnovers | 1 (+1) | 2 (-1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 3-14 | 3-16 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 0/2 | 1/1 |
| Penalties | 6-55 | 5-55 |
| Posession Time | 21:06 | 26:54 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I love the smell of victory!
This week in practice we made a concerted effort to work on the passing game to see if we could get our completion percentage up a bit and, in turn, use that to keep the defense guessing as to when we were going to run. I like to think that it worked early. Donovan came out and toss a couple of crisp passes and that seemed to establish things. Then, on a simple zone run shortly after that Adrian Peterson was able to break one for 62 yards and a touchdown!
Unfortunately we seemed to appear satisfied that what we had done in practice worked...once! We then kind of settled into our same pattern of run, pass, run with only moderate success.
The defense played well and kept Cassel on his toes all day and despite a fourth quarter comeback attempt that looked like it would spell doom, Asher Allen came up with a crucial interception late and that sealed the victory and produced our very first win in 2011.
Only the Bears have surprised me in the NFC North so far. After week 4 here are the standings:
| NFL Standings - Updated: Oct 1, 2011 | |||||
| NFC NORTH | W | L | T | PF | PA |
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 79 |
| Detroit Lions | 3 | 1 | 0 | 102 | 72 |
| Chicago Bears | 1 | 3 | 0 | 83 | 87 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 1 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 72 |
It's painfully evident that our major problem is putting points on the board. We have to get more production from our passing game and keep pounding the rock at the same time with A.P. to become more two-dimensional in our offensive attack.
We also suffered another secondary injury when CB Chris Cook went out with a partial tear of his MCL. It would appear he'll sit for at least 8 weeks. Here's the injury status after week 4:
| Minnesota Vikings Injury Report - Week 4 | ||
| Pos | Player | Injury Note |
| RG | A. Herrera | Fractured Toe (1 week until return) |
| CB | C. Griffin | Torn Hamstring (2 more weeks) |
| CB | C. Cook | Partial MCL Tear (8 weeks) |
CONFIDENTIAL:
After our very slow start and with Christian Ponder waiting in the wings, I put out word after week three that we may be interested in moving Donovan McNabb, ending our experiment of bringing him in for short term relief this season and begin to rebuild.
And if we're going that route, I put out some feelers for Antoine Winfield. Given our CB situation at the moment, that might have to be put on hold.
I've had some interest from both Miami and the Bengals on both players. I will give our team one more week, at home against the 0-4 Arizona Cardinals and see what our division looks like after that before making any drastic, pre-deadline, moves.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
| Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings | |||||
| Sep 25, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Detroit Lions (2-0) | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 34 |
| Minnesota Vikings (0-2) | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| DET | MIN | |
| Total Offense | 390 | 191 |
| Rushing Yards | 159 | 130 |
| Passing Yards | 231 | 61 |
| First Downs | 18 | 15 |
| Punt Return Yards | 34 | 6 |
| Kick Return Yards | 91 | 145 |
| Total Yards | 515 | 342 |
| Turnovers | 0 (+1) | 1 (-1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 6-10 | 7-14 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 3/2 | 1/2 |
| Penalties | 6-38 | 3-40 |
| Posession Time | 25:05 | 22:55 |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When the season first started I was asked which division would be the toughest this year. I said ours - Green Bay, Super Bowl Champs - The Bears could easily have been right there if not for some late injuries - and the Detroit Lions, I felt, Were positioned to have a breakout year.
Suh, Stafford, Johnson. Just those three names give them a chance to win any week and they proved that this week. We struggled on offense once again with an almost complete absence of any passing attack. Adrain was pretty much back in form after being banged up last week, but we need the passing game to help open up the run. It's too easy if you just allow any defense to fill gaps at the line.
I am starting to think that we may need some help on both the offensive line and at the QB position? I'm hoping that we'll have a great week of practice to zero in specifically on those two areas. Granted RG Anthony Herrara is still a couple of weeks away with an injury and that's hurt us, but we have to be a little more solid up front and more accurate at QB.
Starting 0-3 was the furthest thing from my mind when we opened the season. We'll have to see if our next game in Kansas City helps us crack open that goose-egg.
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings | |||||
| Sep 18, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 |
| Minnesota Vikings (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| TAM | MIN | |
| Total Offense | 253 | 220 |
| Rushing Yards | 82 | 58 |
| Passing Yards | 171 | 162 |
| First Downs | 14 | 8 |
| Punt Return Yards | 22 | 44 |
| Kick Return Yards | 37 | 112 |
| Total Yards | 312 | 376 |
| Turnovers | 0 (+2) | 2 (-2) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 5-15 | 4-13 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 0/1 | 0/0 |
| Penalties | 4-30 | 4-25 |
| Posession Time | 27:03 | 20:57 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We have work to do!
We tried to establish the run early with Adrian, but seemed to be stuffed inside and outside. We then tried to stretch the field and return to the run, but that showed limited results. Then Adrian went down and that put a serious crimp in our ground attack! Thankfully it wasn't serious and will not keep him off the field for our next game.
Donovan was able to run the ball himself a couple of times in the second half, but that really didn't fool the Bucs to any degree and they were still able to come with the pass rush and disrupt our offense.
Defensively we had our moments and were able to get some sustained pressure on Josh Freeman, even taking him down several times. But that just impacts one side of the scoreboard.
Our challenge is to score some points and then let our defensive manage the other side of the ball. Oh, and we need more production from our kicker. He has yet to hit a field goal in 2011 and clearly we need to score any time we have an opportunity.
I'm sorry to say that the Vikes start 0-2 on the season. We face the Lions next!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
| Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers | |||||
| Sep 11, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Minnesota Vikings (0-0) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| San Diego Chargers (0-0) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| MIN | SDG | |
| Total Offense | 341 | 196 |
| Rushing Yards | 111 | 87 |
| Passing Yards | 230 | 109 |
| First Downs | 14 | 10 |
| Punt Return Yards | 36 | 0 |
| Kick Return Yards | 37 | 26 |
| Total Yards | 414 | 222 |
| Turnovers | 1 (0) | 1 (0) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 4-15 | 4-14 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 0-1 | 1-2 |
| Penalties | 6-50 | 1-5 |
| Posession Time | 25:55 | 22:05 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We seemed to get off to a decent start, although I expected more from the running game earlier on. And we also seemed to be all over the Chargers with our defense the entire game.
We outplayed them but simply didn't get ourselves into the red zone to put us in any sort of position to win.
Ryan Longwell had a horrible game, missing three of three field goals, due in part to a rather stiff breeze. And we shot ourselves in the foot several times with some large and very untimely penalties that seemed to extend drives at the worst time.
McNabb to Harvin was a highlight and certainly something I hope we'll repeat often this year. That will serve a couple of purposes - points on the board and spreading the defense for our running attack.
The Vikings have release HB King and also FB Phillips and have added another free agent FB Loukasa Polite. Polite is expected to start for the Vikes in week 1, but obviously will be a bit rusty because of his just joing the team at practice this week as they prepare. But the move is expected to clear a path regularly for A.P.
Scouting:
The Vikings seem to be targeting the following positions if you can interpret how their scouts have been deployed since the end of the pre-season: RG-RT (in an attempt to provide some competition on the right side of the O-Line) and also LE-FB.
The mood was very positive as the team prepared for their first encounter of the regular season, flying out to San Diego for a date with the Chargers.
| Minnesota Vikings Depth Chart - 2011 | ||||
| Regular Offense | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| WR | 85 Harvin | 74 Berrian | 60 Arceneaux | |
| TE | 84 Shiancoe | 73 Rudolph | ||
| LT | 80 Johnson | 63 Kooistra | 59 Love | |
| LG | 92 Hutchinson | 65 Olsen | ||
| C | 73 Sullivan | 64 Fusco | ||
| RG | 71 Herrera | 68 Cooper | ||
| RT | 71 Loadholt | 73 DeGeare | ||
| WR | 76 Jenkins | 72 Aromashodu | ||
| QB | 82 McNabb | 73 Ponder | 66 Webb | |
| FB | 63 Phillips | 58 D'Imperio | ||
| HB | 97 Peterson | 72 Gerhart | 66 Booker | 58 King |
| Base 4-3 Defense | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| LDE | 73 Robison | 51 Reed | ||
| LDT | 97 Williams | 66 Ballard | ||
| RDT | 77 Ayodele | 66 Guion | ||
| RDE | 94 Allen | 66 Griffen | 57 Small | |
| WLB | 81 Peterson | 69 Henderson | ||
| MLB | 88 Henderson | 69 Brinkley | 66 Adibi | |
| SLB | 90 Greenway | 54 Appleby | ||
| CB | 90 Winfield | 70 Allen | 65 Burton | |
| SS | 76 Johnson | 75 Sanford | ||
| FS | 77 Abdullah | 63 Raymond | ||
| CB | 81 Griffen | 66 Cook | 62 Sherells | |
| Special Teams | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| K | 96 Longwell | |||
| P | 77 Kluwe | |||
| H | 97 Peterson | |||
| PR | 62 Sherells | |||
| KR | 62 Sherells | |||
| LS | 92 Hutchinson | |||