Vikings Need a Win Vs. Arizona. Duh.

There’s no way of finessing the situation – the Vikings need a win against Arizona or their season will be lost. At 2-5 they still have a decent shot at the playoffs, given the weakness of the NFC. But if they slide to 2-6? You can kiss any realistic hope of a 2010 playoff run goodbye. And, if last week’s reports are to be believed, you can probably kiss Brad Childress goodbye as well.



Judging from the sentiments being expressed by most Viking fans, there will be few tears shed if Childress is indeed sent packing by Zygi Wilf. The fact is that, from almost the moment of his hiring, Childress has been an unpopular figure with Minnesota fans. His manner has often seemed patronizing, his offense has often been boring, and his handling of players has often been clumsy. And I haven’t even mentioned his game management skills. However, if the Vikings should lose to Arizona this weekend, and Childress should subsequently be fired: I ask the vociferous Chilly-haters, what then? Would getting rid of Childress and elevating Leslie Frasier to head coach actually result in a run of wins? Or, would the Vikings’ problems remain even without Childress at the helm?



I have no doubt that Childress has done things to deserve being on shaky ground with his owner. However, if the owner fires Childress simply because Childress irritated him…well, how then would Wilf be any different than Childress himself, who got on the hot seat precisely because he allowed Randy Moss‘ comments about him to bother him personally? At some point, somebody in the Vikings organization has to put personal feelings aside and run this thing like a professional organization. In my mind, Childress getting fired now would demonstrate that Wilf is no more in command of things than Childress. The firing of the coach would not restore my faith in the organization; on the contrary, it would prove to me that the organization is in profound disarray, from the top down.



The fact is, a lot of what’s gone wrong this year has not been Childress’ fault. Did Childress injure Sidney Rice’s hip? Did he cause Brett Favre to suffer a bad elbow and bad ankle? Did he hurt Cedric Griffin’s ACL? Did he cause the pass rush to mysteriously vanish? Blaming Childress for everything that’s gone wrong in 2010 is, I think, a little too easy. And thinking Childress’ firing would magically fix the Vikings is naive at best.



No, the best thing for the Vikings now would not be a Childress firing but a win Sunday against the Cardinals. If the Vikings are going to get this much-needed victory, it appears they will have to do so without Percy Harvin, who injured an ankle early against the Patriots and has spent the whole week hobbling through practice. With Moss gone and Rice and Harvin hurt, the Vikings would be left with Bernard Berrian as their #1 receiver…but even Berrian was listed on the injury report this week with a bad groin. If you want to find a healthy Vikings receiver you have to go down the list to guys like Greg Camarillo, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett. Needless to say, Brett Favre himself is not exactly 100%.



With Favre still not fully himself and the receiver corps greatly diminished, it figures to be another rough week for the passing game. At this point we should’ve long-since resigned ourselves to the reality that, if the Vikings do manage to put together some wins this year, they will not be pretty wins. The 2009 offense ain’t walking through that door. The only thing that’s working this year is running the ball with Adrian Peterson…and if Childress elects to leave Peterson on the field, maybe he will even have a chance to carry the team. If Childress has any survival instinct at all, he will scrap his “mixing in Toby Gerhart” plan and just ride Peterson. I wouldn’t presume to tell Mr. Childress how to do his job, but it seems to me that when you do get some offensive momentum going, it would be a good idea not to yank your best player.



The key word when addressing the defense this week is “bounce back.” As in, these guys need to bounce back from getting undressed in the second half by Tom Brady and the Patriots. Asher Allen got exposed as not a very good football player last week, and overall, the tackling was just not good enough – sort of shocking when you consider that, for the last few years, the Vikings have sported one of the best tackling units in the league. Obviously, with the secondary looking shakier by the week, the onus falls more-and-more on the front-four, which has not exactly been rising to the challenge. I could do the easy thing here and blame it all on Jared Allen, but the fact is, the line in general has just not been getting consistent penetration, and that’s showing up both in the pass rush and the run defense. If the guys in the middle – the alleged strength of our defense – get more penetration, quarterbacks will get flushed more and Allen will run into more sacks. Frankly, I’m beginning to believe our real problem is that Kevin Williams has hit the downslope of his career. Outside of the occasional batdown, what plays is he making? The Williams Wall this year has looked more like the Williams Chicken Wire Fence. I don’t want to sound too harsh, but frankly, Brett Favre isn’t the only old washed-up guy on our team. Pat Williams is about done; and if you want to extend this discussion out to the team as a whole, I think you can add Antoine Winfield and Steve Hutchinson to the list of guys who are fading quickly. We knew the window was going to close on this team this year, but what we didn’t realize was that, for a few of the key veterans, it was already down to a crack.



Brad Childress can’t stop Father Time any more than he could stop Randy Moss from being a prick. But, when you’re a coach in the NFL, the reality is that you’re going to be blamed for everything, even the stuff that’s out of your hands. Childress’ problem this year is that everything came to a head at once: certain key guys got old, certain young guys got hurt, and a certain desperation set in that led to the single most disastrous personnel move of Childress’ tenure. Of course, Chilly still deserves plenty of blame, for the sometimes bizarre and boneheaded way he reacted to all these issues. However, I reiterate, firing Childress won’t make that stuff go away. Only a win, ugly or otherwise, will dispel the Cloud of Doom currently darkening the Vikings’ skies.

Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress Quotes

Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress Is Optimistic About Slow Start

Good work today; you guys won’t be here, but we’ll get a little extra work tomorrow with these guys all working together. They’ll have their day off Wednesday. Tonight they have Taste of the NFL and they have their NFL life skills seminar at 2:30. We got a few things we like to get done during the bye week. Everybody came back none the worse for wear. I had a chance to watch a little college football and a little pro football. It’s a long season. The big thing is to continue to improve and I think these few days will help us do that.



Q: How wide open do you think the NFC North potentially is?



A: I would say that about probably every team in the NFL. Before it’s over, if they don’t have issues now; Kansas City is the only undefeated team and I’m sure there are issues no one is aware of. It becomes a war of attrition at times; who’s healthy, and who’s not. Certainly the NFC North is always competitive. It was a game last year; it’s always going to be in there being fraught with different things. We’re playing a couple pretty good divisions in our crossover, so I would expect it to be a pretty good battle.



Q: How pleased are you with the defensive line at this point?



A: I think they are doing okay. I think the edge pressure has been decent. Jared Allen has seen a variety of different looks. As important as anything I would tell you would be the pocket push, pushing up the middle. Quarterbacks can step up from edge rushes and not giving them something clean where they can step in to is as big as anything. I think we’re doing a decent job with that inside push as well.



Q: What’s it like having only three weeks of film to look at during your bye week?



A: It was different from the standpoint of body of work. You don’t have as many plays to look at and see situational, for instance snaps on the goal-line, which we had an unbelievable amount throughout the course of last year. There’s not that much evidence there yet, so people will go back to last year to look at us. We’re doing a decent job of running the football right now. We want to continue that. We want to throw in a couple of areas there. Like I said before, pass game needs work and we’ll continue to address that and look at that.



Q: Are you surprised you got a call from the league addressing Jared’s “roping”?



A: I was. It was Friday before the game. Somebody must have called it to somebody’s attention, but it has been going on for a long time and everybody was certainly aware of it when we started this season. It wasn’t on the DVD that we get for rules changes. Ed Hochuli was very good about it before the game just in my conversations with him. They weren’t going to try and make an issue out of it.



Q: The league said he [Allen] can’t go down to the knee?



A: I think you can’t go down to the ground to celebrate. It’s the same as you can’t go down to the ground in the endzone to celebrate after a touchdown.



Q: What do you look for when a team comes back from a bye week?



A: It’s important that they have a fresh attitude, fresh outlook and that they come out here and don’t forget everything they knew before the bye. I thought we had a pretty crisp practice today, just kind of getting back in the saddle. I just look for them to come back with the right mindset, come back ready to work, come back ready to improve, not to come back and just hang out. We’ve got work to do. We can only do work on one opponent right now. As I mentioned to you, offensively we face a number of 3-4 teams here, one after the other.



Q: The Jets are getting Santonio Holmes back for this game. What does he bring to the offense?



A: They already do a nice job of running the football; Jerrico Cotchery is a good player and Braylon Edwards is a very good player. The more weapons they have, the more variables. They have a very good tight end; I think he gives them more of those explosive components. He’s a good player in his own right.



Q: How impressive is it that they [Jets] only have one turnover through four games?



A: That’s huge. They don’t put themselves in trouble.



Q: What is the status on Visanthe Shiancoe and John Sullivan?



A: They are working through their different muscle issues. They are making progress and they stayed all last week and actually treated last night. They’re coming.



Q: Are you surprised at how successful Ladanian Tomlinson has been this season?



A: No, I thought he was still a pretty good talent. Live-legged. I know they are changing it up with Shonn Greene a little bit. He’s got football instincts and he’s still got the physical wherewithal to be able to make you miss and he’s quick enough to square around the corner and run between tackles.

Rex Ryan Says He Would Have Pursued Favre If Jets Hadn't Drafted Sanchez

In 2008, the Jets traded for quarterback Brett Favre. After an 8-3 start and a disappointing finish, which saw the Jets miss the playoffs, coach Eric Mangini took the fall -- and Rex Ryan got the job.
Favre retired for the second straight year after the season, and the Jets declined at the time to release his rights. Thus, while retired, Favre remained property of the Jets.
After the Jets moved up with Mangini's Browns to pick quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick in the 2009 draft, the Jets released Favre from the reserve-retired list, setting the stage for a pursuit by the Vikings.
On Monday, as the Jets prepare to host Favre and the Vikings in only seven days, Ryan told the media that, if the Jets hadn't drafted Sanchez, Ryan would have tried to recruit Favre to return.
Though it's unknown whether Favre would have responded to the sweet nothings whispered into his ear by Rex, the reality is that, if Favre wanted to keep playing football, he would have played for the Jets or no one. The Jets released Favre's rights only after drafting Sanchez. If they hadn't, Favre definitely wouldn't have played for the Vikings.
And he may have had a second tour with the Jets.
He may have even had a third one.

Miami Dolphins Defense Smacks Brett Favre Into Submission In Minnesota

    The Miami Dolphins are back after a narrow 14-10 victory in Minnesota. The defense put on a dominant performance highlighted by Jason Allen's two interceptions and Cameron Wake's game altering forced fumble leading to a touchdown.



Let's break down the game in its entirety as the Dolphins look to continue their success this season with the New York Jets at home next week.









ESPN

Individual Stats

Miami Passing



C. Henne – 9/15 114 YDS, TD (106.0 QB Rating)



Minnesota Passing



B. Favre – 22/36 225 YDS, 3 INT (44.3 QB Rating)




Miami Rushing



R. Brown – 13 RUSH, 80 YDS, FUM



R. Williams – 10 RUSH, 30 YDS, FUM



Minnesota Rushing



A. Peterson – 28 RUSH, 145 YDS, TD



T. Gerhart – 4 RUSH, 10 YDS



Miami Receiving



B. Marshall – 4 REC, 71 YDS



B. Hartline – 3 REC, 28 YDS, TD



Minnesota Receiving



V. Shiancoe – 6 REC, 86 YDS



A. Peterson – 5 REC, 41 YDS



Miami Defense



J.Allen – 2 INT, 11 TACK, 3 PD



V. Davis – INT, 6 TACK, 2 PD



C. Wake – FF, 1.5 SACK,



K. Langford – SACK



R. Starks – 0.5 SACK



K. Misi – TD





Minnesota Defense



J. Allen – SACK



K. Williams – SACK



C. Greenway – 8 TACK, 2 TFL





Grades

Quarterback – Although on paper Chad Henne played an efficient, mistake-free game, there is major room for improvement. He still locks onto receivers and the defensive line has learned to read his eyes, which resulted in a few balls batted down at the line yesterday.



Still, he faced a hostile road crowd and managed the game pretty well. He connected on his first throw, a 50 yard bomb to Brandon Marshall. I’d like to see him have more opportunities down the field because he throws a pretty good deep ball.



Grade: C+



Backs – Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown played well until two major mistakes. They both had costly fumbles, especially Ricky, who coughed up the ball on the Dolphins own one-yard line.



Grade: D



Receivers/Tight Ends – Brandon Marshall proved why he’s one of the game’s most dominant receivers on Sunday. He beat his man for a 50-yard strike on the Dolphins first offensive play. Brian Hartline ran a perfect route on his touchdown grab in the first quarter.



Grade: A-



Offensive Line – The line handled an excellent Vikings front with efficiency. Jake Long played superb against Jared Allen. The pass protection was solid, giving up two sacks, with both resulting from Henne holding the ball too long.



Run blocking was pretty good, but the Vikings stacked the line for most of the game so production was limited. They did an excellent job on Ronnie Brown’s 46-yard burst off the Dolphins own goal line.



Grade: B+



Defense Line - Brett Favre was beat up, harassed, and hit all day. They did an amazing job in the passing game, but struggled to contain Adrian Peterson in the running game. He racked up 145 yards on the day and often broke into the second level of the defense with ease.



Grade: C+



Linebackers – Cameron Wake is impressing more and more with every game. He forced a game-deciding fumble for a touchdown and also was in on another sack with Randy Starks. Karlos Dansby played solid as usual, providing the touchdown saving hit on the Dolphins goal-line stand in the second half.



The one negative was the missed tackles in the running game. I know Peterson is a load, but they have to work on tackling technique (Misi, Wake). Arm tackles are not going to bring down backs like AP.



Grade: A -



Secondary - To think that this unit was the biggest question mark heading into the season. Jason Allen (2 INT) looks like a shutdown corner in this man-heavy scheme. Wait, did I really just write that? He had the game of his career yesterday. Vontae Davis is looking like a Pro Bowl corner and didn’t give up anything to Favre. He’s aggressive, instinctive, and reminds me of a more physical Patrick Surtain.



Grade: A+



Special Teams - Dan Carpenter didn’t get much action Sunday. Brandon Fields was great as usual, pinning the Vikings back within their own 20 several times. The return game wasn’t much of a factor, and return coverage was excellent, forcing a fumble in the second half.



Grade: B



Coaching – Defensively, Mike Ryan and crew proved again to have a huge edge. Favre was never comfortable at any point yesterday and much of that goes to the various coverages thrown at him. Offensively, there are some issues. It still appears the coaches are lacking confidence in Henne. Outside of the bomb to Marshall, it was an extremely conservative game plan.



What frustrated me the most was the decision to not try to score with 3 timeouts and a minute remaining in the first half. Play to win the game!



Coaching B+



Overall – It was another gritty, ugly, win. But any win is a good win in this league and the fact that both wins came on the road is all the more impressive. We might not know how good this team is just yet, but we do know one thing. They are physical and mentally tough.



The defense looks absolutely dominant. Wake is going to get double teamed as the season progresses, so it will be important that other guys become factors in pass rushing situations. The secondary has been incredible thus far.



Offensively, I’m a little worried about Chad Henne. He doesn’t seem like he has all the confidence in the world. The fact that the coaches don’t let him play is disturbing. It’s time to let the kid give it all he has and if he screws up, so be it. At times he was a gun slinger last season and I haven’t seen any of that yet this year. They should open up the play-calling against a banged up Jets defense at home next week.



It was a great win.



Next Week: Sunday night against the Jets at Sun Life Stadium

New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings Preview

Adrian Peterson Looking To Carry The Load

Vikings Fans Are Looking For Revenge

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    It has been more than seven months since the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings battled for the NFC championship.
saints_fans95.jpgScott Threlkeld/The Times-PicayuneIt will be an emotional game for the New Orleans Saints and their fans Thursday night.

Since then, barbs have been traded, criticisms levied, taunts fired.


Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress accused the Saints of taking cheap shots at quarterback Brett Favre.

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe called out Saints safety Darren Sharper for dirty play.

Sharper, in turn, hinted that the Saints would be targeting Favre's ankle.

The Biggest Game Of The Vikings 2010-2011 Season

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said his defense could continue to send messages to opposing quarterbacks, "starting with No. 4 (Favre)."

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, meanwhile, called Williams' remarks "meathead comments."

The trash talk and verbal volleys only add to the anticipation for Thursday night's regular-season opener between the teams at the Superdome.

It's one of the most-hyped rematches since Ali-Frazier.

NFL Kickoff?

More like the NFL Tick-off.

And it might be more physical than the Thrilla in Manila.

Saints' players spent Sunday afternoon downplaying their newfound rivalry with the Vikings. They stressed this will be just another game on the schedule. They insisted there'll be no more trash talking or extracurricular action than any other week.

Visante Shiancoe Looks To Quiet The Superdome Early

And they fooled no one.

Thursday night has all the earmarks of a blood bath. The Vikings believe they, not the Saints, should have won Super Bowl XLIV. They are convinced they gave away the NFC championship game. They are going to arrive with horns on their helmets and chips on their shoulders.

"I think it will all take care of itself from our standpoint and their standpoint, " Childress said. "You better play this game from an emotionally aroused level. I don't have any illusions that they will. All you want to make sure is you give your best shot, and that's what I want from my players."

Childress on Sunday did not back down from claims earlier this summer that he believes the Saints intentionally tried to hurt Favre in the NFC championship game.

Jared Allen Looking To Get His

"What I hate to see are late hits or attempts to hurt anybody, " Childress said. "I don't think there's a place for that in the game."

Later on Sunday, Saints defensive end Will Smith scoffed at the notion.

"Everybody knows that's nonsense, " Smith said. "We play to the whistle. We played like that all year and didn't hear anybody else complain."

Defensive tackle Remi Ayodele said the Saints have never tried to intentionally hurt a player, including Favre. On the play in which Favre injured his ankle, Ayodele said he even tried to let up on the quarterback at the last minute.

"Watch the film, " he said.

Brett Favre Looks To Pour On The Points

"You don't ever want to hurt another player, but I just think it was taken out of proportion because it was Favre and it was that game. But if you look back on the rest of our games, it was kind of the same deal. ... We did that every game."

Defensive end Anthony Hargrove just rolled his eyes when asked about the play.

"If the league doesn't want the quarterback to get hit, maybe they should just give him a flag, " said Hargrove, who was fined $5,000 for a late hit on Favre in the NFC championship game.

"We're not going to change how we play. We're going to come after every quarterback we play. It's about sending messages all season."

To Favre's credit, he didn't buy into Childress' claims. "It's physical, " Favre said. "It's football. I'm not going to get caught up in that."

What both teams likely will get caught up in is the emotion of the night.

There's going to be a pregame parade in the French Quarter.

The Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift will perform concerts.

They are going to drop banners at the Superdome on Thursday night: One for the NFC South Division title; one for the NFC championship; and another for the Super Bowl XLIV title.

The atmosphere is going to be electric. And the action is only going to intensify once they kick it off.