Despite Win, Issues Still Exist

Does The Minnesota Vikings  Offensive Line Have Problems?

I tried to keep it fairly positive around here following the Vikings three point victory against the Cowboys, but there is no doubt that there are still some issues, negative in nature, that plague this team.



The Vikings made some unusual moves when deciding who would be active for the game. They had Fahu Tahi inactive and instead Albert Young suited up. The idea seemed to suggest that the Vikings would protect Favre to the max with multiple tight end sets and having Young in there to pick up blitzes and take some third down duties.



Additionally, Jon Cooper became the third different center to start for this team this year.



I can’t honestly say that despite the effort in shaping the active roster, the pass protection did not seem to improve and the run blocking may have declined.



Favre was hit many times, especially early in the game, and the Vikings gave up three sacks. Anytime Favre tried to extend the play by holding onto the ball, it seemingly ended in disaster, which is why the longest pass play of the day was a 20-yarder to Jimmy Kleinsasser of all people. On a number of occasions, the Cowboys defense was daring Favre to go deep but even if his injured arm could chuck it down the field, he never had the chance to show it.



Peterson, on the other hand, was given his biggest opportunity of the year to be “featured” with 24 carries. It seemed like Peterson was constantly hitting a wall on his way to 73 yards, a three yard average per carry.



Peterson was able to break a fifteen yarder, but it seemed like every other time he broke a long run, it was negated by a penalty along the offensive line.



The Vikings only ended up having five penalties for 45 yards, but they all seemed to come at inopportune times (as if there is ever a good time for a penalty).



To make Peterson’s day even rougher, he came up limping after one play and was the self-proclaimed culprit of the bad exchange that resulted in the Vikings only turnover, despite Favre being credited with the fumble. Peterson’s only catch went for negative two yards.



Presuming Favre’s arm is hurting him, and considering the leaky offensive line, he did a decent job of not throwing the game away. He was pretty darn accurate as he went 14 of 19, but the type of game played is shown by the fact that he only gained 118 yards on those 14 completions. Seeing Favre manage the game was a positive, but seeing him so utterly ineffective only furthers the already existing worries that he is declining rapidly this season.



However, with every week that goes by, Favre can really only develop better chemistry with his receivers and guys like Sidney Rice are only going to get healthier. Speaking of injured pass catchers, Visanthe Shiancoe (hamstring) was once again nearly invisible, and his name was only really called on a penalty that negated an Adrian Peterson run.



In the end, the Vikings offense only managed 188 total yards, and it seems that most of the problems begin and end with the offensive line play.



It is kind of difficult to be too picky about this defense, as they played really well overall, yet again. They held the Cowboys potent running game in check, and Romo’s 220 yards passing was his lowest of the season so far.



Despite the victory and solid performance, there are always areas which can be improved on. The pass rush was better this week, in my opinion, despite the absence of any sacks. Jared Allen and Kevin Williams were able to be disruptive enough to cause at least one turnover, and Romo seldom was able to set up a long pass to his main playmaker Miles Austin who was held to 12 yards.



Perhaps Austin’s lack of production can be explained by the fact that he was never lined up against Lito Sheppard. Sheppard was a nightmare after playing somewhat solidly this season. All three touchdowns, two from Roy Williams and one from Dez Bryant, were the result of poor play from Lito Sheppard.



Asher Allen was almost the victim of a long touchdown caught by Austin Miles. The play was negated by offensive pass interference. By all appearances, however, Allen may have gotten lucky as the contact was quite minimal and the Cowboys may have had good reason to be upset about the call. Allen also got picked on a few times, and when it came time to end the game with an easy interception, he let it go right through his hands.



Husain Abdullah left early in the game with a concussion and was replaced with Jamarca Sanford at the strong safety position. There was no real notable drop off, and solid tackling all around for the Vikings made up for other shortcomings.



While there are always things to improve on, and the Vikings have their share, Sunday was a day to be celebrated. After all, the Vikings (who we love) beat the Cowboys (who we hate), and were the only team from the NFC North to win on Sunday.

Adrian Peterson Leads Vikings To 24-10 Win Over Lions

AP Has Another Big Day W/ 160 Yards Rus

 

   RECAP: Adrian Peterson continued his re-emergence as the Vikings' most valuable player with a dazzling 160-yard, two-touchdown performance to lead Minnesota to its first victory of 2010 against the always forgiving Lions (0-3). Brett Favre (23 of 34, 201 yards) was pressured plenty by Detroit's staunch defensive line and threw a pair of interceptions. But he connected with nine different receivers trying to establish some type of rhythm. His 24-yard touchdown strike to Percy Harvin tied the game 7-7 in the first quarter before the Vikings handed over the offense to Peterson.



MEANING: Favre and the passing game remain mostly inefficient but there is no mystery to Minnesota's offensive identity -- hand the ball to Peterson and let him pound the ball up field. The Vikings improve to 1-2 and salvage some dignity entering the bye week, with a brutal stretch of games looming against perennial playoff teams. They are off until Oct. 11, when they travel to New York for a Monday night matchup against reality show darlings the Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium.



PLAY OF THE GAME: First-and-10 at the Detroit 20 with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter and leading 17-10, Peterson hits the line of scrimmage, stiff arms C.C. Brown and out runs the Lions' safety for an 80-yard touchdown to put the game in a vise. It was Peterson's longest career run and the fourth-longest in team history.



ETC.: Linebackers Ben Leber and Chad Greenway recovered key Lions turnovers. Greenway



recovered Stefan Logan's muffed punt to set up Harvin's touchdown while Leber intercepted former Viking Shaun Hill's pass at the goal line as the Lions were driving for a score late in the fourth quarter. Antoine Winfield later intercepted Hill in the end zone with 58 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

UP NEXT: Vikings at New York Jets, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, ESPN, KFAN-AM 1130

Why Is Brett Favre's Reason For Holding Out The Past Three Off-seasons?

Brett's Our Quarterback!!

Brett Favre, We all know him for five things
1. He Won The 1995 Superbowl vs The New England Patriots
2. He Has Relentlessness Pure Joy And Passion For The Game Of Football
3. He Has played 19 NFL Seasons and Has broken just about every passing and quarterback records there are[about 20 broken records]
4. He's From Mississippi and is One Of The most consistent Top quarterbacks in the game, and football wouldn't be the same without him playing.
5. He's a Flip-Flopper And Is Very Indecisive In Regard To His Retirement Status 


So, The Question still remains why Is Brett Been So Indecisive And Enigmatic About Returning The Past Three Years?


The Answer , Brett Favre Fans, is that he can't part with the game even despite his  increasingly stiff ankle and worn body.He's not holding out for the money, trust me he's loaded with all his Wrangler and Sears sponsors and 19 seasons in the NFL all of which were successful piratically so about 10 million multiplied by 19, were talking in the hundred of millions. Why he chooses to remain in Mississippi is another mystery in itself. Okay for his family, but move your family out to a condo in South Beach. So he has the money but how about holding out for his ankle. Sure, but I'm sure a guy like Brett Favre Who's played football his whole life knows his body like a genius knows his mind. Dr. Andrews has already given him three ankle surgeries and recently reviewed  Brett's Ankle and cleared him to play football ,or not. So, The Real Reason Is As Blatant As Favre's Passion for the game. Brett Doesn't return until after training camp because He's been through 18 training camps and wants to skip the hot, long days in Florida with the rest of the Vikings. Sure Brett can put in a few 100 yard sprints with the High school Boys In Harrisburg but he doesn't want to do drills with the coaches at Vikings Camp. The Clear Point of this is that Favre is done with the work and rigor of pre-season training and just wants to skip the preparation and dive straight into the fun, thrill, and excitement of Football come regular season. Is Brett Favre saying he's above the rough, tough, and compliance of Hard work and improvement, NO. Last Season Favre didn't put in any training camp time, except for two weeks. The Result: a trip to the NFC Championship game that was foolishly lost. Moving on, alright we've narrowed down the reason why Brett Favre flip-flops about coming back so that he'll be able to skip the rigor of football, practices. And in essence, it has created an awesome season for the Vikings and one of the best for Favre statistically. So, Vikings fans, is Brett warranted to skip training camp and flip-flop until the end of training camp. Absolutely. Because we know that at the expense of giving Vikings fans heart attacks, Brett will return melodramatically and have another great season, hopefully a trip to Dallas for the Superbowl. So Brett Favre can be Brett Favre and take off training camp but we need him to be ready come the 1st regular season vs The New Orleans Saints.