Monthly archive: December, 2011

I have seen plenty of comments around the internet following Sunday’s game that indicate the “close” nature of many 2011 Vikings losses has led a number of fans to believe this team is better than their 2-11 record indicates.

If they are better than that, they sure have a funny way of proving it.

There is no doubt that there were a number of positive things to take away from Sunday’s loss in Detroit.  Jared Allen notched three sacks and is having the best season of his career with 17.5 sacks through 13 games.  Joe Webb performed well as a replacement for the benched Christian Ponder, running with ease and seemingly showing improvement as a passer.  Percy Harvin had 109 yards from scrimmage, a touchdown, and a 47 yard kickoff return.  Toby Gerhart ran for 90 yards and showed competence as a receiving back, especially on his two yard score.  Heck, even Benny Sapp looked good at times.

Then we must look at the bad.  And, boy, was there ever some bad stuff to look at.

Christian Ponder was benched after throwing three picks and fumbling twice, and two of those turnovers were defensive scores for the Lions.  Cedric Griffin was benched after being torched for a touchdown by rookie Titus Young.  Lorenzo Booker fumbled the ball twice, despite only touching it three times.  Rookies Mistral Raymond and Stephen Burton exited with injuries.  Left tackle Charlie Johnson gave up a few big plays, while right tackle Phil Loadholt never seemed even capable of making a play of his own.  Four sacks were given up for 43 yards.  Asher Allen and any of our various safeties were constantly out of position.  Meanwhile, both of the Henderson brothers were nearly invisible.

Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, there was a very interesting non-call on the final play of the game.

“For me to come in and blame it on a facemask — we had way, way, way worse things go wrong in that game,” Percy Harvin said after the game.

I have to agree. 

Until the Vikings show they are capable of winning games on their own merits, nobody should be claiming they are losing them because of anyone other than themselves.

While a majority of fans seem to believe that rookie Christian Ponder is the Vikings quarterback of the future, there is still a small group who are not quite sold on him yet. 

Well, legendary Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton isn’t one of them. Tarkenton is a believer. 

In a video interview with Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere, Tarkenton essentially went ‘all in’ with his opinion of the young quarterback stating he would take Ponder over any of this year’s rookie QBs. Tarkenton says, “If I had my choice between any of the rookie quarterback this year, including Cam Newton, from what I’ve seen, I’d take Christian Ponder. You got a winner there.“

Tarkenton believes with some hard work, lots of studying (which he feels is the most important key to his success) and a better supporting cast, Ponder “has a chance to be really great.” 

He then went on to say, “…I think he will be the Vikings quarterback for the next 15 years.”

That’s a pretty big statement and one I desperately hope is true. Ponder hasn’t been perfect in his first year as the Vikings quarterback but he has shown moments of brilliance and true potential. “He can move in the pocket – outside the pocket. And he’s got a brain. And he thinks well. And he throws well,” Tarkenton adds. 

That, coming from one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, has got to make Ponder feel good.

Check out the video below to hear Tarkenton lavish more praise on Christian Ponder. 

You know your secondary is in pretty rough shape when inserting Asher Allen into the starting lineup is considered a major upgrade.

Regardless, that is where the Vikings are at this year, and it appears Allen will indeed be able to play against the Lions this week.  Allen is thought to be on pace to start against the Lions after being limited in Wednesday’s practice because of a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined last week against the Broncos.

Steve Hutchinson was surprisingly absent from practice and has been listed with an “illness.”

Adrian Peterson (ankle), Christian Ponder (hip), and Brian Robison (concussion) each did not take part in practice.

Allen (shoulder), Everson Griffen (quadriceps), Chad Greenway (elbow), and Visanthe Shiancoe (hand) all practiced on a limited basis.  Meanwhile, E.J. Henderson (shoulder) and Anthony Herrera (knee) were able to fully participating.

After Sunday’s debacle against Tim Tebow and the Broncos, head coach Leslie Frazier gave some a reason to believe that some players in the secondary could be losing their jobs.  I also expected the Vikings, who have obviously been eliminated from any post season play, may also add some players to their injured reserve to increase their recovery times for varying injuries.

Instead, the Vikings have not yet made a single transaction this week and it appears the roster will remain unchanged heading into Sunday’s game against the Lions. 

According to the NFL’s transaction page, the Vikings have made 32 transactions since the start of the 2011 season.

Here are your links for this Thursday:

• A stadium funding solution may have been put forth by an unusual source.
• I wasn’t the only one to poke some fun at a Minnesota columnist this week.
• A lost season isn’t keeping Adrian Peterson from wanting to play on Sunday.
• Christian Ponder looked back at his three turnovers and decided each one was “dumb.”
• Forty years later, Joe Kapp still knows what the word “rivalry” means.
• A solid recap of last week’s action versus the Broncos.
• The Viking Ship is continuing their music video parodies even through these rough times.
• At least one blogger thinks the second drive on Sunday’s game illustrates this whole season.
• Christian Ponder’s hip kept him out of practice on Wednesday.
• Leslie Frazier drops some hints that maybe we’ll see a stronger pass rush (blitz?) on Sunday.
• Wednesday’s full injury report for both the Vikings and the Lions.
• The Vikings offense may need to try and exploit the weak safety play of the Lions this week.
• There is no doubting that this has been a very tough year for Cedric Griffin.
• The amount of money the Vikings are willing to contribute towards a new stadium ranks third most in NFL history.
• If Christian Ponder continues to play inconsistently, debate about his potential will persist.
• One politician has referred to the Minneapolis stadium plan as “quite inadequate.”
• A real X’s and O’s look at how the Vikings Cover-2 failed to stop Tim Tebow.
• The greatest quarterback in Vikings history weighs in on Christian Ponder.
• Zygi Wilf’s recent $19 million investment has no impact on Governor Mark Dayton’s stadium take.
• Jared Allen explains his decision to punch Ray Edwards “square in the wiener” two weeks ago.
• And now, here it is, your moment of Zen:

It is a bit early to say who will and who won’t be on the Vikings radar when the NFL Draft rolls around in April, but it certainly seemed like USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil would rank right up there.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, the top offensive line prospect coming out of college appears like he is going to return to USC for another year of college ball.

A source close to the situation has reportedly stated that Kalil is “set to return” to USC for another year, while a high ranking NFL scout confirms the prospect is “definitely leaning towards returning.”

“If he does indeed return, it would be a bit surprising,” stated the scout.  “He’s the top offensive tackle in the country. The senior class [at offensive tackle] is a weak group. At worst, he’d be looking at a top ten pick. That fact alone would send most guys into the draft.”

Kalil has proven he is not “most guys” on the field, and now it appears he won’t fall into that same category when it comes to declaring for the Draft.

Assuming the Vikings are selecting between picks two and four this offseason, it seems unlikely that any other offensive lineman would be considered the “best player available” at that point.

UPDATE:  A new report has hit the internet that doesn’t have an “unnamed source” but instead comes straight from the horses mouth.

“I woke up to mayhem,” Kalil said himelf. “I guess it was kind of a glimpse of what’s going to be happening.

“I’m not close to making a decision. That will probably happen in the next couple weeks. No decision has been made. I just started thinking about the process I’m going to go through to make the decision.

“But I think I got a thousand new followers this morning on my Twitter account.”

Kalil has submitted his paperwork with the NFL to get an evaluation as to where he might land in the Draft if he were to declare.  What is the over-under that their response simply says “Minnesota” when he gets it?

As I mentioned in the previous post, Percy Harvin had a big day against the Broncos, posting a career high of 156 receiving yards on eight catches.  He also rushed for 19 yards on five carries. 

His two scores, one 48 yards and the other 52 yards, were incredible plays that will have a permanent place in the official “Percy Harvin Highlight Reel” forever.

Unfortunately, his all star performance wasn’t quite enough to overcome Christian Ponder’s three turnovers, and the Vikings ended up losing by three points.

There are plenty of receivers in the NFL that would be satisfied with such a big day despite the loss, but Harvin is not one of those guys.

“We are still losing football games,” Harvin said following the loss to his former college teammate, Tim Tebow. “I’m not a big stats guy. Never have been, never will be.”

“There’s been too many times this year we’ve had leads and then had let-downs or missed assignments,” Harvin continued. “It’s another game we feel we had control of and to somehow let it slip away, that’s disgusting.”

Disgusting is not a way in which anyone will ever describe Harvin’s production throughout his first three years in the NFL, but it is a perfect description of the way his team has played this year.  It is refreshing to see a receiver, however, that competes on every down and is willing to play any position and sacrifice his body in an effort to win each and every game.

Harvin is a guy that the Vikings are lucky to have.