Posts by Adam Warwas

2014 Opponents Are Revealed

December 18, 2013, by No comments yet

The unknowns surrounding the 2014 season are currently many, with a struggling team potentially on the verge of a shakeup, but we now know who the Vikings will face throughout their schedule next season.

Of course, they will face their divisional foes twice each, which accounts for six games on the schedule.  Judd Zulgad of 1500 ESPN points out that next year’s opponents have now been solidified, however, and here are the results.

The Vikings will play their home games at TCF Bank Stadium while their new palace is being constructed.  Their home games will consist of:  Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, and the Washington Redskins.

The Vikings are currently 0-7 on the road in 2013, and they are hoping to break that streak this week in Cincinnati, but they are going to have to be more successful next season if they hope to return to the playoffs.  Their away opponents are:  Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Bucs, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and the St. Louis Rams.

Keenan Allen Vs. Cordarrelle Patterson An Interesting Debate

December 17, 2013, by 18 comments

Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has helped the Vikings offense in his rookie season both on offense and special teams.  The Vikings gave a steep bounty to New England in exchange for the 29th overall selection in the 2013 Draft, but the trade got done and they were able to make Patterson their third first round selection of the day, and he immediately injected excitement into the offensive and special teams playbooks.

Thus far, Patterson has paid dividends to the Vikings in the form of 40 catches, 430 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns in addition to 50 yards and a touchdown on seven rushing attempts.  His addition, combined with the signing of Greg Jennings, created more legitimacy to the Vikings group of receivers which created a no-excuses scenario for the Vikings to finalize their evaluation of Christian Ponder.

In addition to his work on offense, Patterson has pretty easily been this season’s best kick returner, and the results are really showing.  Patterson has returned 36 kicks for 1,199 yards (a Vikings rookie record) with two more touchdowns.  As of late, opponents have sacrificed field position by kicking away from Patterson all together, which has set the offense up with huge advantages throughout the games.

Much of the pre-Draft debate surrounding the Vikings included names like Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, Tavon Austin, and Patterson.  Allen has arguably been the best wide out, and possibly offensive player, this class had to offer and some of his recent quotes have raised eyebrows within the Minnesota fanbase.

Allen said his agent told him he had a “guarantee” the Vikings would select him in the first round, despite rumors that his poorly timed knee injury had doomed his draft stock.  The injury caused him to push back workout dates and eventually produced an underwhelming 40-yard dash time.  Allen indeed tumbled on Draft weekend and he ended up going to San Diego in the third round.  He was drafted 76th overall and was the eighth wide receiver taken in the class.

This season Allen has done wonders for the Chargers who clearly suffered in the absence of Vincent Jackson and needed a big, athletic wide out that could out-run and out-jump opposing defenders on a regular basis.  Allen has 63 catches for 931 yards and seven touchdowns.  He has done alright on special teams, as well, with 10 punt returns for a 8.4 yard average.

“It hurt me. Now it’s hurting them,” Allen said of the teams that passed on him. “It is what it is. I don’t dwell on it.”

The Vikings surely aren’t disappointed with the return they are getting on their Patterson investment, or any of their first round selections for that matter.  Still, Allen has been an all-out stud as a rookie, and one has to wonder how this all will look with a few more seasons in the past.  One thing that is for sure, the Chargers got a better value snagging Allen that late in the Draft, and they didn’t have to trade away additional picks to move up and get him.

How about you?  With hindsight being what it is, would you have done anything different if you were Rick Spielman and had a time machine programed for April of 2013?  Let me know in the comments section.

10 Things: What Team Was That?

December 15, 2013, by 28 comments

The Vikings were without their top two running backs, their most productive offensive lineman this season, and their starting cornerback duo.  As if the odds weren’t stacked enough against them, Minnesota had to play the potent offense of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, so expectations were minimal as fans filed into the Metrodome.

The Vikings, however, had no-names show up big on their way to a 48-30 beatdown of the Eagles.  Here are ten things I noticed about the game:

1.  NFL Network reported prior to the game that Matt Cassel would remain with the Vikings into 2014.  The understanding is that both Cassel and the Vikings have the option to void the second year of his contract following the season, so I was surprised to see such a concrete report come across the TV.  Cassel then proceeded to have one of the best games of his career.  He finished 26 of 35 for 382 yards and two touchdowns.  He threw one interception and took three sacks, but for the most part he was sharp and poised on his way to a 116.6 quarterback rating.  He also ran for 19 yards and another score.  These are the types of games we just never saw out of Christian Ponder and it is no wonder that Cassel’s future with the franchise suddenly looks far brighter than Ponder’s.  Jennings had never before, in his entire career, caught 11 passes in one game.

2.  Greg Jennings continued to show that he can better reward the Vikings for their investment when Cassel is at the helm.  His best game as a Vikings so far came to the tune of 13 targets, 11 catches, 163 yards, and a touchdown.  Jennings continues to be precise with his route running and the main difference lately seems to be that he now has a quarterback willing and able to take advantage of his talents.

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No Peterson Or Gerhart Today – Live Chat

December 15, 2013, by 11 comments

The Vikings will have to take on the Philadelphia Eagles without their star running back Adrian Peterson today, who suffered a foot injury last week in Baltimore.  They also won’t have his backup Toby Gerhart available as he is inactive today with a hamstring injury.

Running back Matt Asiata will start today and Joe Banyard, recently activated from the practice squad, will get the lion’s share of the action.

Their starting duo of cornerbacks are also out today.  Chris Cook (knee) and Xavier Rhodes (ankle) will not be suiting up.  The injuries and other issues have once again blown up the Vikings depth chart at cornerback, which seems to happen on an annual basis, and Marcus Sherels and Shaun Prater are going to be your starters today, according to 1500 ESPN.  Not an ideal situation for those holding out hope for an upset win, but certainly can’t hurt Minnesota’s possible run at a top-three draft selection.

Guard Brandon Fusco is also inactive and will be replaced by Joe Berger as the starting right guard.

The good news is that Harrison Smith has been activated for today’s game.Smith suffered an injury on October 13th and hasn’t played since.  It remains to be seen just how much playing time the Vikings are willing to give to their star safety, given the game is essentially meaningless, but Smith makes any game more fun to watch.

Don’t forget to join our VT Live Chat during today’s game.

Report: Vikings Begin Coaching Search With O’Brien

December 15, 2013, by 6 comments

If Leslie Frazier’s current record wasn’t enough to convince you that he is coaching his last games in Minnesota, then today’s report that the Vikings are already putting out feelers ought to do the trick.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Vikings have reached out to Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien, who served as an assistant with the Patriots from 2007 to 2011.  He not only has some familiarity with Vikings rookie linebackers Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges, but boasts a successful pedigree of two tight end sets and offensive innovation.

O’Brien seems like a logical candidate for the Vikings to check out, but the odds are long that he is the next head coach of the team.  His Penn State contract reportedly requires an NFL team to buy him out to the tune of $7.73 million.  There are also some unsubstantiated rumors floating around that O’Brien actually has no intent to once again join the NFL coaching ranks and wants to stay put.

The Vikings aren’t the only team to contact O’Brien.  The Houston Texans, who currently have a head coaching vacancy, have also reached out to the college coach.

If things get more serious regarding O’Brien we will more extensively explore who he is as a coach and a man.  In the meantime, this story is more about confirming that the Vikings appear poised to usher in a new era of Minnesota football by doing away with their current staff.

Jay Cutler, If Available, Could Make Some Sense

December 12, 2013, by 31 comments

Quarterback Jay Cutler isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.  His personality rubs some the wrong way, his leadership has been questioned countless times, and he won’t be winning any Mister Congeniality contests anytime soon.  Still, he is an accomplished veteran at the NFL’s most important position, and recent rumors stating the Bears might let him walk after this season are sure to grab attention.

It is an especially intriguing scenario for Vikings fans who are as hungry as ever for some new hope at the quarterback spot.  For every rumor in the NFL a counter-rumor is sure to follow, and some are wisely betting that the Bears don’t simply let Cutler leave, but let’s pretend for a second they do.  Should the Vikings be interested?  Would they be?

First off, they clearly will enter the offseason in the market for a new quarterback or three.  The Christian Ponder experiment is pretty clearly on it’s last legs, Matt Cassel can opt out of the second year of his deal, and Josh Freeman can’t be happy riding the bench after migrating north from Tampa midseason.  None of the above have proven they can lead the Vikings in an overly impressive way and so it seems they will once again be looking for the guy that just has “it.”

Secondly, they are preparing to play the next two seasons at TCF Bank Stadium, and finding a quarterback that can have success outdoors in Minnesota could be even trickier than trying to find one that can succeed in the Metrodome… which hasn’t been the easiest task ever.

Cutler, now 30 years old, has played outdoors in every home game of his professional career.  He has three seasons in Denver under his belt, and four in Chicago, and so that experience could be mighty attractive.  He has not only played in the cold and wind, but he’s also been fairly successful.

Cutler has a career passer rating of 84.4 and 23,224 yards on 3,220 attempts.  He’s thrown for 149 career touchdowns and has thrown 108 interceptions.  Durability has been a concern lately, however, as he hasn’t played a full 16 game season since 2009.

The Vikings showed some interest in Cutler when he was on the trade block in 2009.  They were reportedly involved in a three-way negotiation that would have sent Cutler to Minnesota and Matt Cassel, of all people, to Denver.  The story goes, though, that head coach Brad Childress was not as sold on Cutler as the front office was and put a stop to the talks.  Of course, the rest is history.

Childress is gone now, though, and much of that same front office remains intact.  While intra-division trades are very rare, and Cutler would almost certainly have to become an unrestricted free agent to make this scenario possible, I am curious as to how receptive our readers would be to having Cutler be the next starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.  Keep in mind while voting that signing Cutler would not necessarily kill the team’s chances of drafting a young quarterback in May’s NFL Draft.

Here Is A Story You Don’t Read Every Day

December 11, 2013, by 7 comments

Matt Cassel is starting, some players are hurt, everything is correctable, the Wilfs are rich… yadda, yadda, yadda.  A lack of wins means a lack of interest in the same old storylines and the 2013 Vikings are certainly lacking wins.  The Minneapolis Star-Tribune‘s gossip department, or “the dish” as they prefer to call it, saw a Vikings player pass across their pages on Wednesday.

The author’s TMZ-style account of an incident involving defensive tackle Fred Evans can be read in full right here.  I warn you, however, the column is not journalism-quality and comes with plenty of assumptions and judgement.  Here is the Sparknotes version of what happened:

  • A cab driver gave a man, another man, and an assumed stripper a ride from a strip club to a hotel the morning of December 2nd (after the Vikings beat the Bears on December 1st).
  • The cabbie heard the first man talking about the game and the woman referred to him as “Fred” on a number of occasions.
  • “Fred” and the woman were quite friendly with one another during the ride, according to the cabbie.
  • When they arrived at the hotel the cabbie was not paid for the ride and he waited for some time.
  • The cabbie called the hotel room multiple times.  On one occasion “Fred” hung up on him.  On another, “Fred” told him to hold on a second, but nobody came to pay him.
  • At 4:04 a.m. the cabbie called the police, but he did not want to go through the court system for the $65 tab.
  • Police brought a photo lineup to the cabbie and he was able to pick the real Fred Evans out of the bunch.
  • The cabbie was able to contact the Vikings who then gave him the contact number of “the manager.”
  • He called the manager and, while it took a couple of days, he was paid a total of $240.
  • The cabbie is now happy.

Evans has been having one of the better year’s of his career with the Vikings, after Rick Spielman continued to give him chances, but an incident in a taxi cab ended his career with the Dolphins back in 2007 and you would think he’d have learned his lesson about these things.

The Vikings, having dealt with a recent rash of off-field incidents, can’t be happy to hear that another player is grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons, visiting strip clubs until the next morning, having the police called on him, and having to get “The Manager” involved.

At the very least, they can’t be too happy that we all know about it now.