Slow Start to the Season

Hello fellow Vikings!

I feel crazy that it's already Week Two, and this is only my first blog post of the season.  Grad school has been chomping away at me, and I'm more grimly determined than ever that this be my last year.  I've realized at the mature age of 28 that I need a more breathable work-life balance, and that the ivory tower just isn't for me.  Thank goodness for football to give me some light in my life!  It's been a weird and wacky season so far for us.  The most traumatic part, of course, has been the miserably-timed Teddy Bridgewater injury.

I find it funny now, looking back to when we drafted him and I growled for about three days, hating him violently and saying dubiously, "I hope I'm wrong that he sucks, but I don't think I am."  Well, I was wrong, and I'm sure Me-Back-Then would have found it very strange that Me-Right-Now is so upset at his loss!!!

So far as his injury goes, I feel for him in a very major way: not only have we lost our star QB, I suffered a very similar injury that ended my athletic career in high school and put paid to my dreams of a college swimming scholarship.  Hopefully, since he has first-class medical care, and his insurance company actually gives a damn whether or not he runs again, and we're 15 years further into the treatment of horrific knee injuries, he comes out of it much better than I did!  Not only that, but he has Adrian Peterson, who is blessed with the most miraculous healing flesh, to mentor him through the ungodly hell known as Rehabilitation (trust me...it's the worst) as well as a team who has been doggedly determined to make sure they bust up every other team on the docket so he can relax and heal without worrying. 

Plus, he has Coach Zimmer to tie his shoelaces!

Big ups to Shaun Hill stepping up in a big way, especially last week vs the Titans.  What a game that was!  I think my heart was in my throat more than in its proper place for at least 50 of the 60 minutes of gameclock. 

Which brings us to the big news of the season - trading a first and forth for the perennially lackluster Sam Bradford to replace Teddy. 

Unlike a lot of people I was fine with this trade.  Sure, Bradford has never lit the NFL world afire the way he did in his Heisman season for Oklahoma.  But the Vikings don't need him to light up the night - we need him to not screw up.  Sure, he's been battered.  But not one of the NFL offenses he's been on has had a show running back like Adrian Peterson.  Those defenses come up and start harassing Bradford and All Day is going to be ALL THE WAY into the endzone.  We also have some stellar mid-field and short field options, particularly my favorite Kyle Rudolph.  Rhett Ellison is solid for blocking, and Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs have stepped up in nothing short of a spectacular way.  If our boys can work together, establish a new rapport, and our line and the lure of Adrian Peterson and potential of Rudolph and Cordarrelle Patterson can keep defenses honest, we'll have our shot at 11 wins and a playoff slot.  And best of all - if Bradford gets battered or tired, we have sturdy, loyal, long-timer Shaun Hill there to pick up our pieces.  Losing Teddy was one hell of a blow I was not ready for, but we've got plenty to be thankful for.

SKOL!

VIKINGS TRADE

Dang.  When was the last time we did a mid-season trade?  Maybe I've just been in outer space, but I can't think of anything terribly recently.

Anyway, Vikings have ponied up LB Gerald Hodges for C Nick Easton and a 2016 6th-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers.

Knowing absolutely NOTHING about Nick Easton, I'm ok with this trade.  I'm going to miss Hodges - from what I've read about him dude is a hard worker and a class act (this is mostly from him surprising his dad by adding "JR" to his jersey as a sign of respect), and we can always use those on our team.  But we have plenty of depth at line and we SEEM to be performing there (not this past Sunday though...) and considering our injury problems, a new backup center could be just the ticket to get Teddy ever more comfortable in the pocket.

Let's hope Teddy and Nick like each other, I do not want to see fumbled exchanged come midseason!! Or, frankly, at any point in the season.

SKOL!

Dammit, Mike Wallace!

I bench Mike Wallace and he nets SIXTEEN fantasy points?!  What the hell??  Where was that performance last week??

I haven't been able to watch any of the Vikings' games, but Peterson seems to be picking up where he left off (and he's well rested...*cough cough*) so that's good news.  Teddy seems to have his head out of his ass (seems being the operative word), and Harrison Smith is making me extremely happy.  Let's hope he keeps it up.

Hoping I'll get some free time to catch up with at least some game videos later.

Vikings Win!

Hooray! 

After being humiliated in San Fran, and a solid showing vs Detroit, we really kicked some ass yesterday at home vs San Diego.  Broncos up next...genuinely curious as to what will happen.

I didn't get to watch the past two games, but I'm going to check out highlights as soon as I have some very important assignments/tests off my back and write some more updates.

But for now, let's glory in the fact we've won two in a row and are above 0.500!!  SKOL!

Vikings at 49ers 9/14/15

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the Gjallarhorn has sounded on a new Vikings season!

FIRST HALF:

Three plays in and once again, the Vikings' weakness is "up the gut".  We live and die by the line!  Sadly, although I'm expecting decent D-line play again, this O-line...injuries aside, this is not terribly encouraging boys!  And once again, too-soft coverage allowing Kaep to to connect on long passes.  The talking heads are saying it's the three TE's, but I don't know. 

It's already getting a bit chippy on the field and I'm nervous.  I hope Zimmer has these boys on lockdown so far as their emotions go.  Per Twitter, people have already been hollering "Child Beater" at Peterson...I hope he can hold onto his temper especially well tonight!!  (Not that I agree with his actions.  I do think he thought he was being a good father, and I REALLY hope those parenting classes he took have altered his style in a less physically punitive direction.)

Special teams once again makes a HUGE play - Andrew Sendejo (safety) blocks the kick and and Sherels returns it into SanFran territory.  And this is why Sherels ALWAYS MAKES THE TEAM.  And I'm fine with that.  Sherels also hung on to the ball after a brutal hit, which I am really pleased about.  We need men like that on the team.  The special teams I'm most concerned about is Blair Walsh.  I don't know what "got into his head", but it was something killer and he needs to get over it or get cut.  Another big special teams play is Audie Cole jumping on the punt recovery when the 49er fumbled it.  Vikings brass is finally losing faith in Blair Walsh.  Which is nothing Blair Walsh needs to feel, considering how shitty he's been lately.  It's clearly all in his head, and we all know what happens to kickers who get mentally lost.

Offense, going back to that four-wide set we've used in the past, but I still lust for a good, defense-confusing five-wide set.  I really think that with the weapons we've got we could rock that ish!  Bridgewater finally finding his feet for a good 19 yard completion to Wallace after evading two huge defenders. Adrian Peterson makes a fab run, dragging 3 defenders 10 yards for the first.

Defense: Harrison Smith made a GORGEOUS (and perfectly legal) hit on Kaep.  Amazed Kaep got back up, to be honest.  They're looking pretty winded with 6 minutes left in the 1st which has me VERY concerned.  Our conditioning needs to be a hell of a lot better than that. 
I can't understand why this three-tight set is destroying our D so much.  WAY too much softness up the gut and WAY too much space for the WR/TEs.  I don't approve of this D-setup at all.  Why aren't we making corrections?  We'd better sort ourselves out at halftime.  Also, EFF the REFS.  That defender was all over Mike Wallace, clearest pass interference I've ever seen in my life, and not one single flag.  That guy had better get reprimanded by the ref's union come...whenever that sort of thing is reviewed.

WELL. That is not how I wanted the half to end.  Going into the locker room down 7-0...that's not good.

SECOND HALF

I miss Loadholt and Sully.

ENOUGH WITH THE STUPID PENALTIES.  Sendejo is making some tough hits.  We need more of that.  What a boring, horrible, game this is.  Stupid penalties, stupid plays, injuries, just everything that's bad about football.  At least Bridgewater is using the pocket.  Adrian Peterson is underutilized as hell today. Still Blair Walsh made a 37 yarder, that's something.

We're not getting enough - or the right - pressure on Kaep.  Now, I know he's "elite"...but still.  UGH and Hyde scored again.  Our line needs so much help.  Oh and Teddy gets picked off. Bad decisions - more overthrowing under stress.  New turnovers.  I just can't even find anything good about this.  I could say, "Oh we'll we've been hit in the mouth now, let's see what happens."  But...oy.

INJURIES: 
Sharif Floyd went down early in the game, but walked off under his own power.  Twitter claims it's dehydration.  He returned. 


CONCLUSION:
Well.  It might have been worse.  We might have been shut out.  They might have scored a lot more than 20 points.  Also, if San Fran keeps Hyde in all game even when they have the equivalent of a blowout win, he's going to get seriously injured.  Hope they're ready for that.

Teddy needs to screw his head on properly ALL game, not half of it; the lines need to be shored up by cement and barbed wire; and Blair Walsh needs a hypnotist or some kind of PTSD therapy.

SKOL

Adrian Peterson's Viking Future

So I've had a few people ask me what I think about Adrian Peterson and his potential return to the Vikings.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure what I want.  Starting when I was a freaking sophomore in college - hell, the summer before my sophomore year even - Adrian was THE classy player.  Donating to childrens' funds, always being classy and polite and supporting the team no matter what. 

 Hell, remember his rookie year he made the Pro Bowl and flew the entire Vikings' O-line out to Hawaii because he said he wouldn't have made it if not for them?  And remember that that year the Minnesota Vikings were the ONLY football players to visit the local children's hospital?

So when this beating scandal emerged, it crushed me.  I thought he was WAY too good for that - I thought he was a decent, down-to-earth father, despite having approximately twenty kids by twenty girlfriends.  In one way, I can understand that being brutally beaten by your own father makes you more likely to beat your kids (not that I know anything about it - my father "hit" me once, when I was 3 years old and he smacked me on the hand so lightly I could barely feel it [seriously my cats have hit my harder] and I rushed to the living room and wailed to my mother, "DADDY HIT ME!"  She burst out laughing, she knew he hadn't done anything), and considering that he thought he was hitting less hard and less badly than his father hit him...makes me feel extremely ill, wondering what happened to him.

Now that it's "over" and he's cleared to return...I have to wonder if he wants to return to Minnesota where he was a hero and a saint.  I have to wonder if Minnesota wants him back, with all the former glory and the terrible memories of scandals.

Honestly, I think we'll offer him a spot.  And I think he'd take it if we did.  But I'm still nervous about what will really happen.

In the meantime, SKOL!

Goodbye, Matt Cassel

So we've traded him to the Bills, plus an "undisclosed draft pick" for two "undisclosed draft picks."  Well, it'll depend on the picks given/received, and the future performance of all four players/future players involved...but I figure it's not a bad trade.  I would MUCH rather have had Cassel mentoring Bridgewater, but I'm sure since Ponder's a free agent, we'll just keep Teddy and pick up another young'un.  Or perhaps another mentor-variety QB?  I'm leaning to youngster, but I'm (sadly) not a member of the Vikings' organization.

All in all, interesting day for us.  I wonder what tomorrow brings?

SKOL!