MVN - Most Valuable Network

Same Old Story For Vikes

A great point by Jeff Dubay and Mike Morris on Vikings Fanline: All of their recap shows sound the same. And that’s because these Vikings games are pretty much following the same script.

Here it goes: The Vikes have a strong opening drive, and they finish it with a touchdown or field goal. But after that successful possession, the offense completely shuts down. Adrian Peterson is used less and less as the game drags along, the opposing coach makes adjustments, and Childress is left looking like a deer in the headlights.

I’ll start with the challenges. Neither of Chilly’s challenges should’ve ever been made…especially the challenge of Adrian Peterson’s kickoff return debacle. I’m confused…doesn’t Chilly have people in the booth who review these plays? Isn’t anyone watching the replays to advise him on whether or not to challenge the call?

The Adrian challenge turned out to be costly- we sure could’ve used that timeout. But both challenges were ridiculous.

Besides the dumb challenges, I’m getting tired of Chilly’s unimaginative use of Adrian. More than anything, Adrian’s average of 3.5 yards per carry in today’s game was a result of him simply running up the gut on most of his carries.

Sure, Adrian has the strength to have some success when running up the middle. But for Adrian to play to his full potential, we need to implement more creative playcalling…I’m talking about draw plays, tosses, screens. Get him on the outside, and give him some space to work with.

How about Bobby Wade? Can someone please explain to me why he’s still the punt returner? I have no clue why Mewelde Moore isn’t returning punts for this team…it’s completely beyond me.

I rolled my eyes when Brooks Bollinger entered the game, but he played surprisingly well. Kudos to Brooks.

With that said, though, there’s no reason to keep playing him once Tarvaris is healthy. By now, everyone should have realized that this team isn’t going to be anywhere near playoff contention for the rest of the season…so let’s throw T-Jack back in there, and evaluate our status at the quarterback position. But until T-Jack’s ready, I’m cool with having Brooks start (and on another note, the Vikes would probably want to sign another quarterback this week).

McNabb had a big day- it’s certainly worth noting that he made some GREAT throws, and for the most part, he effectively avoided pressure. However, although McNabb deserves a lot of credit for his 300+ yard game, we could’ve done a better job of defending the middle of the field.

I’m definitely not feeling good about next week’s game. San Diego has been great lately, and we’ve been having major offensive issues- not a good combination. I see “blowout” written all over that matchup.

Much more to talk about from today’s game…I’ll be checking back in Monday or Tuesday. Also, some new writers are being added to the site, so I look forward to seeing their takes on the squad.

As I sign out for the day, I’d just like to say this: Screw you, Greg Gumble…

In talking about the game next week, Dan Dierdorff said, ” I wish I could just skip the game next week in Minneapolis and go watch the Patriots / Colts game instead” to which Greg Gumble responded, ” I wish I could skip going to Minneapolis, game or no game”. They both then had a good laugh and went on about the broadcast.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Brooks Bollinger, Brad Childress, Kenechi Udeze, Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Donovan McNabb, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.