Jackson Named Offensive Player of the Week; Vikings Pro Bowlers Named

by Gonzo on Dec 16, 2008 9:16 PM CST in Vikings Comment 34 comments

Yes, you read the first half of that headline correctly.

Minnesota Vikings' quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after his 11-for-17, 163 yard, four touchdown performance against Arizona this past Sunday. He's the first Vikings' QB to win Offensive Player of the Week since Daunte Culpepper did so in 2005, and the first Vikings' QB to throw four TD passes in a game since Culpepper did it in Minnesota's 31-17 humiliation of Green Bay in the 2004 NFL Playoffs.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers is attempting to come up with ways to throw even more game-sealing interceptions for his team. We at the Daily Norseman wish him all the success in the world in that endeavor.

In other news, the Pro Bowl rosters were announced today, and six members of the Beloved Purple will be making their way to Honolulu the second weekend in February.

The biggest story of the six is the fact that the best cornerback in the National Football Conference has finally made his way onto the Pro Bowl roster. That's right, folks. . .Antoine Winfield is on his way to Hawai'i, and it's a well-deserved trip after the season that he's put together in 2008. Everyone knows about his run support abilities, but this season he's taken his already outstanding coverage skills to another level, and opposing quarterbacks generally don't even bother throwing towards his side of the field.

Other members of the Vikings that will be starting for the NFC include that Adrian Peterson fellow at running back, Steve Hutchinson at guard, and Kevin Williams at defensive tackle.

"But, where's Jared Allen?" I know that many of you are asking that. The answer is that he, along with Pat Williams, are reserves on the Pro Bowl roster at defensive end and defensive tackle, respectively. The starters at DE for the NFC are Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers and Justin Tuck of the New York Giants. To be honest, I'm not sure why Allen isn't starting either, what with being second in the NFL among defensive ends in sacks with 14.5 (trailing only Atlanta's John Abraham, who didn't even make the squad for reasons I'm not sure of) despite playing with a separated shoulder for the last 4-5 weeks and a sprained MCL for the last two. I'm guessing that it probably has something to do with the fact that Jared Allen is a terrible, awful human being who spends his spare time on his front porch being constantly drunk, kicking puppies, and shooting up steroids with Pat and Kevin Williams while washing them down with bottles of StarCaps.

Or so football fans from Wisconsin and Illinois would have you believe.

Two Vikings that I thought had shots at making the roster and didn't were Chad Greenway and Ryan Longwell. Greenway will make it sooner rather than later, I think. . .and I thought that Longwell really deserved it with the way he's performed this year. Ah, well, there's always next year.

0 recs | Comment 34 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Go TJ! Who named it? NFL? AP? ESPN? Whatever way, congrats for him. Do you suppose the same people who say his 163 yrd were “only” because of the 41 and 59 yard passes are the same people who say he has no deep ball? Those passes (and Rice’s TD) were precisely where they needed to be. Awesome.

Antoine is one of those quiet, very underrated guys that the Vikes should break the bank to keep. The Wall gets a lot of (deserved) credit for our run D, but I’ve seen #26 somehow avoid the block of a 280lb lineman and make a tackle that would’ve gone for a huge gain.

GO VIKES!!!!! NO LET DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by JasonAve6413 on Dec 16, 2008 9:26 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Congratulations!

Having always felt the benching of T. Jackson lacked legitimacy as a response to the teams weeks 1 and 2 performances, I take a moment to wonder what might have been… Ah…

Big shot out to T-Jack for his big time performance and the rest of the fellas for the recognition on their individually awesome years.

He has a great opportunity to keep the ball rolling. Hears to a big game at home v. Atlanta!

by LoveHate on Dec 16, 2008 9:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i’m so happy for antoine.. he’s such a great player!

What up?

by snakethejake on Dec 16, 2008 9:29 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Air player of the Week

Jackson has been nominated for Air player of the week over at nfl.com, go vote for him and while your ther vote for Peterson for ground player of the week again!

by Nefarien on Dec 16, 2008 9:36 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Congrats...

To all of the players who made the Pro Bowl. You’re right about Chad. His best days are ahead of him. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see him on the list next year…along with E. J. Henderson.

by purplegrey on Dec 16, 2008 9:39 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

No Media Respect...

what an awesome number of players selected to the pro bowl! and congrats to t-jack on the offensive player award….the vikings are on a big time roll and just ass-pounded a division winner…..yet…..hardly a whisper on the network shows and a mere mention on the espn shows…….peterson gets 160 yards rushing and is hardly mentioned on these shows……if he was playing for one of the nfc east drama queen media whore teams they would never stop talking about him!!!……..the sports media is becoming as bad as cable news (and roger badell is still a tool)……….thank goodness the voting is not done by only the media!

"Somewhere in Minnesota, a child becomes a Vikings fan and wonders if they will win a Super Bowl in their lifetime"

by Skol!dTimer on Dec 16, 2008 10:06 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i caught an interview with Erin Henderson on Espn First Take, pretty cool… except for the fact that they showed EJ making tackles and said it was Erin, but nevertheless, i thought that was cool.

What up?

by snakethejake on Dec 17, 2008 10:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Congrats to our guys who made the pro bowl. Especially Antoine.

Fact is though is that every year there are X guys who make the pro bowl and a whole bunch more who didnt that deserved to.

by Hoss-Drone on Dec 16, 2008 10:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Sunday Is The Day

I’m worried about this matchup, but think we can grind it out. Peterson v. Turner, TJ v. Ryan…. wow.

If we can pull out this victory, the “new” Vikings will have arrived. The Vikings who don’t find ways to lose; the Vikings who let or make the other teams turn the ball over or get stupid penalties; the team that lives up to its promise.

I’m getting all geeked out and it’s only Tuesday. Waiting for the 4p games is torturous!

GO VIKES!

by JasonAve6413 on Dec 16, 2008 10:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i hate fox… why we got to wait till one to watch man, they could have just left it wher it was. i am pretty scared of turner this week but most teams dont even bother to run on us just because of our rep. alone. they get a few negative runs and all of a sudden there throwing it every down. matt ryan meet jared allen

purple is the color of royalty

by da2213viking on Dec 17, 2008 12:14 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

How mad is Goodell

That the Williams Wall are Pro Bowlers?

by PizzaDelivery on Dec 17, 2008 12:26 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

i think

that everyone who follows football.. expects adrian to get a minimum of 160 yards… all other RB’s goal for a game is 100 yards…

by hickenizgriz on Dec 17, 2008 1:27 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

About Jared Allen

I’m in a running pissing match with some guys at another forum who possess the belief that Jared Allens supposed shots at Schaub’s knees are worse than Ogunleye’s cheap shot in Frerotte’s back, and that Allen’s fine for his CPR celebration involving the football warranted a bigger fine than Oguleye’s cheap shot. Idiots all of them.

Congrats to Tarvaris for a job well done, and the Vikings players, ESPECIALLY Antoine Winfield, who made the Pro-Bowl.

The Minnesota Vikings - Undefeated in the Playoffs at Lambeau Field!

by BaldViking on Dec 17, 2008 4:43 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Greenway and Longwell

Chad Greenway, I thought, deserved to be looked at. Maybe not get in this year, but next year for sure. Ryan Longwell, while having a great year, isn’t the kicker for the Pro Bowl. The guy who should have been is Jason Hanson. The Lions’ kicker has set an NFL record by going 5-5 or 6-6 from 50+ this year. It’s simply incredible.

And how about Calvin Johnson getting the cold shoulder? If he had a decent team around him, he’d have 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns by now.

Visit:
http://www.vikingvigil.com

Skol Vikings!
Woot Woot!

by Manimal on Dec 17, 2008 8:16 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

brett favre???

brett favre? eli manning? pro bowl??? you’re kidding right?

i checked the current stats on all qb’s and these guys rank 15th and 16th with qb ratings of 86.5…middle of the pack!… fan voting should not be given so much weight when voting for all pro’s….this known fact makes it worse of course when brett “gag me” favre is the beneficiary….having 6 selections from the vikings (25% of the nfc’s defence by the way) with this big market bias is incredible….we have great players on our team!…congrats

"Somewhere in Minnesota, a child becomes a Vikings fan and wonders if they will win a Super Bowl in their lifetime"

by Skol!dTimer on Dec 17, 2008 9:03 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

You’re right, Gus Frerotte should have gotten in over Eli. Its not even close. I don’t agree with quarter back rating though, that sorry excuse for a quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have gottern in.

by LoveBoat1 on Dec 17, 2008 10:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

have you noticed TJ has a higher QB rating than Rodgers?

by yanksrule08 on Dec 17, 2008 10:22 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Nice! He didn’t show up on the NFL.com leaderboard, probably because he was the backup for a few games

by LoveBoat1 on Dec 17, 2008 11:13 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Jackson has played in 4 games this season. STarting 3. Rodgers has played in 14. Of course he’s going to have a lower QB rating.

by Frost on Dec 17, 2008 11:49 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

“fan voting should not be given so much weight when voting for all pro’s”

the sad thing is, i’m willing to bet the media voted for favre and eli as well.

by yanksrule08 on Dec 17, 2008 10:21 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

easy now

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for TJ but I’m not so sure about Player of the Week. I’m not so sure it was HIS plays that were the difference in the game. YES, he did make good plays when needed and didn’t turn the ball over with stupid throws or fumbles. But I have to believe the victory had a lot more to do with handing the ball to #28 and #29 than it did with throws TJ made. Yes he had 4 TD passes out of 17 attempts….that’s awsome! The little 5 yd dump off pass to Taylor was more of a run than a passing TD, still nice though.
I’m not bashing TJ, but I think a player of the week is usually a player that takes over a game and single handedly dominates a win. ( like say, #28).
Sure, I hope TJ keeps up the good work and he is definatly the right guy for the start against the Falcons. I’m just not ready to make him an alternate for the Pro Bowl. I hope TJ doesn’t get a big head with being named Player of the Week and go out and stink it up against the Falcons. He has the ability to throw 4 picks just as easy as 4 TD’s….I don’t want to be reading next Monday about how everyone is calling for Gus against the Giants…

by AZVikesfan on Dec 17, 2008 9:26 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Maybe he used to. He’s shown some pretty good decision-making ability these past couple games, and the first two in the season. I mean one int in 4 games is pretty damn good.

by Frost on Dec 17, 2008 11:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Quick correction Gonzo

I hope we don’t send six guys to Hawaii the second week of January—hopefully we have a playoff game that weekend! I believe you meant February. Actually I know (along with everyone else) that you meant February, but the writer/editor in me couldn’t help it.

by ericj69 on Dec 17, 2008 9:27 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

And oh yeah--WAY TO GO 'TOINE!!

If Winfield would have been left off the roster this year, it would have been the biggest snub I can remember. The guy has made an inordinate amount of game-changing plays this year. He only has 2 INTs, but that’s because QBs rarely dare to pass at him. Unfortunately interceptions factor in way too much to Pro Bowl voting. For instance, the guy that’s starting across from Winfield, Charles Woodson—he gambles for the pick nearly every time and is part of one of the worst defenses in the league, but he still got in.

Winfield was only 10th in the fan vote among DBs, but at least the coaches and players realized what we’ve seen all year—Antoine Winfield is a top-tier NFL cornerback. Congrats Antoine, it’s way overdue!

by ericj69 on Dec 17, 2008 9:35 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

T-Jack

T-Jack is totally the best quarterback in the NFC N, much better than Aaron Rodgers. Super Bowl MVP 2009, count it!

by LoveBoat1 on Dec 17, 2008 10:11 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Snubs

QB – McNabb and Rodgers are more deserving than Eli. Rivers > Favre.

WR – Calvin Johnson, Greg Jennings, and Antonio Bryant have all had better years than Boldin.

LB – Greenway over Briggs

K- Longwell over Carney

by TMW on Dec 17, 2008 10:49 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Huh?

Boldin has 89 catches! Jennings has 69 in an offense where he is the bonafide #1 guy. Boldin has more TD’s then both Jennings and Bryant and Johnson.

I could get on board with Calvin Johnson going over Boldin maybe but not Jennings or Bryant.

VikeGuru is a doofus!!

by Unclebillybonz on Dec 17, 2008 11:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You’re totally right. Bryant has more receptions than Steve Smith, and just as many touchdowns, so he should have gotten in over Smith.

by LoveBoat1 on Dec 17, 2008 11:20 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Huh?

Jennings has over 100 yards on Boldin despite 20 less receptions. To me that says he’s a better play maker. Also Jennings competes for catches with Driver and Lee, and the Packers run the ball more than the Cardinals do.

by TMW on Dec 17, 2008 12:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Heart

I don’t know what kind of guys Johnson, Bryant, or Jennings are because I don’t follow those teams close enough. But I’m guessing NONE of them have anywhere close to the heart, desire, and overall toughness of Anquan Bolden. He came back from an injury against the Jets this year that most players would have packed it in and been done for the year. He had a broken jaw wired shut, took ZERO pain killers, then came back 2 weeks after the hit and PLAYED!
I would take Bolden on my team over any of those other guys, even if they have better stats.

by AZVikesfan on Dec 17, 2008 10:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Jackson did deserve some kudos for the nice game against Arizona, but I really wish some of you guys would tone down these “I told you he was awesome” statements. You do realize you’re setting him up for a gigantic fall don’t you?

Let’s let him have a few games in a row that actually show a level of professional competence before we go overboard and start thinking the QB position is filled now.

If he can perform with poise and competence for the remaining two games and (please God) the playoffs, then we might have that conversation, but right now he’s just coming off a hot streak of five quarters. We’ll see what he looks like when the other team has a defense and gameplans for him. We’re entering a stretch of very tough opponents who will be pressuring the hell out of young Jedi, so I hope he’s up to it.

And don’t get me wrong, I hope he has finally figured it out. I would like nothing better than to be able to put this lousy QB stretch behind us and start concentrating on the smaller things. I just think it takes a bit more than what he’s done in the last game and a quarter against lackluster defenses. I do really want him to be the one to lead the team.

by Bodysuit Man on Dec 17, 2008 1:52 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

amen

You are very right about TJ. I’m rooting for him to do well and be our starter just as you. But man, I wish there were a way to just keep him flying under the radar for a few games and keep the pressure down as low as possible. I almost wish he had NOT won player of the week. Let him win that after the first playoff game! So when he doesn’t throw 4 more TD’s in the next few games, is everyone going to jump off his bandwagon? I hope the coaches can keep his head straight and focus on just making good plays and not turning the ball over.

by AZVikesfan on Dec 17, 2008 10:41 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

WOW

Made this account to chat with you guys..forgot about it..forgot password! lol Well got it working now. Its nice to see that AP and Tjack got fedex air and ground players of the week. I wonder how often it happens that two players from the same team get that honor in the same week. I’m extremely happy with how our team is playing as of late. NOW WE JUST NEED TO FINISH IT OFF! GO VIKES!!!

by Gregor22 on Dec 19, 2008 10:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

TJack postgame interview....

At least i think it was. I Found it awesome and funny as hell when he came out and started with “did you guys miss me?” It made me laugh for quite a while.

by Gregor22 on Dec 19, 2008 10:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs