Peter King Tabs Green Bay As NFC Super Bowl Representative. . .And There Was Much Rejoicing!
by Christopher Gates on Jul 26, 2010 2:26 PM CDT
in Minnesota Vikings
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PrintYes, ladies and gentlemen, Peter King. . .who I like, really. . .has returned to his Monday Morning Quarterback column after spending time covering the World Cup and other things. In today's column, he spills who he's tabbed for Super Bowl XLV.
It's early, very early, but I haven't backed off a San Diego-Green Bay Super Bowl.
Awesome. . .this should be a load off of the mind of every Viking fan. Why? Well, let's take a look at King's prediction for the NFC's Super Bowl representative for the past couple of years.
Prior to the 2009 season, King tabbed the Chicago Bears as the NFC favorite for the Super Bowl. That's right. . .he got snookered into thinking that Jay Cutler was actually going to lead a team to not just a winning record (which he hasn't done since his senior year. . .of high school), but that he was going to give a team a chance to play for an NFL championship. How hilarious is that? But, as we all know, the Bears not only didn't represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, they didn't even manage to finish over .500. Shocking, I know.
In 2008, King's team of choice was the Dallas Cowboys. And for a while, it looked like a promising choice, as Dallas went into the month of December with an 8-4 record. However, they dropped three of their last four, including a 44-6 throttling at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in the season finale (a game in which a win would have gotten them to the post-season), to finish 9-7 and out of the playoff picture.
In 2007, King tabbed the New Orleans Saints to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. . .which made sense, with the Saints coming off of an NFC Championship loss to the Bears the previous year. The Saints responded to their status as NFC favorites by dropping their first four games (losing the first three by an average of 21.7 points/game). They wound up finishing the season 7-9 and, yes, missing the post-season.
With a track record like that, King's prediction of a Packers/Chargers Super Bowl should make Viking fans quite a happy bunch. After all, there's plenty of debate. . .in some circles, anyway. . .that the Packers aren't even the best team in their own division. This probably has something to do with the fact that. . .well, they're not the best team in their own division. The Minnesota Vikings are, and will continue to be until somebody else proves otherwise. Frankly, all that's missing right now is for a fish wrapped in newspaper to find its way to Mike McCarthy's front step.
Ahhhhhhhh. . .Training Camp starts Friday, ladies and gentlemen, and not a moment too soon.
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I havnt posted here in awhile but all I have to say is
GO VIKINGS!!!!!!!!
I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Jul 26, 2010 2:40 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks its great to be back.
Ive speradictly commented around here from time to time but nothing close to where I was when we play. Now i just read around but with the season starting soon I will start writing again. Haha
I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Jul 26, 2010 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Lol, I missed all of you too.
Just didnt have the time nor energy to be a constant contributor here which is why I didnt apply for one of the Head writer jobs here :P
I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Jul 26, 2010 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions
King's idea of lighting a fire under Favre??
I BELIEVE...
by ArizonaVikingsFan on Jul 26, 2010 2:42 PM CDT reply actions
Doubt it..
Packers were favored to take the North as well last year.. I think pre & post Favre signing.. Just that tended to drop off a little after the Favre signing.
Seems a lot of people have favored the Packers to win. Especially, since Rodgers has proven to be a good QB. I would find it hard for their team to take a few steps backwards from their level of play unless they have a few unfortunate injuries. But that could be said for any team.
I think the Chargers are the AFCs Packers…. Normally consistent on being above average, and in general a good team to put your money on since they normally have a decent record. I believe they snubbed the Colts when they were on their way to going undefeated, and I think that has happened more than once.
But aren’t they one of the teams w/o a Superbowl victory??
How did he come up with those two.
If he had written this article prior to two very good players at San Diegp holding out I might understand that selection.
If Green Bay had not had Jolly suspended for the year I might have understood the selection, although I never would agree with it.
If Brett had stated he was retiring I could more understand the selection.
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Sorry Peter King. Looks to me like you wrote the article two months ago instead of evaluating the teams today.
"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"
Joe Kapp
Come on let's not delude ourselves
If GB has figured out their line issues and defense breakdowns last year agianst experienced QBs, and if we see a bit of a letdown from some incredible levels of play last year from Rice & Favre and a few others, then GB pulling ahead of us is not that farfetched.
And if my aunt had a set of nuts, she'd be my uncle
Sorry, haven’t used that line in a long time. In all seriousness, fair points, but I am just not sold on their defense. That #2 overall ranking is highly over rated, if you ask me, and there are a couple of ‘ifs’ for the Vikings that will negate the Packers ‘ifs’, such as:
If the Vikings offensive line is a healthy 2008 version, they’ll dominate. The offense was unstoppable at times with a mediocre line. If they get that nasty, road grader attitude back, it’s almost unfair.
If Bernard Berrian is completely healthy and Toby Gerhart lives up to his potential, Rice won’t need to replicate his 2009 numbers.
If the secondary can play well, the defense will be almost as good as the offense.
This is not to say Green Bay is bad, I just don’t think they’re as good as the Vikings. There has been no discernable upgrade by the Packers or a decline by the Vikings to make the Packers a clearly better team, yet everyone just seems to think It Will Be So.
I don’t see it.
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“If the Vikings offensive line is a healthy 2008 version, they’ll dominate.” – Won’t happen. Not without Birk coming back and getting a decent LT.
“If Bernard Berrian is completely healthy” – Nope. He isn’t a difference maker and never will be. Rice will have to have a similar or better season. He’s a beast and should stand out as our clear #1.
“If the secondary can play well, the defense will be almost as good as the offense.” – But that is a really big IF. Who’s to play opposite Winfield and is Winfield healthy. Our safeties can’t cover, period.
Also, ILB is a huge IF. IF EJ is healthy and can come back to form early. If Leber can not be OLD. IF Greenway can stop being burned in coverage. Face it, we have a huge problem covering the TE position with our LB corp. They can all hit like a truck, which is awesome, but coverage is a problem.
We have a problem covering the TE
But I don’t really recall one just demolishing us last year, with the exception of Vernon Davis having a huge day. Thankfully, TEs are under-utilized in most passing games, so I wouldn’t worry about that too much. As for Leber being old, really? Why does that matter? He’s a very solid, under-rated linebacker. The linebackers and their lack of TE-coverage is not the problem with the defense.
It’s the secondary. Plain and simple. Sheppard thinks he can get back to old form, and I sincerely hope he does, because we’re gonna need it.
Finley torched you guys in week 4. Unfortunately, he was hurt for our second game. Having him for the whole year could make our offense a whole lot better. The guy looks like he could be the second coming of Gates or Davis.
by packallday555 on Jul 27, 2010 2:09 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes I remember that
I actually took a chance on him and started him that week in FF, just because I knew we couldn’t cover TE’s. Didn’t know I’d catch him on a break out game.
Same here actually. He’s got some great potential.
by packallday555 on Jul 27, 2010 10:43 PM CDT up reply actions
Our defense was definitely over rated last season, no doubt. That #2 ranking came as a result of playing a pretty easy schedule. We still were much better then we were in 2008 though, and I think it’d be silly to assume we won’t improve a lot here in the next 2 years considering historically, that’s how long it usually takes teams to transition to the 3-4 defense.
Another thing to keep in mind is we had quite a few Cb’s out last season, and two of those guys were our 2nd and 4th Cb. Getting them back will probably help things outs quite a bit. Though I have to admit I’m not sure how much Harris will have left in the tank.
The offense was unstoppable at times with a mediocre line.
That’s one of the great things about Favre. He gets the ball out quick. He’s a veteran guy with tons of experience in the WCO.
It’ll all come down to McKinnie and Hutchinson too me. If they come back strong, you guys should be in good shape to win the SB. But were their relatively poor seasons due to injuries or just decline due to age? I guess we’ll find out this season.
If the secondary can play well, the defense will be almost as good as the offense.
This is where I think we could possibly catch up to you guys. Getting Finley back, plus having everyone healthy on our OL could do A LOT for our passing game. Like your offense was dominant at times with a mediocre OL, our offense was above average with a porous OL (weeks 1-8), and great/dominant with a mediocre OL (weeks 9-17). We’ll be getting Spitz back, who will be an upgrade over Colledge at LG. And some rest for Clifton and Tauscher certainly can’t hurt anything either. If we can pick a good starting 5, and actually keep them intact, we have the potential to have a good OL. (Or at least better then 2008 and 2009) We’ve also got the depth now on the OL, which is something we lacked the past two seasons.
I’d agree that the Vikings are better right now, and should be considered better unless we are able to beat you guys this season. Though I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think we could give you guys a much better game with a healthy OL.
by packallday555 on Jul 27, 2010 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes, that’s the primary difference IMO between the Viking & Packer QB+O line combinations, IMO. You put both QBs behind great lines, and Rodgers may have the edge in a comparison. But put each behind questionable O lines — i.e. the real world, for both Packers and Vikings, IMO — and Favre looks better, even at this point in both careers. If sacks were counted in QB rating, Rodgers’ would take a big hit.
And also, as has been discussed before, Favre has this “f##k it, I’m gonna take whatever chances I need to take to win this this” mentality. Which of course is a two edged sword. Rodgers … I think his deficiencies multiply at the end of tight games. The hesitancy/uncertainty that makes him slow to get rid of the ball, combined with the tendency to protect his stats more that I see (and I see in almost every QB not named Favre, to be fair), probably are more damaging when your in a two minute drill & you have to take more chances & the other team knows you’re throwing, translating into less time/more pressure.
Totally agree with your first paragraph. Though sacks are counted into the Qb rating I believe?
Yeah, I wouldn’t argue with that either. He can be hesitant, though he was much better in end of last game situations last season then he was in 2008.
They really are entirely different Qb’s.
by packallday555 on Jul 27, 2010 10:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Sacks are not counted in ratings, no. Only pass attempts (and their results) are. Rushing yards in general are not counted in fact (a sack is essentially a negative yardage rush).
It may just be where Rodgers is in his career. Favre had bigger issues in that point in his career than Rodgers does, lol. Though completely different ones. You know what I mean, Holmgren’s “no, no ,no, no, no, yes!” plays.
Rodgers becoming a great QB, being a legitimate MVP candidate like so many are already building him up to be, being the next Steve Young you might say, depends on him continuing his evolution away from that mark of inexperience. No signs it won’t happen, but on the other hand it should not be just assumed, either.
Presumably, by the time Favre is fifty (like in the commercial) it will finally become clear that Rodgers has become better :)
by puddnhead on Jul 28, 2010 9:20 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
You know what I mean, Holmgren’s "no, no ,no, no, no, yes!" plays
Haha yes, I certainly do! I always had a lot of fun watching those games back then!
Your third paragraph makes a lot of sense as well. I think he’s shown good signs of ultimately becoming one of the best Qb’s in the league at some point but at the same time, he still has work hard and continue his development.
Nice post. Rec’d.
by packallday555 on Jul 28, 2010 2:55 PM CDT up reply actions
If Brett signs for two more years ? What will that do to tarnish GB's storied franchise ? The other greats left and soon parted . What if he doesn't soon part ??
I don’t feel they were over rated . Lopsided results sometimes occur with lopsided Offenses . I am not trying to be disrespectful here . Aaron had several long passes and several short sustained drives . Grant had the Jared factor . Hot in some games and cold in others . Your right weaker opponents do offset some . I didn’t feel your team would convert with the athletes you have . You had success but with a price . Two thirds of your Defense will be replaced soon . Kampman , Jolly , Hawk , Bigby . Many Pack fans claim they are being beaten out for positions . I believe less talented replacements are filling a new scheme . It excites me to see your changes !
I thought the WR’s would make Aaron look good . But that wasn’t the case . He in turn as you said made the O-line look respectable . How can you compete with Top 8 teams if your club is only concerned of profit margin . You are forming depth at OT . That isn’t easy in the NFL .A punishing back and slot WR would do you wonders .
Not to bash . But I do feel Brett disrupts the minds of Packer players as a whole . Fans on the other hand have a realistic grasp on his abilities . A 2006 extension for Aaron could have avoided the circus . I do feel that if Brett had a choice he’d be in GB . Even I didn’t see him taking ownership of the Vikingship if you will . As he has done . I do believe it is GB’s job to derail Cutler . 29 INT’s and a winning record . He had a better first year than Aaron . If his second year is as good as Aaron,s you will have your hands full with your limited passrush . I sid a long time ago that Aaron will break out in his third year . But will it be in the two-minute drill ?
by gothicpurple on Jul 30, 2010 10:53 PM CDT up reply actions
Just want to start off by saying THANK YOU for using the reply button, haha! It really does make things so much easier.
I think the defense was definitely overrated. Too me, that’d be the perfect word to use when they play well against below average to slightly above average offenses, and then terrible against above average/elite offenses. Basically, any team with good WR depth, and a good Qb killed us. We just didn’t have the Cb depth to stop teams with 3-4 good WR’s.
Yeah, our offense was lopsided as a result of our OL. That’s gonna happen when guys are letting De’s blow by them right off the line every four or five plays. Luckily, that should be much improved this season, and if it is, I think we’ll see our offense become an elite one.
Two thirds of your Defense will be replaced soon . Kampman , Jolly , Hawk , Bigby . Many Pack fans claim they are being beaten out for positions . I believe less talented replacements are filling a new scheme . It excites me to see your changes !
Yeah those guys will likely be replaced pretty soon. I’m not sure that it’s with less talented guys but maybe that will end up being the case. Jolly’s replacement is essentially Pickett, which to me is an upgrade. I think Hawk’s replacement will be Chillar, who fits the 3-4 much better. Burnett, who we just drafted will likely be Bigby’s replacement. Who knows how he’ll perform, though the coaching staff has been really, really high on him so far. Jones is Kampman’s replacement, and I think this in an iffy one. He filled in well last season as a rookie but who knows if he’ll develop into the playmaker he needs to be as a 3-4 OLB.
No disrespect to you either, but I don’t think anyone on our team gets to worked up about Favre, especially not anymore. Everyone on the team should understand that the NFL is a business, and on top of that we’ve replaced him with someone who has been better then I think a lot of people even though possible.
You need to be more clear regarding Cutler. Are you saying he was better his first season with the Bears then Rodgers was in his first season for us? If so, I’d argue that hard. Rodgers was actually pretty darn good in 2008, and had a lot of should have been victories erased by a hurting defense that couldn’t stop anyone, especially late in games.
by packallday555 on Jul 31, 2010 5:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Exactly
GB was close to representing the NFC North last year. If they could have gotten their O-line right earlier, they probably would have.
GB should have a stronger showing this season. I wish I could say the same for our Vikings. We have some huge question marks and I don’t think we have addressed ANY.
What are the huge question marks we haven’t addressed?
Please note I’m not disputing, I may find I’m in agreement with you. I’m just curious what specifically you’re thinking, and would appreciate the elaboration.
O-Line specifically then our secondary and slow LB corp. I’ve hated McKinnie since day one. He’s never lived up to the hype. Between him and Sullivan the line is almost impossible to run behind. Also, after the playoffs, I’m not so sure we’ll be so good pass blocking either.
Huge Winfield fan, but he’s starting to slow. I’m hoping it was just injury and he’ll get back to form, but not so sure. After him, the secondary is horrid. Hopefully Sheppard can step up on the other side with Griffin out. Safeties can hit, but can’t really cover. Hopefully Johnson takes some huge strides this year. Maybe Cook will be decent.
Teams know they can pass on our D and we haven’t done anything to disprove that.
Hoping GB’s D takes a step back this year, but I doubt it. They should have their O-line straightened out so their offense will be a huge threat.
Huge Vikings fan, through and through. But I’m man enough to recognize our deficiencies and how other teams are stepping up to challenge us.
OK, thanks for the clarification. You’re concerns in general are not too different than mine, just a matter of degrees. The one clear exception I would take is that the secondary was not addressed, that we have done “nothing” to dispel the idea teams can pass on us. Hard to square that with our very first draft pick being a cornerback & our signing Lito IMO.
And let’s be fair, our line is not really bad. Just not great. Part of the reason the Packers did more there, is frankly, the Packers needed to do more. And if we had been sitting at pick #2x like the Packers were and Bulaga was on the board, then we might have taken him as well, even though the need was less. But we weren’t, and we couldn’t. In general its accepted wisdom in the NFL that you don’t bend over backward (“reach”) to draft for need.
Special Teams
Last year, Green Bay’s special teams coverage was simply atrocious. Which might help explain why their defense was second in yards allowed. What have they done to improve that this year?
"Baseball is the only major sport that appears backward in a mirror" ~George Carlin
by thewild_viking_twins on Jul 28, 2010 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, actually I think that had quite a bit to do with us being ranked #2 in yards allowed. We brought in a couple new punters but not much else besides that. Our special teams has been horrid for 3 years now.
by packallday555 on Jul 28, 2010 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions
I would like to think
that the majority of our draft was based upon improving our special teams while adding depth…… potential players to be boom/bust after a few years.
In that regards, I hope to see our special teams highly improved.
Our new special teams kicker alone should help.
King should go back to kick-ball
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!
Best news I've heard all day
Fantastic.
Didn’t Peter King pick the Vikings at one point in the last decade as well?
Yeah
Pretty sure he picked them before the 2005 season.
Nailed that one pretty solidly as well, no?
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by Christopher Gates on Jul 26, 2010 6:02 PM CDT up reply actions
I thought he picked us
after the Jared Allen trade. Maybe that was some one else.
King couldn't pick his nose.
I remember last year. After the preseason the Packers were going to win it all. Hey did any of you guys see the thing on Dez Bryant. I guess he feels that he is immune or should I say above any rookie hazing. I hope some big ass linemen sticks his head in a toilet.
I'm actually on Dez Bryant's side with this one.
All because i believe hazing doesnt bring a team closer together as well as hard work and dedication in the locker room and at practice. and for the worst wr on the cowboys to tell him to take his shit to the locker room is ridiculous.
by vikesfan4lyf on Jul 26, 2010 7:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah that is ridiculous that Williams was the one to tell him.
I don’t think anyone would doubt that if romo asked him to carry his pads then he would have.
if anybody's asking someone to carry pads it should be
miles austin, jason witten, demarcus ware, or marion barber….maybe romo but it doenst seem like he’s the kind of guy who will do that to someone
by vikesfan4lyf on Jul 26, 2010 8:43 PM CDT up reply actions
Yep, I’m sure Williams big ego is a bit hurt. Especially since Bryant supposedly had a great first showing on the first day of camp.
by packallday555 on Jul 26, 2010 8:50 PM CDT up reply actions
PK has a hard on for the Packers.
So he will look dumb there as they will probably miss the playoffs. However his mock draft was rediculuosly good this year. He had almost half of the first round right.
Favre, even your agent has had enough. The drunken grillmaster, Buzz Cook, is getting too old for this.
As Ric Flair would say
"Whoever said that the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons."
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