Vikings at Chargers Recap

by SDVike on Sep 12, 2011 1:36 PM CDT

I want to try to put as much positive spin on this as possible but.....there was too much negative to not use this as my place of venting and criticizing this team that I've loved for so many years. So bear with me and here we go!

The Good: Obviously it all starts with Percy Harvin taking the opening kickoff back. At this point, I'm already thinking "It's '09/'98 all over again! Super Bowl here we come!" Then to add to the excitement, our defense stuffs them and we get the ball back. More good was seeing Percy get a lot of touches, even if they were only for two or three yards at a time. I think our wildcat, or "Blaze" will be the most dangerous that the NFL has seen to date, with Percy, Adrian Peterson, and Joe Webb, once we get some kinks worked out in practice and get it rolling. Adrian also busted off a few 10-12 yard gains. Our defense, besides a few slip ups here and there and the three offsides penalties at the end, was definitely a positive. Jared Allen had a sack and a timely interception deep in our territory, Erin Henderson had a sack in his first start, and the d-backs, at times, were able to stop the deep pass.

The Bad: First off, I'm not going to blame McNabb for the pick on the first play of the game. He made the right read and the receiver was open, it was just a great heads-up play by Shaun Phillips. It seemed that interception kind of rattled Donovan, because besides the TD to Jenkins, he wasn't really the same the rest of the game. I mean, how can you be satisfied with 28 NET PASSING YARDS?!?! He really needs to step up next week against the Buccaneers, or else Viking Nation will be calling for his head and calling for Christian Ponder to line up under center against Detroit. On the defensive side of the ball, the 3 offsides penalties on Letroy Guion (2) and Fred Evans were horrendous and the dagger in the heart of the old purple and gold. The Evans one came on a third down with 1:48 left I believe, and if we would have stopped them, we would have had at least a chance at tying the game. Greenway and EJ bit on Rivers scrambling and "running" the ball, and Rivers found Mike Tolbert wide open for the game winning touchdown. Our offensive line had no protection whatsoever for McNabb, resulting in almost all of his throws (besides the underthrown deep ball to Berrian) were dumpoffs and screens. The tight ends we've hyped up all offseason were nowhere to be found, besides a couple times in the first half where they blocked.

Game Ball: Since this is a Vikings blog, I'll try to choose a Viking, win or lose, for this category. If we should lose, I will also choose someone from the opponent. And the game ball goes to......Jared Allen. I debated giving it to Percy, just because he started off the season in the best way possible. But our favorite cowboy had 6 tackles, .5 sacks, 1 INT, and a swatted ball, basically playing at every spot on defense.
Winner's game ball goes to......Mike Tolbert. He had 3 touchdowns. That's about all you need to know and all I'm going to explain on the subject.

All in all, this was a typical Sunday for the die-hard Viking fan like myself. Our hopes start off sky high (thank you Percy), then come crashing down (Shaun Phillips), then shoot back up again (Jenkins TD, Allen and Winfield picks), before we are finally daggered (Tolbert TD, offsides penalties). Hopefully we will improve next week and get our first W of the season in the home opener vs Raheem Morris' Buccaneers. Feel free to vent in the comments below. I will have a preview coming for the Tampa Bay game sometime this week. Until then, Skol Vikes!

Poll

Who gets the Vikings gameball this week?

Jared Allen

22 votes

Percy Harvin

7 votes

Adrian Peterson

3 votes

Antoine Winfield

4 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.

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Comments

Some things should not be recapped...

…they should just be forgotten. :-)

I’m not in favor of the Webb WebbCat offense. I don’t mind if they want to put him in there from time to time to run him as a change-of-pace QB for series or two. I think most QBs need to get in the flow, so I don’t like the idea of putting him in for one or two plays and then taking him out again. I do like the idea of defenses having to prepare for two QBs. That said, I don’t like the idea of sticking him in there for a run up the middle sort of play. Very disappointing and not smart. He just might be the best QB on the staff right now, so they should think about protecting him.

McNabb’s INT wasn’t going to look good no matter what happened. He appeared to telegraph the throw. It wasn’t a quick turn and throw like Farve used to do. (It was more like a slow-mo version of a quick turn and throw). The CB moved up significantly as McNabb took his one step. Best case, Percy gets tackled for no gain. Worst case, INT by the CB or a hard hit and fumble. That was a terrible play from every angle.

I think Jared Allen only got credit for 1/2 a sack. I’d still give him the game ball though.

Who can explain to me the decision to remove Harvin as the kickoff returner AFTER he scored a TD on his first kickoff? That was one of several very strange calls.

The biggest surprise of the day for me was how poorly Abdullah seemed to play. I was prepared for Berrian’s poor play… though he did a decent job of blocking I must admit.

by kcskol on Sep 12, 2011 1:57 PM CDT reply actions

Booker was supposed to return the whole game

But Percy and Priefer lobbied Leslie to let Percy do it. As to why they wouldnt stick him back there after the TD, i am dumbfounded.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

by SDVike on Sep 12, 2011 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Returns are high risk to the player.

You don’t want Percy getting injured running the ball back. If he’s down our receiving core goes from bad to horrifyingly awful. Also look at Hester he started trying to be a receiver and everything he did suffered. I don’t think you want to put to much on one guys shoulders.

I'm like the Dali Lama of kicking ass

by Grime on Sep 13, 2011 12:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Antoine Winfield was my game ball

The guy is 60 pounds lighter then Mike Tolbert. He brought him down every time he was in position too. The guy was flying around and I can’t recall too many plays where I didn’t see his jersey around the ball or making the tackle. He came to play yesterday and I know he will week in and week out.

McNabb!!!! Throw the ball to your tight ends!!

by PurpleJesuZ on Sep 12, 2011 2:20 PM CDT reply actions