That's the word from Access Vikings.  Allen has been fined $25,000 by the league for his "vicious" hit on Aaron Rodgers, but won't miss any playing time due to a suspension.

Upon hearing the news, Rodgers apparently asked for his binky, a glass of warm milk, and for Mike McCarthy to read him Goodnight, Moon.  Again.

Also, in a move that's about a year and a half too late in coming, Ryan Cook is finally being removed from the starting lineup.  Artis Hicks, who filled in ably for Bryant McKinnie during his four-game absence, will start this Sunday against Jacksonville.  Remember, Cook was selected with the pick that was gained by trading Daunte Culpepper to Miami back in 2006.  Man, that deal certainly worked out well for everybody, didn't it?

(And props to Manimal for beating me to the Allen thing. . .stupid having to wait for a break at the day job to update the site.)

There have been a couple of sources who, since Sunday, have devoted ink and/or bandwidth to complaining about how the Vikings were given credit for a safety this past Sunday due to the sheer stupidity of Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers.  Among these sources are ProFootballTalk.com (who, by and large, is anti-Viking and always has been) and SI.com's Peter King.

While being upended in the end zone, Aaron Rodgers threw an underhanded pass that landed about three yards from Packers tight end Tory Humphrey, and ref Alberto Riveron called it an illegal forward pass. Only it wasn't, because quarterbacks often make underhanded scoop passes, which this was. After the game Riveron called it intentional grounding, and it wasn't that either, because Humphrey was so close. So this was a gift two points for the Vikes.

Awwww. . .did the Chosen Ones actually have a call in a big situation go against them for a change?

Seriously, everybody that's whining about this should really shut their collective latte-holes for a while.  The Vikings have a long, proud history of getting screwed over by officials in the NFL, and in particular against the Green Bay Packers.

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We don't win games like this.

We never win games like this.

Other teams are the teams that win games like this.

Admit it. . .when Adrian Peterson got in for that last touchdown (and pimp-slapped Atari Bigby right across the face in the process), the first thing you did was look at the clock and realize that there were still two minutes and change remaining.  You remembered that Brad Childress was 0-5 against the Packers going into today's game.  You remembered that the Vikings' special teams, who had been great in kick coverage all afternoon (not on punt coverage, but on kickoff coverage) was due to give up a decent return.  And they did.

And when a pass that had been tipped by Ellis Wyms landed in the hands of Donald Driver for a 19-yard gain, you knew that the game was going to come down to a last-second field goal attempt for the Packers.  And it did.

And you were prepared for Brad Childress' record against the Packers to go to 0-6 and for our playoff chances to, effectively, be circling the bowl.

And it. . .did. . .NOT.

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Today's entry into the "what a freaking joke" file:

The NFL just announced that defensive end Jared Allen was fined $50,000 for “two plays considered roughing the passer,” according to an NFL spokesman.

“In both instances, he struck the opposing quarterback below the knee area,” a spokesperson said in an email.

Allen hit Texans quarterback Matt Schaub both times. Schaub suffered a torn MCL on one of the hits in the first half. Texans coach Gary Kubiak and Schaub both said they thought the hits were illegal and cheap shots.

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This will definitely put a cramp in the ol' game plan if things don't improve in the next couple of days.

Defensive end Jared Allen did not practice again today as he rested his injured right shoulder. Allen continues to get treatment for a third-degree sprain, or seperation, that could keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Coach Brad Childress said the team will see if Allen can do some things in Friday’s practice.

Asked if he was holding out hope, Allen said “that’s all on them,” in reference to coach Brad Childress and the Vikings medical staff. “I guess there is always hope but it’s not my call,” Allen said. “I’ve got two more days. I’m not really thinking about it. I want to hopefully just see how it plays out. And it’s not solely on me. If it was my decision, I think you guys know what my decision would be. But coach has to do what’s right for the team and [head athletic trainer] Eric Sugarman has to make sure he does what is right for my body.”

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Yes, I know exactly what you're thinking, because I thought it for a while last night myself.

Nine months of preparation. . .millions of dollars spent. . .an off-season of lies perpetuated by the Green Bay front office and placed at our doorstep. . .and the Vikings go out and put up a performance like THAT!?

But there are some important things to remember here.  By the end of last night's game, the Vikings were down to their third-string left tackle.  When you get down to the #3 guy on the depth chart at any position, the result is usually going to be less than optimal, but I thought that Marcus Johnson actually held up pretty well at a spot that, I'm assuming, he hasn't gotten a heck of a lot of snaps at.  I'm not sure how severe the injury to Artis Hicks' elbow is, but whoever starts at LT this coming Sunday is going to have to deal with Dwight Freeney, so this is something that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.

The most important thing to keep in mind here is that this is, still, just one game.  Yes, it hurts worse and sucks more because it was a loss to Green Bay.  But there are still 15 more of these to go this season, and I have a feeling that things will be getting better the rest of the way.  Having my theory proven true hinges on the abilities of one man.

Brad Childress.

As of this moment, I've given up trying to figure out how Brad Childress constructs his offensive game plans.  The first half of last night's game was one of the single worst first halves of football I've ever seen.  Tarvaris Jackson had 7. . .yes, SEVEN. . .pass attempts in the entire first half, and only completed two for 16 yards.  Yes, we have Adrian Peterson at our disposal, and he was his usual God-like self last night, given the circumstances. . .but during the pre-season, we saw an improvement in Jackson's play.  Brad Childress told us all off-season about how Jackson had improved and was going to be a big surprise this year.

And then you go out in the first half and give him, basically, zero opportunities to make plays.

When I posted the injury report on Friday, I suggested that the Vikings would be wise to get Peterson and Chester Taylor out on the edges, as well as roll out Tarvaris Jackson frequently in an effort to get Green Bay's ailing defensive line to chase him around and wear themselves out.  Did we run a single time to the outside last night?  Was there a toss or a sweep play to be found anywhere?  If there was, I don't recall it.  When you have Steve Hutchinson and Matt Birk, two of the premiere "pulling" players at their positions, at your disposal, you should be running towards the edges a lot. . .and, for some reason, the Vikings seem to be content to just keep slamming people into the middle of the line repeatedly.

The offensive game plan simply MUST be more creative from this point forward if the Vikings are to reach the potential that we all know they have.  Granted, the absence of Bryant McKinnie plays a big part in that, but even with Hicks or Johnson out there at the LT spot, the Vikings need to start doing some different things with Jackson and with the best RB combo in football.

And yet, despite all of that and despite Brad Childress' terrible first half playcalling, the Minnesota offense outscored Green Bay's offense.  They actually outgained the Packers in net yardage, 355-317.  The Vikings had more first downs than Green Bay did (21-15).  Both teams were right around 40% on third-down conversions.  Tarvaris Jackson and Aaron Rodgers both had 178 passing yards and 1 passing TD.  (Granted, Rodgers looked far more efficient in doing so.)  It was truly a tale of two halves for Minnesota.  After letting the Packers win the time of possession battle in the first half, the Vikings had possession for a longer time in the third quarter than they did in the entire first half (12:08 TOP for the Vikings in the first half, 12:42 TOP in the third quarter).  There was a point in the second half where the Vikings had run 29 offensive plays to Green Bay's 3.

As is the case in the National Football League, one or two plays made the difference in this football game.  A few examples of such plays?

How's about back in the first quarter where the Packers' faced 3rd and 13 and ran a draw play to Brandon Jackson.  Jackson fumbled the ball forward, and it looked like numerous Vikings had a shot at recovering the football. . .but at the end of the play, Greg Jennings recovered for Green Bay on the other side of the first-down line, and the Packers kept possession.  A recovery there for Minnesota would have set them up at around the Packers' 30-yard line, and they likely could have gotten at least a field goal out of something like that.

The killer, of course, was Will Blackmon's 76-yard punt return in the third quarter.  That was a combination of a bad, line drive kick by Chris Kluwe and pretty terrible overall coverage by the Vikings' special teams.  Big returns will happen, of course, but usually Kluwe has significantly more hang time on his punts than he had one the one Blackmon took back.  Hopefully this won't become a trend over the course of the season.

Speaking of special teams, how much different could things have been had the Vikings recovered what was a perfectly acceptable onside kick by Ryan Longwell?  Granted, they got the ball back anyway, but if they could have set up shop in Green Bay territory (which is where they would have been, thanks to a dumb penalty on the Packers during the PAT after Adrian Peterson's TD run), they could have better capitalized on the momentum that they had built to that point.

Yes, last night's loss was disappointing, to say the least.  Yes, it's a game that the Vikings could have won.  Yes, Brad Childress is now 0-5 against Green Bay as the Vikings' head coach (and nobody is more infuriated with that than I am).  But it's only one game, and the time has come to move on and start looking forward to the home opener against Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.  Hopefully things will take a much different path than they took on Monday night.

How many times do you think we heard that during the off-season this past year?  A dozen?  A hundred?  A thousand?  I'm not totally sure, either, but it was a lot.

Well. . .just for fun, here's the performances for the first two pre-season games from some of the quarterbacks that will be hanging around the rosters of NFC North teams this season.  Prospective starters are in italics.

Honestly, I don't know who the starter in Chicago is going to be. . .or the primary backup in Detroit.  That's why things are the way they are in the table.  I'll probably update this after Detroit has played their second pre-season game this evening against Cincinnati.

But, yeah. . .which team is a quarterback away from being a contender again?

Also. . .isn't it amazing how much less impressive Green Bay's offensive line, wide receivers, and running backs look without that certain someone behind center taking the snaps?

Yes, I know. . .it's only pre-season, none of this matters, yadda yadda blah blah.  But, really. . .isn't it about time for folks outside of Minnesota to stop crapping all over Tarvaris Jackson at every opportunity?  Particularly looking at what he's surrounded by at the position in this division?

If Tarvaris Jackson isn't already the best quarterback in this division. . .and I, personally, think that he is, but I'm biased. . .he will be by the halfway point of the 2008 season at the latest.

With the people at ESPN taking the opportunity on Monday night to fawn over Aaron Rodgers' every move (most of which were not really all that impressive), a few of the members of the NFL's best defensive line have thrown a few barbs the way of our neighbors from Wisconsin.

Pat Williams, the best run-stuffing defensive tackle in the league, was asked by a reporter if he had been keeping up with the Brett Favre saga.  His answer sums things up pretty nicely.

“Damn, that’s their problem,” Williams said. “They’re going through all that as a team, trying to figure out if Favre or (Aaron) Rodgers was the man, while we’ve got the same team we had all offseason. I’m glad they got all that darn press, ‘cause when we go down there it’ll be the kid’s first start and his first damn loss.”

Williams assumes that Rodgers will actually last all the way through the pre-season to start the regular season opener.  While I suppose that could happen, I wouldn't go betting my mortgage on it yet.

Jared Allen, the best defensive end in the NFL, also chimed in on the matchup:

“Playing Green Bay on Monday night to start the season – that’s everything you want,” Allen said. “Hopefully, I can put my helmet square in the back of his spine. If I can do that and knock the ball loose, it’ll be a good day.”

Don't worry, Jared. . .you'll get that opportunity at least once.  Probably more than once.  Probably a LOT more than once.

Oh, and Phat Pat wasn't done.

“They had a nice year last year, but they don’t understand that Brett made those guys better than they were,” Williams said. “He has the game all figured out, and you’ve got to factor all that into the equation. Brett Favre would throw the ball when the receivers hadn’t even made their cut yet, and it would be there waiting for them. Those guys had it good.

 

“People think it’s the system, but it ain’t no damn system. Brett Favre just knows where his guys are going to be at all times, and I don’t think Aaron Rodgers has got that yet.”

And he's exactly right.  The Packers DID have a great year in 2007.  They went 13-3 in 2007.  If anyone thinks they would have gone 13-3 in 2007 with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, they need to think again.  If anyone thinks they're going 13-3 in 2008 with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, they need to be submitted for a psychiatric evaluation.

From the part of the MNF game I saw, here's the impression I got of Rodgers.

-It's his 4th year in the National Football League, and he still clearly hasn't adjusted to the speed of the game.  He likes to hold on to the ball. . .for way too long.  I know that has to make Jared Allen happy.
-If he keeps making the kind of throws he was making on Monday night, the Packers might be starting Kelly Campbell at receiver by Week 5, because he's out to get people killed.

I saw nothing out of him that makes him any more impressive than everyone's favorite media target, Tarvaris Jackson.  In fact, Jackson had a superior performance against a superior defense (sorry, Bengals fans, but it's true) than Rodgers had in his first pre-season look.  As of right now, Tarvaris Jackson is probably a better quarterback than Aaron Rodgers, regardless of whether or not anyone outside of the Twin Cities will actually admit it.

I'm sure we'll now have Packer fans over here talking about last year and this and that and the other thing.  Save it.  Last year is irrelevant.  Last year you weren't starting a guy with 59 career regular season passes at QB.  It's 2008, and I've seen nothing to this point that leads me to believe that the Green Bay Packers are monumentally superior to the Minnesota Vikings.  In fact, I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that they're superior at all.  Honestly, other than the receiving corps, at what position is Green Bay a better team than Minnesota?

-Quarterback?  Nope.
-Running Back?  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA please.
-Offensive Line?  Nope.
-Defensive Line?  See Running Back.
-Linebacker?  Nope.
-Secondary?  I doubt it.  (If you want to argue this, feel free to go back and watch the NFC Championship game.  Then come back here and apologize.)

Nope. . .the one thing that gave Green Bay a decisive advantage over Minnesota last year is currently taking snaps in New York.  Pat Williams and Jared Allen are exactly right, and I'm very much looking forward to watching them back it up on 8 September in Green Bay in front of the Packer sycophants at ESPN.

Well, it's the last day of May, and you know what that means.  Obviously, it means that the first NFL preview issues of the season are hitting a newsstand near you!  Honestly, I keep joking about this happening earlier every single year, and yet every single year. . .it keeps happening earlier.  But hey, it gives us something to discuss, so let's do that.

The first two magazines of the year are Lindy's Pro Football Preview, which I'll look at in a future post, and our subject for this discussion, the Pro Football Weekly NFL Preview issue.  PFW grades each team in eight different categories, giving each position a letter grade on the school-style "A through F" scale.  Let's take a look at where they've ranked the different units of the NFC North teams.

Honestly, I'm not sure if it's some sort of typo or what, but I'm not sure how PFW has the Vikings AND Bears listed with better odds to win the Super Bowl than Green Bay, yet still have Green Bay winning the division.

As you can see, when looking at the individual units, the Beloved Purple come out on top in 3 of the 8 categories, the Packers come out on top in 3 of the 8 categories, and the Bears take the other 2. . .sorry, Detroit.  Overall, the only one of the rankings above that I can really argue with is the quarterback category.  I discussed this with The Sports Guru and BigBlueShoe this past Tuesday on the SBNation Football Frenzy, and it still boggles my mind that so many football "experts" can be so completely sold on Aaron Rodgers and so completely convinced that Tarvaris Jackson will never be anything better than awful.  On top of that, if we're looking at depth charts as a whole, I don't know how you can grade Green Bay's QBs any higher than Minnesota's.

For starters, comparing the two offenses, Green Bay's offense is much more dependent on the pass than Minnesota's is.  Hell, Minnesota's offense isn't just a run-first offense. . .it's the run-first offense.  Say what you will about Brett Favre. . .and I hate the guy as much as anybody. . .but Green Bay's running game got absolutely destroyed for the first half of 2007, and he carried that team during that time.  Apparently, based on one whole half of football in a game against Dallas where he entered the game with his team losing by 17 points, some people think that Aaron Rodgers is capable of exactly the same thing.  I, on the other hand, would beg to differ.  Ryan Grant better hope he gets that big new contract here soon, because he's going to take a serious thumping in 2008.

As far as the rest of the depth chart. . .Aaron Rodgers has no NFL starting experience, and has played against largely prevent defenses in the games he has played.  If he goes out and throws a boneheaded pass, he gets to go back to the bench, as most quarterbacks do, and discuss it with his backup.  Oh, his backup just happens to be a rookie that's never seen an NFL defense before.  And the guy that's backing up THAT rookie?  Also a rookie.  But, apparently, having three guys with a combined zero NFL starts and about 7 quarters of NFL game experience gives you a better quarterback situation than a team with guy that actually has 16 games of starting experience in the NFL and a 15-year NFL vet backing him up.  Please.  The Vikings might not have the best QB situation in the NFC North or anything, but it's certainly no worse than the team that, according to these rankings, has the best one.

Outside of that, as I said, the rankings appear to be pretty solid.  Still scratching my head over the "Odds to Win the Super Bowl" stuff as it relates to record, but it's not my magazine.  I'm just relaying what the nice people at PFW are printing.

PFW also has a feature that ranks the top players at each position, including a list of the Top 50 NFL players regardless of position.  The ratings go on a 1.0 to 5.0 scale.  Here are the NFC North players that are featured on the list and where they're ranked:

5) Jared Allen, DE, Minnesota - 4.55
16) Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota - 4.3
23) Brian Urlacher, MLB, Chicago - 4.2
25) Kevin Williams, DT, Minnesota - 4.2
46) Devin Hester, RS, Chicago - 4.0
47) Tommie Harris, DT, Chicago - 4.0

Allen is the highest-rated defensive player on the list. . .the four players ranked ahead of him are a few guys named Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, LaDanian Tomlinson, and Randy Moss (in that order).  Pretty good stuff, I'd say.

As far as the individual positions, here's where NFC North players are ranked on the lists:

Quarterbacks - Jon Kitna #26, Rex Grossman #27, Tarvaris Jackson listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Running Backs - Adrian Peterson #3, Ryan Grant #20, Chester Taylor #29
Tight Ends - Greg Olsen #13, Donald Lee #16
Wide Receivers - Donald Driver #12, Roy Williams #17, Greg Jennings #22, Bernard Berrian #24, Calvin Johnson listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Centers - Olin Kreutz #3, Matt Birk #4 (huh?), Dominic Raiola #19
Guards - Steve Hutchinson #3, Daryn Colledge listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Tackles - Bryant McKinnie #7, Chad Clifton #9, John Tait #16, Mark Tauscher #17, Jeff Backus #24

Defensive Ends - Jared Allen #1, Aaron Kampman #6, Adewale Ogunleye #19, Dewayne White #28, Mark Anderson and Cullen Jenkins listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Defensive Tackles - Kevin Williams #2, Tommie Harris #3, Pat Williams #4, Cory Redding #19, Ryan Pickett #21, Johnny Jolly listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Inside Linebackers - Brian Urlacher #1, Nick Barnett #11, E.J. Henderson #19
Outside Linebackers - Lance Briggs #6, Ernie Sims #11, A.J. Hawk #16, Chad Greenway listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Cornerbacks - Antoine Winfield #10, Charles Woodson #11, Al Harris #12 (suck it, Woodson and Harris), Charles Tillman #18
Safeties - Darren Sharper #7, Madieu Williams #14, Atari Bigby #23, Dwight Smith #24, Gerald Alexander, Nick Collins, and Danieal Manning listed among "Top Veteran Prospects

Return Specialists - Devin Hester #1
Kicker - No NFCN players listed
Punter - No NFCN players listed

That's the inside scoop on what the NFC North looks like according to the good folks at Pro Football Weekly.  Feel free to use the comment section to discuss these rankings, any agreements or disagreements, and just generally looking at the NFC North.

Not sure if there will be anything later on today or not. . .Mrs. Gonzo and I have plans for this afternoon, but I could possibly get something up here later on today.  If not, be sure to check back tomorrow.  Enjoy your Saturday, ladies and gentlemen!