Well, after a day or so to review what happened on Sunday, it's time for the post-mortem. Let's light this candle.
First off. . .to all the Viking "fans" that sold their tickets to Packer fans and stayed at home to watch yesterday's game.
Screw you.
Screw every damn one of you.
You're pathetic. You have absolutely, positively no right and no reason to call yourselves Viking fans. None at all. Because of you, we REAL Viking fans had to sit back yesterday and watch that worthless, overrated pile of garbage quarterback from Green Bay get more respect in our building than any player, coach, or other member of the Vikings. . .hell, any five players, coaches, or other members of the Vikings. . .have EVER received in that glorified trailer park on the other side of the border. What, are you going to get your revenge by buying tickets for the game in Green Bay? Yeah, good luck with that.
People like YOU are the reason that there's constant rumors of this team moving to Los Angeles. People like YOU are going to be the end of football in Minnesota as we know it. Real fans deserve the Minnesota Vikings. . .but the Minnesota Vikings certainly don't deserve you.
Well, the best and most dynamic running back to enter the NFL in the last 10 years. . .and yes, that most definitely includes the "great" Reggie Bush. . .continued to do his thing on Sunday afternoon, as 2007 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson showed the Packers a taste of what they're in for for the next decade or so. Most of the next decade will probably look similar to what we saw when #28 got the ball on Sunday afternoon. . .that being the Packers having absolutely, positively no answer for him. Despite only getting 12 carries, AP went over the century mark for the third time in four career NFL games, and made the Packer defense look particularly pathetic on a 55-yard dash in the second quarter where he froze two or three different defenders. Take away that monster run, and he still averaged five yards a carry against a defense that's allegedly very young and very talented. That assessment is half right, anyway. . .but the Packers couldn't stop him yesterday, and I don't see any reason to anticipate that changing as both Peterson and that defense get older.
Quite frankly, it looks like the only team capable of stopping Adrian Peterson is. . .the Minnesota Vikings. And don't think for a minute that we won't be getting to that later.
You know, considering he got that massive paycheck a few years ago, maybe it's about time that Bryant McKinnie learned how to stop a speed rusher at some point, huh? Yesterday, lined up against Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. . .quite possibly the most one-dimensional player in the history of the National Football League. . .McKinnie was constantly beaten off the snap, constantly getting beaten to the quarterback, and constantly looking like a guy that was WAY overpaid. Stories are coming out of Minneapolis that McKinnie was even vomiting during the game. Not surprisingly, watching Bryant McKinnie yesterday gave me the same feelings of nausea.
For as much hype as this offensive line gets and has gotten, they can't pass block worth a damn, and it starts with the guy that gets paid to protect our quarterback's blind side. Bryant McKinnie at this point is, quite frankly, average at best, and he's getting paid like someone that should be much better.
Speaking of guys that Green Bay had no answer for yesterday, and probably won't for the next decade. . .how about the game that Sidney Rice put together yesterday? Spending a good part of the day lined up against Jarrett Bush. . .another of Green Bay's young, allegedly talented defenders. . .Rice was consistently open and showed that he's got a pretty fine pair of hands on him. He finished with six catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Concerning the touchdown. . .is it me, or did he look just a little bit like another former Minnesota receiver that wore #18 for a little while?
In the next couple of years, Sidney Rice will be the best wide receiver in the NFC North. And yes, I say that knowing full well that Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson play in that city in Michigan that makes all the cars. Or used to make all the cars, anyway. For a guy that should be playing in his junior season at the University of South Carolina, it looks like he's making the adjustment to the pro game just fine, thank you. No reason to think that he won't be beating the Packers for the next ten years, either. . .unless, of course, the Pack's younger DBs pick up on the Charles Woodson/Al Harris method of coverage, which consists of grabbing onto the guy at the line of scrimmage, holding him all over the field, and having the officials not notice.
Well, we've reached the inevitable point where we have to discuss the coaching staff. Specifically, once again, we're looking at Brad Childress. My patience for this guy is pretty much shot at this point.
Seriously, let's say you have a running back that, in one half of football, had already gone over 100 yards and was averaging nearly 10 yards a carry. Would you. . .
a) continue running the football with Peterson (and Chester Taylor) when it's become obvious that the opposing defense has no answer for him
OR
b) give Peterson one carry after the intermission and turn the game over to Kelly Holcomb, letting him throw 25 times when you spent most of the second half within one score of taking the lead?
If your answer was "b," then you just might be Brad Childress. . .offensive genius.
Seriously. . .Kelly Holcomb shouldn't be throwing the ball 25 times in one game in this offense, never mind 25 times in one half. The Vikings' three-headed running back combo of Peterson, Taylor, and Mewelde Moore has, to this point in the season, averaged 5.3 yards per carry. . .and that's WITH everyone in the league knowing that our pass offense is awful! Just imagine what they could do if the pass offense could actually take the heat off of them for a while.
Brad Childress is so damn dead set on proving just how much smarter he is than everybody else that he's driving this team into the ground because, ironically, he refuses to keep his offense ON the ground. With the composition of this team. . .the great backs, the questionable QB situation, the run-blocking prowess of the offensive line. . .there's no reason that this team should EVER be passing more than they run.
And, as I mentioned before, Brad Childress is the only person in the NFL, it appears, that has the ability to stop Adrian Peterson. #28 is currently fifth in the NFL in rushing yards with 383 yards. The only running back in the Top 10 with fewer attempts than Peterson's 76 is Derrick Ward of the New York Football Giants with 73. Peterson is currently on pace for 304 carries. . .exactly the same number that Chester Taylor logged for the Vikings last year. After the first four games of 2006, Taylor had 85 carries and 298 yards, an average of 3.5 yards/carry. Peterson is currently averaging a full yard and a half more at the quarter pole this season.
But giving the kid ONE CARRY after halftime in a game where he already had 100+ at the half is inexcusable. What exactly is Childress trying to save him for. . .our playoff push? HA! Not at this rate, folks. With the way Childress is going, he might be keeping him fresh for Minnesota's next head coach.
And that's all for this week, folks. With as bad as the first quarter of the season was, I can guarantee that the Vikings will NOT lose next week. I can also guarantee that I was NOT the first person to use that joke this year, and I guarantee that I will NOT be the last.
Have a good one, folks.