At least, that's the take from Smilin' Jimmy Souhan at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. I'm amazed at how quick some of the Twin Cities media types are to throw anyone and everyone associated with the Vikings under the bus.
This passage is my particular favorite. . .
It told the real story of the night, and offered proof of invisible fencing. The first-team offense, while playing one-third of the game (just more than 20 minutes), scored three points. Extrapolated, the efficient, zero-turnover performance would produce nine points a game.
Friday, the Vikings' lone field goal was their lone offensive highlight. Their only touchdown, in a 13-10 loss to St. Louis, came on Dontarrious Thomas' interception return.
This is how far our standards have fallen for the once-celebrated, historically explosive, perpetually innovative Purple offense: Anything surpassing incompetence can make you feel a little giddy.
Couple points here, Jimbo. . .
The offensive performance of the Rams' starters, extrapolated, would have netted them exactly. . .let me see, here. . .yes, zero points. At last check, 9 > 0.
Second, had the Vikings gone out and put a big number on the scoreboard last night, you'd be telling us not to get our hopes up because the Vikes would have played all their offensive cards in the first pre-season game of the year. How do I know you'd be telling us this? Because you're a member of the Twin Cities' media, that's why. By and large, being a member of the Twin Cities' media means that if you ain't bitchin', you ain't happy.
Exactly how much of the offense was Brad Childress supposed to show last night? It was the first pre-season game of the year, for crying out loud. And even with the alleged "limited creativity," the offense looked good last night. Jackson looked good, Williamson looked good, Wade looked good, and the running game looked alright, considering they were missing one of the best O-linemen in the league.
The Twin Cities' media is notorious for this sort of behavior, and it's nice to see that at least one of their collective is already in mid-season form. I'd like to see what Pacifist Viking has to say about this. . .he generally does a better job with the whole "bad sports writing" thing than I do, and this is a pretty good example of that, in my opinion.
Update [2007-8-11 17:14:9 by Gonzo]:
And PV doesn't disappoint.