SB Nation - Cedric Griffin

Interview: Daily Norseman stop by to give us knowledge on the Vikings

Kirkendall — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:01:58 -0000

Some are already looking towards week 15 against the Chargers as the biggest game of the year for the Bengals, limiting the importance of this weekend's game against the Minnesota Vikings. However, in an odd world of things, both the Vikings and Bengals have proven very little against winning teams this year. If it wasn't for the Packers, neither team would have won a game against a team that has a winning record at this point in the season. So while Sunday's game has little to do with playoff implications, it does have a lot to do with proving that they belong with the NFL elite. Confidence is a big thing in the NFL and from Cincinnati's perspective, they'll need to beat the Vikings to prove that they can travel to California and beat the Chargers with the second seed in the AFC on the line.

But what about these Vikings? What should we expect? I sat down with Gonzo from Daily Norseman, who gives us some knowledge on our opponent this weekend, in a game that features two teams with a combined 19 wins this year.

1) The Vikings have played the Packers twice already. This is significant because before losing to the Cardinals, the Vikings had only beaten one team with a winning record. Then they lost by 13 to the Arizona Cardinals during last week’s Sunday Night football. Is there a feeling that the Vikings have a lot to prove against the Bengals, who are the third-ranked team in the AFC?
This week's game against the Bengals is, in my opinion, the most vital game of the season for Minnesota, because it could really set a tone for the team the rest of the way. If they beat the Bengals, it becomes easier to write the Cardinals' game off as simply a one-time bad performance, which I'm sort of under the impression it was. A loss to the Bengals, however, means that we could end up completely out of control going into what should be a relatively easy final three games of the season. The Vikings DO have a lot to prove against the Bengals this Sunday, and I think they'll be more than up for the challenge. I'm of the opinion that Sunday night in Arizona was the perfect storm of the Vikings coming out flat, the Cardinals being fired up, and Minnesota putting together their worst game of the season. I would be shocked if they played as badly against the Bengals as they did against Arizona.

2) Brett Favre is arguably having his best statistical season in his career. It seems that he’s willing to check down more often. Are there any concerns that Favre could take a downward spiral late in the season like last year when he played through an injury with the Jets?
With a guy Favre's age behind center, the concern obviously has to be there, but I don't think it's completely warranted. As you stated, last season Favre got injured during the course of the season, and it affected his ability to throw the football. As anyone this year that's watched Favre can see, his ability to physically throw the football is as good as ever. He's not playing through an injury this year or anything like that. What worries me more than that, however, is his admission that he let his emotions get the better of him against the Cardinals, which led directly to one of his interceptions. He can't afford to have that happen if the Vikings are going to continue to play well in the regular season and the post-season. He needs to continue playing smart, solid football, check it down when he has to, and just do what he's been doing through the first 3/4 of the season.

3) How will losing E.J. Henderson impact the defense?
The loss of E.J. Henderson is a significant one, to be sure. After he missed most of 2008 after dislocating his toes, it looked like he was finally back to being the old E.J. Henderson. Henderson is also one of the linebackers in the nickel package for the Vikings, as well as the defensive signal caller. Ben Leber will most likely take over Henderson's responsibility on both those fronts, and Jasper Brinkley, Minnesota's fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft out of South Carolina, will man Henderson's spot in the middle on first and second down. Brinkley has a world of potential, and with the Williams Wall in front of him, hopefully there won't be a lot of drop-off for Minnesota.

3a) The Vikings have one of the best rush defenses in the league. We’ve argued at Cincy Jungle that the Bengals need to attack the Vikings secondary. What would you say is the weakness in the Vikings defense this year?
Minnesota's front seven can compete with any team in the league, but the secondary has been no better than average for most of the year. More specifically, the safety play for most of the year has bordered on atrocious. Granted, the team has been without Antoine Winfield since Week 7, and you obviously have to change up your schemes when you lose someone of that caliber, but it doesn't excuse what we've seen from Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson for most of the year. (Johnson is unlikely to play on Sunday, and he'll likely be replaced by Jamarca Sanford, the Vikings' seventh-round pick in the 2009 Draft out of Ole Miss.) But the safeties are definitely the weak link in the Minnesota defense, because I think the Vikes have been pretty solid at CB for most of the year despite the loss of Winfield.

3a) Reports suggest that Antoine Winfield could return this week after missing the previous six with a foot injury. What does his return mean to the secondary?
Winfield's return is huge, particularly when you're lining up against a team with one of the most talented receivers in the league. Winfield goes back to being the #1 guy, which allows Cedric Griffin to go back to the #2 spot and Benny Sapp can go back to being the nickel guy instead of starting. Winfield's presence in stopping the run also can't be underestimated, as there's no better run-support corner in the NFL, in my opinion. Every account I've read says that he's rested, healed, and ready to go, and I hope to heck we see him out there tomorrow afternoon. His presence against the Bengals could be huge, both against the run and against the pass.

4) Jared Allen is a beast. How should the Bengals game plan against one of the league’s best pass rushers?
I think you have to do what the Cardinals did against him... you constantly have to have someone over on his side along with the tackle, whether it's a tight end, a running back, or sometimes both. If you try to block Jared Allen one-on-one for the better part of a game, he's going to beat you unless you have a truly elite left tackle like a Joe Thomas or someone along those lines. You need to double-team him, you need to chip him, try to get him frustrated... and then hope that the rest of the line does their jobs against the Williams Wall and Ray Edwards (who is having a surprisingly good season thus far).

5) Sidney Rice is having a career year, already surpassing the 1,000-yard receiving mark. However, he only has four touchdowns. Does the Vikings offense tend to look away from their receivers in the red zone?
I'm not sure if it's that they "look away" from Rice in the red zone. . .it's just that Favre has been so good about spreading the ball around to all of the options he has this season that Rice has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, for lack of a better way to put it. Whenever a Favre-led offense gets into the red zone. . .and it's been this way ever since he was in Green Bay. . .the tight end is the guy he loves to look for, and the nine touchdown catches for Visanthe Shiancoe this season are a testament to that. The go-to guy in the red zone can change from one day to the next. . .it might be Shiancoe, it might be Rice, it might be Bernard Berrian, it might be Percy Harvin...it just depends on matchups and who's open at that particular time. That's the thing that Favre has brought this year, the fact that defenses can't just key on one particular guy in the passing game.

6) Arizona limited Adrian Peterson to 19 yards rushing on 13 attempts. What did the Cardinals find out that shutdown Peterson?
They found out that the Vikings were way too quick to give up on the run, which is something that's been rare this season, and something that absolutely can not happen against the Bengals. As good as Brett Favre has been this season, the Vikings' offense needs to run through Adrian Peterson. Granted, Peterson seems to be a bit more impatient this season than he was his first two years. . .he's not letting his blocks develop at times. . .but he's also not getting a ton of help from the offensive line. According to the folks at Football Outsiders, the Vikings have the most "stuffed runs" in the NFL this season, and after what the Vikings' offense has done on the ground the last two seasons, that's completely unacceptable. I would be thoroughly shocked, however, if Peterson had a performance against Cincinnati as bad as his performance against the Cardinals.

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:34:56 -0000

More photos » by Jerry Holt - AP

16 days ago: Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor (29) scores in the second quarter past Chicago Bears' Danieal Manning (38) during an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Jerry Holt)

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Since we're going to be, as the kids say, waiting all day for Sunday night, let's kill some time by taking a final look back at the Vikings' complete and utter domination of the Chicago Bears by reviewing their performance in the Red Zone. And, as always, the Vikings Red Zone Review is brought to you by the good folks at Comcast. Comcast brings you the NFL Red Zone channel every week, and it's your way to keep in touch with all the biggest plays from every NFL game week in and week out. It's great for fantasy players, or for the late games when you're not sure which game you want to view while celebrating the Vikings' latest conquest. The Red Zone Channel is your season ticket for every single NFL game, and nobody brings it to you like the folks at Comcast.

What kind of performance did the Vikings put together in the red zone last weekend? Let's have a look and find out.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 6
Vikings Red Zone scores - 6 (4 TD, 2 FG)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 66%

A pretty good performance for the Vikings in the red zone last week, but it still could have been better.

After an Adrian Peterson fumble halted a promising opening drive, the Bears and Vikings exchanged three and outs, and the Bears punted again, pinning the Vikings on their own 4-yard line. From there, the Vikings offense went to work. Brett Favre converted a big third down when he hit Sidney Rice for 14 yards on 3rd and 6. He continued to spread the ball around, hitting Chester Taylor twice for 27 yards out of the backfield. Peterson mixed in a 15-yard run and an 8-yard run, and Favre converted another big third down by hitting Bernard Berrian to take the Vikings down to the Chicago 6. After some questionable play calling, including Favre taking a 14-yard sack on first and goal from the 1 (following a Chicago PI penalty in the end zone), the first play of the second quarter saw Favre drill a bullet to the 2009 Offensive Rookie of the Year. . .that's Percy Harvin. . .and the Vikings went up 7-0. The Minnesota drive went 96 yards in 13 plays, and took 6:52 to complete.

After the Bears managed to luck their way into their one touchdown drive of the afternoon, the Vikings went to work again from their own 20. Harvin didn't get to return the kickoff because of a touchback, so the Vikings let him start the drive off with a 35-yard run to put the ball into Chicago territory. Favre then hit Berrian for 7, Rice for 11, and Harvin for 4 to move the ball to the Chicago 10. After a three-yard run by Peterson, Favre rolled to his right, dumped one off to Chester Taylor, and #29 did the rest as he dove into the end zone for another Minnesota touchdown. The extra point put the Vikings up 14-3. That Minnesota drive moved 80 yards in 8 plays, taking 4:06 off the clock.

The Bears fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which the Vikings turned into a 52-yard Ryan Longwell field goal. On the Bears next drive, Chicago's awesome, incredible superstar quarterback Jay Cutler threw a pass that got picked off by Cedric Griffin. The Vikings couldn't take advantage, and punted the ball back to Chicago. Cutler's second INT of the afternoon came on the subsequent drive, on a pass that was deflected by E.J. Henderson into the arms of Jared Allen. The Vikings started out at their own 30, and Favre immediately hit Visanthe Shiancoe for 21 yards to move the ball into Chicago territory. He then hit Berrian twice for 16 yards, and then lofted a beautiful pass to Rice, who got pushed out of bounds at the Chicago 2. After a touchdown pass from Favre to Shiancoe was nullified for Bryant McKinnie being downfield, Shank managed to get the touchdown anyway, as Favre found him on third and goal from the 6 for the score. The drive moved 70 yards in 7 plays, and only took 40 seconds to accomplish. It also put Minnesota ahead 24 to 7 as they went to the locker room.

After a Chicago field goal gave the Bears their final points of the afternoon, the Vikings took over at their own 33, as the Bears decided they were too scared to kick to Percy Harvin. Harvin again made them pay for it, catching passes of 12 and 22 yards from Favre to move the ball into Chicago territory. After a fumble by Peterson that was correctly challenged by Childress, Favre hit Shiancoe for 19 yards, and appeared to have another touchdown pass to Chester Taylor that was taken off the board by an unnecessary holding penalty downfield on Berrian. From there, the flags started to fly, and the referees desperately tried to level the playing field for the completely overmatched Bears. After all was said and done, the Vikings had to settle for a 37-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to make the score 27-7. The 12-play, 48-yard drive took 4:59 off of the clock.

Big third down conversions were the story of Minnesota's next drive, as Minnesota started from their own 27. You know it's going to be a productive drive when even Naufahu Tahi gets into the business of converting third downs, which he did with an 8-yard reception. On the next third down, Favre hit Bernard Berrian for 18 yards. Then, on another third down play, Favre found Percy Harvin for an outstanding 31-yard catch that put the rookie over the 100-yard mark for the first time in his young career. Unfortunately, the drive stalled when the Vikings reached the 2, and they had to settle for a 20-yard Longwell field goal. The drive needed to eat up the clock, and the drive did just that, as they took 7:36 to move the ball 71 yards in 13 plays. It also made the score 30 to 7 in favor of the Vikings.

Favre only completed one pass on his final drive of the afternoon, hitting Berrian again for eight yards. The rest of the drive was the Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor show, as the best 1-2 running back tandem in the NFL combined for 35 yards on 6 carries on the drive. A big pass interference penalty aided the Vikings as well, giving them 25 yards and putting the ball deep into Chicago territory. Harvin even mixed another carry in for 10 yards, and that one put the Vikings inside the Chicago red zone again. To cap off what had been a fairly tough afternoon, Peterson walked in from five yards out for a touchdown. Chris Kluwe, unfortunately, bobbled the hold on the extra point, so the final margin of victory for Minnesota ended up being 36-10. The final Viking drive went 68 yards in 8 plays, taking another 5:09 off of the clock.

So, to update our tally, for the season the Vikings' offense has entered the opposing red zone on 43 occasions. They've come away with 23 touchdowns (53.5%), 14 Ryan Longwell field goals (32.5%), and have only come away scoreless six times (14%). The Bears only entered the red zone once. . .and they were lucky to have that many. . .and managed one field goal. So, the Vikings have allowed their opponents to enter the red zone 24 times this season, allowing them to score 10 touchdowns (41.7%), as well as eight field goals (33.3%). On six occasions (25%), Minnesota's opponents have left the red zone empty-handed.

Here's hoping that the Vikings can improve on all of those figures during Sunday night's clash with the Arizona Cardinals.

Favre Dominates Chicago as Vikings Sweep Homestand

Anthony21 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:48:11 -0000

More photos » by Jerry Holt - AP

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If teams have an answer for this offense, we have yet to see it.

Adrian Peterson's numbers lagged once again this afternoon. He finished the evening averaging just 3.4 yards per carry, and if you take away his longest run (15 yards), the picture becomes grimmer for Peterson. Oh yeah, he also coughed up a fumble that brought a premature end to the Vikings' opening drive of the game. And oh yeah, he coughed it up again in the second half as the Vikings were driving in Chicago territory -- but the Vikings retained possession after a Brad Childress challenge. All told, this is a game that Peterson needs to immediately forget.

But Brett Favre made up for it. And then some.

Favre is clearly having one of the best seasons of his career -- and many analysts are calling it his best ever. Anyone of the opinion that Favre is playing his best football yet certainly got plenty of ammunition from today's game, as Favre controlled the Chicago defense. When the first half had reached its conclusion, he had gone 20/31 while racking up 256 passing yards and three touchdowns. He hardly slowed down in the second half, finishing the game near the 400-yard mark through the air.

He's throwing a lot of passes for a 40-year-old arm to handle. But he's holding up remarkably well. And the impact he's made on three guys -- Shank, Harvin, and Rice -- has been MVP-worthy (particularly his impact on Rice's production). Predictably, those guys posted big numbers this afternoon. But Bernard Berrian and Chester Taylor were also key receivers for Brett, and five receivers (Shank, Harvin, Rice, Berrian and Taylor) finished the game with five or more catches. A first in franchise history, if you're keeping score at home.

Last week, we saw the efficient Brett Favre as he picked apart the Seattle defense and finished the game with a completion percentage near 90%. This week, we saw the more explosive Brett Favre. And yet, he remained accurate (you could count his poor throws on one hand), his interception mark for the season remains at three, and the Vikes did a good job of controlling the time of possession battle -- in spite of Adrian's slippery hands.

Of course, there was a smattering of other concerning issues that occurred on the offensive end. Too many penalties for my liking -- Big Mac was nailed for an ineligible man downfield penalty that nullified a touchdown near the end of the first half (though the Vikings scored two plays later), and the Vikes' first offensive drive of the second half turned into a penalty fest. Four penalties on that drive, including another one that nullified a touchdown -- though in fairness to Bernard Berrian, who was called for holding, it was a questionable call.

On the defensive side, the Vikes had some trouble handling Jay Cutler during the early stages of the game. He was throwing for a high percentage and had some time to throw the ball -- but as the game went along, the pressure gradually became more intense until it became suffocating. One drive in particular stands out. Chicago briefly showed some life to start the second half, as a long kickoff gave the Bears the ball inside the Vikings' 10. Here's how the ensuing drive unfolded: Forte runs for no gain, Cutler gets sacked for a loss of two yards, Jared Allen draws a false start from Orlando Pace, and Fat Pat sacks Cutler for a loss of five yards. Robbie Gould nailed a field goal to salvage a disaster of a drive, but the defense was dominant. Matt Forte was a complete non-factor.

The Vikings even finished the game with a couple rare interceptions -- one coming from Cedric Griffin in the endzone, the other coming from The Mullet. Jared hilariously threw the ball forward after making the pick, so he made a boneheaded play mere seconds after an awesome play. No harm done, though.

One more downside of the game before I get back to the positives: The kickoff coverage gave up some big returns. Danieal Manning had a 44 yard return, and Johnny Knox was responsible for the 77-yard return that I referenced earlier.

But Favre's outstanding performance easily overshadows any of the concerns surrounding penalties or the kickoff coverage. He's spreading the ball around effectively, he's making his receivers better, and he's absolutely killing teams that make stopping Adrian Peterson their top defensive priority. How well did he play today? The old man came 10 yards shy of setting a career high for passing yardage in a single game. That's how well he's playing. An offensive showcase this evening, as the Vikings finished with 527 total yards of offense.

Presenting the CincyJungle Bengals Midseason Awards

Kirkendall — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:40 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

2 months ago: Cincinnati Bengals' Bobbie Williams (63) celebrates after they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-14 during an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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It's not that I actively bash Peter King. I find his view that the Bengals are a sideshow at a circus to be somewhat irritating. But in the end, my feeling about the national media is trivial. They don't pay obsessive attention to the Bengals day-in and day-out with teams like the Patriots or Cowboys, or players like Brett Favre, or Brett Favre, or Brett Favre around. It is what it is, and I leave it at that.

However, King did release his Midseason All-Pro team on Tuesday and while no Bengals player was listed, it got me thinking. Do the Bengals have one player that's above all else in the league?

The first player that comes to mind is Cedric Benson. King lists Chris Johnson as the league's best running back in 2009. That's a fine choice. But in my opinion, if you're a player that's deserved of being the best player at that position, then you should be on a team better than 2-6 and better than the 23rd best scoring offense in the NFL.

Other than that, I have a hard time replacing any of our players to King's list. Maybe Benson would fit better as Comeback Player of the Year rather than Brett Favre. But if Favre is considered for an award, you better believe he's getting the hardware. I just don't know exactly where Favre went. Didn't he play the entire season last year? Maybe it's the fact he came back. Get it? Comeback. Yea.

With that in mind, and with the first-half over -- can you believe we're already at the half-way point? -- I'd like to present this year's CincyJungle Midseason Awards.

The Cincinnati Bengals MVP. Being an MVP isn't just about stats or even earning weekly awards. In football, it's much more than that. In football, it's about heroics. It's about leadership. It's leading your team towards success and victory.

One of the knocks on Carson Palmer's career is that he hasn't been known for engineering come from behind victories. In fact, it seemed like if everything wasn't perfect, Palmer struggled. His old passing statistics in previous seasons were beautiful and glorious, but the Bengals needed one last thing from Palmer. He needed to lead the Bengals to victory, no matter the odds.

And boy, did he make that impression early.

Down 6-0 with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter, Palmer engineered an 11-play, 91-yard drive in 5:43 to take a 7-6 lead over the Denver Broncos during opening weekend. The Bengals ended up losing anyway on, well, you remember. Nonetheless, Palmer was foreshadowing. The Bengals were down 20-9 entering the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the past, the Bengals typically laid down at this point against Pittsburgh. So in somewhat surprise fashion, Palmer completed 10 of 17 passes for 96 yards in the fourth quarter. With 5:14 left in the game, Palmer engineered a 16-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell. And on that drive, Palmer converted two fourth-downs to keep the game alive; a five-yard pass to Laveranues Coles and an 11-yard pass to Brian Leonard.

Against the Browns, the Bengals really struggled. Palmer most of all. With 6:38 left in the game, the Browns took a 20-14 lead. Palmer led a drive that went 70 yards on 10 plays to tie the game at 20. If it wasn't for a blocked Shaun Rogers point after touchdown (or a misfired snap by Brad St. Louis that caused Shayne Graham to hesitate), the Bengals likely win this game in regulation. Instead, with 3:23 left in overtime, Palmer captains the offense to Cleveland's 13-yard line on 13 plays. Shayne Graham converts the field goal with seven seconds left in the game for the win. Not only did Palmer put together a drive to tie the game, but he had to follow that up with a drive that setup the game winning field goal. What's more impressive is that Palmer and everyone else were way off their game and still came through at the end.

With 2:15 left in the game, the Cincinnati Bengals offense starts at their own 20-yard line, down 14-10 against Baltimore. Again, Palmer leads an 11-play, 80-yard drive in under two minutes to take a 17-14 lead with 22 seconds left in the game. I suppose we can thank the Ravens for a few timely penalties. Regardless, Palmer found Andre Caldwell running a seam down the middle, catching the 20-yard pass to win the game.

Palmer has largely improved as the season has worn on. Since the overtime win over the Browns, Palmer has recorded a passer rating of 80 or better -- 90 or better in the past two games, including a 146.7 against the Bears -- and an 8-2 touchdown to interception ratio.

With all of that said, I still don't think we've seen the best of Palmer yet.

For his late-game heroics and leadership, the 2009 Midseason Team MVP is Carson Palmer.

Offensive Player of the Midseason: An offensive player of the midseason means you're the best offensive player on the team. Even though Carson Palmer was the Cincy Jungle MVP, an argument could be made that he's not the team's best offensive player. We know where this is going, don't we?

It's hard to go against Cedric Benson. His 837 yards rushing ranks second in the NFL. He's scored a touchdown in six of the season's eight games. Eight times he's picked up gains of 20 yards or more (tied for third) and 35 of his rushes have picked up first downs. If not for Benson, many things don't turn out the way they do. Because of the threat to run on nearly every down, Palmer isn't dealing with overloaded secondary packages. Because of Benson, the Bengals can finally become like-minded in the general success of this division by rushing the football first.

Not only is he the best offensive player of the year, but Benson could be awarded the Comeback Player of the Year as well as Best Free Agent signing of the year.

Defensive Player(s) of the Midseason: If it wasn't for Antwan Odom's injury, he'd be the guy. It's hard to vote against anyone who picks up seven sacks in the season's first two games. I honestly wouldn't have a problem if you were to make that choice today. However, I'm going with the cornerback duo of Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall. Combined for eight interceptions -- one returned for a touchdown -- the Joseph/Hall combination picked off Joe Flacco four times, largely contributing to the season sweep against one of the league's powerhouses. Johnathan Joseph's interception return for a touchdown against Pittsburgh in the third quarter gave the Bengals their first touchdown of the day and largely swung momentum into the Bengals favor that led to an unlikely (at the time) win over the Steelers on September 27.

Leon Hall (16) and Johnathan Joseph (15) rank in the top-four in the NFL with most pass deflections. Hall's 41 tackles rank third among all cornerbacks in the league; behind Cedric Griffin (48) and Champ Bailey (45). Both cornerbacks are already close to achieving career-high numbers this year.

The cornerback duo's play (and health) this year have enabled Mike Zimmer to employ different packages that keep opposing offenses guessing. Thanks to two former first round picks that are starting to play on their respective islands as we had hoped they would.

The Award for lowest expectation turning into team's greatest pride and Award for Comeback Unit of the Year. When the Bengals finished last season the offensive line was in turmoil. Palmer and Ryan Fitzpatrick had no protection and the Bengals rushing offense largely failed because the offensive line couldn't open lanes. Once Anthony Collins and Nate Livings joined the starting group because of injury, the line started stabilizing. But the question was strong enough in everyone's mind this offseason to be concerned. Kyle Cook replaced Eric Ghiaciuc, who wasn't offered a contract. Anthony Collins moved to right tackle. Andrew Whitworth moved to left tackle. Bobbie Williams stayed home. Nate Livings resumed left guard duties he earned at the end of last year.

I remember thinking at the time: there are no new faces! All of these guys were around last season. What makes me think they'll improve anything?

If we could nominate an entire unit for comeback unit of the year, it would be the Bengals offensive line. Even though Carson Palmer is on pace to be sacked 24 times this year, the Bengals offensive line hasn't just performed well above expectations, they've flipped all of us off and laughed for not believing. No one expected what they're doing now. No one expected that Palmer would only be hit 24 times (not sacks, being hit) through eight games.

Then there's the offense's 4.3 yard-per-rush average, which ranks 13th in the league. There's Cedric Benson, who doesn't exist if not for this offensive line; the same offensive line that helped Benson break gaudy defensive rushing streaks that the Ravens were riding.

This offensive line isn't the best in the league. But who cares? This offensive line is why the Bengals’ offense is playing as well as they are. And no one expected that.

Award for Best Team Performance of the Midseason. Anytime you win a game by 35 points, you had a damn fine game. Cincinnati took a 31-3 lead into halftime behind four Carson Palmer touchdown passes against the Chicago Bears. Cincinnati finished with 448 yards of total offense and the defense held the Bears to 279 yards on their way to a 45-10 victory.

Award for Winning The Big Game. Even though the Bengals swept the Baltimore Ravens, contestant in last year's AFC title game, the Bengals win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in week three was significantly bigger.

Award for Biggest Team Letdown of the Midseason. Awards are generally not handed out for disappointing feats. But I had to mention this for two reasons. The way Cincinnati dealt with adversity and how dangerously hard this team could fall if they play down to their opponents with a very weak stretch on the second-half schedule.

One could argue the team let down against the Houston Texans, losing 28-17. However, the Texans have a winning record this year, aiming for a wild card spot in the playoffs and nearly pulled off an upset over the Indianapolis Colts on November 8. Of their four losses, only one was lost by more than a touchdown. My pick for Letdown Game of the Year goes to a game that the Bengals actually ended up winning. Odd, eh? Coming into the game, the Cleveland Browns had the league's worst offense and 30th ranked defense. Other than it being an in-state rival, there was no reason why the Bengals couldn't obliterate one of the worst teams in the NFL. We were superior on offense. We were twice as superior on defense. Instead, the game was close. The Bengals played down to their opponent. Derek Anderson threw for 269 yards. Jerome Harrison rushed for 121 yards. J.P. Foschi and Daniel Coats were the team's leading receivers and Cedric Benson -- the guy that rushes for 100 yards against the Ravens defense -- only gained 74 yards through nearly five quarters.

The Bengals needed nearly 75 minutes to win this game, which is a signal of their growing (and impressive) level of maturity and ability to succeed through adversity. But if we had lost this game, it would have been a terrible loss.

Award for greatest third down conversion in team history. This isn't so much of importance as it is an example of how karma can play a role in games. The 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers didn't start well at all. Carson Palmer had thrown a five-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles on the team's first offensive drive of the game, taking a 7-0 lead. Aaron Rodgers answered with a three-yard touchdown of his own. Palmer threw a pick and the Packers scored another touchdown to take a 14-7 lead. Quan Cosby returned a punt 60 yards that setup an eventual one-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 14. Bengals force a three-and-out. On the second play of the next possession, Charles Woodson returns an interception for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 21-14 lead.

On the next possession, the Bengals line up at their own seven-yard line on third down. The first down marker sits at the 41-yard line. What do most teams do on third-and-34? Hope a screen pass or draw is unexpected enough to gain as many yards as possible. After catching a short dump pass out of the flats, Daniel Coats takes off. About 11 yards short of the first down marker, Cullen Jenkins knocks the football out of Coats' arm and it (the football, not Coats) bounces forward 15 yards where Laveranues Coles pounces and recovers the fumble. First down.

You knew the football gods smiled upon the Cincinnati Bengals that day when Green Bay only scored three points and Antwan Odom was on his way to having a career day (five sacks).

Nominations for Acid Reflux.

Brad St. Louis
Daniel Coats

Rookie of the Midseason. The Bengals had a good draft in the spring. Several players are contributors now, like Rey Maualuga, Michael Johnson, Morgan Trent and Bernard Scott. Jonathan Luigs may factor in the offensive line next season, depending on if the Bengals bring Bobbie Williams back.

But the rookie that's really contributed is a fifth round pick from the University of Cincinnati. With a tremendous ability to turn the field, Huber could be the team's Special Teams Player of the Midseason. His first five career punts landed inside the 20-yard line.

		Punts	In-20	Avg.	Long
2008	Kyle Larson	100	28	39.5	57
2009	Kevin Huber	49	13	43.7	61

He's averaged over 45 yards/punt in four games. Only 45% of his punts were returned. And in every game save for one he kicked at least one 50-yard punt. It might seem sad that we're awarding our Rookie of the Midseason Award to a punter, but that would only mean you haven't seen him punt.

However, we have to also acknowledge that Rey Maualuga could easily win this award. He's recorded 30 tackles, two forced fumbles and a quarterback sack. If you go with Maualuga, that too would be a fine choice.

Now it's your turn. This is where the community takes part. What do you think of the awards? What other awards would you create and hand out? Discuss.

Minnesota Vikings Player Power Rankings, Mid-Season Edition

Gonzo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:44:23 -0000

I really meant to do one of these back during the pre-season so that we'd have something to compare it to at this point, but I forgot to. I apologize for that. But, as usual, we'll have our mid-season version. . .conveniently designed to go along with the Vikings' bye week. . .and our post-season version to compare.

I've done these for the past couple of seasons, after originally getting the idea from our friends over at Dawgs by Nature. (See the 2007 mid-season and post-season versions, as well as the 2008 mid-season and post-season versions.) These aren't official or anything, and are more designed to spark conversations/debate than anything else. Since the table that these rankings are placed in is pretty huge, I'll put it in after the jump for everyone to have a look at. Enjoy, and tell us what you think!

Player Power Rankings
Rank	Player	Comment
1	Jared Allen, DE	Greatest trade in Vikings' history? If it's not, it's certainly on the short list. In 24 games since coming to Minnesota, #69 has 25 sacks (3 of which have resulted in safeties), 5 passes defended, 6 forced fumbles, and has generally just been the best 4-3 defensive end in the National Football League. He'd probably be the Defensive Player of the Year if the season ended today.
2	Brett Favre, QB	Okay, raise your hand if you thought the guy would be this good. looks around I doubt it was that many, but anyhow. . .in eight games, Favre has turned the ball over all of four times (only one of which. . .against St. Louis. . .could probably be classed as egregiously awful), has a 4:1 TD/turnover ratio, and a quarterback rating of a cool 106.0. Yes, it remains to see how he'll perform over the second half of the year, but the returns have been good so far.
3	Adrian Peterson, RB	You know the bar has been set pretty high for you when you're tied for second in the NFL in rushing yards, averaging almost 5 yards/carry, are second in the league in rushing touchdowns. . .and some folks are under the perception that you're struggling. He's on pace for 40 fewer regular season carries this year than he got last year, and as long as teams still want to defend the Vikings like they have Gus Frerotte at quarterback, his numbers will probably stay low. . .keeping him fresh for the post-season.
4	Percy Harvin, WR	Surprised to see him this high? Don't be. How much of an impact has Harvin had? With him returning kickoffs, the Vikings have the best average starting field position in the NFL. He's also been a big part of the Vikings going from having one of the worst special teams units of the last 20 years to being one of the better units in the league, according to the DVOA rankings from Football Outsiders. Oh, and he's done alright catching the ball, too. Barring an injury, we can probably just stop the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting right now and hand the award to #12. (Oh, and another big thank you to T.J. Houshmandzadeh for signing with the Seahawks. . .because if we had him, we likely wouldn't have Harvin.)
5	Kevin Williams, DT	The best all-around defensive tackle in football has been blowing up interior linemen all season long. He's on pace to have his first double-digit sack season since 2004, and he's still incredible against the run. Oh, and he's thrown in 6 defended passes, too. To borrow a phrase from Eric. . .greatest "missed draft pick" ever? Greatest "missed draft pick" ever.
6	Sidney Rice, WR	Nobody on the Vikings' roster has benefited more from the addition of Brett Favre than El Sid. It's hard to believe that the University of South Carolina produced both Rice and Troy Williamson, since Sidney is pretty much the anti-Williamson. He's on pace to have 1170 receiving yards (and hopefully more than the 2 TDs he has currently), and he has the most ridiculous set of hands this team has seen since Cris Carter left town. Yes, Randy Moss included.
7	Ryan Longwell, K	Ridiculous to put the kicker this high? Perhaps. . .but ponder this: Every time this season a ball that he's kicked has gone past the line of scrimmage, it's gone through the uprights (his only "miss" this season was the block at the end of the first half of the San Francisco game). His kickoffs have been pretty darn good, too. One can't underestimate the importance of a kicker as good as Longwell has been this season.
8	Chad Greenway, LB	The Vikings' leading tackler after the first half of the season, he's also tossed in a couple of interceptions and 4 passes defended. He's really gotten a lot better in coverage over the course of his Viking career, and has become one of the better all-around linebackers in the NFL.
9	Steve Hutchinson, G	Still the best at his position in the National Football League, despite getting called for his first holding penalty in 27 games last weekend against Green Bay. Meanwhile, Nate Burleson is still doing nothing in Seattle. Yeah, I still think the Vikings got the better of that little exchange.
10	Bryant McKinnie, T	McKinnie has been much maligned over the course of the past couple of seasons, and we would lament how he would get abused by speed rushers. However, after making the adjustment to having Brett Favre at QB early in the season (along with the rest of the O-line), McKinnie has done a hell of a job, and is finally really starting to live up to the huge payday he got a couple of years ago. He looks like the tackle the Vikings thought they were getting when they drafted him in 2002.
11	Antoine Winfield, CB	Ordinarily he would be much higher on this list, but his injuries. . .coupled with the fact that the Vikings haven't missed him nearly as much this year as anybody might have thought. . .push him down a little bit. Don't get me wrong, he's still one of the best in the league at his position, but he hasn't had quite the impact so far this season that one would think.
12	Pat Williams, DT	Phat Pat got off to a bit of a rough start in 2009, some of which could possibly be attributed to getting a late start on the pre-season festivities, but has come around over the course of the past few games, and is back to being his usual bad-ass, run-stuffing self. He's even contributed his annual sack with his takedown of Aaron Rodgers in Week 8.
13	Ray Edwards, DE	You know. . .when he's not busy jumping offsides or getting ridiculous late hit penalties, Ray Ray has actually had a pretty solid year thus far, with 26 combined tackles and 3.5 sacks. Sure, he might be the "weak link" on the defensive line, but being the weak link on a defensive line this good is sort of like being a MENSA member with an IQ of "only" 135.
14	Visanthe Shiancoe, TE	Second in the NFL in touchdown catches among tight ends, he gives the Vikings yet another weapon to utilize around the goal line. One could argue that he should be getting more catches, but with the emergence of Harvin and Rice, I'm not sure where those catches would come from. (Yes, I know, "Tahi" is the obvious answer.)
15	Ben Leber, LB	Still the quietest member of the defense, but as always, you don't hear his name called very often, which means he's doing what he's asked to do. Occasionally spectacular, but always solid. Still the only good thing Fran Foley ever did for the Minnesota Vikings.
16	Phil Loadholt, OT	The massive rookie from Oklahoma grabbed hold of the starting RT slot in training camp and, like most things he gets a hold of, he hasn't shown any signs of letting go of it any time soon. He did miss a game because of injury, but overall has provided a level of play that few may have expected from him as a rookie. We'll have to keep an eye on him to see if he hits the "wall" during the course of the year.
17	E.J. Henderson, LB	I'm surprised that he's down this far, too, but really. . .who ahead of him do you move? Frankly, E.J. just hasn't looked like E.J. most of the time this season. A good portion of the Vikings' woes against tight ends can be attributed to him (though there is blame to be spread around. . .give me a bit), and he just hasn't been the beast that he was prior to the dislocated toes that caused him to miss most of 2008. He is getting better, though, and hopefully will continue to do so as the season goes on.
18	Bernard Berrian, WR	He's had some injury problems this year, and his average yards/catch is significantly lower than it was in 2008, but he's still providing a pretty steady presence on the outside. He's become pretty much automatic on slant routes thus far this season, and it's only a matter of time before corners and safeties start biting on those and opening up big gainers over the top. He's not the #1 option any more, but he's still solid.
19	Cedric Griffin, CB	This is just my personal opinion, but there isn't a more frustrating player on the Vikings' roster to watch than Cedric Griffin. The guy has a ton of talent, and we know he has the capability to be really good (see the second half of last year), but there are too many times when he forgets how to tackle and gets beaten in coverage. Sadly, he's not even the most disappointing member of the secondary this season.
20	Anthony Herrera, G	Another guy we haven't heard a whole lot from this season, which is a positive. For the most part, he seems to be doing a relatively solid job at the right guard spot.
21	John Sullivan, C	For a guy starting at center for the first time in the NFL to be the pivot on an offense this good says a lot about Sullivan's ability. Has he been great all the time? No. . .but he hasn't been a tremendous drop-off from Matt Birk's play last year, either, and he's still been pretty good, despite a couple of mental errors (like the mis-timed snap in Green Bay).
22	Chris Kluwe, P	Yeah, he had a crappy ~~game~~ half against Pittsburgh, and Joshua Cribbs got a punt return TD against the Vikings in Week 1. . .he does that to a lot of teams. . .but Kluwe has made a lot of strides over last season, in my opinion. The willingness of the Guitar Hero to (finally) sacrifice some distance for hang time has been another part of the Vikings' special teams turnaround.
23	Jimmy Kennedy, DT	If Jimmy Kennedy isn't a testament to the amazing abilities of Vikings' defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, I'm really not sure what is. Kennedy has served the Vikings very well as a rotation player to this point of the season, and may be putting himself in line to be a replacement for Pat Williams in the near future. Yeah, "solid rotation" player isn't necessarily what you want from a guy that was once drafted #11 overall. . .but it's a hell of a lot more than St. Louis, Jacksonville, or Chicago got out of him.
24	Madieu Williams, S	One of the bigger disappointments on the team this year, in my opinion. There have been a few occasions where Williams has just looked completely lost this season, and for a veteran guy like him, that shouldn't happen. He really, really needs to step up his level of play in the second half of the season in order to bring the Vikings' pass defense up to where it needs to be.
25	Tyrell Johnson, S	The other biggest disappointment for the Vikings this year. I know this is his first year as the full-time starter, but he just hasn't been all that good. Nobody questions Johnson's physical ability, to be sure, but he needs to show more of why the Vikings took him in the second round in 2008.
26	Jim Kleinsasser, TE	We just keep putting Kleinsasser out there as a blocker every year, and he just keeps destroying everything in his path. I'm not sure how many years the guy can keep doing this, but he certainly hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.
27	Cullen Loeffler, LS	I'll put the same thing I put next to his entry every year. . .when's the last time you remember the Vikings' special teams units being victimized by a bad snap? Loeffler is solid.
28	Heath Farwell, LB	The Vikings had a lot of turnover in their special teams coverage units between 2008 and 2009, but the return of Heath Farwell has been huge. He's always around the ball on special teams, whether it's kick returns or punt returns, and his tackling is as sure as ever.
29	Jeff Dugan, FB/TE	Remember when most of us thought the only reason the Vikings drafted Jeff Dugan was because he went to Maryland like Mike Tice did? Yeah, that was five seasons ago, and Dugan is still here. He's a solid blocker, and has even gotten a couple of passes this year. One of the more underrated Vikings. . .probably underrated on this list, too.
30	Chester Taylor, RB	This may seem way too low for Chester, but his yards/carry average is way down this year, and I really think we're seeing his last season in Minnesota, as he's in the final year of his contract. With the expansion of Adrian Peterson's role as a receiver and the improvement in his pass blocking, #29 just isn't as vital as he's been in years past.
31	Naufahu Tahi, FB	Good enough blocker, but again, I'll go with something I say every year. . .STOP THROWING HIM THE FOOTBALL. (Although he did have a 30+ yard catch-and-run against St. Louis, which means there are probably more plays in the playbook for him than ever.)
32	Brian Robison, DE	It's not that Robison is bad or anything, because he's clearly not. He just doesn't get a whole lot of opportunities with the guy he has in front of him taking all the snaps. Oh, and Brian. . .the next time a kickoff bounces into your hands, just fall down. . .please?
33	Jaymar Johnson, WR	Another guy that could probably be a few spots higher, he's stepped into the punt return role quite nicely after the injury to Darius Reynaud. Wouldn't mind seeing him get a few more shots as a receiver, but who's he going to displace, barring injury?
34	Kenny Onatolu, LB	I was really rooting for this guy to make the squad after his pre-season performance, and he hasn't disappointed, adding more solid play to the Vikings' special teams units.
35	Greg Lewis, WR	IT'S GREG LEWIS! TOUCHDOWN! OH MY GOODNESS! GREG LEWIS! WELCOME TO MINNESOTA! OH MY HEAVENS!
36	Fred Evans, DT	Twenty-nine taser-free months and counting for Evans. Way to go, #90!
37	Benny Sapp, CB	Could make an argument that he could be higher, I suppose. He's had his moments but, like many parts of the Vikings' secondary this season, he's made a few highlight reels for the wrong reasons, too.
38	Tarvaris Jackson, QB	Hasn't been a disruption, and has actually taken his demotion quite well. Has seen a bit of time in mop-up duty as well. I hope we don't have to see him this year, but if we do, I have confidence that he could do the job for a little while, at least.
39	Letroy Guion, DT	Has bounced back and forth between the active roster and the inactive list, but has done a solid enough job in the time he's gotten.
40	Artis Hicks, OL	Filled in for Phil Loadholt when the big guy was out with an injury, and played pretty well. Still a solid backup at numerous positions.
41	Asher Allen, CB	Has spent most of the year on the inactive list, but has been up for the last two games and has asserted himself pretty well. Easy to see the potential the Vikings seem to think he has.
42	Jasper Brinkley, LB	Hasn't seen much time as a LB, but has been a very good special teamer thus far.
43	Karl Paymah, CB	After watching him get thoroughly abused against Baltimore, it became clear why he was brought in as a special teamer and not a cornerback. He recovered nicely against Pittsburgh, though. . .and, hopefully, will be finding his way back to a strictly special teams role here soon.
44	Darius Reynaud, WR	Was doing an outstanding job as a punt returner before his injury, and now might not get his punt returner spot back thanks to Jaymar Johnson's performance.
45	Eric Frampton, S	Hasn't gotten the opportunity to come alive on defense. . .yes, I continue to murder that joke. . .but has been a good special teamer.
46	Husain Abdullah, S	See above, but without the reference to Peter Frampton.
47	Jamarca Sanford, S	Hasn't been up for all the games, but again has been a solid special teamer in the games that he has been.
48	Ryan Cook, OT	No Ryan Cook on the field makes Gonzo a happy blogger and Vikings quarterbacks much healthier than they may normally be.
Non-Ranked Players/Incomplete Grades
Rank	Player	Comment
NA	Sage Rosenfels, QB	The best-compensated #3 quarterback in the league. Nice work, if you can get it.
NA	Jayme Mitchell, DE	Still pretty talented, but there just isn't room for him in Minnesota's defensive line rotation. Damn shame, too.
NA	Erin Henderson, LB	Heck, I'm not sure if Henderson the Younger is even still on the team.
NA	Jon Cooper, C	Was signed, then released, then signed again, and I don't think he's seen the field this year.
NA	Albert Young, RB	Hasn't seen the field this year, either.

And there you have it. I'm pretty sure that I haven't missed anybody. . .if I have, let me know, and I'll work them into the rankings at the appropriate place.

Fake Mailbag Friday!

ericj69 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:52:59 -0000

She's the Antoine Winfield of Hollywood. Amy Winehouse is more like the Carl Paymah of Hollywood. Need I say more?

View full size photo »

If you've read my articles with any frequency, it should be of no surprise that I'm a bit of a Bill Simmons fan. When I first started reading his Sports Guy articles back in 2001, my first thought was "Holy crap, that's exactly how I would write about sports! You know, if I could actually write and stuff." Eight years later, here we are--I still can't write, but I still try to ~~blatantly rip him off~~ model my style of writing after his. Now I have an online following about 0.0000001% the size of Simmons' audience. But I get to write about my favorite team, which is awesome even if I make just slightly less money than Bill for doing it.

So to pay tribute to the Sports Guy for inspiring me (and also because I couldn't think of a good theme for this week's article), I'm shamelessly stealing one of his most popular column gimmicks--the mailbag!

Unfortunately, barely anybody actually emails me about the Vikings. Probably because I'm just another dude on a blog and nobody cares what I think? Oh well. At least I still have my imagination. So without further ado, I present to you my first-ever Fake Mailbag! Let's get to the fake questions I totally made up:

Now that I have approved a new stadium approved for Los Angeles Cal-i-for-nee-ah, are you sceeahed that we will Terminator your team and give them a Total Recall to Jingle All The Way to L.A.? Or do you think just because you have The Last Action Hero (Brett Favre) and The Running Man (Adrian Peterson) that you will avoid The Predator and stay in Minnesota with your Twins?

--Ahhnold S., California

As Anthony pointed out yesterday, Ahhnold has approved the legislature for a new stadium in L.A. Bottom line: this means that sooner or later, an NFL team is moving to Los Angeles. The stadium construction won't be started until a team is actually moving there, but I'm guessing that the league wants a team in the second biggest TV market in the country. Just a hunch. There won't be expansion, because 32 teams is almost utopian for scheduling.

While this isn't exactly thrilling news for Vikings fans, I'm finding it hard to believe that we'd be the team to move. We actually sell out our games (especially after the arrival of The Last Action Hero) and the local fans actually give a crap. Sure, we probably need a new stadium in a few years, but won't Jacksonville already be in LA by then? (Sorry to all fourteen Jags fans, but that city just doesn't care enough about their team.)

(By the way, let's see Simmons cram seven Schwarzenegger movie references into two sentences. Also, if you're looking to kill a few minutes, there's no better way to do so than with the Arnold soundboard. I'M A COP YOU IDIOT!)

How terrified are you that I'm going to almost certain to get lots of playing time on Sunday?

--Karl Paymah, Eden Prairie, MN

Let's just say that your jersey would be the scariest Halloween costume to every Viking fan on the planet.

With all of the talent on the Vikings' roster, Antoine Winfield is probably the one player we can't afford to lose for any length of time. He's incredibly crucial against the run and he can mute the effect of the opponent's best receiver. Paymah was brought in to be a special teams ace, and he's fit the bill admirably. But going from Winfield to Paymah at corner is like going from Megan Fox to Amy Winehouse. Hopefully rookie Asher Allen can step up in his first major action of the year, but we certainly can't expect that. Paymah, Cedric Griffin, and Benny Sapp are going to need to play out of their minds on Sunday to keep up with the top-tier aerial attack of the Steelers. (Yes, it felt just as weird typing that about the Steelers as it was reading it.)

How can I explain to the jury that my erection is due to how excited I am to face a depleted Vikings secondary and not because of the hotel employee in the courtroom?

--Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh, PA

That's a tough one Ben. Did you ask her "Hey, want to see why they call me 'Big Ben'?" Because if I were you, I'd say that about 300 times a day. If you had only learned from Kobe...but I digress. I understand how thrilled you must be to face a Winfield-less Vikings team that gave up roughly 2,538 yards in the 4th quarter to the Ravens last week.

Big Ben is having one of the sneakiest great statistical years that I can remember. He leads the league in passing yards and has more fantasy points than Drew Brees. Yet nobody is really talking about him; which is doubly weird because of that whole "incident." If the Vikings can't get #7 to the ground early and often, it's going to be a long day for our Beloved Purple.

(I was going to go with the "Vikings need to get all over Roethlisberger like he works at Harrah's Lake Tahoe" joke there, but I thought it was a little tasteless. More mailbag and my Week 7 picks after the jump.)

Are you guys excited to see me back on the field? And how great are my Head & Shoulders commercials?

--Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh

To answer your first question: absolutely not. The Steelers defense is nowhere near as dominant when you were sidelined with your injury...much like I think the Vikings will be without Winfield this week. As for your commercials: they're classic. I've never seen no-brainer marketing and humor mixed in so seamlessly with quasi-homoeroticism. "You asked with your eyes Trent. You asked with your eyes."

Um...what happened? Why am I here?

--Willie Parker, The Turf After 1.8 yards

Sorry Willie, but we're going to have to revoke your "Fast" nickname. Yeah, just put it back in the bin next to LaDanian's old nickname. He had to give "LT" back. We shouldn't have given it to him in the first place since it was already taken, but he was embarrassing it to the point where we were forced to take it back.

Is there anything more inexplicable/fascinating in the sports world than the sudden cliff a running back falls off in productivity? One minute a guy can't be tackled be a wrecking ball; the next minute it looks like toddlers can arm tackle him. I think that Willie Parker may have hit that cliff. Unfortunately for Vikings fans, it looks like Rashard Mendenhall is going to pick up the slack fairly well.

It sounds like you don't have much confidence in my team this week. How come? Is it because we're undefeated? Is it because I'm the leading rusher in the NFL? Is it because we have the third highest rated passer in the NFL right now? Maybe it's because only the Saints score more points than us? Or were you scared how the Steelers went down to the wire with teams like the Lions and Titans?

--The Purple Jesus, You Know Damn Well Where I Am

Although you present excellent arguments, I'm playing the role of Purple Judas this week. If Winfield was healthy, I'd pick the Vikes here. But I think his absence will really have a huge negative impact for the Vikings defense against the Steelers. Pittsburgh can and will spread us out with multiple dangerous wide receivers (start Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward, fantasy players), and I don't see our secondary keeping up. Throw in the fact that we're historically bad on the road outdoors and on grass along with how we've more or less got lucky in two of our wins, and I think we're due for the first L of 2009 on Sunday.

Prediction: Steelers 31, Vikings 27

(But after my picks last week, you should feel good about the Vikings' chances.)

What the hell went wrong with your picks last week? You're cruising along all year, then you barely break .500 in Week 6? I lost money because of you!

--A figment of my imagination (because nobody would ever gamble based on who I pick)

You know what? You're right. Time to get back on track. My Week 7 picks (home team in CAPS):

Packers over BROWNS: Wow, Detroit and Cleveland in back-to-back weeks? Rough schedule there Green Bay. Oh wait...

TEXANS over 49ers: I went back and forth on this game at least a dozen times. There are so many reasons to pick for and against each team...so I just said eff it and went with the home team.

Chargers over CHIEFS: When you pour Gatorade on your coach to celebrate going 1-5, chances are I'm not going to pick your team very often.

Colts over RAMS: Can we update the NFL rules to include a running clock for the second half of this game? This is my Eliminator pick of the week, but I already feel terrible for how bad the Rams are going to get their asses handed to them.

Patriots over Buccaneers (In London): Oh bloody 'ell Bucs fans!! Not only does your team get rogered out of a home game, but you're going to get knackered by New England...in Jolly Old England! Right-o chaps!

PANTHERS over Bills: Last week the Bills proved that if you throw six interceptions, they can beat you in overtime. I see only 4, maybe 5 picks from Delhomme this week, tops. That's why I'm picking Carolina.

Jets over RAIDERS: Good news for both teams: Tom Cable won't have to go to jail, and Mark Sanchez doesn't have to play in the New York weather this week. Bad news for both teams: Cable still coaches the Raiders, and Sanchez still plays for New York.

Falcons over COWBOYS: I originally had Dallas here, but I honestly couldn't come up with any reasons why they'd win. Maybe if Atlanta got lost on their way to the field...after arriving at the stadium. I'm fairly certain that could happen.

Saints over DOLPHINS; The Dolphins could control the clock with their Wildcat-happy offense for 55 minutes of this game, and I still think the ridiculous Saints offense could win by a field goal. I'll take the Saints in a game that might be closer than people think.

Bears over BENGALS: The Cedric Benson Bowl! How ironic is it that Benson is performing exponentially better than Matt Forte this season? If this game happened next week, I'd choose the Bengals. No way the Official Team of Halloween gets beat on Halloween weekend at home. But alas, we're a week too early, and I think the Bears have a better team overall.

GIANTS over Cardinals: The Cardinals looked great last week in a win over the Seahawks. Of course, that means the Cardinals will look terrible this week and get blown out by the Giants. That's how they work.

Eagles over REDSKINS: Imagine you're the President of the United States. However, you can't sign any bills or veto anything and you have to do every speech naked. I think that's what Jim Zorn feels like right now. A pointless, embarrassed figurehead.

Last week: 8-6

Season so far: 66-24

Chapter 3, Game 5 - vs. Minnesota Vikings (Oct. 11th)

3k — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:28:22 -0000

Once upon a time, Brett Favre shaved his face. The end. Did you like that story, Brett?

I guess not. Breakdown of a game we probably shouldn't watch after the fold.

For game-specific info, check out tthe SBN event page for this game. For Vikings news leading up the game, check out Daily Norseman.

St. Louis Rams, 0-4 4th - NFC West

Minnesota Vikings, 4-0, 1st - NFC North

Parentheses include NFL rankings in that area out of 32 teams. Statistics taken from ESPN & FootballOutsiders.

STL pass - 64/123, 52% (31st), 139.5 yds/gm (30th), 3 TD, 2 int (t-22nd), 67.5 rat,

-18.3% pDVOA (27th)

MIN pass D - 80/127, 63.0%, 211.25 yds/gm (14th), 6 TD, 5 int (t-6th), 84.6 rat,

-11.1% pdDVOA (6th)

Let me introduce a recurring theme you will probably pick up on throughout this preview: this does not look good for the Rams.

Minnesota has led going into the 4th quarter in every game they've played this season. Despite that reality (and the fact it pushes teams to pass more heavily than they would normally), the Vikings' pass defense has been very good this season. Minnesota's secondary boasts a great pair of CBs in veteran Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin to go with a solid FS, Madieu Williams. Tyrell Johnson, their promising starting 2nd year strong safety, would be a focal point of most defenses, but for Minnesota's secondary, he's the weak link. This is a tough unit to deal with, made even tougher when looking at the Rams' depth chart.

Donnie Avery was limited and Keenan Burton sat out yesterday's practice. Add that to our two receivers who continue to be listed as out for the season, Laurent Robinson and rookie Brooks Foster, and you're looking at arguably the least talented, least experienced and most injured WR corps. Mark Bulger will likely sit this one out before being eligible for next Sunday's game in Jacksonville, so all we can really hope for is that nobody gets injured (worse) and that Boller makes a play or two.

STL run - 25 rsh/gm, 111.75 yds/gm (13th), 4.47 yds/carry (9th), 0 TD, -14.2% rDVOA (25th)

MIN run D - 24.25 rsh/gm, 89.5 yds/gm (9th), 3.69 yds/carry, 0 TD, -3.9% rdDVOA (16th)

This does not look good for the Rams. This is a matchup of zeroes. Minnesota is one of two teams yet to give up a rushing touchdown (along with the Rams' previous opponent, San Francisco). St. Louis is one of three teams yet to score a rushing touchdown. While Steven Jackson is the lone member of St. Louis' offense that is feared around the NFL, he hasn't had the opportunity deep in opposing territory to taste the end zone. Luckily, he's got the weakest unit of the Vikings' defense charged with keeping him under wraps - their LBs.

The tough thing is, while their LBs aren't top-tier, none of their starting three can be considered subpar. While E.J. Henderson had been dealing with a shoulder injury, he played on Monday against the Packers and looked fine. If there's ever a game that you feel more than the ordinary level of pity for Action Jackson, this is it.

STL O-line - 2.5 sacks allowed/game (23rd), 7.6% ASR (Adj. Sack Rate) (25th)

MIN D-line - 4 sacks/game (1st), 10.3% ASR (1st)

This does not look good for the Rams. Like a challenge? I hope so. Minnesota's starting DTs, Kevin and Pat Williams, make up the best DT duo in the NFL. And Jared Allen is a sack factory. It looks as if Jason Smith will be back, though he likely won't get the start. The rest of the O-line is good to go, although "good to go" takes on a different meaning when you're talking about Alex Barron. Coming off of his second half benching in San Francisco, Alex has something to prove that he's been unable to prove since... well, since he's been drafted - that he can play with the fire of Incognito. Speaking of Richie I, you have to worry about this one. This is the kind of situation that lends itself to a blow up, so keep an ear out for the broadcast team to announce his name after a play that sees him tied up with Kevin Williams well after the whistle.

MIN pass - 86/128, 67.2% (4th), 198 yds/gm, 8 TD, 1 int, 103.4 rat, 37.4% pDVOA (9th)

STL pass D - 75/119, 63.0%, 224.5 yds/gm (19th), 7 TD, 2 int, 100.2 rat, 11.2% pdDVOA (24th)

This does not look good for the Rams. If we're lucky, we'll get a slow start from Favre after Monday night's game. If the Vikings come in taking this one for granted, we have to make the most out of it. O.J. Atogwe has to get a turnover, and Ron Bartell (who will play) has to lead the Rams' CBs in shutting down the multiple targets Favre uses. He spread it out pretty evenly among Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and backup RB Chester Taylor, so there is no safe spot in our secondary. Don't forget TE Visanthe Shiancoe, an experienced TE who can make things happen in the red zone.

MIN run - 29.75 rsh/gm, 123.5 yds/gm (24th), 4.15 yds/carry (16th), 5 TD, -3.9% rDVOA (16th)

STL run D - 33.25 rsh/gm, 135 yds/gm, 4.06 yds/carry (16th), 3 TD, 4.6% rdDVOA (26th)

The Rams have performed admirably against the run considering who we've had to roll out at DT. Still, this is quite a task for us to deal with. James Laurinaitis and Will Witherspoon will have to bring their A-game, or we could fall behind very quickly. I don't think I have to use this space to extol Adrian Peterson's virtues.

MIN O-line - 2.25 sacks allowed/game (t-16th), 6.9% ASR (22nd)

STL D-line - 1.75 sack/game (t-19th), 5.2% ASR (23rd)

While Minnesota doesn't boast the best line in the league, they can still get the job done in both pass and run blocking aspects. Steve Hutchinson is a future HOFer. Bryant McKinnie is underrated. And rookie Phil Loadholt has great upside (though his ankle may slow him on Sunday). Given the Rams' line, we're going to have to throw more than 4 guys at the Vikings' O-line to get pressure on Brett.

This week's top 3 storylines brought to you by three confusing Vikings fans:

1.) : Let's start with the bolt down the middle of his head. He must be a Vikings/Chargers hybrid fan; he runs off of Viking gasoline mainly, but can switch over to Charger electricity when coasting thereby saving the Earth. Take note of the pants as well. Are they pajama pants? Chefwear? Only ElectroViking will ever know.

2.) : This one's tough. Were it not for the Vikings stand in the background, you might not even identify these two as Vikings fans. The shoulder skulls? A clear Raider fan knock off. And that hat looks more like a Russian ushanka than your typical Vikings wear, but maybe that's what they were going for: the Russian folk Viking look. With shoulder skulls.

3.) : We have a winner. Let's start with the face paint. While he's definitely more purple than fan #1, it looks much worse. An homage to Violet Beauregarde? Don't. Stop. Wait. And you have to give him credit. #1 may have dyed his fu manchu and goatee, but this guy has no time for facial hair. He just applies yellow face paint to represent his mustache and what I'm assuming were supposed to be eyebrows. Instead, he just looks like a sad purple clown. Let's continue.

The VWO belt certainly is a reference to the NWO of WCW and later WWE fame. That can't be comfortable to wear while sitting, so I bowed in respect to the pain of his fandom...until I looked at that tattoo. No, not the obvious Viking one - that blue star on his right arm... is that a Cowboys' star? Suddenly this all takes on a new light. Reformed Cowboys fan? Closet Cowboy? Confused adult who needs both behavioral and mental help? I lean towards that last one only as long as he can keep wearing his clown face. Because what is worth living for if you can't wear a clown face while doing it?

Go clown faces, but more importantly, go Rams!

Cedric Griffin Was Arrested in August

Anthony21 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:18:29 -0000

How did this one slip through the cracks? Well, if you needed any indication of the extent to which the media was focused on other aspects of the Vikings this summer, no one seemed to notice an arrest of Cedric Griffin in August for drunken driving. The arrest finally came to the surface today because he was sentenced:

Griffin was arrested on Aug. 30. in Eden Prairie after he pulled his car over to the side of Hwy. 5 because he didn't feel it was safe to continue to drive. Police officers found him inside his car and arrested him.

And so he'll need to perform a couple days of community service and pay a few hundred bucks. But clearly, he did the responsible thing by determining he couldn't continue driving and then pulling over. Getting into the driver's seat to begin with wasn't a terribly smart idea, but fortunately, he didn't hurt himself or anyone else.

This isn't the first time Griffin has been arrested -- he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct in 2007 after an altercation with some guards at the Spin nightclub in Minneapolis.

Saturday Injury Report: Green Bay Packers at Vikings

Brandon — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:52:50 -0000

Usually this is written on Friday, but with a Monday night game, the final practice of the week is on Saturday instead. More time to heal!

For the Packers, there are a lot of familiar names. SS Atari Bigby has been out since week 1, but he should be back after the bye week (next week). It means the first big game for SS Derrick Martin who barely played last week because they substituted him for an extra LB. RB Brandon Jackson has been out since the preseason. LB Jeremy Thompson has been battling a knee injury the past two weeks, but he's gotten off to a poor start on special teams so his absence might be noticed in a good way. The big name this week has been LT Chad Clifton, who's been listed as questionable but hasn't practiced all week. I'm not a big fan of LT Daryn Colledge, but I'd rather see him start then an injured player. Mike McCarthy expects Colledge will start, so don't expect Clifton to be active. Everyone else should play.

For the Vikings, they've got a number of big names on their injury list. Of course QB Brett Favre will play, so there's no need to discuss that one. I wonder if he's only being listed because of the Jets injury-report fiasco. LB Erin Henderson probably won't play, but since he's most famous for being LB E.J. Henderson's brother, and only has 15 career tackles, I don't expect they'll miss him. The Vikings struggling pass protection would take a blow if Pro Bowl LG Steve Hutchinson is out with a back injury. He looks like a game-time decision. Don't expect WR Darius Reynaud will play, which might not seem like a big loss, but he's having a great season as a punt returner. It looks like starting FB Naufahu Tahi won't play either. They won't miss his meager offensive production, but his blocking could be missed.

These are not game changing injuries for either team, but they are hitting both teams struggling pass protection units. Complete injury list after the jump.

From Packers.com:

Player	Pos.	Injury	Saturday Participation	Saturday Status
Atari Bigby	S	Knee	Out	Out
Chad Clifton	T	Ankle	Did Not Participate	Questionable
Brandon Jackson	RB	Ankle	Out	Out
Cullen Jenkins	DE	Groin	Full Participation	Probable
Greg Jennings	WR	Wrist	Full Participation	Probable
Johnny Jolly	DE	Abdomen	Full Participation	Probable
B.J. Raji	NT	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Jeremy Thompson	LB	Knee	Did Not Participate	Out
Charles Woodson	CB	Foot	Full Participation	Probable


Player	Pos.	Injury	Saturday Participation	Saturday Status
Brett Favre	QB	Foot	Limited Participation	Probable
Cedric Griffin	CB	Hand	Full Participation	Probable
E.J. Henderson	LB	Shoulder	Full Participation	Probable
Erin Henderson	LB	Calf	Limited Participation	Doubtful
Steve Hutchinson	G	Back	Limited Participation	Questionable
Jim Kleinsasser	TE	Hand	Full Participation	Probable
Chris Kluwe	P	Illness	Full Participation	Probable
Darius Reynaud	WR	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Naufahu Tahi	FB	Back	Limited Participation	Questionable

The Fight For First Place: Round One

Mitchell_M — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:02:24 -0000

More photos » by Andy King - AP

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CAN YOU FEEL THE TENSION? If you can't, it's probably because you're comatose. Either that, or you don't rightly care about either team involved in Monday Night's NFC North showdown. Which is fine, I guess.

For the rest of you that can feel the tension, let's take a deep breath and relax for a second. Here, watch Daniel Tosh make fun of Nebraska. It always makes me feel better.

As someone who has spent several fortnight-long excursions to Nebraska, I can't think of a state that would be more appropriate for Mr. Tosh's message. Unless you say Montana, but I'm convinced that Montana just flat-out doesn't exist.

Alright, enough of that foolishness. If you're looking for a breakdown of Packers-Vikings, have I got the treat for you...after the jump.

MIN rushing vs. GB defense: You've probably seen it, but it's pretty freakin' cool, so I'm gonna have you watch it again.

There are two glaring mistakes in this video: real life isn't in black and white, and AP doesn't have hexagonical scales that make him look like a cybernetic human-dinosaur-hybrid gladiator-assassin.

Everything else is fairly realistic. AP will smash, dash, cut, juke, spin, hurdle, and quite possibly double-stiff-arm his way through all challengers because, well, he's AP. Granted, San Francisco did manage to hold him to 85 yards on 19 carries. (WEAK! I SCOFF AT ADRIAN PETERSON AND HIS PUNY 4.5 YARDS PER CARRY!) That said, he's still managed to rack up 357 yards and 4 TDs with a 6.1 average. Yikes. But they have few other options to run the ball. Chester Taylor is averaging less than 3 yards on his 17 carries, and Percy Harvin only has five carries. They've generally been decent gains, but he lost 8 yards in his lone rushing attempt against San Francisco. This doesn't mean that neither of them are capable of putting up yards on the ground, but they haven't shown it in a way that's demonstrable through numbers.

It helps that the blocking is usually superb. Bryant McKinnie (6'8", 335) and Steve Hutchinson (6'5", 313) are stalwarts on the left side, but are 30 and 31, respectively. On the right side, Anthony Herrera (6'2", 315) and Phil Loadholt (6'8", 343) have significantly less experience, but are competent in opening running lanes. The weak link is definitely new center John Sullivan (6'4", 301), who is no Matt Birk. But these guys are big, they are nasty, and they don't like it when defenses try to tackle Peterson behind the line (even though it happens more frequently than you'd think).

Green Bay extended the consecutive streak of 100+ yard outings from opposing running backs when Steven Jackson gained 117 on 27 attempts. Jackson's performance was more impressive than Cedric Benson's before him because a) Jackson managed to break off some big gains (including a 20-yarder), b) he had weaker blocking than Cincinnati has, and c) the linebackers played well on Sunday. A.J. Hawk, Brandon Chillar, and Nick Barnett combined for 19 tackles and looked much better (but far from perfect) in run support.

Green Bay's best chance of corralling AP is to get good penetration from Jenkins, Jolly, Pickett, and Raji (if he is healthy enough) and string Peterson's runs to the outside where the linebackers and corners have a chance to flow and gang-tackle or use the sidelines. Of course, it might help to use Peterson's violent running style against him to force a fumble or two; his biggest weakness is carrying the football consistantly (9 fumbles in 2008).

Advantage: Minnesota. Unless Green Bay uses the 3-5-3 alignment with Kampman, Matthews, Hawk, Barnett, and Chillar to clog running lanes and direct defensive pursuit, which could actually keep AP under 100 yards.

Or if Peterson's "troublesome" back gives out. Because he's, you know, carrying the team. And some of those guys are heavy.

MIN passing vs. GB defense: Well, well, well, look who came crawling back to play Green Bay. Wait...you say he's not crawling back? He's playing well? He did this? Undefeated? Oh. Nevermind. Let's skip all the drama (or at least save it for the other posts) and get down to brass tacks; we need to talk about Brett Favre v.2009.

After skipping training camp, people said that the only way Favre could succeed early in the season is if he played the role of game manager and let Adrian Peterson carry the offensive load. Those people were correct. In the first two weeks, Favre was 37 for 48 (77% completion) with 265 yards and 3 TD's. Those are good-day Kyle Orton-esque stats, especially the 0 INTs and the 5.5 yards per attempt. Peterson did what he did best, and the Vikings won both games despite being somewhat hampered by slow starts.

Whether it's simply getting into the groove of the offense, or healing from his bicep injury and subsequent surgeries, or even a result of the Vikings wanting him to get warmed up only in the week before the Packer game (/conspiracy theory'd), Favre was not the same quarterback against the 49ers. Against a tough defense, he went 24 of 46 for 301 yards and 2 TDs. He actually put some force behind his throws and displayed the touch on the deep ball and mobility in the pocket we came to know and love.

His biggest vulnerability is his pass protection, surprisingly. Over three games, Favre has been sacked 9 times, and it would have been 10 were it not for a sweet side-step on the last play in week 3. He is showing his age when defenses come at him, and his offensive line is showing a weakness I didn't know they had. Part of it might be McKinnie's age (unlikely), Loadholt's inexperience (possible), or Sullivan's poor line adjustments (probable). I don't follow the team well enough to know why Favre has been hit so many times against teams like Cleveland and Detroit. But he is vulnerable back there.

As far as receivers go, there are three main targets that pose a significant threat: Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe, and Chester Taylor. Adrian Peterson would be dynamic in the passing game if he were a better catcher, and Bernard Berrian's deep route skills have not yet been displayed in the regular season (and I'm not sure they've done it in practice). Harvin is extremely adept after the catch, Shiancoe has developed into a solid underneath and seam TE, and Taylor has always been an excellent 3rd down back.

Green Bay's pass rush isn't imposing statistically (5 sacks), but they do a good job of getting to the quarterback, disrupting his rhythm, and giving him a good hit when they're close enough. Jenkins and Jolly should be able to get decent pursuit on passing downs, and Pickett and Raji should draw enough double teams to open up a lane for one or two of the linebackers, primarily Clay Matthews and Aaron Kampman.

The best hope Green Bay has of stopping Minny's offense is by baiting Favre into bad throws and forcing interceptions. Charles Woodson, Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, and Al Harris are all outstanding ball hawks who can take advantage of poor routes by some of Minnesota's lesser receivers. Favre has historically struggled against 3-4 zone blitzes, and he is certainly capable of a ~~Favre-esque~~ Cutler-esque multiple INT day.

Advantage: Green Bay by the slightest of margins. Again Favre has struggled against zone blitzes from the 3-4, so let's hope this week is when Dom Capers earns his paycheck. But don't think that Favre isn't licking his chops to get a chance at his old team, especially if they load the box with 8 defenders.

GB rushing vs. MIN defense: Green Bay's rushing attack is the very definition of the term "meh". As a team, the Packers have 317 yards through three games (meh). They're averaging 4.1 yards per carry (meh). They have four touchdowns against one fumble (meh). There's just nothing notable about this team's rushing attack.

I'm at a disadvantage because I haven't watched the games from the last two weeks, but either Grant isn't finding the running lanes or the offensive line isn't opening any up for him. Grant is notorious for running into the backs of his linemen, but he's also well-known for his ability to break off a huge gain. Considering his longest run of the season is 17 yards, I might be inclined to blame the offensive line.

Minnesota's rush defense has struggled to return to their regular insurmountable selves on a regular basis. While they held San Francisco to 58 yards on the ground, 54 of those yards were after Frank Gore's first (and last) attempt of the game. They did allow Jamal Lewis to rack up a 5.2 ypc against them in Week 1, and then Kevin Smith and Maurice Morris put up decent numbers before Detroit fell behind and abandoned the rush. So it's not like they're a seive, but they aren't as suffocating as we're used to.

A big reason for that is the alleged decline of Pat Williams. While I'm not sure it's true, it is certainly a feasible argument to say that a 36 year old defensive tackle might start to fall off after 13 seasons. Regardless, he's still a mammoth load in the middle of the line and will eat up space in a hurry. His line-mate and namesake Kevin Williams is significantly younger and more athletic. Jared Allen is above average against the run, as is Ray Edwards. E.J. Henderson's return from his freak toe injury gave the defense a huge boost, mainly because it took the pressure off of Chad Greenway and Ben Leber, who are outstanding complimentary linebackers but falter when burdened with higher-level responsibilities.

Advantage: Minnesota, but Ryan Grant has historically found success playing against the Vikings. I would be more surprised if he was held below 50 yards than if he breaks 100.

GB passing vs. MIN defense: There are two statistics in the passing game that have been huge in keeping Green Bay at 2-1 rather than 1-2 or even 0-3: Rodgers has been sacked 12 times this season (losing 92 yards in the process), but has committed exactly 0 turnovers. That's downright remarkable. His yardage (714), completion percentage (56.7), and QB rating (97.2) are middling at best, but he has kept the team afloat whenever he was able. Those 12 sacks are the most troubling thing, though. While I'm glad that Rodgers has kept the ball despite getting smacked around (one fumble, which was recovered by Allen Barbre), I'm doubtful that he can keep such a streak alive for long.

My biggest concern has actually been the receiving corps. Donald Driver has been the only guy to really step it up so far in 2009 (he's playing as if he's a #1 guy again). Greg Jennings seems to have reverted to being a deep-route specialist. James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Jermichael Finley were supposed to be dynamic contributors, but none of them have stood out yet. Perhaps the offensive line's issues have disrupted the timing so much that the receivers' routes need to be recalibrated, and only the eldest member (Driver) has figured out how to do it. Still, Green Bay's passing game remains a highly potent group that hasn't performed to capacity yet.

Minnesota's pass defense has been outstanding, allowing only 167.7 yards per game (4th in the NFL). That stat needs to be tempered with the list of quarterbacks Minnesota has faced: Brady Quinn, Matthew Stafford, and Shaun Hill. Additionally, they have only played against two receivers that can be compared to Green Bay's receivers: Braylon Edwards and Calvin Johnson. While the duo of Driver and Jennings will give cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin and safeties Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson a difficult test, the more concerning matchup is the duo of Edwards and Allen against Green Bay's tackles.

Allen Barbre is lucky that Ray Edwards is not nearly as dangerous as his counterpart, but he will still have his hands full if McCarthy trusts Barbre to take on Edwards one-on-one. Green Bay faces a tough decision on who to put against Jared Allen. On the one hand, Chad Clifton may be available from his ankle sprain, and he has been somewhat effective against Allen in the past. On the other hand, Clifton routinely resorted to holding Allen whenever he got beat, and his lateral quickness was in decline before he injured his ankle.

As counterintuitive as it seems, I actually think Daryn Colledge might stand a better chance of locking down Allen. Colledge is much faster than most LTs, which matches up well against Allen's speed rushing. He also plays higher than most LTs are taught to play, which is usually a problem, but playing higher will make lateral movement easier and could help him ride Allen out of the pocket. It also makes him more susceptible to double moves, which Allen is highly proficient at, so Colledge might give up some hits all the same. In any case, I feel more comfortable matching up the younger, healthier, more athletic Colledge against Jared Allen than the older, injured, and surgically-repaired Clifton.

Advantage: Push. If the trends from this season continue, Minnesota has the edge. If the players actually perform up to their potential, Green Bay has it.

Preliminary verdict: This is a game that both fans are overly optimistic about their team's chances. Both teams have significant strengths and weaknesses, and both fan bases are convinced that their team will have the upper hand. I am firmly on the fence about what's going to happen on Monday, but I can tell you that there will be a whole lot of Favre-centric coverage.

Just imagine what this scene would look like if it were being played in Green Bay. Yikes.

Poll

What outcome do you see for Week 4 vs. Minnesota?

Big GB win.

142 votes

Slim GB win.

434 votes

Too close to call.

271 votes

Slim MIN win.

361 votes

Big MN win.

262 votes

1470 votes | Poll has closed