SB Nation User Blog: Gonzo

"Hear it's looking good for Antoine Winfield to finally return this week."

Gonzo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:39:54 -0000

"Hear it's looking good for Antoine Winfield to finally return this week."

ESPN's Chris Mortensen, via his Twitter account

Looking Forward to the Bengals

Gonzo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:00:38 -0000

There have been a couple of interesting developments over the course of the past couple of days leading up to the matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Minnesota Vikings. The first was the revelation from a Cardinals' "insider" the day after the Vikings' 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The rumor has been circulating that the Cardinals knew whether the Vikings would be passing or running the football based on the stance of left tackle Bryant McKinnie. If McKinnie put his left foot farther back, the Cardinals anticipated pass. . .if it was farther up, they looked for the run.

While this might have something to do with some of the success the Cardinals had against Minnesota, I still think it's quite a bit of hand-wringing over nothing. Honestly, are we to believe that if there was such an obvious tell from the Vikings' offense, it took professional football coaches until Week 13 of the season to exploit it? I doubt it. . .the Vikings' offense would have been getting overrun since September if that were the case. I think what we saw on Sunday night doesn't have anything to do with stances or anything else. It had to do with the Cardinals putting together their best game of the season, the Vikings playing their worst game of the year, and those two events coinciding on the same Sunday night. Do I think the Vikings would get whipped that badly if they had to face the Cardinals again? Not at all. Arizona still might win the game, mind you, but I don't think they'd dominate the Vikings the way they did on Sunday night. Obviously, I'm a bit biased, and your mileage may vary on such matters, but that's my view of things.

Second, as Anthony pointed out in a FanShot yesterday, Chad Ochocinco is already at it, telling Adam Schefter via Twitter that when he scores against the Vikings. . .and you'll note his usage of the word "when" as opposed to "if". . .he was going to take the horn away from the Vikings' mascot and use it himself.

(Do we tell him that the horn sound that plays after first downs is pre-recorded, or do we just let him look for the horn for about half an hour or so? If. . .not when. . .it happens, mind you.)

The problem with Ochenta y Cinco telling us what's going to happen "when" he scores is a bit of a laugh, given the recent inconsistencies of the Cincinnati offense. Back in Week 7 of the season, the Bengals hosted the Chicago Bears. . .and scored on their first seven offensive possessions (6 touchdowns and a field goal) on their way to a 45-10 victory. Then they went on their bye, which was apparently badly timed. Why? Because in their five games since coming back from their bye week, the Bengals offense has put up the following results:

vs. Baltimore - 17 points
@ Pittsburgh - 18 points (4 FG and a touchdown on a 96-yard kickoff return)
@ Oakland - 17 points (and a loss)
vs. Cleveland - 16 points
vs. Detroit - 23 points

Those last three games were against teams that are in the bottom quarter of the NFL in scoring offense. The Vikings had a few easy games prior to their trip to Arizona, don't get me wrong. . .but they won those games rather convincingly, while Cincy has struggled a little bit.

That's not to say that the Bengals offense doesn't have talent, because it does. In their past three games, they've had three different running backs rush for over 100 yards. . .former Bear Cedric Benson, Chiefs refugee Larry Johnson, and rookie Bernard Scott (he of the 96-yard kickoff return mentioned above). But Carson Palmer has had a bit of trouble finding his rhythm since throwing for five touchdowns in the rout of the Bears, and the Cincinnati offense is only 21st in the NFL in passing in terms of yardage. The Bengals predicate everything they do offensively on their ability to run the football. . .which is good for the Vikings, who have moved up to #3 in the NFL in rush defense after getting off to a slow start earlier in the year.

The Bengals are one of the two teams that has been better against the run than the Vikings have, as they currently sit at #2 in the league in that category, allowing 81.8 yards/game on the ground (Minnesota allows 84.2 ypg). The Vikings really, really got away from the run in their last game against Arizona, and definitely need to get back to it. Domata Peko, the Bengals big run-stopping force, will miss this Sunday's game after having arthroscopic knee surgery, so the Vikings might find the sledding a bit easier, but the Bengals' defense has been fierce all season long, and have currently allowed the fewest points in the National Football League. Getting Adrian Peterson established early, with a nice dose of Chester Taylor thrown in, would certainly make the Vikings' efforts easier. I'd look for a lot of Visanthe Shiancoe in this game as well.

The Bengals game could serve as a tipping point in either direction for the Vikings' season. If they can come out and get a victory over the team that has all but sewn up the AFC North, it can serve to put the Arizona game out of mind and put it down as an isolated bad performance by the Vikings. If they lose, however, it could be the start of a spiral that the Vikings don't want to be on heading into the post-season. It should be an outstanding game in any case, and we'll have more on it as the game approaches.

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:18:01 -0000

by Ross D. Franklin - AP

3 days ago: Minnesota Vikings' Chester Taylor kneels on the ground after being stopped short of the goal line in the second quarter during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Vikings had to settle for a field goal on the drive. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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I'm going to start moving this feature up to earlier in the week in an effort to allow us to move on to the next game more quickly. So, with our weekly look back at the Vikings' red zone performance, here's this week's installment of the Vikings Red Zone Review. 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. After all, with the kind of performance that the Vikings put together against Arizona, you could probably expect that this wouldn't take very long.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 2
Vikings Red Zone scores - 2 (1 TD, 1 FG)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 50%

Speaking of not taking very long, it didn't take the Vikings long at all to find the red zone, as they did so on their very first drive. Benny Sapp forced a fumble from Tim Hightower on the Cardinals' second play from scrimmage, and the Vikings were immediately in business at the Arizona 47. Brett Favre and company immediately went to work, as an Adrian Peterson carry and a 5-yard catch by Percy Harvin gave Minnesota a first down, and an 11-yard completion to Sidney Rice gave them another. The Vikings moved into the red zone as Favre hit Bernard Berrian on a 3rd and 4 to get the ball to the 15, and a couple of plays later Harvin took a handoff down to the 3 to set up first and goal. From there, Favre dropped back and found Visanthe Shiancoe near the left sideline. At first, the referees ruled that Shank was out of bounds, but Brad Childress threw the challenge flag. After further review, it was decided that Shiancoe did make the catch and get both feet in bounds, giving the Vikings a touchdown. The 10-play, 47-yard drive took 4:25 off the clock and gave the Vikings an early 7-0 lead.

And after that, unfortunately, the Vikings' only other red zone appearance of the evening came just before halftime. After the Cardinals went up 14-7, the Vikings took over at their own 32 after a short kickoff that was fielded by Jeff Dugan. Minnesota immediately moved into Arizona territory on a 21-yard reception by Adrian Peterson, and Favre hit Harvin, Peterson, and Chester Taylor to get the ball close. An 11-yard carry for Peterson. . .his best of the night. . .took the ball to the Arizona 11, but the Vikings couldn't punch the ball in, and had to settle for a 25-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Minnesota's only other score came on a 31-yard pass from Favre to Percy Harvin to cut the final score to 30-17 and make the game appear closer than it had actually been.

So, the Vikings' offense made two trips into the red zone this weekend, giving them 45 for the year. In those 45 trips, they've scored 24 touchdowns (53.3%), gotten 15 field goals from Ryan Longwell (33.3%), and been held scoreless six times (13.3%). The Cardinals, on the other hand, made four trips into the red zone, but only got one touchdown in those four trips (after a huge punt return by LaRod Stephens-Howling). That means that Viking opponents have found their way into the red zone 28 times this season. They've allowed 11 touchdowns (39.3%), 11 field goals (39.3%), and kept their opponents scoreless six times (21.4%).

If the Vikings want to get on track next week against Cincinnati, they're going to need to make a lot more trips to the red zone, and convert those trips in the manner we've become accustomed to seeing.

Back Away From the Panic Button, Vikings Fans

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:38:30 -0000

See this? Way too early to think about pressing it. (Picture via Dr. Tedi Koehn)

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The 2008 Arizona Cardinals.

The 2007 New York Giants.

The 2006 Indianapolis Colts.

Those three teams have a couple of things in common. The first is that they all went to the Super Bowl. Two of those three teams, the Giants and Colts, won the Super Bowl in the years listed. But that's not the main thread that connects them. . .not for the purposes of this post, at least.

Each of those three teams went on to represent their conference in the biggest game of the year. . .and they each had a game late in the season where they got their butts collectively handed to them in a manner that made people wonder if they were legitimate contenders or not.

Remember Minnesota's trip to Arizona last season? Tarvaris Jackson threw four touchdown passes, Adrian Peterson ran wild, and the Vikings blasted the Cardinals to the tune of 35-14. . .and that wasn't even the worst loss the Cardinals suffered that month, as they went out the next week against the New England Patriots and got hammered by a score of 47-7. But, lo and behold, five weeks after the loss to the Patriots, there they were, representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, and were two minutes away from winning the whole ball of wax.

How about the 2007 Giants? Does the Vikings' trip to the Giants Stadium that year ring any bells for anybody? Going into the game without Adrian Peterson, the Vikings got a 60-yard Jackson to Sidney Rice touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, intercepted Eli Manning four times (returning three of them for touchdowns), and throttled the Giants 41-17. But the Giants just kept on going despite the blowout, and a couple months later they went to the Super Bowl and derailed what would have been the only 19-0 season in NFL history by knocking off the Patriots. The 2007 Vikings? 8-8, and watching the playoffs from home.

The 2006 Colts? In Week 14, they lined up against their division rivals from Jacksonville. . .and got thrashed in every conceivable way. The Colts gave up 375 rushing yards. . .yes, three hundred and seventy-five yards allowed on the ground. . .en route to a 44-17 pummeling by the Jaguars. And it's not as though the Colts were resting starters by that point or anything. . .Peyton Manning threw 50 passes (with no touchdowns), but the Colts allowed Maurice Jones-Drew to gash them for 166 yards and two scores, and Fred Taylor chipped in another 131 yards and a touchdown. Even something named Alvin Pearman tossed in 71 yards and a score. But, again, on the first Sunday in February, there was Manning and company holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft and telling everyone they were going to Disney World. The Jags finished 8-8 and missed the post-season.

Yes, the Vikings got handled by the Cardinals last night, and everyone saw it. The Cardinals are, in my opinion, the best team Minnesota has seen all season, and they played like it. Still, even with the loss to the Cardinals, the Vikings are 10-2 on the year. . .the only two teams that have better records are New Orleans and Indianapolis. That's pretty damn good. Their schedule the rest of the way isn't terribly menacing, and they still have a two-game advantage on everyone else in the NFC for the conference's other first-round bye for the post-season party. . .a party that they will, undoubtedly, be attending. I'll concede that we're not getting home field at this point, but a first-round bye would still be nice.

Even after last night, the Minnesota Vikings are one of the NFL's best teams. There are four regular season games and, hopefully, a first-round bye for the Vikings to solve this problem. Hopefully Antoine Winfield will be back soon. . .and if he's available if we see the Cardinals again, I think things might be a little different. . .and the Vikings can get back to what they do best, which is pound the opposition and win football games.

One loss, no matter how big or how seemingly one-sided, is reason for panic. Last night's thumping by the Cardinals is no exception to that rule. The bigger story is the loss of linebacker E.J. Henderson, and hopefully there will be some news on him later on today. As soon as we hear anything, we'll let everyone know.

Good Game, Folks

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:22:19 -0000

No real other way to say it. . .you guys straight-up beat our asses from one side of the field to the other. Easily the ugliest performance that the Vikings have put together all season long. I knew that we couldn't win without pressure on Warner. . .well, we didn't get any pressure on him, and he ripped us to shreds.

Maybe we'll see you guys again sometime in January. Good luck to you guys the rest of the way. . .especially when you play Green Bay in Week 17. (-:

Vikings/Cardinals Fourth Quarter Thread

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:50:00 -0000

Things have continued to get uglier for the Vikings, as the Cardinals have extended their lead to 17 with a couple of Neil Rackers field goals.

Brett Favre has never overcome a deficit of more than 14 points. . .but, hey, there's always a first time. . .right?

Right!?

Cardinals 27, Vikings 10 as we go to the final quarter of play.

Vikings/Cardinals Third Quarter Thread

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:05:29 -0000

The Vikings opened the third quarter with a 25-yard field goal off the foot of Ryan Longwell. After that, the quarter was owned by the Arizona Cardinals, as Kurt Warner found Anquan Boldin from 39 yards out and Larry Fitzgerald from 34 yards away to put the Cardinals ahead 21-10 going into the locker room.

The Vikings are going to need to make some serious halftime adjustments in order to overcome this. This is the biggest deficit the Vikings have faced this year. . .will be interesting to see if they can do what's necessary to get the job done tonight.

Minnesota gets the ball coming out of the locker room, and will have to answer the bell if they want to keep themselves in this one.

Join us for the third quarter of action!

Vikings/Cardinals Second Quarter Thread

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:11:37 -0000

Action-packed first quarter thus far, as the Vikings and Cardinals have each put up a touchdown to give us a 7-7 tie after the opening stanza.

Minnesota's TD came on a 3-yard pass from Brett Favre to Visanthe Shiancoe, and Arizona scored on a 2-yard pass from Kurt Warner to Anquan Boldin after a huge Steve Breaston punt return.

The game continues right here!

Vikings and Cardinals Set to Duel In the Desert

Gonzo — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:26:17 -0000

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10-1)	GAME #12	ARIZONA CARDINALS (7-4)
	@

Date:	6 December 2009	Location:	Phoenix, AZ
Time:	7:15 PM CST	Stadium:	University of Phoenix Stadium
TV:	NBC	Know Thy Enemy:	Revenge of the Birds
Gonzo's Prediction:	Vikings 31, Cardinals 27
Final Score:	Cardinals 30, Vikings 17

After being at home since their Week 9 bye, the Vikings finally have to travel away from Minneapolis, heading to Arizona to face the Cardinals. Both teams lead their divisions going into this one, and the Beloved Purple can lock up a playoff berth for themselves with a victory tonight, as well as put some distance between themselves and Arizona in the race for a first-round post-season bye. After playing some pretty bad teams over the course of the past three weeks, now they have to face one of the NFL's better squads.

So, what are the keys to victory for the Beloved Purple this evening?

1) Get after the opposing quarterback - It's still unknown at this point whether the Arizona offense will be run by Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart this evening. In either case, the Vikings are going to have to get pressure on the quarterback. One thing to remember about the Cardinals is that their line is a little backwards, with their better offensive tackle at RT rather than LT, as the left-handed Leinart should be starting. Their normal LT is also out with an injury, so Jared Allen should be licking his chops going into this one. The Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse are going to have to get pressure and allow the back seven to cover the Cardinals' outstanding group of receivers and tight ends.

2) Take what the Cardinals give you - The Cardinals' pass defense has been pretty bad this season, ranking 29th in the NFL in terms of yardage allowed at 258.3 yards/game. Their rush defense has been alright (13th in the NFL), but if they attempt to stack the box in order to take away Adrian Peterson, the Vikings' red-hot passing game is going to have to be able to take advantage of that. Fortunately for the Vikings, they're riding a stretch that saw Brett Favre named as NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November after averaging almost 300 yards and 3 touchdowns a game. If the Cardinals are determined not to let Peterson beat them, the odds are pretty good that Favre will.

3) Win the turnover battle - The Vikings have averaged exactly one turnover per game in their first 11 games of the year, and that's a trend they need to have continue if they want to have success against a team the caliber of Arizona. The lack of turnovers by the Vikings have them sporting a +8 takeaway/giveaway ratio on the season, while the Cardinals enter the game at -4 (17 takeaways, 21 giveaways). Both Warner and Leinart are susceptible to turning the ball over if they're pressured, which makes it that much more important to get pressure on them from the very start.

As usual, the game is going to kick off in about an hour and a half or so. We had a pretty good amount of participation in the open thread for the less meaningful (for us) games, and hopefully we can carry that over to the Game Thread here. The Saints won today, so the Vikings need a victory to keep pace with them. Here's hoping it takes place!

Couple of reminders. . .please try to keep the pictures to a minimum so as to keep from slowing down the thread for some folks. Also, please keep the swearing to a bare minimum as well. "Damn" is okay. . .most of the "harder stuff" is not.

Other than that, let's enjoy the game!

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!

Week 13 Non-Viking Games Open Thread

Gonzo — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:53:56 -0000

Yep, for us Viking fans, kickoff is still a little more than eight hours away, but the rest of the league will kick off the early games in about an hour or so.

In NFC North action, the Detroit Lions will travel to play the team that Minnesota will play host to next week, the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Chicago Bears will try to keep from embarrassing themselves any further this season when they host the St. Louis Rams. The Packers, who are currently leading the NFC wild-card chase, don't play until Monday night when they host the Baltimore Ravens.

The rest of the Week 13 schedule is as follows:

EARLY GAMES

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers
Oakland Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers
New Orleans Saints @ Washington Redskins
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts
Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs
Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars

LATE GAMES

San Diego Chargers @ Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks

Discuss it all here while you're getting ready for the game that matters!