I am absolutely LIVID at the pathetic attitude of our players and coaches tonight. &^*^%(@&#%&*%$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew. Ok, now that I got that out of the way, can someone with a vivid imagination or some serious football smarts let me know why the heck don't we run left? Since I'm not paid to be an NFL coach, I always try to give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt - that they know something I don't. But this is one I just can't figure out.

We have Mt. McKinnie, and the best left guard in football. On the LEFT. Here's the breakdown of our whopping 14 run plays tonight:

Without simply saying the coaches suck, what could the reasons be that we don't run to the highly paid, pro-bowl left? I always hear that to slow a pass rush (e.g. Peppers), you run at it. Peppers was on our left. That would seem to reinforce the concept of running to our left. So what is it?

Does AD's left ankle hurt, so he wouldn't be able to cut upfield? Fumble-prone AD always runs with the ball in his right hand and doesn't exercise the fundamental of switching the ball to his outside hand, so we're afraid he'll fumble running left? Hutch's back hurting? McKinnie injured?

I haven't broken down every game, but it seems to me that when we run left, we move the ball. When we toss out, stretch, or do anything to the right, it's usually for minimal gain. What's the deal?

(btw, the TD was up the middle, but AD was hit by 2+ Panthers in the backfield. Not indicative of a strong point of attack.)

Thanks for your time.

Go Vikes.

The latest injury report for the Vikes has me worried. Our pass D has been sketchy enough the past few years, but our secondary is really hurting this week. Tyrell Johnson (concussion) will likely be out. I know a lot of peeps on here don't like him anyway, but if he's our starter you have to assume he's the best we have back there.

Judd and Chip at the Strib are saying Antoine still feels pain when he plants, so he won't be 100% even if he plays. Griffin (questionable?) has a neck injury, Paymeh (knee) won't be 100% (and I think we all know how bad he covered when he WAS 100%). That leaves us Madieu and Jamarca (Rookie) at Safety, Benny Sapp, Asher Allen (Rookie), and our special teams guys Frampton and Abdullah. If you add the obvious loss of EJ, being replaced by a Rookie, things could be rough.

Questions: as a defense, how do you gameplan to account for these losses? It's fine to say the front 4 have to step up, but since that didn't happen last week it's no gaurantee for this week. Do you blitz? Just stay in base defenses and keep everything in front, with the hopes our offense will take care of business?

From the Cincy Offensive side, do you do anything different to take advantage of the inexperience at Safety and MLB? Run up the middle on us? Play action to get Jasper to bite? Double moves to leave Jamarca in the dust?  What are we most susceptible to?

Thanks for reading - GO VIKES!!!!

Alrighty, folks, I do love me some Adrian Peterson. The guy is an animal, without question. But I do have enough concerns that I'm not so sure he's the best running back in the NFL anymore. The fumbles are obviously one issue, though he didn't fumble tonight.

Tonight he dropped a pass or two that should've/could've been caught, and he didn't go out of bounds on the two minute drill (doesn't everyone who plays football learn to go out of bounds during hurry-up unless there's a clear field in front of you? WTF, AD????). That was only one small play of the game, but I think, along with not keeping the ball in the outside arm, the fumbles, etc, just denotes a lack of overall solid football play.

Tonight he ran for 19 yards on 13 carries. His longest carry was 11 yards. That means he only got 8 yards on 12 other carries? Really, Adrian??? On several plays, I only counted 7 in the box. The best RB in the game should be able to tear that up! What do you guys think - am I missing something? Were there still 8 or 9 in the box on most plays?

If there were only 7 in the box, does it turn to the coaches being at fault for throwing 45 times and only running 20? Did the coaches fail to adjust? What the heck is going on with our run game????

From an AV article (or maybe it was from the main STrib site - it's tough to tell the difference with their new and "improved" site...)

Anyway, Favre said, "I am just going to try and play the game the way we are asked to play it here. Make no mistake the horse on this team is Adrian. Everyone else knows that, too. We just have to be able to counter that." (emphasis mine)

That's pretty comforting to read.

There was also a Favre quote praising AD's work ethic and athletic ability, but also said that AD is a good guy, and people *want* to block for him. Does that mean that there are running backs out there who are d-bags, and teammates don't really give 100% when blocking for those guys? Curious....

For the KC game, one of you savy fans posted a link in the gamethread to a webcast of the game on a KC blog.

Does anyone know of one for tonight's game? Crap - I need 41 more words.

What's the deal with roster cuts? Why do they have to cut only, like, 4 players a week ago, then cut 22 now. it seems kind of silly. Why doesn't the NFL just require a cut of 26 now? Or 13 a week ago, and 13 now?

Alright. Favre played ok tonight, but did the way the announcers view him through their love goggles annoy anyone other than me?

Favre gets sacked, it's a "coverage sack." If TJ gets sacked, he needs to develop "pocket presence."

Favre threw a horrible deep ball that wasn't within 2 feet of the receiver and was almost intercepted. Favre "read the defense" and knew where to throw it. TJ wouldn't be able to "complete the deep ball."

Favre didn't connect with Harvin on that TD pass, it was Percy's fault (though it looked like his arms were extended as far as they could go). If it was TJ, he wouldn't have "touch."

Favre's not even playing, and THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT HIM NON-STOP!!!! This is going to be a long season for me. Sigh...

Is this just me, or does anyone else notice this too?

According to a Tweet from Judd, Antoine is at a funeral for a good friend's mother, and isn't expected at camp all weekend.

Good stuff:

http://twitter.com/chipscoggins1

http://twitter.com/zulgad

Sorry - I have to babble for 40 more words. We shouldn't break the bank for Winfield, but he is seriously a part of the reason our run D is so good. The man can tackle!

I loved the one Tweet that mentioned TJ hit Berrian in stride on a bomb. Also some comments about Harvin - he sounds like a very exciting addition.

GO VIKES!

For those who don't know, Sydney has a blog. He doesn't update it much, but it's interesting to read things straight from a player with no media filter.

http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_OTAs-Today/BLOG/282688/92076.html?widgetId=132393

About his knee: "I’m pretty much over my injury, I’m running routes at full speed, I just need to get my strength back to 100%. I’ll be working with the trainers on that starting today and I’ll be there long after practice for extra work just to get up to speed."

He also talks a little about Percy Harvin and all the attention, but says he (Rice) will do whatever it takes to help Percy even though they're competing for the the same position, because they're teammates. He writes, "Everybody helps out everybody here, this team has that kind of chemistry."

That quote, that sentiment, is a large part of the reason I do NOT want a certain circus coming to town.

Sydney RIce sounds like a fine young man.

The end of the first half.

Vikes ball, 1st and 10 on our own 13. 1:10 left. Eagles have one timeout.

I figure as conservative as Chilly is, we'll run out the clock and go into half-time down by two. No biggie.

Play 1: Run Chester up the middle, no gain. Cool - we sure don't want to punt down here and give Philly a chance to score before half!

Play 2 (2nd and 10, :37): Pass short right, incomplete, clock stops. Wait... what?? A pass? A SHORT pass??? Did the coaching staff think that the run up the middle on 1st down was going to fool the Eagles and go for 20-30 yards? Did they hope Wade would get out of bounds gaining 3 yards so they could push it up the field in 15 3-yd increments in 37 seconds? Did they hope to run out the clock with a short pass...?

Play 3 (3rd & 10, :34): Well, the incomplete pass gobbled up all of 3 seconds. Since 2nd down wasn't a run to keep the clock rolling,  I guess Chilly & Co are going to try to be aggressive here and move the ball. Might as well try to get a first down since the Eagles still have one time out. Wrong! Let's fool everyone and run it off the left tackle! Oh, wait - only 3 yards on that play. Timeout, Eagles.

Vikes punt, leaving the Eagles at their 44. They need about 20 yards to get into field goal range, with :18 left. It came down to a diving tackle by Greenway to keep Westbrook in bounds to avoid giving up a potential FG.

Does anyone agree with the call for the Vikes to pass it on second down? Can someone please give me some insight into the potential gain of a short pass in that situation? Sure, it might have been the checkdown guy that TJ went to, but why not just run the clock out?

Longwell got the NFC special teams player of the week. He's 6-6 this year from 50+ yards. Bad. Ass.

Saw this from the STrib: "The Vikings finished first in the NFL with 18 touchdowns on plays that covered at least 20 yards, according to Stats, Inc. Of those plays, 13 were passes, which also tied for first in the league."

Wow. Maybe the KAO really is explosive. Childress' play calling and clock management are mind boggling to me, but we're 10-6, won the division, in the playoffs, and have the above stat. Maybe I'm wrong about this guy...???

Is it Sunday yet?

GO VIKES!!!!!!!!!!