SB Nation User Blog: Luft Krigare

Taking what the defense is giving or taking the spotlight?

Luft Krigare — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:57:31 -0000

The Minnesota Vikings have lost two of their last three games and even though they’ve clinched the NFC North division, a sinking feeling is settling in amongst the fans. Debate rages over Brett Favre’s rebuke of coach Childress’ “stream of consciousness” and all is not well in the land of Norseman. Two games are left in the regular season; first against the clawless Chicago Bears and then annual seasonal nemesis of the New York Giants (fighting for their playoff lives), and the good folks cheering for the purple wonder if this dream season is starting to fall apart?

Offensive line play and the coach's authority

First off, the offense line play has been horrible of late. Rather than dominate, or even most of the time win the battles, the linemen are getting beat in pass blocking and stood up in a rush blocking. Watch the next two games when we run the football. Look to see where the offense of linemen end up after their first few steps. It is usually the line of scrimmage, give or take a yard, instead of 4 or 5 yards downfield. That cannot all be blamed on Sullivan either. the ability to rush block greatly affects Adrian Peterson's or Chester Taylor's yard per carry stat. Going over to football outsiders, about the only place I know that tracks offensive line stats, it shows the offensive line ranked 24th in rushing.

Brett Favre, and the Vikings have been audibling out of runs. Brad Childress has been open with his philosophy about wanting to run first and run often. He believes that is the way to win ballgames consistently and for a long time. But yet the Vikings seem to be throwing more and more. That is not such a big deal if your offense is geared around it, or if you do not have the running backs to sustain that type of power offense, but that is not the case here. Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor are two of the best backs in the league. When have the Vikings consistently had hundred plus yard rushers week to week? Are you going to tell me it is because Matt Birk is now in Baltimore or that Ryan Cook is a better rush blocker than Phil Loadholt? Everybody else on that line is the same. The difference is the person who elects to audible out of the run play.

You will counter that it is Brad Childress that gave him the authority to do such. How true you are. The whole idea is to give Brett the ability to take advantage of what the defense will give him. An example would be if there are 10 guys stacked in the box, then Sidney Rice or Bernard Berrian will be covered one-on-one streaking down the sidelines or running a post. That is the idea, but is Brett Favre taking what the defense is giving him, or is he audibling out to something he is a whole lot more comfortable with? He likes the spotlight and he even admitted that he didn't come to Minnesota just to hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson.

Adam Warwas over at Vikings Gab Road wrote a great blog today comparing the run versus the pass. We have all heard how each team desires a balanced offense, where we run 50% of the time and throw the other 50% of the time. That's why the Vikings were said to be that one good quarterback away from making it to the Super Bowl, one that could throw and achieve that balanced attack that seems to be the golden key for success. Adam goes on to break down the stats of run versus pass for each and every game the Vikings played this season. There are some surprising results. Of the three games lost, the running percentage has been under 35%. Every other game, all the wins, it was well above that mark.

If you set that percentage at 40% or greater there is an interesting result.

Games with the least 40% rushing the Vikings record is 10-0 with an average point difference of 16.6.

Games with less than 40% rushing the Vikings record is 1-3 with an average point difference of -9.75.

As we have learned, Brad Childress has tried to remove Brett Favre from the game at least twice (Six 'events' between Childress and Favre) before the Carolina game, and obviously during the third quarter of the Carolina game caught by an NBC cameraman in all its glory, what do the other players think? Coach Childress has allowed a player to undermine his authority. How will the other players react? Will they take this as an example of an acceptable behavior in the future when they don't get what they want? Will they just keep on playing and refused to be benched? I will argue that that is more damaging for the Vikings in the long term, much less in the short term. This does bother me and Erin McLaughlin at Bleacher Report. Doesn't this bother anybody else?

This is the beginning of the bad Brett and the explosion within the organization. It is taking place in slow motion and I am seeing the fireball expand and shrapnel fly in all directions. Knowing that there will be blood and carnage shattering through what were moments before, thoughts of blissful Super Bowl victory parties. Dissension, mistrust, lack of faith and anarchy are all seeded on television for all to see. It was if we saw him riding his tractor with the seed attachment in back working its magic to produce a much promised reward.

Could this just be an aberration, a blip, or stupid thinking by a hapless coach? The argument can be made that way, but this is the same guy that pushed all in to get Brett Favre. Brad Childress is also the coach that gave Brett far the ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage as he saw fit, even if that means changing to a Favre centered offensive game plan instead of an Adrian Peterson featured attack.

More than Favre's Revenge: Blood Pumping Excitement

Luft Krigare — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:21:49 -0000

A feeling has washed over me, one that whispers of Vikings glory in battle centuries ago across northern Europe, or even over the last decades as men know for their ferocity and skill destroyed opponents on the green grid of turf that was their battlefield. Like in the past, warriors prepare for conflict for reasons of honor, glory, fortune or revenge, and this anticipated meeting will be no different. This contest will be taking place on Monday Night, when all of the 30 other teams are watching. A time when prime time players show their skills and when All Day morphs into All Night.

Days ago, I set sail on a journey from what some have called Hell, a place where man's inhumanity towards man has exhibited itself again and again over the millennia, that place departed was Baghdad, Iraq. One of the reasons was to see a game, one that marks time, one that will transcend known emotion, myth, and history, one for all time!

That game, that local, national and for the fine men and women serving overseas, world-wide event that is the Minnesota Vikings with the ageless Brett Favre, against the team for which his legend resurrected, the Green Bay Packers.

Today is that day, the one you can feel the blood pumping through your veins.

Brett Favre will face the team that thought he was washed up. Don't think for a minute this is not personal, because it is. In an interview, Favre told Gruden, "I want to beat them.

"I've got a lot of friends on that team. The way things went down. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. It was disappointing, for both sides. I still want to prove that I'm worthy and I think that's human nature. Believe me, I want to win the game." That dear friends, is an understatement. He wants Ted Thompson to regret ever even thinking about trying to run Brett out of town.

"He's an emotional guy [Favre]," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "I'm sure he'll be a wave of emotion before the game and hopefully (have) a cold kind of serial-killer mentality when the game starts." ...and proceed to eat their hearts as the green and gold oozes from the dying carcass of a mercilessly slaughtered stinky cheese smelling team, setting up a dysfunctional reaction that will prevent them from winning for decades.

- I just thought that I would finish Brad's quote for him. Packers fans feel it.

Jeff Margolis said he doesn't mind Favre playing for another team. He minds greatly that Favre chose to play for the Vikings. "It's still so bizarre to see him wearing purple,'' Margolis [a typical Packers fan] said. "I almost can't believe what I'm going to see. "He showed last week that he's still got it, and Vikings fans were giving me a hard time on Monday. I just said, 'See what you missed the last 16 years?' Because it was a pleasure watching him. It was a treat. And to see him wearing purple....'' Margolis finished that thought with words inappropriate for polite company, words that will echo around the Metrodome tonight when Favre finally, officially, switches sides.

I have one word for you: 'SCHADENFREUDE'.

But this game doesn't completely revolve around Brett Favre, or even Adrian Peterson against a soft run defense of the Packers, or of Percy Harvin and the cast of offensive talent playing in prime time. It is also and more importantly about a defense that will take this game over. MLB E.J. Henderson is back from injury last year and leads an absolutely talented bunch of Berserker-like hungry "wild warriors" of Norse legend.

"He's come back and is playing very well," an offensive assistant for a recent Vikings' opponent said. "Sure tackler. He can be a mismatch on your backs in pass protection. They do a nice job keeping blockers off him. He's relentless. He, 94 (Pat Williams), 93 (Kevin Williams), 69 (Jared Allen) and 26 (Antoine Winfield) are their really good players." Playing every snap, Henderson leads the team in tackles with 22, 10 more than anyone else. "That's the bell cow of that defense," one scout said.

The Green Bay Press Gazette reported today that Packers left tackle Chad Clifton will not play Monday night. Clifton did not practice today, according to the paper. He's listed as questionable on the injury report. The report that he won't play isn't surprising because Clifton hadn't practiced all week. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Friday that Clifton would be a game-time decision, at best. The news means that Vikings defensive end Jared Allen will match up against Daryn Colledge, who has struggled at times.

I sense that there will be lots of salivating on the part of Jared Allen and the rest of the defensive line as they envision Aaron Rodgers slowly roasting in the heated glare of EJ Henderson's stare. As drippings melt from his body an aroma will fill their nostrils forcing them into a bone crushing, life threatening, feeding and sack frenzy like piranhas on a poor unsuspecting swimmer that just happens to have a small open cut. Daryn Colledge will just be the appetizer on what should be a feast of mammoth proportions.

Can you feel it? This isn't any regular game day.

"Oh Lord, save us from the rage of the Nordic people" -- Common prayer in the French churches during the Viking Age and today from Packers fans everywhere.

Kevin Shaffer at RT?

Luft Krigare — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:59:35 -0000

This will take some further investigation but initially his stats look decent. I need to figure out how the Cleveland run did behind him, which at first impression looks good..

BROWNS CUT SHAFFER
Posted by Aaron Wilson on March 12, 2009, 6:13 p.m.

The Cleveland Browns cut starting right offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer today rather than pay him a pending $1.5 million roster bonus, according to Adam Caplan of Scout.com.

Per a source, Caplan reports that the Browns created $1.45 million in salary-cap room for 2009. Yet, the team will still be forced to hold $4.56 million in dead money due to the proration of the guaranteed money remaining over the final four years of his contract.

Agent Alan Herman, who represents Shaffer, said that the Browns are still interested in possibly re-signing Shaffer.

Ryan Tucker is expected to replace Shaffer in the starting lineup.

According to NFL.com, Shaffer started 15 games for the Browns last season. In seven NFL seasons, Shaffer has started 86 games.

Career Offensive Line Stats
Year Team G GS Pen Yds False Start Holding Sacks Allwd Yds
2002 Atl 6 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00
2003 Atl 16 8 2 9 2 0 0.75 3.25
2004 Atl 15 15 7 33 4 1 8.50 50.00
2005 Atl 16 16 7 45 5 2 3.00 17.00
2006 Cle 16 16 7 60 2 5 3.50 23.50
2007 Cle 16 16 4 25 2 1 4.00 16.00
2008 Cle 15 15 1 5 1 0 4.50 30.00
Totals 100 86 28 177 16 9 24.25 139.75

Per Football Outsiders he had an Adjusted Line Yards of 4.64 ranking him 7th of all teams right tackle last season. If you were curious, Ryan Cook had a 3.61 ALY and ranked 28th.

That [Kevin Shaffer], boys and girls would be an improvement. What do you think?

Pat Williams Donates Customization to Cheer Up Friends

Luft Krigare — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:36:37 -0000

In an act of kindness and demonstrative of his big heart, “Phat” Pat Williams spent some of his extra free time in his auto customization shop to trick up some friend’s wheels. These special recipients have come upon hard times of late and Pat wanted to do something special for them in hopes of getting them out of their funk.

“You kind of feel sorry for them a little,” said Williams. “I just thought a little chrome and some new rims might just be the thing to cheer them up.”

In a special ceremony open to the team and this lucky blogger; Pat presented the Vikings Special Teams with their new bus.

Tampering Update: Possible Hard Evidence

Luft Krigare — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:03:10 -0000

Fresh off the presses or in this case, the TV. WBAY in Green Bay is reporting hard evidence that tampering took place has been found.

Sources: Favre Text-messaged Vikings on Packers Cell Phone
Updated: July 23, 2008 06:47 PM

The ongoing tampering investigating involving Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings has a new twist.

Not only has it been reported that Favre used a Packers-issued cell phone to make repeated calls to Minnesota head coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel, but there may also be text messages to support the tampering claims.

That latest nugget comes from Tuesday Night Touchback contributor Jason Wilde, citing league sources.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, NFL security officials visited the Vikings offices Tuesday as they investigate the tampering charges.

My question is, without the phone, how do they know what was on the text messages? Can you get a history in the way of a printout of all the messages going to and from a phone, just by asking your cellular company for them?

Now if there is damning evidence, (and I'm not concluding nor admitting there is at this point) then I'm really starting to question Childress' abilities to make correct decisions.

I understand the football reasons that Brett Favre may be attractive, but it is the decision to discuss employment by texting on a cell phone that bothers me.

Are we talking teenagers here? Will my next job ask for my services by text message on a cell phone? That sounds absurd to me.

What do you guys think?