SB Nation User Blog: Robert Rence

News articles from 10/8 and late 10/7

Robert Rence — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:38:21 -0000

At the PP:

They now want me to register in order to view their articles, so they can screw off.

At the Strib:

Chip Scoggins says that the blame isn't all on Kluwe. And he's right.

Judd Zulgad says that AP needs to still produce when facing a stacked line. He's good, but he's not 8 guys keying on him simultaneously good. Protip: Learn to audible.

From KFAN:

Barreiro has five talking points about the game. Point four is the big one for me.

Phil Mackey has a few assorted notes to share. Key is that Antoine Winfield got Defensive player of the week. Anyone who saw the Monday night game can simply say "Duh".

From ESPN:

In the Coach Ratings, Childress has gotten out of the cellar into the high place of... 31st. A 13% approval rating that I think is still too high.

Kevin Seifert talks about Childress still being on the hot seat.

And last and certainly least , from SI:

The Saints have taken a certain picture off of their web site. Stay classy, New Orleans.

News articles from 10/7 - Totally not copying MCM edition

Robert Rence — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:57:05 -0000

At ESPN, Kevin Seifert talks about Henderson being gone for the season

Also at ESPN, Pat Yasinskas talks about New Orleans screwing up and apparently the Vikes were also playing there. And take a look at that welt on Frerotte's forehead in that video.

At the Strib, there's a poll for who the game ball goes to. Currently Childress' Game plan has 9 votes out of 885.

At the Strib, Jim Souhan talks about Frerotte being mentally strong. I'm as shocked as most people were that he came back in one play later. He got laid out.

From the PP, Childress actually showed a pulse when asked about Kluwe not kicking it out of bounds. nbsp; Apparently that wasn't part of the plan.

From the PP, Rick Alonzo got to speak with Antoine Winfield after the game. Lucky Dog.

Finally from the PP, Tom Powers says we won because The Saints were dumb and the Vikes were smart enough.

From today's TMQ:

Robert Rence — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:31:42 -0000

"Buck-Buck-Brawckkkkkkk No. 2: Trailing 30-17 at the two-minute warning, holding no timeouts, Minnesota punted. Who cares if it was fourth-and-13? Why are you punting??????? Vikings coach Brad Childress said after the game, "I thought we'd have a chance to get it back." You were down by two scores and had no timeouts! After fair-catching the punt, Tennessee simply knelt to conclude the contest. Plainly Childress was trying to hold down the margin of defeat, hoping to avoid being fired, rather than taking every possible chance, however slim, to win."

The same thing we've been saying all week.

Anyone else listening to Chillies news conference?

Robert Rence — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:47:27 -0000

"1 and 4, excuse me, 1 and 3 is not where anyone wants to be"

Looking ahead to losing again this week you talentless hack?

"Gus Frerotte got a bleeder injury, but it wasn't too bad"

That's good considering how statuesque Jackson was in the pocket. And by statuesque, I mean he took the snap, stood back there, and didn't move until he got sacked.

"EJ Henderson dislocated a couple of his toes."

Ow. OW. He should be fine though for next week I'm sure.

A lot of questions about Bryant McKinnie.

Again with "one and four" and "it's hard to win on the road".

Regarding the BS 4th down call.

"I have not had a chance to speak with the league regarding the officiating yet."

Regarding Thomas Tapeh:

"I'm not down on Thomas, I'm up on Nahu because he can do some things on special teams."

Waiting for the second half after KFAN comes back from break.

Edit: And there is no second half. That's all there is.

Difficult times ahead

Robert Rence — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:28:44 -0000

So, people are in agreement for the most part, that Childress needs to go.

That said, do we do the unthinkable?

Do we root for the Vikes to lose?

Speaking with a co-worker yesterday, he made a valid point, in that if the Vikes finish absolutely terrible, Childress will be a lock to get canned, and we can look for a replacement. Preferrably one that knows how to call an offensive play.

Is the situation really that desperate though? Looking at this team's schedule during the pre-season, I was thinking that three wins would be great in the first five weeks. Two wins would be expected. Watching these first two weeks, I will admit that it appears that having three years to watch a system did Aaron Rodgers pretty well (though trouncing the MCKitties isn't that impressive) and the Packers are in better shape then I would have expected having switched quarterbacks.

The Colts are a good team. They've finished with at least ten wins for... well... a lot of seasons in a row. And Dungy is a good coach as anyone will agree. The only reason Jon Gruden won a super bowl is because he inherited Dungy's team and went up against the team he coached the previous year. A team that didn't even bother to change it's playbook. There's a reason he hasn't been back since.

The reason we're infuriated with the team is the lack of follow through. If I was going to pick a single play from last season as my favorite, it would epitomize what a good coach needs to do. A good coach needs to rip the heart out of the opposing team. Last year during the Lions game, when we were already up by 32 points, Childress called a fake field goal play where we gained 27 yards.

You don't play conservatively to preserve a lead, you play to beat your opponent. You play to break their spirit. And in two seasons Childress has done that... once. I'd also like to point out at this time that we had six standard field goal attempts last week.

So, the question becomes, will Childress flip to page 2 of his playbook this weekend? Will he go past his patented Tecmo Bowl offense and advance to Super Tecmo Bowl? Will he, possibly even call more than eight types of plays?

If things don't change by week 5 and we start off with less than 2 wins, I will pony up the cash for a ticket to the Lions game, and hold up a sign for Childress to be replaced with Matt Millen. And I will start calling for the Vikes, MY VIKES, to lose.

But, if Childress actually learns how to call plays and we start winning games, I will be pleasantly surprised. But let's make one thing completely clear. If Childress does not make the playoffs (and yes, I'm placing this entirely on his shoulders. A team with this much talent needs to make it in), he needs to get the axe, and someone with coaching ability needs to take over.

See you post-game on Sunday for the analysis.

Rice is out with a sprained PCL.

Robert Rence — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:59:26 -0000

And from what it looks like, Bernard's toe isn't getting any better. The article below was taken from ESPN.com

Minnesota Vikings receiver Sidney Rice has a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Rice was injured Sunday against Indianapolis when he went up for a jump ball on the sideline and landed awkwardly on the knee. He says he will receive treatment all week and is "hopeful" he can play this weekend against Carolina.

He woke up with plenty of discomfort Monday morning and said, "hopefully when the swelling goes down, some of the pain will, too."

The injury means both starting receivers for the Vikings are banged up. Bernard Berrian struggled with a toe injury in the preseason and limped through the locker room on Monday without talking to reporters.

Rice says he's "glad it's this. It could have been a lot worse."

Coaching approval rating

Robert Rence — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:42:55 -0000

Checking ESPN tonight, I saw a link to approval ratings for coaches. Childress was in the cellar below Scott Linehan, Marvin Lewis, and Herm Edwards with a 5% approval rating. You can check it out at

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/sportsnation/ratings

Hopefully, if it stays low enough all season long, we can get our point across.

What follows are another 16 words to get this in the space of a fan post.

UPDATE: Childress' approval rating is up to 6% now and he has pulled ahead of Scott Linehan. However, I feel it's important to note that Childress has more votes than any other coach in the league with approximately 2700 as of 11:15 CST Monday morning.

The fun of Power Rankings

Robert Rence — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:39:13 -0000

Which mean jack squat. Still, it gives us something to talk about.

ESPN puts the Vikes at 11th. From their panel, the Vikes were rated between 6th (Matt Mosley) and 16th (Pat Yasinkas)

BOX errr... FOX Sports has not updated their rankings since July.

CBS Sports has the Vikes at 13th, and once again puts the weight on T-Jacks shoulders.

And as Gonzo already pointed out, Dr. Z of SI puts the Vikes at 4th. 4th!

So, SI gives us the highest ranking, and a crony on ESPN gives us the lowest ranking. I'm personally thinking 8th, but that's me.

NFL Total Access' top 10 running plays of the year

Robert Rence — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:14:07 -0000

NFL Total Access' top 10 running plays of the year

All Day has four, Chester Taylor has one. Our running game is awesome.

Dr. Z's drinking the Purple Kool-Aid

Robert Rence — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:30:21 -0000

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/06/20/vikings/index.html

He's picking them to win it all. People are recognizing that there is a buzz about the team. And that's good. And really, this season hinges on T-Jack. Can he perform under pressure and can he stay healthy? If so... it's definitely a possibility.

As a side note, I'm changing Kool-Aid's name. It is now Skol-Aid. That is all.