Fascinating article in today's Wall Street Journal  (of all places) regarding the efforts of some guys in England to grade the play of every O-Line in the NFL.  Apparently, for the past 3 years, these guys spend six hours per game reviewing every block by every lineman in the NFL and grading each lineman's performance.  They claim to have graded over 500,000 blocks over 3 full seasons.

But what is really interesting about their grades is that they sell their grades to whomever wants to buy them.  The buyers?  A small number of NFL lineman buy them and then disupte grades on certain plays.  Why?  Because most of the buyers are actually the NFL teams themselves, as well as certain NFL "analysts"; apparently, the people responsible for assembling, changing, and paying the OL's in the NFL think these grades have enough merit to actually pay for them!

The chart published in today's WSJ ranks all 32 OL's in the NFL, apparently based on the combined grades of each starter on a team's OL using the grades from last year's season -- at least, that's how I interpret it.  Thus, while the NYJ's OL was ranked 1st based on last season's performance, it is ranked 3rd for this season, presumably because of changes in the composition of that OL (or in the composition of the Texans and Ravens OLs, which are now ranked #1 and #2).

Some really curious things pop out to me when I perused the chart at lunch today:

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Is anyone else having the same problem that I am having -- home page taking forever to load, while I get immediate access to other pages on the site?  Just started this afternoon

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The great thing about team sports is that you get to start fresh every season, undefeated, whether you are a fan or a player.  This is always the best time of the year, where hope can bloom like a flower in Spring.  There are always weeds, but right now is the best time to take in all the flowers!  Sometimes, we just over analyze things, and it gets in the way of a good time.  We have lots to enjoy RIGHT NOW:

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We interrupt this Viking-Packer build-up programming for this important announcement.  The Rams'  Vobora suspended for taking a performance enhancing drug; while he admits taking a "supplement" that had not been approved by the NFL, he claims he did not know it contained a banned drug.  Sound familiar?

This could get testy starting next Tuesday, as the Rams and Vikings prepare to clash.

Now back to your regularly scheduled, GAME OF THE DECADE programming....

As the rush from watching Favre do it for the Vikes, instead of against the Vikes, starts to subside, my thoughts have been starting to drift towards what this portends for the remainder of the season.

It feels different from '98, when the Vikes appeared to be unstoppable and the emergence of Moss seemed limitless in its potential for future greatness and excitement.  Different, but still exciting.  With Peterson on the one hand and Favrin on the other, we have two hands to clap with.

But for the past 3 years, I have felt that what was really hurting the Vikes was play calling that appeared to me to be totally inappropriate throughout the course of a game -- often totally predictable, but even more often personnel groupings and plays that were just plain wrong for that particular point in a game.  Eg, having both Kleinsasser and Tahi in the set on 3d and long in the red zone with less than 30 seconds to go and one timeout at the end of the 1st half against the 49ers, with a short dump by Favre to Tahi in the flat for little gain.  The football gods agreed with me -- the Niners blocked the resulting FG attempt and returned it for their own TD to almost steal the game.  WHY did Bevell put Tahi and Kleinssasser on the field to run pass routes in that situation????  It is just so darn frustrating!

Having got that rant off my chest, I am wondering if others are getting the sense that, even though it may be a maddingly slow process, the Chilly/Bevell brain trust is getting better at play calling?  I was thrilled that in the 1st Q in 49ers territory with the Vikes on a roll, the vikes lined up with a standard pro set (2 RBs, 1 TE and 2 WRs) and the Niners -- as teams are known to do -- cheated by having the strong safety creep into the box to stuff an expected run by Peterson following Tahi plunging into the line.  THE VIKES CALLED THE RIGHT PLAY:  the cheating strong safety blitzed ( a run blitz, he probably thought), Favre dropped back and drilled a laser to Rice on a deep slant to the post that was over the head of the hopelessly out of position LB for the TD!  It was wide open -- and an EASY throw -- because the Strong Safety was not where he should have been to defend that throw; he was blitzing and the right side of the Vikings line picked up the blitz long enough to allow Favre to get the throw off.  It didn't take long to hit the route, so the Vikes just needed to chip the blitzers, and they did.  Granted, Kelly Holcomb didn't overthrow it and T-Jack didn't overthrow it -- both of which have occurred in years past.  But Chilly/Bevell finally called the right play against the 8-men in the box run blitz and it worked.  I have been waiting so long for that!

Only 1 screen pass called.  Only 1 incredibly annoying check down to Tahi for 2 yards.  Only one play where AP bailed Chilly/Bevell out by turning a plung off tackle into a 35-yard open field sprint around the corner.  This time, the Vikes'  offense scored 20 points against the 49ers largely with well-executed passes, accented with a couple of 5-10 yard AP runs and one 32-yard laser for the ages.  Sounds like a recipe for future success down the road no?  Are Chilly/Bevell getting better at play calling?

Having watched ( and re-watched) every Viking games in the Peterson era, here is my take and prediction.

Teams can stop Peterson from rushing for 150+ yards and scoring 2+ TD's a game only by run blitzing and/or putting 8 men in the box on 1-2 TE set and 9 men in the box on 3 TE set.  If defenses concede 3 yards to AP as the norm on rushing attempts, they will get burned several times a game.  The way to stop AP is to run blitz the CB to take away the corners and have the middle stuffed with a safety to keep AP from burting thru the line.  SF did this effectively in AP's rookie season and smarter teams have been copying that approach ever since, some with much success.

One way to counter this approach is to just line up with 3 TE's and block everyone, running away from the strong side where the extra defensive player lines up.  That is exactly how AP scored on his 64-yard run against the Browns.  The Vikes lined up with 3 TE's many. many times that day, and usually lined up with at least 2 TE's for that reason as well.

Another way to counter this defensive approach is to run screens.  If executed well, they will pick up big gains.  The Vikes run screens well, but rarely with AP in the lineup, which mitigates their effectiveness (although Chester does a good job).  A variant on this which was really cool was the fake end around to Percy and then Farve hitting AP on a naked bootleg in the flat, which almost scored a TD against the Browns.  A gimmick, however, that will only work if not expected or planned for by the defense.

The BEST way to counter the approach taken by defenses to stop AP is to hit WR's over the middle -- either on a quick slant, or a longer slant/post  route over the middle (the kind that TJ hit against the Texans in pre-season), where the safety should be but is not because he is out position to try to stuff Peterson at the line.  Hitting the TE over the middle works too -- and we have seen the Vikes do this repeatedly with some success.

The quick slant is difficult to execute well because it requires perfect timing and the QB and WR to be on the exact same page.  It is high risk because it has to happen fast -- which means the QB might not see the LB or CB jump the route and end up throwing a pick-6 the other way.

I was eagerly anticipating this season because Farve has historically been so good at hitting the quick slant for big gains -- often long TD's -- when the D was most vulnerable to them.  He did this to the Vikes more than once.

If Chili and Bevell let Farve do this with AP in the backfield, I think the Offense becomes unstoppable.

My prediction: if Farve hits at least 2 slants for home runs with AP in the backfield over the next 2 games, the Vikes will be in the NFC Championship game.  If he hits a quick slant for a home run with AP in the backfield against either the Ravens or the Steelers, the Vikes will be in the Super Bowl this year (barring major injury on Offense).

Go Vikes!

Having read more posts than I would care to really admit, I can't help but wonder if anyone else had the same take that I had on Farve's pass to Harvin in the corner of the endzone on Monday night.

The pass ended up being about 10-12 inches too far -- or, perhaps more accurately, Harvin ended up being about 10-12 inches short of where he needed to be to make an easy and beautiful TD catch.  Why was that?

Was it because Harvin is a rookie, as many have posted  ("he'll learn...")?  Was it because Farve, the ego-driven prima donna, skipped OTA's and training camp and thus is not familiar with his receivers yet?  Was it because Harvin is not as tall as Randy Moss?  Was it because Harvin had "alligator arms"?

Heck no!!  Harvin was held by the DB just as Farve was releasing the ball!!!  The DB grabbed Harvin's jersey and slowed him up about half a step (10-12 inches??) out of his break to the corner of the endzone.  Had the DB not grabbed the jersey, can there be any doubt that the pass would have been PERFECT and Harvin would have looked like a seasoned, lightening quick, game-breaking veteran?

In any endeavor, when you get to the very top of those who compete, the best in the world, the difference between being adequate, good, and great is so small.  Farve is a great QB.  By any objective measure, that fact is undeniable.  It portends a great year for the Vikes!

Again, just for fun in anticipation of the upcoming season, and to tap the extensive collective memory of this group, I thought I would take a stab at selecting the best team possible from all players who have played for the Vikes over the years.  For me, I have 3 rules -- you pick them at their prime while playing for the Vikes (sorry, Moon, Farve, you get eliminated by this rule); you are picking for just one season, not based on their performance over their entire career; and they had to play the position you pick them for (ie, you must choose between Hutchison and McDaniel at LG, you can't put one of them at RG).  Think Childress has it tough this year deciding between Renaud and Johnson?  Try picking just TWO wide receivers and TWO defensive tackles for this team!

What is fascinating to me by this silly hypothetical exercise is that it reveals how great this franchise has been over the years.  Take our best fantasy team and match it with the best fantasy team possible from any other club, and I would like our chances -- although we seem weak (relatively) at QB and LB.  The Steelers, Dolphins, Packers, Bears, Giants, 49ers, Rams, Raiders, Colts, Redskins and Cowboys could put together some teams that seem unbeatable too.  But if they all played their best players in their prime one season, who would win that year?

My team, unless some of you convince me my memory is warped, would be:

Offense

WR:  Cris Carter

LT:  Gary Zimmerman  (this pick seems debtable to me.  But I don;t really recall the others)

LG:  Randall McDaniel

C:  Matt Birk  (Tinglehoff perhaps, but Birk could pull like no center I have ever seen)

RG:  ??  Ed White

RT:  Korey Stringer

TE:  Steve Jordan  (with tip of my hat to Senser and Voigt)

WR:  Randy Moss

QB:  Fran Tarkenton  (it's hard to deny the stats, but I dunno)

RB:  Adrian Peterson  (perhaps one of  5 best ever RBs, along with Brown, Sayers, Payton and Dickerson)

FB:  ??  I draw a blank here.  Dave Osborne, perhaps, back when the FB used to run the ball.

Defense

DE:  Jim Marshall

DT:  Alan Page

DT:  Keith Millard

DE:  Carl Eller

SLB:  Matt Blair

MLB:  Scott Studwell  (although EJ make me change this list this year)

WLB:  Fred McNeil

CB:  Carl Lee

CB:  Antoine Winfield

SS:  Joey Browner

WS:  Paul Krausse

How do you relegate Chuck Foreman, Anthony Carter, Ahmad Rashad, Robert Smith, Pat Williams, Henry Thomas, John Randle, Gene Washington, John Gilliam and Sammy White to the bench?

In anticipation of yet another season, why not reminisce?  What are your top 10 moments -- single-play moments of jaw-dropping, fist pumping, screaming laughter and pure exhilaration -- in Vikings' history?  Just for fun, here are some candidates:

10.  Page lateral.  I don't recall the year -- it was the late 60's, and I was a child -- but it was a very snowy field and I think the Vikes were playing the Lions.  The Purple People Eaters were dominating the game.  Page (I think) picked up a fumble, lumbered down the snow-covered field, got tackled, lateraled the abll to another DL (Marshall?), who ran the ball in for a defensive score.  The dominance, the snow-covered field, the pure joy of the play.  Hard to forget, but I am as a I get older (maybe it was Page who received the lateral?...)

9.  Blocked Field Goal against the Rams.  Again, I can only vaguely recall this play now, and the details are fuzzy.  I think it was against the Rams in a playoff game in early 70's, and the Rams were kicking a gimme field goal (within 20 yards) in the 2d half, and I think it may have been Bobby Bryant, but I don't really remember, who picked up the blocked field goal and returned it for TD.  Talk about a game-changer!

8.  Winfield Hat Trick.  Last year against the Panthers.  Winfield blitzes, crunches the QB from his blind side, picks up the fumble and returns it 20+ yards for the score.  Watching it live was a Zen-like moment.  You could see it all unfolding before your eyes -- almost in slow-motion -- hoping that Winfield would get there before the QB released the ball.  And then, the total payoff.  Hard to think of a Viking more deserving of such big play glory than Winfield.  Sack, fumble, return for a TD.  Total dominance -- by a CB no less -- at a time in the game (and season) when the team desparately needed it.

7.  AC's Punt Return.  Against the favored Saints in the Playoffs, on a day in which the smallest the guy on the field seemingly single handedly took over the game and produced the upset in 1987.  Among a day of several incredible plays, this punt return was the clincher.  Total dominance by a paper thin acrobat in a game played by giants.  WOW.

6.  Rashad's Hail Mary Catch. 1981?  Last game of regular season, Vikes needed a win to make the playoffs.  4th quarter, less than 20 seconds to go, Vikes have no timeouts and need to go 70+ some yards for a TD to win.  After an incredible hook-and-lateral play gets them to midfield, somebody (Kramer?) heaves the Hail Mary into the corner at the goal line, the ball is batted, and Rashad hauls it in with one hand and falls backwards across the goal line for the win.  Last Vikings game I watched with my Dad before he passed away.

5.  "Randy Moss, You Have Arrived!"  On Monday Night in the rain in Lambeau in 1998, Moss goes deep, leaps a foot higher than multple defenders draped all over him, hauls the wet ball in, the defenders fall ti the ground, and Moss bolts for the TD.  Again, a display of total dominance, one that portended the greatness to come.  Perfectly punctuated by Dierdorf's exclamation at the end of the instant replay.

4.  Smith torches the Bears.  Robert Smith Again on Monday Night, this time against the Bears at Soldier Field, a rookie named Robert Smith takes a routine handoff and goes through the line -- either through the 4 hole or off-tackle, I can't recall, and immediately faces the bears LB about to smack him 3 yards passed the line.  Smith stops and cuts 90 degress to the left simultaneously, and runs parallel with thegoal line from the middle of the field to the sideline, outrunning the entire Bears defense with pure speed, and the turns it up field for a 50-yard TD.  Finding the hole and gettting through it, the cut, the blazing speed on wet natural grass, AGAINST THE BEARS ON MONDAY NIGHT!  The only thing missing was Dierdof yelling, Robert Smith, You Have Arrived.  But that was what I was thinking at the time.  A jaw-dropping run.

3 .  Moss torches the Pack in the Playoffs.  2004-05.  As i mentioned in a comment I posted yesterday, this was one of the most momentous and heroic plays in Vikings history.  4th Q, Vikings trailing, Moss limited by a painful sprained ankle, he beats the Packers secondary with his deceptive speed (even with a bum ankle!) down the right sideline, hauls in the pass and wins the playoff game -- at Lambeau!  But for Moss' controversial personality, this would be remembered by the national media as one of the greatest individual plays by an NFL player ever -- beating the team's arch rival.  At their stadium.  In the playoffs. Late in the 4th Q.  With dominating speed, on a bum ankle.  Alas, the historic aspect of the play was eclipsed by Moss' decision to moon the Packers' fans in the endzone in celebration, which is all anyone could talk about it afterwards.  (It was up to Tony Dungy to explain the hilarity of Moss' stunt to the world, but by then it was too late).  But the play itself, as it unfolded, was incredible, given the circumstances.

2.  Moss torches the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.  Again in that incredible 1998 season, Moss showed his total dominance over the mere mortals on the other side of the ball, but when that happens against those dam# Cowboys on Thanksgiving, it just feels SO GOOD!  The flea-flicker, Moss waits for it as the pathetic DB's try to get back to him, catches it, moves ever so fluidly as the DBs fall over themselves and Moss non-chalantly skips into the end zone, causing Jerry Jones to choke on his turkey leg.  Again, endless laughter in total amazement.

1.  Peterson  torches the Bears.  Oct 14th, 2007, at Soldier Field, on a day when AD "arrives" and torches the Bears for 224 yards and 3 long TD runs, the clincher was in the 2d half.  After breaking a 67-yarder and a 73-yarder in the first half against the hopelessly overmatched Bears defense, Peterson shows the most explosive combination of power and speed I have ever seen in the second half on a routine run to the left off-tackle and just blows by the entire Bears defense, seemingly stuck in cement, for a 35-yard score to seal the win.  The first 2 TD's were maybe more impressive, but that is what made the 3rd so exhilirating.  What made it seem so unbelievable was not just the dominance, the power and the speed -- it was the 3rd time THAT game he had done it to the Bears.  It was like the whole Bears defense was on the mat, imitating Duran:  "No mas!"  I laughed for 5 minutes in amazement. 

With the exception of the blocked field goal against the Rams and Rashad's Hail Mary catch (which were so memorable because they were so stunning), the common elements of all these single moments in Vikings history is the sheer dominance displayed byt he players who made the plays -- dominance that was so exciting both because the play was so huge and because it left you feeling that they could do it again, repeatedly, because they were so much better than everyone else.  It makes every play, every game after that exciting to watch.  What are they going to do THIS time!

The ongoing rant by ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth about the manner in which Childress brought Farve onto the team is getting alot of press coverage, but not much analysis.

Schlereth's perspective on the Vikings' acquisition of Farve is colored by his experience with the Bronco's acquisition of Dale Carter -- a fact that he implicitly admits.

Schlereth's analysis is flawed because Farve is not Dale Carter. The way Farve plays the game is respected and admired by everyone -- coaches, players and fans. There is nothing about the mere fact of his acquisition that betrays any of the values that Childress has been preaching.

At its root, Schlereth's complaint is that both Childress and Farve have been disingenuous with the team. But I wonder whether that is really the case?

What if Childress and Wilf really had closed the door at the start of training camp? What if Childress changed his mind after seeing both QB's perform inconsistently in training camp and suffer injuries? What if the explanations that Farve provided at his press conference are accurate -- that both he and Childress had changed their minds? What is disingenuous about that?

What WOULD be disingenuous, if all those facts are true, would be for the Vikings to say that they are bringing Farve in to "compete" for a job, that the coaches did not view him any differently from anybody else on the team. Would any player really BELIEVE that baloney? The fact is he IS different. Indeed, it may be important for Childress to emphasize to both his players and those who are thinking about buying tickets or jerseys, that Farve IS different, that he is special, and that players and fans SHOULD have more confidence about the upcoming season now that he has been added to the squad. That is NOT disingenuous. That may be a very savvy move on the part of Vikings management.

It's just football. It's more fun to hope for the best. Go VIKES!