Luft’s Locker Room

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?

Last weekend's sideline skirmish between Brad Childress and Brett Favre is just the latest episode between the two. - Brett Davis/US Presswire

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.

Sunday, 18 October 2009, will be the return of Matt Birk to the Metrodome to play his former team the Minnesota Vikings. The Baltimore Ravens will be making the trip. across country into a den of just absolute roaring bedlam. Their young quarterback Joe Flacco, we’ll have to deal with noise levels he has never seen before, and they can get underneath a quarterbacks skin in a heartbeat. I like to call this noise thunder from Thor’s hammer.

It seems that Joe Flacco is experiencing the normal sophomore year slump, is still ranked 12th among quarterbacks with a 90.2 passer rating. Not bad for the young man. I would also suspect that lining up behind Matt Birk and seeking all that wisdom that Matt has will do nothing but improve his play over the upcoming years. However, I also see playing against the Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse (Ray Edwards, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, and Jared Allen) this weekend also adding to his education and his maturity the hard way. Today he has been sacked seven times, and I would anticipate at least two more this Sunday.

Speaking of offense in line and defensive line match ups, Ravens left offensive tackle Jared Gaither has missed his second straight day of practice with a neck injury. If Gaither cannot make the start on Sunday, rookie offensive tackle Michael Oher will move over from the right to left side and start against Jared Allen. I can see Jared Allen licking his chops now and Ray Edwards sharpening his cutlery.

One of the more intriguing matchups I look forward to reading about this weekend is that of Pat Williams versus Matt Birk. The two men practiced against each other for a good three years with Pat normally talking his little smack on the field and Matt mostly silently, giving Pat all he can handle. Both of them were Pro Bowlers and both benefited from each other’s work ethic and tenacity.  This matchup has been focused upon all week and though both players have been good sports about it, it is starting to annoy on Pat Williams.  “Everyone’s trying to make it a Birk thing, a Pat thing. But I don’t care,” Williams told Sean Jensen of the Pioneer Press. “We don’t miss him around here. We don’t care about no [expletive] Baltimore or nothing. We’re on a mission. We’re worried about the Minnesota Vikings. That’s it.”

Questions arise as whether Adrian Peterson breaks his own record of 4 games without 100 yards, especially with Brett Favre finding favorable pitch and catch buddies.  Brett’s aerial assault keeps growing and will with defenses still loading up the box with 8 or 9 players.  Don’t expect that defensive approach to stop anytime soon either.  D-coordinators know this is a run first and often team and will aim at stopping that and take their chances on the pass defense side of equation.  The once dominant defense of the Ravens has a critical flaw that will be the difference in the game;  their corners are not known for their run support ability.  There is no one in the league at getting out to and turning the corner than Adrian Peterson.  Add to that their tendency to play back off the line of scrimmage and AD should be busting steady gains in the 6 yard or better range.  That will be the death of a defense that was second against the run only to the Vikings.

This will be the first game this season you will have to watch for me, for the end of the quest is upon this writer.  The longboat is ready to set sail for the trip across the pond and to the desert.  I’ll check the final score upon landing in Kuwait.  Can the Vikes be 6-0 at the end of the day?  Odin and Thor assure that will happen.  Skol, my friends and…

GO VIKINGS!

Mutton sure is tastes good!

Sunday at noon, the modern day Norseman will meet destruction upon the throwback wearing Rams.  The rams hope to gather some of the mojo they once had wearing royal blue and bright yellow.  “They look great. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring back some of that throwback energy” said Rams cornerback Ron Bartell.  They will need it because the Rams (0-4) have been feeble offensively, mistake-prone and their 14-game losing streak is the longest in the NFL.  On top of it, the weather has changed.

A wet and now cold wind has moved into the St Louis area.  Three days of storms, wind and water everywhere and now near freezing conditions have been brought by the men of the North.  As Vikings players sleep and dream of long voyages across bitterly cold and ferocious seas, journeys that would exhibit their strength and ferocity as warriors and build their legends, the same feeling has wafted down on the first major cold front of the season and the locals are anxiously awaiting the bad things the feeling brings.

The first of those bad feelings comes with Brett Favre, the man who is looking to start his fourth decade on the planet with a win.  Brett Favre’s three touchdown performance against his former team last Monday Night earned him player of the week honors.  This week he is going against the 19^th rated Rams secondary who are averaging giving up 27 points a game and he knows since he has led the charge on the battlefield, Favre and his lieutenants rank 4^th in the league in point production with an average of 29.5 per game.

Sydney Rice is quickly becoming his favorite receiver to go along with Visanthe Shaincoe and Chester Taylor.  Bernard Berrian who now seems almost completely healed from an earlier hamstring tweak, also looks to get more action from that 40 years young arm that still throws lasers like the Viking long sword to the heart centuries ago.

This contest will feature two of the best running backs in the league, Steven Jackson for the Rams and Adrian Peterson for the Vikings.  If you ask who has the more 100 yard games and guess AD, you’d be wrong; Jackson has 2 and is really the only offensive weapon the Rams possess.  The last three weeks teams have forgone the Vikings passing game to their demise just to curtail Adrian’s forceful running.  Will the Rams defense, ranked 24^th against the run, try the same thing?  Will they have the same success as the better teams before them just to sacrifice the game to Favre’s arm?

Fearing  an offense that can slice on both sides of that battle axe,  Rams defensive coordinator Ken Flajole was asked how he was going to focus his attack.  Was he going to try and stop the run and let the Hall of Fame bound legend of Brett Favre pick apart a much depleted secondary or focus on stopping Adrian Peterson like the Packers did on Monday?  Flajole’s honest response was, “It is kind of a two-headed monster.  I am kind of hoping one of those guys misses the team charter.”

The Vikings lead the league with 16 sacks in their first 4 games, with Aaron Rodgers feeling the brunt of them last week.  The Rams promise to bring a young offensive line that has issues of its own and should have the Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse drooling puddles in the turf in anticipation of Kyle Boller on a spit.  Steven Jackson will just be a hors d’œuvre on the way to the succulent main course.

Asked about the Vikings defense and not just the front four, the Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur seems to know what they will be up against.  “Their front seven is very, very dominant in some areas … obviously the two inside defensive tackles,” Shurmur said. “They’ve got great pass rush on the edges, their linebacking corps is solid, and their scheme is very good as well. Not to mention their secondary. Antoine Winfield is one of the finer corners in the league. All around, they are an excellent defense so we are going to have to play our A-game to get in the end zone.”

“A-game” from a team that has only averaged 6 points per game, seems to be a little wishful thinking from the kind and gentle folk of St Louis.

There have been some technical issues this week On Vikings Valhalla and elsewhere.  They have hopefully been completely rectified, but Greg the Greek wanted me to pass on his prediction for the men from the land of ice and snow.  “Vikes are -10.5 and the over/under is 41.  My prediction is [Vikings] 33-10 [over the Rams].  This is our year!”

Vikings Valhalla gets represented at home games every week; it will be at this away game as well.  A small crew of VV regulars vikechick, noroof, myself and family have ridden that same wind and will be in the Edwards Jones Dome cheering on our beloved Purple on every snap and with all the strength the of Vikings fans everywhere.

Skol and GO VIKINGS!

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.

Later today, noon your time, look for the 49′ers to step into a thunderous dome of pain and frustration.

Their head coach is very familiar with the pain portion and is instilling a rough and tough smash mouth style of football that the delicate sensibilities of those living in the rice-a-roni city by the bay, just aren’t quite used to.

Mike also knows the frustration portion inheriting some good players and some awful ones. He also had to work with the mad scientist Mike Martz and under the threat of being released. It worked out for him so far this season and with a new OC who is relying heavily on the running legs of Frank Gore, the team now leads the weak NFC West with a 2-0 record.

The interesting match-up to watch for me will be Mike Singletary versus one of his best friends, Minnesota Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier. The two were rookies together playing for the Bears way back when. They talk to each other every week except this one. The question will be who knows the other better?

Kudos to our own Greg the Greek who has been winning picks for you. This week is no different with his breakdown:

49ers vs Vikings: A Sneak Peak at the Odds

It is the first home game of the season. Seeing Brett Favre in Purple will get more comfortable with each win. Adrian Peterson will be running with a purpose after being held to only 94 yards last week, but mostly it is all up to the loud and raucous Minnesota Vikings fans bringing Thor’s thunder smashing down upon the boys from the west.

SKOL Vikings!

I am so Purple pumped, I can hardly contain it. The season is about to start and I can’t wait. The long preparation from the 2008 campaign to opening kickoff is almost over.

Boom, boom.

Can you feel it? It is a palpable, ever intensifying drum beat of of battle. They can hear it Green Bay, Chicago and even Detroit. It is getting louder.

Brett Favre ’s arrival only solidifies the Vikings as the crème of the crop in the NFC North. - Detroit News

Boom, boom.

There has been the good word that the Williams Wall will start game one and the rest of the season. If you are a Brownies fan, you might think otherwise. How many sacks and interceptions will this top 5 defense rack up in week one? Who will be at the receiving end, Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson [does it really matter], of Jared Allen’s fury, EJ Henderson’s sinus clearing hits, or Antoine Winfield’s pick 6?

Boom, boom.

How about that primed for battle offense with the best back in the league? 2000 yards is heard whispering on the winds. Chester Taylor is probably the best 3rd down back in the business and the #2 punch that is deadly. Speedsters that can catch, Bernard Berrian, Percy “Rookie of the Year” Harvin and his “WOW!” factor, Visanthe Shaincoe who has developed into one of the best pass catching tight ends around, and the rest of the stable of more than capable point producers.

Boom, boom.

They are lead by the ageless ironman, Brett Favre. He has more experience in this offense than most of his coaches. He knows the correct read within milliseconds, and still can plant a football through the Vikings indoor practice facility’s wall. But his throwing is only secondary to making the right decisions and handing the ball of to Adrian Peterson. This is AD’s offense, and Brett will just help to open it up even more.

Boom, boom.

So man your oars, the longboat is ready and provisioned. The quest starts Sunday, one with a goal of raping, pillaging and burning up the NFC North and the rest of the league. The journey will culminate in Vikings glory in Miami.

Boom, boom.

Hear the battle axes and swords banging against the mighty Vikings shields. Can you feel it?

BOOM, BOOM!

So it is happening, signs of the apocalypse, a Hatfield is marrying a McCoy and the Minnesota Vikings have signed a Green Bay Packers living legend to lead them to the promise land and handle the one trophy that is named after another Packer legend. What was foretold that this might come to pass?

I am reading and seeing the pictures of Brett Favre flying up to Minnesota to become the Vikings starting quarterback. He is a man that will turn 40 years old this season. He is a Hall of Famer for sure but well past his prime. He now rides in as Head Coach Brad Childress’ right hand man, his field general to lead the offense. Remember, this is a run first team, and as long as it stays that way, Brett’s ability to break a run defense’s back by burning one on one coverage will be invaluable, and that isn’t the half of it.

My best bud and fellow Vikings fan shot me an email to these far reaches of the planet and in it he asked, “So how are you feeling over this? I knew you were lukewarm at best, but man, I think it’s a significant upgrade at the only position of weakness.”

I’m not one to usually get in a publicly confessional way, but I thought it might be best to write about how I feel.

I will admit that I do think it is the best for the team. Ticket sales, merchandise, jerseys alone will now put the Vikings in a better position to operate for years, and this may even be beneficial in the push for a new stadium.

I think it will help AD reach the 2,00 yard goal and runningback immortality if Childress/Bevell/Favre get to pass happy. Visanthe Shaincoe is probably telling relatives to get Pro Bowl tickets and hoping that they will only see him standing on the sideline with the other Vikings as they wait to play the following Sunday. If Jackson is kept, he will get to watch and learn from a living legend.

I hope to see the joy on Sundays of the game, the greatest game ever played by boys, girls, and men. I want to see that and cheer with you, your dad and Vikings fans everywhere as Brett hopefully adds to legend and takes full advantage of one of the most talented teams the Vikings have fielded in their storied history. I want to yell SKOL! And shout baaaawwooooooooooooooooooo! I want to see excellence in all 3 units of this team, and as of today, we have a much better shot of that happening.

I do have mixed feelings and worry about the adverse affects of his past prima donna ways, but for now this will be a good day for the Vikings and it s starting to look like a cold front is heading towards hell.

That is how I am feeling…

How do you feel?

My friend VikeChick rails against the radical feminist who hate men and football. Read her take about what is good in the normal American Male Culture and why it loves football and beautiful women.

Women Who Love Men Who Love Boobies or:
How I Learned to Reject Radical Gender Feminism and Started Loving the NFL

Breaking News: Antoine Winfield, beloved Pro Bowl cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings still does not have a contract extension in place and signed.  Who out there in the Vikings blogosphere can tell us a good reason why?

Sean Jensen today in an article entitled, Antoine Winfield frustrated by Minnesota Vikings’ mixed signals, writes about the whole situation.

Words from the Vikings have always been like this:

[O]n June 17, player personnel vice president Rick Spielman said Winfield is “an important part of our defense” and that the club was going to do “everything we can to keep” him.

Back in May Coach Childress said,

“[He would have liked to] have that deal done yesterday”

The man is a Pro Bowler and a pivotal key to the defense being #1 against the run for an NFL record tying three years in a row.  Here are some possible reasons he has yet to be re-signed that I can come up with.  Tell me yours.

Reason 1 - He is 32.  So, the Vikings are about to hire an almost 40 year old quarterback and think nothing of it.  It isn’t like there has been a noticeable decline in play like with Darren Sharper or Matt Birk left to run their contracts out and pursue love out on the free agent market.

Reason 2 - He has this season left on his contract and he will be an old 33 in 2010.  True, but that will lead to the same situation as Sharper and Birk.  Remember the Vikes made a last minute offer through talks to Birk, but they ended up falling on deaf ears.

Reason 3 - Vikings need the money to pay that almost 40 year quarterback listed in reason 1.  Well, the way Sean Jensen figured it out, back in May no less that it would work.

The question has been posed about whether the Vikings could afford to pay both Antoine Winfield and quarterback Brett Favre.

The simple answer is yes.

Let’s say the Vikings sign Winfield to a four-year, $32 million extension that includes $16 million in guarantees (the deal Domonique Foxworth got). The guarantees would be spread over four years. Then that $4 million hit for 2009 would be added to his 2009 base salary. If he got a $2 million base salary, Winfield’s total cap number would be about $6 million.

The Vikings’ rookie pool will be a couple of million (perhaps $3 million).

That leaves about $10 million for Favre.

Reason 4 - He isn’t as popular as you think.  I haven’t heard that before.  No, he is only the “pound for pound” best hitter in the NFL.  Every Vikings fan I know loves his play and he has never been an off field embarrassment or lightning rod of negative controversy.

So again, why haven’t the Vikings worked out an agreeable extension for Winfield?  There are only two possible explanations.  First, that they feel it is best for business to go younger after the season.  It would be cheaper to pay someone like Marcus McCauley, still on his rookie contract basically freeing up about 6 million next year.  Second (and most disturbing), the money that has been agreed to by Brett Favre and the Vikings have pushed the Vikings to the point where a deal with Winfield would put them over the cap.

Antoine Winfield is a team leader and has been since Mike Tice recruited him out of Buffalo in 2004.  He is a “core” player that the defensive team was built around, so why is this deal not done?

“I know where I want to play,” Winfield said. “I want to be in Minnesota. I love the defense. I love my teammates. I love the city.”

Rob Brzezinski needs to work his magic, and give Winfield his wish to be in Minnesota.  End his frustration and that of all us fans.  …Please!  But wait, is there a better option?  I asked my best friend and writer of The Purple Buckeye himself what he thought.  (After all, Antoine was a Buckeye and is a Viking.)

I think age is the primary reason, but comparing him to the Favre situation is apples and oranges.  Favre is a one shot deal–make a run to try and win the Super Bowl this year with a full understanding from both parties that he won’t be around next year.  Yeah, he’s forty, but he’s still better than anything the Vikes have under center.  One year only?  Yeah, do it, knowing you’ve got backups that can come in and do the job.

Winfield is a guy that is 32, and north of 30 RB’s, DB’s, and WR’s tend to decline pretty quickly.  For some guys it’s 31, some guys, it’s 35, but it happens.  Winfield is a bastard against the run, but was exposed a little bit in coverage last year.  If you sign Winfield to a 3 or 4 yr, $30+ million extension, you’re doing it for a guy whose skills you know for a fact will decline, probably significantly, over the course of the deal.  You can almost make the argument that the Vikings have already drafted Winfield’s replacement in Allen Asher, and how both he and Winfield play in 2009 will go a long way in determining whether or not Winfield wears purple next season.

I love Winfield.  I love the passion he brings to the game, I love his fearlessness, leadership, and the fact that he was a Buckeye.  But the NFL is a business, and I don’t see the Vikes committing a lot of money to him over a four year period.

Great reply and you are right, but that is the logical business approach, no different than with Sharper or an even more loved (from a fan’s perspective) Birk.  We shall get year 32 out of him then start McCauley or Asher as you suggest, or someone else.  …But is that what Vikings fans want?

What do you want?

Get ready folks, for the #1 sure fire hit of 2009!

Coming to Vikings fans’ hearts and living rooms everywhere this summer (probably in mid July) the latest in sports fashion and sequel to the hit TV series Desperate Coaches, comes Confessions of an NFL QB Drama Queen.

Directors Darrell Bevell and Eric Sugarman are heading to Hattiesburg Mississippi to escort your newest lead actress (actor?) in the grand opening of the Minnesota Vikings 2009 campaign debut.  It is promising to be the biggest hit all year and can’t miss attraction.

So, here’s a real movie to “get your popcorn ready”. - T.O.