Luft’s Locker Room

Posts Tagged ‘New York Giants’

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.

Here are excerpt’s from Tom Coughlin’s interview with Giants.com.  He talks about the challenge of going to the Metrodome to play the Vikings that are themselves playing for their playoff lives.  I’ll add a few obvious and not so obvious Vikings Valhalla comments to the mix.

Q: You have stated that your objective is to win the game Sunday in Minnesota. There are many other factors to consider, including injuries and the bye next week. Are all those secondary to you to winning the game?
Coughlin: “We prepare like there is only one objective in mind and that is to win. We will do everything in our power to do that. As is true every week, the medical people will have a lot to say about what takes place and we will heed all of their advice and go play a game.”

Luft: What else is he going to say?  “We really just want to forfeit and have two weeks off, but the league won’t let us.”

Q: How much do you have to remind the players that for Minnesota this is basically a playoff game?
Coughlin: “We have said it all week. We stated right at the beginning of the week, ‘This is what the Vikings are playing for – a chance to win the division, the third seed, a home playoff game, all of it.’”

Luft: Just as long as the Vikings themselves realize this and play their collective hearts out.  We don’t wish to hear, “We knew the Texans would win, so we weren’t worried.”  Your fans are definitely worried especially with the long established tradition of choking when it counts.

Q: Is the fact that there is a chance that you could see them down the road in a playoff game, does that change what you will do in this game at all?
Coughlin: “Everybody wants to talk about all of these other issues about the game. It drives me nuts. We are preparing as best we can to win the game. We are very, very aware of the circumstances that we are in and who the opponent is. We are going to try to do the best thing we can for our team.”

Luft: Both teams know that if they do meet down the road, it will be in East Rutherford, New Jersey and each team will have a couple of different players available that weren’t this week.  The recent game film will be handy though.

Q: You don’t like to talk about individual goals, but if Derrick Ward runs for 52 yards and you have two 1,000-yard rushers, would it not be an accomplishment for the offense as a whole and the offensive line? And if you run for 69 yards you will set a team record for rushing yards in a season.
Coughlin: “That is always our goal, to rush the ball, to control the clock. When the game starts is that going to be on someone’s mind? I don’t think so. I think it is about winning the game, doing the things you have to do to win the game, one of which is to run the ball. The awareness of all these other things, yes, yes we will be aware of them, but does it have anything to do with how the game is played? Possibly, but it is not going to be first and foremost.”

Luft: This is where the goal of 68 or less should be set by the Minnesota defense that is currently ranked #1 against the run.

Q: You have won seven consecutive games in domes. Is there a secret to playing well indoors?
Coughlin: “No. It is just that one of the things is this particular dome leads the league in false starts for the opponent. I think we have been able to handle this type of thing pretty well and that is really the context that it has to be.”

Luft: The Metrodome leads the league in opponents false starts because of Vikings fans like you.

Q: This week you face Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor after going against DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart last week? Are the challenges similar for your defense?
Coughlin: “You are talking about the elite of the league. Peterson is number one in the league (in rushing yardage), so you are talking about a guy that can literally do it all. He’s an exceptional runner, change of direction guy, powerful, has good speed, a very difficult guy to defend. Chester Taylor is tied for second on the team in receptions. He plays extremely well coming out of the backfield, running the ball, he’s back on kickoff return. They might put Peterson back there on kickoff return.”

Luft: Adrian Peterson is the best in the business with one flaw of late.  He has a bad case of fumblitis.  Former Minnesota Vikings runningback Robert Smith has publicly given AD some tips.  Smith’s solution: four points of pressure.  “Tip of the ball, covered with your hand, cupping it into your forearm, then your forearm locked into your bicep so there’s no separation between the ball and your body,” Smith said.  “There’s nowhere for someone to get their arm in there.  Let’s hope that AD learns that lesson and wants to prove it Sunday.

Q: They are number one in the league in run defense. Does it start up front with their tackles, even with Pat Williams out with a shoulder injury?
“Both ends (Jared Allen and Ray Edwards) are playing well. (Linebacker Ben) Leber is an exceptional player, (Chad) Greenway is playing well and (Napoleon) Harris is a guy that is playing in the middle. They lost (E.J.) Henderson early on, but Harris is strong and powerful. (Darren) Sharper comes down in the box, (Madieu) Williams comes down. (Antonio) Winfield is a hell of a tackler for a corner. They have a very sound, solid scheme with good players.”

Luft: Coughlin is showing respect for a very good defense and is secretly worried that his quarterback gets too afraid of the team that has terrorized him in the past.

Do or die is what the boys in Purple are facing. I know that the they can still lose and as long as the Texans win, they win the division despite two consecutive losses, but do the fans a favor and just win your way in by beating the Giants. This is for all intensive purposes your first playoff game and needs treated as such.

The Vikes had a chance to secure the division last week and possibly play for a postseason bye week, but they fumbled it all away. Sunday the World Champion New York Giants come to the Metrodome. Fresh off securing the NFC’s #1 seed in the playoffs after defeating the Carolina Panthers in a close game. The debate will be who will they play and who will they rest?

As per NFL.com’s preview, the possible Giants that sit or are limited are these.

The temptation for head coach Tom Coughlin will be to rest his wounded warriors — and that includes DE Justin Tuck, CB Aaron Ross, DT Fred Robbins, RB Brandon Jacobs, ORT Kareem McKenzie, WR Sinorice Moss and LB Gerris Wilkinson, among others.

I hope he sits them all, but what I’d like to really see is the Vikings defense get into Eli Manning’s head one more time.

This is also a game that Visanthe Shaincoe can show his former team what a big mistake it was to let him go. Ever since Visanthe upped his glove size, he has caught just about everything in sight, leading to his biggest game of his career last week with 136 yards and 2 TD’s. He lead’s the Vikings with 7 TD’s for the season and is second with yards per reception of 14.5. That is good for a tight end.

Then there is Tarvaris Jackson going out and once again proving that he is the best quarterback on this team. Gus Frerotte didn’t lose his starting job because of injury, he lost it due to T-Jack playing much better ball. Comparing the QB’s season stats and breaking them down, Tarvaris has huge leads in almost every category (more on that later). He is hot and will need to continue to be to take this Vikings team into the playoffs.

I hope you enjoyed the different pregame format using the Tom Coughlin interview. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.

The game is Sunday at noon, and as always… GO VIKINGS!

Rough and stormy seas have beset the Vikings coming out of the bye week.  Jay Glazer announced on national TV that Pro Bowlers Pat and Kevin Williams have failed the banned substance test, both for use of water pills.

He later writes on the web,

“The Vikings’ suspension appeal was slated for this past week, the team’s bye week, but it was pushed back.

Many of the players who have taken the product have long used water pills in order to make weight as they show up to camp or in order to make certain weight on a weekly basis. Guys like the Williams duo, Grady Jackson, Charles Grant appear on the surface to clearly fall under this reasoning.

It’s a shame that players who use such pills, which are readily available at drug stores and health food stores, are swept in the same category as those who try test positive for juicing.”

Precedence was already set in August when the New York Jets running back Jesse Chatman was suspended for four games for violating the league’s drug policy. He said he tested for a diuretic – called Bumetanide.  Now, was he doing to mask steroid use or lose weight?  I don’t know.  Saints offensive guard Jamar Nesbit already served a four-game suspension from the use of the pills.

According to FOX’s Josina Anderson.

“There are about six to ten [players] overall positive tests. Three to four of them are from the Saints organization alone including McAllister and Smith,” the source told her.

“Most of them tested positive for Bumetanide. The last few tested positive for another substance that works similarly,” said Anderson’s source.

We have yet to know if Kevin and Pat tested bad for Bumetanide or the other similar substance, but with the precedent set with Chatman and Nesbit, and it looks like no leniency for the big boys just trying to make their weight.  I hope that I am wrong.

Confidentiality until the appeals process is complete is required.  It is appalling that it has been disregarded.  We now know the names of Will Smith, Charles Grant and Deuce McAllister of the Saints along with Falcon DT Grady Jackson and now Pat and Kevin Williams.  The NFL has a problem in its front office, because it is clear that the source had to come from there.  (There is a slight chance it came from the testing lab, but they probably don’t know whose sample is who’s by using a nondescript ID number or code to keep prejudice from affecting results.)  There needs to be strong disciplinary actions taken when the leak is found at the minimum.

Looking ahead at the last 4 games of November, Green Bay, @ Tampa Bay, @ Jacksonville, and Chicago, the earliest we could see the Wall suspended, can you see wins without them especially considering that EJ Henderson is gone too.  I hope Napoleon Harris, Fed Evans, Letroy Guion and maybe Ellis Wyms sliding over can pull the load.  Plus, Jared will be facing double teams the whole time making running up the middle a definite option to go along with taking shots at the secondary.  All this after facing a hot Houston Texans that put the Vikings on what could be a 6 game losing streak, and then to think that Brad Childress will try to spin that as an excuse not to be fired, just galls me to no end.

Looking at the schedule I wanted to take gander at predicting the outcome, especially in the light of the core of the Vikings defense gone.  Now if the Vikings offense continues to put up 41 points a game (thanks Chicago), we’ll do just fine.  However, there are two phases of the game, special teams and defense.  The strongest aspect of the Vikings game this year had been the D, the weakest and basically the teams Achilles heel has been the special teams.  They and the offense will have to play their best ball of the season because the defense that was ranked 2^nd against the run and 20^th against the pass just had its run stopping pass pressuring core put on notice of a 4 game suspension.

Texans (Nov 2/noon/CBS) – The Wall should be still playing as the Vikes welcome a hot Houston team with a good special teams and 5^th ranked passing offense to go along with their 11^th ranked rush.  The Vikings will have to play at their best with Madieu Williams back for his first game and Napoleon Harris starting his.  I question in light of the allegations, is there enough coaching and leadership to make this happen?  No, and the boo birds start yelling loud enough for coach Childress to hear.  The team is coming out of the bye and should win, but doesn’t due to more bad play calling.

Packers (Nov 9/noon/FOX) – Brad Childress’ worst nightmare.  In his tenure as coach he has faced the Packers 5 times and lost every single one of them.  I figure that this will be the first game the Williams Wall will be at home watching.  Make this game Childress’ 6^th and final loss.  The Vikings will be 3-6 virtually eliminated from any playoff hopes, plus Zygi Wilf wanting revenge on Green Bay for their fictitious tampering charges, takes it out on Childress instead.  There is a press conference after the game and Leslie Frazier is named interim head coach.  No Rooney rule needed there.  (Sorry St Louis.)

@ Buccaneers (Nov 16/noon/FOX) – Now led by a Tony Dungy disciple, the team treks down out of the cold to visit a team battling to stay in the race for the NFC South.  But like first outing for new coaches this year, the Vikings take away at least a turning point victory like Mike Singletary had in San Francisco, or an upset and a real one like with the Rams and the Raiders.

@ Jaguars (Nov 23/noon/FOX) – A visit to Jack Del Rio’s team along with a private apology from Zygi to Mike Tice turns in a good hard fought effort, but the Jags trying to get another wildcard birth defeat the Vikes on the second road game in a row.  At least it is warm.

Bears (Nov 30/7:30pm/NBC) – After the 48-41 defeat in Chicago, the Vikes are looking to return the favor.  The only problem is that the Williams Wall is desperately needed and Forte runs all day, and Kyle Orton finishes the rest.  Looks like the Bears will be winning the division.  The count is now 4-8.

@ Lions (Dec 7/non/FOX) – Over to Ford Field to play St Mary’s School for the Blind.  The offense scores over 50 points and Adrian Peterson screams past the 1,000 yard mark.  The Wall is back and takes it out on the boys in Honolulu blue.  This is the Vikings feel good game and start of some well deserved momentum.

@ Cardinals (Dec 14/noon/FOX) – The defense has found it’s soul again and even though Kurt Warner throws for over 300 yards, the 3 interceptions (2 by Darren Sharper) and the fumble do the red birds in for the upset.

Falcons (Dec 21/noon/FOX) – Matt Ryan has hit his rookie wall, and though the Falcons are on the way to a better future, today is not the day.  Both the Offense and defense dominate and more importantly, the special teams play well too.

Giants (Dec 28/noon/FOX) – The Giants have already sewn up the NFC East and home field advantage.  The Vikings defense tears apart Eli’s backup just like if Eli was there playing catch with Darren Sharper and Antoine Winfield.  The loss is meaningless to the G-men but turns out to be the Vikings 4^th win in a row.  The team finishes 8-8 and the Leslie Frazier era continues into 2009.

I’m no swami, but that looks to be about as realistic as it gets. Tell me what you think, but first I  want to give a shout out to one the best writers in the Vikings’ blogosphere, Pacifist Viking.  PV has wrote on what is his final straw with Brad Childress and his unwillingness to learn and expand from his system with the goal of playing better football.  That to me is the point of a coach, not only does he teach, he thrives on learning and hopes to advance his craft to an art form.  He then goes on to introduce the possibility of one such coach and former Viking: Mike Mularkey.

PV’s pointing out Mike Mularkey might be a good option too if my prognostications fail to pan out exactly the way they were typed.  But if Childress manages to limp to the end of the season with an 8-8 record or so, the Wilf’s will probably look for a big name guy instead.  The shocker would be if old Gus Frerotte and the KAO score 40 points a game and the Wall isn’t missed.  The Vikings win the division and Brad the Man is saying, “See!”   Either way is good, and it is always a good (and somewhat masochistic) time to be a Vikings fan.