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Posts Tagged ‘Sydney Rice’

A buddy of mine down near Nashville took a picture of this boat moving up the Cumberland river towards Nashville.

Looks like someone is about to be RAZED!

“Mirror images”, “close game”, “slugfest”, all terms that we have heard this week to describe the game. Strengths, good lines, good linebackers, good running games, good ball hawking defensive backs, and good kickers. Weaknesses, old conservative quarterbacks, weak receivers.

Who’s better, Pro Bowlers Albert Haynewsorth and Kyle Vanden Bosch, or Kevin Williams and Jared Allen? Who’s better at defeating a good offensive linemen on the other side? Which offensive line will open holes for their running backs and provide enough protection for a completed pass or two?

I believe that our players are better than theirs matched head to head and that even though it is reported that this game will be run, run, and more run; it will be a successful passing game that wins it, and that is where the Vikings will have the advantage. Berrian and Rice have the opportunity to be heroes.

GO VIKINGS!

It has been an eventful week leading up to this battle between John Fox’s 2-0 Carolina Panthers and Brad Childress’ 0-2 Minnesota Vikings. In a move that reeks of desperation, and I’m talking like the smell down wind of a pig farm, coach Childress benched his hand picked quarterback for being tentative. He has announced that he will being going with the veteran Gus Frerotte for the rest of the season.

A potential problem with that decision is that Frerotte’s career numbers are worse than Jackson’s. He has only completed 54.2% of his passes thrown and last year threw for 7 touchdowns in three games, but almost doubled that total in interceptions with 12 over the same time period.

That leads to the first key need for the Vikings to win what may be the cliché must win game.

1. Gus Frerotte must at least complete 60% of his passes with more TDs than INTs.

That may not be as easy as it sounds for multiple reasons.

First, he will be throwing to a gimpy receiver corps. Bernard Berrian is still being hampered by turf toe, Sydney Rice may be out due to a sprained knee and Aundrae Allison is slowed by a bruised foot. That leaves veterans Bobby Wade, not known as a deep threat or Robert Ferguson retained for his down field blocking. Even though at 37, Gus has a strong arm and good deep ball, but due to lack of speed of the receivers and their ability to get separation, and that leads to the second problem.

Gus is known for his immobility, and with a power rush led by Julius Peppers against left tackle stand in Artis Hicks, plus Ryan Cook on the right, there may be not enough time for healthy receivers to get open.

2. The offensive line must limit sacks to 3 or less and give Gus time to throw.

The quarterback’s best friend is a good running game and the Vikings have one of the best. They ranked 1^st last year and are presently 4^th after two games this year. The only question here is will Adrian Peterson play and how effective will he be with a sore hamstring? Will Brad Childress push his star in desperation or sit him and let a very capable Chester Taylor handle the load? Maurice Hicks, coming off his own injured foot will be asked to be the #2 guy if AD can’t play.

3. Continued success in the running game and its use to set up the play action pass.

That brings me to offensive play calling. It has been truly offensive, unbalanced and as predictable as the sun will coming up in the east. Brad Childress has seemed to throw out over half his play book, either out of a perceived need to simplify things for Tarvaris Jackson or out of rigidity in sticking within his imaginary “kick ass offense” system that calls for running the same plays over and over, it has cost the Vikings production and arguably wins.

This is probably the biggest key to this game and the entire season. He feels Gus will give him the ability to open things up, we are assuming, and hope that is the case.

4. There is a diversified and more balanced game plan and play calling.

Defensively, the Panthers will try to take their two headed rushing attack of DeAngelo Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart and try their luck against the unit that held all of the Indianapolis Colts to only 25 yards total rushing. Where the Panthers will most likely will aim Jake Delhomme’s at the returning Steve Smith.

The Panthers have the 18th ranked passing game in the first two weeks of the season, and with the return of Smith from his two game suspension paring against the 24^th ranked Vikings pass defense. There has been talk that instead of leaving Cedric Griffin on his side and matched up against Smith, and having a result like when Fred Smoot lined up against Smith two years ago, that Antoine Winfield will flip sides and have the sole responsibility to cover him. The problem is that Winfield hasn’t played on the left side since becoming a Viking.

5. Pass defense must be effective and not give up the big play. That include pressure and sacks from the front guys and good coverage from the guys in the back.

Special teams need improvement over last week. I’m hoping to see Vinny Ciurciu play with an “I’ll show you” chip on his shoulder for his former team.

6. Special teams coverage units need to keep returns under the 20/10 average for kick and punts along with allowing no TD returns.

If the Vikings achieve these keys to winning, then they can start their march to success. If not, there has only been 3 teams since 1990 to make the playoffs, 1992 San Diego Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions, and the 1998 Buffalo Bills. Starting 0-4 and you can almost forget it and start scouting the college players we want in the draft.

The Vikings should rally around their new quarterback; the defense will look to shut down another decent offense. Combine that with some good game management and the Vikes will pull out the “must” win.

Skol Vikings!

Going into the game against the Colts last Sunday, I had written 7 items needed for success. From these it has solidified my opinion of the team. The offensive coaching and game planning has hurt this team and Tarvaris Jackson’s development. Tarvaris Jackson looks like a young quarterback that is being thrown to the wolves after little “teaching” from the coaches, and our defense though still a little weak on the left DB side is overall outstanding.

This is what I was looking for:

1. Will Tarvaris Jackson complete at least 60% of his passes?

NOT ACHIEVED – He threw for a little over 58%, no TD (Shaincoe dropped one, also knocking 4% points from TJ’s completion rate), no INTs, 130 yards and a 73.3 QBR.

2. Will Artis Hicks play very effectively or his backups?

ACHIEVED – Hicks played, Freeney had one sack. Play was adequate.

3. Anthony Hall over at Vikings War Cry wrote Friday about the play calling and player utilization (or lack there of). Was there going to be a more normal split of the one-two punch of Peterson-Taylor?

NOT ACHIEVED – Failed miserably. Peterson had 29 carries to Taylor’s 4, that is 86-14 and even more lopsided that week 1.

4. Play calling should favor the run this week because the Colts are relatively week and can be taken advantage of in this area. By no means does that mean abandon the pass though. There needs to be a more consistent mix of play calling and a better balance in the run pass ratio.

NOT ACHIEVED – Failed miserably. There was no consistent mix of play calling as illustrated by 6 strait run up the middle calls.

5. Will the defensive line get pressure on the less mobile [than Aaron Rodgers] Peyton Manning?

ACHIEVED – Jared Allen and the rest of the line had Manning ducking and stepping up for his life all day. Allen had a sack, but there were least a dozen times that he barely missed Manning as he screamed into the backfield. The run D held Addai to only 20 yards on the day and the Colts as a team to 25. That folks is OUTSTANDING!

6. Can Tyrell Johnson hold up against Peyton Manning’s sure fire effort to pick on him? More over will Griffin, Gordon or what ever other young DB gets some playing time hold up to the master? This will be key to holding the Colts score low.

PARTIALLY ACHIEVED – Johnson held up pretty well, but Manning picked on Griffin mercilessly. Expect to see more of this as the season continues.

7. Can the special times improve on kick coverage? Somebody, or a group of somebodies needs to step up and tackle the ball carrier on the short side of the return averages on every play.

PARTIALLY ACHIEVED – They did not give up a touchdown, unlike in week 1, but they still did not hold returners consistently under the 20/10 average. The Colts had a kick return average of 21 and punt return of 15. It is an improvement, but there is still more needed.

The blame for getting into Colts territory 8 times in a row but only coming away with 5 field goals (with the exception of Shaincoe’s TD drop) should not be attributed to lack of player abilities, but to the play calling as part of a system versus calling plays against a defense from the system, hopefully taking advantage of the athlete’s talents.

It is sad when Dan Dierdorf along with most of us fans can predict the next play called by Chilldress/Bevell, because if we can on a regular basis, you surely know defensive coordinators that study the stuff surely can. That has absolutely nothing to do with players’ abilities, but that of a coach stuck rigidly in his system.

Tarvaris’ completion percentage was higher in the preseason and now with a gimped up Berrian and as of last week a sprained knee on Sidney Rice, just like last year, there isn’t a whole lot to throw to. Some of those off target throws are timing related or route running related not just only attributable to Jackson but to the receivers that we tend not to notice as easily we can see the drops.

Why would we throw 4 times to Mills in week 1 and 0 in week 2? Why are 6 straight AD up the middle plays ran and ESPN commenting on how 90% of are plays are to the right. That has nothing to do with Tarvaris.

He is a young quarterback and if he had a game plan that maximized his and the rest of the offense’s talents versus shoving players into a conservative system based on player’s talents from 30 years ago, and play calling to mix things up, you would see success far greater than the last two years.

How many multiple receiver sets did you see? Was Adrian ever set up wide? We have to of the best ever pulling linemen ever in Birk and Hutch and how many times did you see them pull?

Just like Brad Johnson, Kelly Holcomb and Brooks Bollinger, and if we give up on Jackson, I would hypothesize that Gus Frerrotte will meet with the same sort of result if he is made the starter. It is a result not of lack minimal skills, but because of the offense they are stuck trying to succeed in.

My conclusion is that Tarvaris is a 3rd year quarterback that has talents being wasted and not developed to the maximum extent. That is what a good coach would be doing, that along with all the players on the team and utilizing their talents in a way that maximizes the chances to win games.  Jackson isn’t the problem, it is Childress’ and Bevell’s actions, decisions, and calls or the lack of them.

Our good friend, Anthony Hall over at Vikings War Cry today doesn’t think Tarvaris falls into the “china doll” category, but wonders if he is one of those players that everything must be 100% before he steps back onto the field.

I’ve wondered if he has a low [football-wise] threshold for pain. Then I think, “How could he, he’s a quarterback and they take all sorts of abuse since day 1 in Pop Warner.”

I’m not so convinced that he falls into the, “I’ve got to be 100%” category either. He did play last year [though not well] with the groin injury healing. But that should be a playable injury. A pulled groin as long as it is stretched and warmed up well will allow a player to play.

There were 3 injuries causing him to miss 4 games last year, groin, thumb and concussion. He missed at least 1 game each time.

Maybe Childress is pushing him to play Saturday against the Steelers, to get him over that mental hump and see that he can play with minor injuries like this the sprain, even all season if necessary. It will be interesting to see and if T-Jack ends up earning the reputation of being fragile or if this is just a recurrent stretch of the injury bug.

As well as Jackson has played so far this preseason, and you have to admit he has been sharp, I don’t think scratching him from playing against the Steelers or even the Cowboys will hurt his performance on Monday night the 8th against the Packers and their “fragile” quarterback. I also think, that getting ready to play Saturday is not necessarily a bad thing either and may build that confidence Childress is looking for.

For the rest of the sick and wounded, getting an update takes scouring the web. Head coach Brad Childress has said many time that he doesn’t have to report injuries in the preseason. He is already into the full blown secretive mind-game playing mode of an NFL head coach. So, here is what I was able to pick up as of today.

As of 20 Aug:

sick, restricted, held back and healing:

FS Madieu Williams (neck) Probably back about week 3 or 4.
OT Drew Radovich (dislocated left shoulder) limited practice today.
DE Brian Robison (leg) ready for last preseason game or week 1; was stretching and doing footwork drills today.
TE Garrett Mills (ankle) he can run in a straight line, it is when he cuts that it causes pain. After seeing the specialist again, they are saying it should be just a few more days.
WR Bernard Berrian (turf toe right foot) doing pool work – may miss the Steelers game.
WR Sydney Rice (stomach virus – same as Birk’s last week)
C John Sullivan (concussion)
OT Tim Mattran (ankle)
QB Tarvaris Jackson (sprained right knee) limited.
PUP list:

None
IR:

DE Kenechi Udeze (leukemia)
LB Heath Farwell (knee)
DE Jayme Mitchell (knee)
OG Mike Jones (unknown, still)
DT Kenderick Allen (hand/wrist)

Possibly hurt:

No rumors
Back to work:

OT Marcus Johnson (knee) returned to practice today.