Ask The Daily Norseman about the Minnesota Vikings

AP is obviously his initials, but AD stands for his nickname, “All Day”. As in “hopefully he’ll be running through your defense all day.”

I’m Eric, one of the co-writers at DN.

This has been a pressing question over at our site throughout the first two weeks too. There are lots of opinions as to why Favre’s throws have been shorter than Gary Coleman so far, but here are the general prevailing schools of thought:

1. Favre isn’t comfortable enough with the offense since he thinks he’s better than everyone and doesn’t have to show up for training camp missed most of the preseason, and he’s checking down because he doesn’t have good enough rapport with Rice, Berrian, and Harvin yet.
2. The offensive line hasn’t given him enough time to look downfield.
3. Brad Childress is handcuffing the offense with his way-too-conservative playcalling.
4. The Vikings are using the Sports Guy’s “Milton Berle Theory.” I won’t explain it in detail since you can Google it pretty easily, but basically it means the Vikings are showing just enough to win since we played two weak opponents so far.

I personally think it might be a mix of all four, but I’m hoping that it’s mostly #1 and #4 and not #2 and #3.

The offensive line has been an issue. There’s been a debate among Vikings fans recently about whether Favre should be throwing downfield more often — and while there are valid points to be made on both sides of that argument, it’s not terribly feasible for the Vikings to open up the passing game if Favre’s protection doesn’t improve. As far as his grasp of the playbook, it’s hard to say simply because he’s been asked to do so little thus far. There were a few miscues between him and his receivers in week one, but nothing that struck me as a big deal. As for your second question, this offense still lives and dies by the running game and the path to beating the Vikings still lies in stopping Adrian Peterson. That said, even if Peterson is kept under control, Favre still has plenty of weapons at his disposal. The real question is if Favre can single-handedly win games for this team if the running game fails to do so — but so far, Peterson has been putting plenty of points on the board.

1) Tremendous. Tyrell Johnson is the only question mark. Winfield and Griffin are a solid CB tandem, and Madieu WIlliams is very good. Darren Sharper was a quality Pro Bowl guy, but the Vikings let him go, and Johnson has to step up.

2) Green Bay. SF is down on the list, to be honest. There was something there in the 1980’s, because we seemed to always meet in the playoffs. And with the exeception of 1987, you got the better of us. But that was a long time ago, and memories fade…except the memory of Anthony Carter running wild and Joe Montana getting benched, lol.

3) Average, and below average. He was the ‘name’ guy when the Vikes fired Tice, and I liked the hiring. He immediately traded Daunte Culpepper (Culpepper was just as culpable in that mess), drafted an unknown QB to be ‘his guy’, and promptly took a 9-7 team and went 6-10. He is a reputed QB guru who loves to run the ball, even on third and 13. His play calling has been very predictable, and very frustrating for Viking fans. I will give him credit for very solid drafting/free agent signings, and his teams have improved in each season. He’s had some locker room issues, but he’s managed to quell those and keep the team with him.

4) Good question, because I don’t know. Most fans like the signing, and will give Favre more leeway than they would Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels. This is a make or break season for Childress, though, so I think he would have to make a move. If the Vikes don’t go to the playoffs and at least win a game, his job could be in jeopardy.

Yeah purple isn’t exactly chic these days, I’ll give you that. But purple and gold are symbolism for royalty, which perhaps one day the Vikings will actually be in the NFL. By the way, the “new throwback” jerseys that the Niners are wearing this year are awesome. Couldn’t be happier with them.

As for the LA thing, yes there has been talk about it, but most Minnesota fans are taking the “maybe if we ignore it, it will go away” approach. At least I have. Bottom line: the Vikings need to replace the Metrodome within the next few years or we’re in huge, huge trouble.

Regarding Favre, take a look at the answer I gave to sfgfan earlier on. We’re not really sure what’s going on either.

There were a lot of fans that were behind Jackson going into the preseason, based on his strong performance in the last few games of the 2008 regular season. I was not one of them, but he had quite a bit of support even after we brought in Sage Rosen copter fels.

After the old guy showed up, most of us figured that the Vikings would deal Jackson away and keep Rosenfels and John David Booty. Turns out that Booty went to the practice squad and we kept everyone, so I’m not really sure what the front office has in mind for next year. All I know is that I’m not looking forward to the annual “Will He or Won’t He Retire” crap next offseason.

Unless, of course, I have a shiny new Lombardi trophy to look at.

We’re a month into it, and it’s still _really_weird seeing Favre in purple. I’ve spent so many years and so much energy hating him—I can’t quite just turn that off and blindly root for him yet. Don’t get me wrong, I think he gives us the best chance to win and I think he’s said and done everything right so far. But I’m still getting used to the whole thing.

With the way the Niners have started off, I think it would be foolish to view them as not being a quality opponent. They’re light years ahead of the two teams we’ve already played in terms of talent and coaching, in my opinion (never been terribly high on Mangini, and Jim Schwartz is an unknown quantity in every category except “gratuitous Spaceballs references made”).

Frank Gore is a man-beast, to be sure, and the Niners’ defense is solid. . .look no further than the way you guys contained AP the last time we got together. I’m trying to learn more about your team’s defense as we get closer to game time, since I don’t know a lot about them. Patrick Willis, naturally, scares the crap out of me, and the Vikings tend to have trouble with the 3-4, but I think the Niners are easily the best team we’ve faced thus far.

Do I think the Vikings are going to win? Well, yeah. (-: But I don’t think we’re going to roll the Niners or anything, barring us jumping out to a quick lead and forcing Shaun Hill into mistakes.

Seriously, he’s huge and he flies. Not good for the landing spot.

If he doesn’t play, it won’t help the 49ers very much on the ground; the Williams Wall is stout and it’s pro-active. With Allen providing the extra pressure on Hill, and Greenway and Leber shifting between run coverage and secondary assist, the D is really very solid even without him. We went most of last year without EJ and the run-D was top-notch.

If he does play, he’ll provide a lot of extra pressure on Hill in the middle, making the medium-passing game much riskier.

A.D. vs Bamm Bamm

Dubbed him Bamm Bamm

I’m pretty sure his teammates just call him Patrick.

Until this past week’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.

Sounds too fruity, the man has soul and loves to hit people in the mouth!

Berrian is a better overall receiver right now, but Harvin is better for what the Vike offense is trying to accomplish. When Favre finally did show up in camp and preseason he didn’t get to work with Berrian at all due to a hamstring injury. Berrian did catch 6 passes last week after catching zero in week 1, but for only 48 yards (last season Berrian averaged 20 yards/catch). Until Favre and Childress decide to throw deep, Berrian will likely be less relevant in the passoffense than Harvin, who is ideal for the short passing/wildcat offense we are using right now.

Special teams – hard to say. Overall based on averages it’s done a better job, but they did give up a punt return TD to Josh Cribbs and the Browns in week 1 that put us behind at the time. Heath Farwell’s return from an ACL injury in 08 has been huge (though he may slide into the starting rotation if EJ Henderson can’t go.

Right now Jackson is the #2 QB.

Shiancoe had a 1 yard TD catch but that’s been about it so far. With Favre’s track record of throwing to the TE I’d imagine he will get more targets in the future.

It’s hard to say whether Harvin is better than anyone on the Vikings because it’s so difficult to pin Harvin down to one area of expertise. Comparing him to Berrian is an apples and oranges thing, they’re so different and they have different strengths and weaknesses. That’s what makes Harvin so dangerous, even we don’t know where he’s going to pop up from play to play, lol! But wherever he gets a touch, he’s going to make it count. His average is better than 10 yards a touch, whether he’s lining up on the line of scrimmage or coming out of the backfield.

Berrian is the guy we’ve pinned our speed-hopes on to stretch the field deep, but he’s been injury-prone so he hasn’t had as much impact as we wanted. He’s technically very savvy though, and even if the speed isn’t there, expect him to take advantage of the slightest mistake or mis-step from the secondary.

Special Teams are much, much better than the debacle we had last year. Part of the difference is a new ST coach, part of it is the return of our ST Madman, Heath Farwell (who was injured most of last year), and part of it a lot of improvement on the part of our punter, Chris Kluwe. Kluwe has plenty of strength in his leg, but last year he really struggled with accuracy and hang-time. Booming a punt 60 yards isn’t very helpful if it also outpaces the coverage by 20 yards.

As far as we know, T-Jack is #2 and Sage is #3 (and possibly injured right now).

And Shiancoe has grown. Shanko will hopefully not be perceived as a threat so that he can take full advantage of flying under the radar :) . He’s a big man and has great hands, he and Favre have developed some chemistry and he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. More than that, he’s good at providing secondary blocking for the running game.

I have no idea who started the ‘Purple Jesus’ moniker, but AP has definitely been the savior of the Vikings offense, time and time again. Did you see the video of that 64 yard run against the Browns? True, it was the Browns… but man, it was EPIC, and that ain’t homerism :)
LINK

I’m not exactly sure of the origin, but it definitely came about after the 296 yard performance against San Diego.

Steve Hutchinson—since he causes defenses to part?
Seriously, I wish the Niners had him at offensive guard.

but never really expected much from him. He was an undrafted FA who made the team and was the third guy for a while, so obviously somebody saw enough in him to keep him around for a few years. I don’t believe he ever really gained any “believers” while he was in Minnesota, and I personally, am very happy to see him doing well in San Fran. I don’t think he’s done enough to give Vikings fans that, “aww shoot, look what we missed” feeling, but he HAS done enough to make me very happy for him.

That’s easy, thay seem to Hate the Packers with a Passion! But I think one of these Viking posters already mentioned it above somewhere!

But the Bears aren’t too far behind. Actually, when it comes to our respected SB Nation sites, the Bears fans are much more of our rivals. They have some of the best trollers on the internet. No, that was not a compliment.

He really emerged last year as a good, reliable receiver after battling the dropsies when he first signed. He’s a quality third down ‘move the chains’ guy, and last year was a favorite of Frerotte and Jackson in the red zone.

He’s gotten off to a slow start this year, but as the Vikes start to air it out more, look for Shiancoe to make some plays. If you don’t account for him, he’ll kill you.

Thought that McKinnie would get signed all along.

In both cases. . .and in any case, quite frankly. . .there’s absolutely, positively no benefit to missing a year and re-entering the draft. In Crabtree’s case, if there was anybody out there that didn’t think he was a diva before this whole episode, they certainly think he is now.

Second of all, Crabtree went #10 in this year’s draft, and was pissed because he wasn’t the first receiver taken. Well, guess what? If he re-enters the draft again in 2010, he won’t be the first WR taken then, either, and he sure as heck won’t be the #10 overall pick. He’s poison at this point.

65-34-1 before he signed. 65% were okay with it, 34 percent didn’t like it, and then there’s the one percent ‘The Apocalypse is Here and I’ll Never Cheer for the Vikings While He Wears the Uniform’ crowd. Then he signed, and very Lutheran, very uptight Minnesota wigged the hell out. And if he keeps going 24-27 with 2 TD’s and no picks every week, the percentage breakdown will be 98-1-1. You can’t please everyone, lol.

The Packers are the Vikings biggest rival, Favre was their best player, and it’s weird seeing him in a Vikes uniform, no doubt. But if you strip away the emotion, it’s a good move. He is an improvement over Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, and the fact of the matter is had Favre NOT played for Green Bay for all those years Vike fans would have demanded that the Vikings go get him. The Vikings are a different team with Favre, and for the better. They have a confidence and swagger about them they didn’t have, and it’s nice to see. I hope it continues.

not a whole lot.

I really liked his potential coming out of USC and when we singed him as an undrafted FA, I thought we might have found a diamond in the rough. From my understanding he had a pretty good camp in ‘08, and my thoughts of him didn’t falter, but this past offseason/training camp/preseason he was very underwhelming and eventually lost his job in a numbers game.

I still think there’s a chance that in a few years he could be productive, but I’m starting to think that it’s much more likely that he never really amounts to anything.

and we have Heath Farwell to thank for that.

Farwell is probably not very known outside of Minnesota circles, but he literally seems to make EVERY SINGLE special teams tackle.

And he was hurt all of last season.

The Cribbs punt return in week 1 maybe gave some people the impression that we haven’t improved, but if you watch the first two games, that is the only return, kick or punt, that amounted to anything at all. It was a poor kick by Warcraft Kluwe and just an amazing return by Cribbs (Dude’s scary.)

which I think are cool looking. But the team developed a superstition about them, because they play like ass when they wear the purple pants. So they quit wearing them.

Go back to the old uniforms.