common knowledge

Casey Johnson 

Just when I think that the Vikings can’t get any worse, they go and lose a 16-10 lead to the Buffalo Bills in the final seconds on Sunday and totally set a new standard for being pathetic.

Don’t get me wrong, the Bills aren’t a totally incompetent team. It’s not like they are Rick Moranis’ Little Giants or the pre-Gordon Bombay giving a crap Mighty Ducks. The Bills came into the game with a 3-3 record and a very tough defense (8^th in the NFL in points per game allowed and 1^st in rush yards per game allowed). But honestly, what more did Minnesota need to go in their favor on Sunday to come away with a victory?

The Vikings won the turnover battle (4 forced, 2 committed), the time of possession battle (Minnesota T.O.P. = 32:23; Buffalo T.O.P.=27:37), the sack battle (Minnesota 6 sacks; Buffalo 5 sacks), and the battle of attrition (kind of), as Buffalo’s top two running backs (C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson) went down with injuries in the first half (Buffalo’s injuries/losses at tailback were, in my opinion, greater than Minnesota’s losses to John Sullivan and Vlad Ducasse on the offensive line). The Vikings, despite all that went in their favor, somehow still managed to remember their true identity as a terrible football team and their responsibility to give the game away in the final seconds. I mean, seriously, giving up a 24-yard completion on 4^th & 20 with 1:18 left in the game, are you kidding me? Chad Greenway, you’re killing me man. How do you get caught off guard in that situation? And how are you not ready for the snap of the ball? It was like Greenway was the security guard that George Costanza gave a chair to. He fell asleep just long enough to blow his assignment. Greenway knew exactly where Buffalo needed to get for the first down and that he couldn’t let Buffalo tight end Scott Chandler get down the seam on him, and yet, Greenway was still unable to stop Chandler from hauling in the 24-yard game-saving grab, eventually leading to the Kyle Orton to Sammy Watkins game-winning 2-yard TD pass with :01 second remaining.

That 4^th and 20 play was a representation of Minnesota’s season. There was so much hope, positivity, and expectation at the outset, but then, things unraveled in a terribly disappointing, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, nausea-inducing way. It’s like seeing that there’s an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on and then realizing that Fin (a.k.a. Ice-T) is the focal point of the episode. You were excited, but now you just know that you’re going to end up shaking your head in disbelief at the utter ineptitude that you witness.

Just 7 games through this 16 game season, Minnesota fans might as well pack it in. The ship of success and playoff hopes is sailing away faster than a lifeboat from Cuba. Let’s wave the white flag, give the microphone to the fat lady, and pull back the sheets on the bed. At not even the midway point of the 2014 season, we Vikings fans might as well suck down a little drowsy Benadryl and lose ourselves in a 10-month slumber until next season arrives.

It’s an absolute shame that all hope is lost at such an early point in the season, but I can’t remember a game where I’ve been less emotionally involved than I was on Sunday. I knew deep down, through the entire game, that Minnesota would find a way to lose, and that is a terrible and unfulfilling way to watch a football game. It’s like watching Friday Night Lights more than once. You already know that they’re going to lose, and it’s still miserably disappointing every time. Minnesota’s defense gave them every opportunity to win the game (aside from allow a Bills TD drive in the final minutes of the game), and yet, this gutted, injury-ravaged, anemic, lifeless, bottom of the barrel, turnover-prone, playmaker-lacking offense again failed to show up to the game.

The Vikings did virtually nothing offensively to rouse any enthusiasm or excitement going forward. Sure they ran the ball better than most teams have been able to against the Bills (29 carries for 158 yards), but the Vikings again shot themselves in the foot time and time again by allowing sacks, committing penalties, and turning the ball over. Like the high beams of an oncoming semi shining right in your eyes, it was again blindingly obvious that Minnesota’s offensive line cannot protect Teddy Bridgewater, and the Vikings netted just 118 passing yards (157 passing yards minus 39 yards lost to sacks). That pathetic passing output is also an indictment on Minnesota’s lack of receiving playmakers (Cordarrelle Patterson sure isn’t one as it turns out). And the last thing that the Minnesota faithful want to see is our young quarterback’s development stunted and perhaps even totally derailed by a line that won’t protect and receivers that can’t get open. It is definitely nerve-racking to see Minnesota’s prospective future leader take-on bad habits while he repeatedly gets punished in the pocket.

At this point, the best thing that the Vikings can hope for is week-by-week positive development of the future key/star players that this team will need to step up in order to have any success. Obviously, Teddy Bridgewater needs to start limiting his mistakes and getting more comfortable in the NFL game, but young guys like Jerick McKinnon, Anthony Barr, Matt Kalil, Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes, Josh Robinson, Harrison Smith, and Cordarrelle Patterson, among others, need to continue to develop and improve so that this team can build a strong foundation of talented young players for (fingers crossed) future success.

It certainly bites that this season has essentially devolved into practice for next season, but unfortunately, it’s all that we’re left with. What a sad and familiar feeling.

Casey Johnson

Sometimes a team wins a big game, and then, in their next game, they suffer what’s often referred to as an emotional letdown. Minnesota’s position was quite the opposite coming into Sunday’s game at home against Detroit, as they should have been poised for an emotional bounce back after having their braided behinds handed to them in Green Bay last Thursday (Oct. 2).

However, someone forgot to tell the Vikings that, after 10 days between games, they had no reason not to show up to TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday prepared to competitively challenge a Lions team missing the NFL’s best receiver in Calvin Johnson, as well as running back Reggie Bush. Instead, Minnesota came out like the slow wildebeest in the herd. You know, the one that previously had a leg torn up by a crocodile down at the watering hole. And as a result, the Lions devoured the Vikings 17-3.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the Lions won just because Minnesota played poorly. That would definitely be an inaccurate synopsis. It is far more accurate to say that Minnesota played poorly and much of that was a result of how well the Lions played (in addition to the Vikings seeming ill-prepared).

It’s safe to say that Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota offensive line received an on-field education on Sunday from the Detroit defense. I think that some important takeaways from the class that Detroit was teaching in Modern Day NFL Strategies for Mentally and Physically Dominating an Opponent at the Line of Scrimmage should be #1. block people and #2. make quicker decisions.

Clearly the first takeaway/teaching point is for the offensive line. They should be immeasurably embarrassed by the way that they let their quarterback get hit time and time again like he was a slab of meat in a Rocky movie. Teddy Bridgewater was sacked a grotesque 8 times on Sunday, and he’s a mobile quarterback! Can you imagine how many times an immobile quarterback like, say, Matt Cassel would’ve been sacked? I’m not going to venture to guess the exact number, but I’m confident in saying there’s a good chance that we would have been reading Cassel’s obituary in the newspaper tomorrow morning.

The second takeaway is directed at Teddy B. He is a young quarterback and will continue to learn, but he will also experience some growing pains from week to week. When he goes back and watches this film, I think that he will try to find ways to get the ball out of his hand quicker when it is obvious that the pocket is collapsing around him faster than a member of One Direction gets swarmed by a mob of teenage girls. And I don’t mean to say that there is an open receiver on every play if he were to just throw the ball quicker because that’s not the case. I mean that he needs to learn to throw the ball away when the situation calls for it. He certainly isn’t going to see many defensive lines as strong as Detroit’s, especially up the middle with Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, but he can still take some valuable lessons away from the beat down that he received on Sunday to minimize the hits he takes in the future.

Teddy probably also learned not to try to force passes into the end zone on receivers being blanketed like me on a couch. His opening drive decision to throw the post to Cordarrelle Patterson who was being covered better than “Don’t Stop Believin’” at a Johnny Holm concert was a bad one to say the least. Even if Cordarrelle had been single covered, Teddy still wouldn’t have been able to complete that pass, and the safety covering that area of the field should have been the 2^nd indicator that throwing the ball to Patterson on that play was as foolish as running a couple of red lights to get to your ultimate destination. The end zone still would have been waiting for the Vikings had Bridgewater just thrown an incomplete pass or tucked the ball away. Unfortunately, the pick killed the Minnesota drive that ended up being their best chance on the day to score a touchdown.

And yeah, I know that Teddy threw 2 other interceptions that I could discuss at greater length, but in short, neither of those was nearly as egregious as his interception in the end zone and neither of the other interceptions were totally his fault.

Looking at the bigger picture, the Minnesota offense as a whole put on one of the most boring, incompetent, pathetic performances that I’ve ever witnessed. Minnesota was held to just 3 points and 212 yards of total offense, had no big plays (21 yards was the longest), turned the ball over 3 times, allowed the previously mentioned 8 sacks, rushed for just 69 yards on 18 carries (just 35 yards on 13 carries by running backs), and the list could continue. No matter how you try to dissect it or cut up the numbers, Minnesota’s offensive output was more awful than a skunk flavored Jelly Belly.

Perhaps most disappointingly, though, Minnesota’s offense squandered a very nice outing by their defense, which put the Vikings in a position to come away with a victory. You should win about 95% of games in the NFL when your defense allows 17 points or less (that stat is what is often referred to as a guesstimation). The defense wasn’t able to turn over the Lions offense, but they still sacked Matthew Stafford 4 times and held the Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush-less Lions offense to just 255 total yards, which is extremely good.

Yes, indeed, although last week’s loss to Green Bay was embarrassing and disappointing as a Vikings fan, this loss hurts far worse given the circumstances of the two games. Last week, to everyone’s dismay, the Vikings had to play Christian Ponder and a loss was expected. But this week, with a healthy Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota had an opportunity at home to rebound from the horrendous Green Bay loss by beating a Lions team missing two of their best offensive players. The win would have brought the Vikings to 3-3 overall and put them in a far better position in the division hunt.

Sadly, a Vikings victory wasn’t in the cards on Sunday, though, so we’re left to just be thankful that the game didn’t end in a tie. Because if there’s anything worse than losing a game, it’s tying one.

Right Panthers and Bengals fans?

Casey Johnson

The Minnesota Vikings dirtied the birds (Falcons) on Sunday in a 41-28 offensive explosion, and it is easy to look at the quarterback position and see a huge reason for Minnesota’s success. So please everyone, cue the Simon & Garfunkel! 

When you’re nearing, a real fast fall

When L’s are in your eyes, I’ll replace them all

Our center I’m behind, when times get tough

And a franchise quarterback has yet to be found

Like a bridge over troubled water

Teddy will score touchdowns

Like a bridge over troubled water

Maybe, someday Super Bowl bound

Ok, so please forgive my butchering of a classic song, but I couldn’t resist myself. How about that Teddy Bridgewater?! Could he really be Minnesota’s bridge over troubled water? And yes, I know the pun is obvious and not necessarily all that clever, but it was right there for the taking and someone had to do it.

For a town and a team that have been so desperate for positivity over the last three weeks or so, Teddy Bridgewater has given the Minnesota Vikings and their fans something to finally smile about. He’s like an oasis in a desert. He’s like Garth Brooks in today’s country music scene. He’s like soy ice cream in a cooler of dairy-filled frozen treats (if you’re a lactose intolerant). He is joy, promise, and hope.

Those feelings abounded even before Teddy B. took a snap on Sunday, as the Vikings fans at TCF Bank Stadium sang out “Teddy, Teddy, Teddy” chants even as they stood in line to get into the stadium. I’ve never been to a Vikings game where there was so much excitement prior to the game starting. There was a palpable rejuvenation coursing through the veins of the Minnesota faithful, and I imagine it was much how the fan base felt when Brett Favre, the Silver Fox himself, was set to play his first home game in purple.

Bridgewater expertly orchestrated the Vikings offense as Norv Turner pulled the strings and put together a masterpiece from his perch high above the sidelines. Don’t think the old man doesn’t still have the know how to mastermind a great offensive game plan, but it is funny how much smarter a coach looks when his quarterback is executing those play calls with precision. And Teddy B. did just that on his way to an extremely impressive starting debut in which he went 19 of 30 passing for 317 yards, rushed for 1 TD, consistently evaded pressure to avoid sacks and make plays, and did not turn the ball over at all.

I have now gushed about Teddy for numerous paragraphs, and that is probably a result of the fact that quarterback is the most important and visible position on an NFL football team and because Minnesota has been so starved for a long-term answer at that position. However, I want it to be known that I have not over-indulged so much on the Teddy Kool-Aid that I’m unable to see the important roles that a host of other young, lesser known and lesser appreciated Vikings played in securing Minnesota’s 41-28 victory over the Falcons.

The below are organized somewhat in the order in which they started to make a big impact on Sunday’s game.

Jarius Wright

The 3^rd year wideout from Arkansas was rumored to be in danger of not making the team at some points during training camp, but he delivered his biggest game as a pro on Sunday with 8 catches for 132 yards. He was Bridgewater’s favorite target and proved to be a much needed weapon in the passing game for the Vikings who are struggling to get the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson through the air (Patterson has just 13 catches in Minnesota’s 4 games). Wright’s biggest play was his 52-yard reception on 3^rd and 7 on Minnesota’s opening drive. Early on in Sunday’s game, that play demonstrated that Minnesota’s offense was going to be as dangerous as a shark with a frickin’ laser beam attached to its head.

Matt Asiata

In his 3^rd NFL season, the back-up running back from Utah has now had two golden opportunities in the past two seasons to take over the starting running back position for Adrian Peterson. Asiata has proven to be like a fast food value menu item. He’s nothing spectacular, but at least you know what you’re going to get. He’ll fight for his 3 to 4 yards every play, and if you’re hoping for more than that, you’re going to be disappointed. Nonetheless, he has proven himself to be an effective goal line back, as evidenced by his three short TD runs on Sunday (his 2^nd three TD game in the last two seasons).

Jerick McKinnon

The rookie out of Division I-AA Georgia Southern ate up the Falcons defense and left a bunch of bird bones behind like me at Buffalo Wild Wings. McKinnon rushed for an eye-popping 135 yards on just 18 carries, including a dynamic 55-yard carry. And all of that is from a guy who is supposed to still be learning the running back position. Watch out NFC North defenses as this kid gets a little more experience under his belt. He may be the Henry Rowengartner of the NFL this season. Sure he never slipped on a football and hurt his arm, but he still may succeed very unexpectedly for a young player (look up Henry Rowengartner if you must or, better yet, just watch Rookie of the Year)

Blair Walsh

Ok, most people familiar with the NFL and the Vikings are aware of how good Blair Walsh has been in his first couple of NFL seasons, but after missing a 49-yard field goal earlier in Sunday’s game, Walsh hit a monstrously huge 55-yard field goal to put the Vikings up by two possessions (10 points) with just 3:38 left in the game. This came after Bridgewater had gone out of the game and Christian Ponder came in without the green light to throw the ball. In fact, it was, most assuredly, a light as red as a baboon’s behind. Had Walsh not nailed that kick like it was Mr. Larson’s head and he was Happy Gilmore with a nail gun, Minnesota’s lead would have been in extreme peril, and I’m not exactly confident that Christian Ponder could’ve led them to a game-winning drive if the need would have existed.

The Vikings may be ravaged by injuries and scandal, but strangely enough, it seems like there’s as much positive buzz around this football team right now as there was at the beginning of the season. Minnesota’s fresh, young faces stepped into key roles on Sunday to help the Vikings to victory, and they’re going to all have to continue to play big parts if the Vikings are going to continue to have success.

Maybe with Bridgewater acting as Minnesota’s bridge over troubled water this collection of young, unsung, unheralded, largely unknown players can do something special this season. It’s certainly too early to tell, but thanks to Teddy, at least there is hope.