For what it’s worth, I still do not think this team is that far away from winning football games. And for that matter, I am not ready to jump ship and declare our Vikings dead in the water. There are obviously problems with this team—I am not completely blinded by my allegiance to the Purple and still count myself among the faithful.
First and foremost, the most pressing problem is the lack of a passing game—particularly one that can move the ball downfield in chunks by players that do not play running back. For the second week in a row, Kelly Holcomb missed an open receiver on a route that should have gone for big yards. Last week against the Chiefs, Robert Ferguson had his man beat and was open, nearing the end zone, for what would have been a key touchdown. On Sunday against Green Bay, the rapidly-improving Sidney Rice was open on the right sideline for a pass that could have gone for big yardage and Holcomb again missed his man.
In addition to ineffectiveness of the long passing game, the short didn’t look so hot, either. Numerous times we saw the ball bounced short of the receiver, tipped at the line or thrown right into a rushing defender. I am not one to make waves or call for the benching of players, but the quarterback position will surely be under a fair share of scrutiny as the team takes a week off. One option, of course, is the healthy return of Tavaris Jackson—but I wonder how much confidence the coaches have in him given his four interception/zero touchdown line as part of his last mistake-filled game against Detroit. Brooks Bollinger is the other guy on the roster but his preseason play was so spotty, that at least in part, it led to the trade which brought Holcomb to Minnesota right before the season commenced.
Despite Jackson playing downright awful against the Lions, his return to the lineup probably gives the team the best chance to win. With a running game (and a passing game involving the running backs) that should be mentioned among the best in the league, it is the passing game’s job to pull its own weight. The aforementioned Rice seems to get open more and run crisper routes every week, and the longer Bobby Wade and Robert Ferguson are on the squad the more likely they are to learn the playbook and improve. Heck, not to hit a horse that has had its fair share of beatings, but Troy Williamson has done far better at catching the ball this year as well.
In Holcomb’s defense, he faced more pressure on Sunday then any Vikings QB has all season. The line did not hold up and even saw some changes to the left tackle position mid-game.
One other item of disappointment on Sunday: the disappearance, again, of the Vikings pass rush. Just when I thought we had turned the corner after an awful 2006, Brian Robison had the lone sack (and it was not much). Brett Favre and the Packers, for the most part, completely abandoned their ineffective running game for chunks of the contest. He was able to pass at will and had enough time to find ten different players to catch the ball.
Simply put: both lines need to play better and whomever is running the offense has to do a better job than what we have seen so far.
Random Ramblings
Every other Vikings columnist will incorporate their thoughts somehow, so I might as well: I liked the throwback uniforms…the new Denny Green/Coor’s Lite “They are who we thought they were” commercial is fantastic…it will be interesting to see what the Bears do with their QB position following a three-interception day for Brian Griese. For my money, I stick with him one more week…if the team is committed to splitting time at running back between Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, I love the idea of Peterson returning kicks. That said, I am curious as to how permanent of a move that is—both Mewelde Moore and Aundrae Allison were deactivated…the result I didn’t see coming: Cleveland 27, Baltimore 13…my now-almost-weekly Central Minnesota high school football note: St. Cloud Tech—5-0 and ranked fifth in Class 5A—heads to Willmar to take on the Cardinals who are also 5-0 and ranked seventh in Class 4A. The only way this match-up is better is if it were being played at Tech—one of the better places to watch a high school football game in the state. I will do everything I can to make it out to see this game.
I promise that the e-mail bag was not flash in the pan the last couple of weeks—my Hotmail was acting up so I assure you it will make a return next week. Until next time, it’s been a pleasure…