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This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Saturday pickup touch football games on October 20, 2007:
Andre gets Play of the Day for a long bomb catch with a defender in his
hip pocket and with two hands on the ball. Andre went up for the ball
simultaneously with his defender but with his vice-like grip, came down
with the ball and scampered the remaining ten yards for the score.
The bright side, I guess, is that the Vikings hung with the Cowboys from nearly the entire game and had plenty of chances to win. But the you look at how the Vikings actually played, and you gotta feel discouraged and frustrated.
After an initial drive in which the offensive line looked dominant on their way to matching the Cowboys opening score with an Adrian Peterson TD run of their own, the line’s play broke down and afforded little running room and less pass protection. Ryan Cook had a particularly bad day.
What’s most frustrating, though, is not the loss (which I thought was a given) but the lack of progress in Tarvaris Jackson‘s play. His accuracy is still suspect, both on short and log passes. He consistently throws behind receivers on short routes and consistently misses receivers on long routes. Though the ball should have been caught, a better placed toss to Bobby Wade would have resulted in a Viking touchdown.
He holds onto the ball far too long in a pocket protected by an offensive line that is not good enough to give him that much time. This may be because he hesitates so much when deciding where to put the ball.
That hesitation affords defenders time to see where Jackson’s going to throw the ball and then react to Jackson’s intentions.
Our receivers didn’t have a great day, either. Every receiver failed to catch tosses they could have come down with. This team cannot afford dropped passes when they’re lead by a young, inexperienced, and inaccurate quarterback like Jackson.
This is sad. Former Green Bay Packer tight end and Super Bowl I hero, Max McGee, died yesterday from a fall from his roof at his home in Deephaven, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports. He was 75 years old.
McGee played 12 years for the Packers as a tight end and punter but he was most famous for his performance in the first Super Bowl. Having caught only four passes during the whole season, McGee figured there was no chance he’d see any action in the Super Bowl, so he spent the night partying.
Before the game, McGee told starter Boyd Dowler, "I hope you don’t get hurt. I’m not in very good shape."
So, of course, Dowler was injured, forcing McGee into the game. McGee responded by reaching back behind himself on a poorly thrown ball by quarterback Bart Starr, hauled it in with one hand, and scampered 37 yards for the first touchdown in Super Bowl history. At the end of the game, McGee had seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Now that I’ve got some administration issues taken care of with my last two posts, I want to brag.
The previous record of a playing a day of football was six hours, which was held by The Veteran and myself.
Today, I broke that record. Today I played seven games of football. That’s seven hours of football.
I am the all-time record-holder! I did it; it is me who owns the record. Uh-huh.
I started at 11 a.m. with four Cities Sports Connection games. Our first game was for one of my co-ed teams and we tied even though we absolutely should have one. We just dropped too many passes.
My second game was one of my men’s teams and we slaughtered our opponent. It wasn’t close at all. It was ugly. Our opponent it very well, considering.
My next game was another guys’ team and we played our nemesis, Full Speed. They are very good but we went up on them by two scores, and you could tell it was getting to them, they started arguing and all. But we let them off the hook. They came back to tie the game and that’s how it ended. We had a dropped touchdown on the last play of the game.
My last CSC game was another co-ed team, and we slaughtered that opponent, too. It was absolutely unfair because we had two safeties who cover a lot of ground so our up front players just had to bite on the short stuff. I missed three interceptions.
After that, I headed over to Northeast Minneapolis for our pickup game and when I got there there were already quite a few people tossing the ball around. We ended up having about thirty people, so we set up two fields to play two games.
During the second game, I hype-extended my knee while defending a ball. I planted with my right foot and a guy fell on my leg full force between my knee and my ankle. I limed on that for a while. I also broke up a couple of passes with my bad finger. I broke the pinky on my right hand several weeks ago and wear a brace for it but when it gets hit full force, it still hurts.
By the third game, my knee was really hurting me and sorta wobbly and my feet were insanely sore and I was all stiff from the time we spent between games picking teams. I really didn’t think I was going to finish the game. But about three quarters into the game I caught a second wind and my knee stopped bothering me and my feet didn’t hurt so much any more and I started making some plays.
I did finish the game. So that was seven games at an hour a piece for seven hours of football today. It was about sixty degrees and sunny all day. Absolutely beautiful.
And now I’m dead tired and am taking microsteps but I’ve got a pot roast in the crock pot and the BoSox and Tribe on the HD. Could life be any better?
As I mentioned in my previous post, my friends find it very amusing that when you search for "david erickson drops passes," this blog is the first link.
Since I’ve now rectified that problem, I’m sure my friends will try an alternative search phrase. The assertion that "david erickson drops touchdowns" is even less true than the idea that I drop passes.
But it is just as malicious, so I must take some preemptive measures with this blog post.
My friends find it very amusing that when you search for "david erickson drops passes," this blog is the first link. That is because I wrote a post a while ago that includes the phrase "I can’t afford to drop the passes."
I’ll find the phrase in my web stats occasionally. There are only two people use that phrase to get to my site.
The problem is, it’s not true. I mean, I drop my share, but I don’t drop a lot of passes and I don’t drop passes consistently. So, clearly, it’s just a malicious lie.
But there it is. The search results lead to me so it’s high time I did something about it. Thus this blog post.
It’s simple. If the Cowboys can’t stop Adrian Peterson, we might have a chance. If Peterson runs wild, it will help open up the passing game so Tarvaris Jackson can get in some practice throwing deep and hitting wide open receivers, practice he desperately needs.
The Vikes will lose this one.
This is what the Cowboys bloggers are saying:
This is what VIkings bloggers are saying:
See what I mean?
I’ve been saying that the Vikings just need to get a little better on offense and they’d win a lot more games. Well, they got a lot better on Sunday. Man, I didn’t expect that.
Adrian Peterson has officially arrived on the NFL scene. 361 all purpose yards; 224 of them rushing and 128 of them returning kicks. As a result of his amazing performance, Peterson has become the story of the week, with everyone gushing over him. NFL Network even did a nice piece on him.
Offensive Line
But you can’t have an amazing performance like Peterson‘s if you’re offensive line isn’t doing their job. Could Anthony Herrera made that much of a difference? Starting at right guard in place of Artis Hicks, Herrera and the rest of the line played their best game of the Childress era. They were opening holes for Peterson and Chester Taylor and gave Tarvaris Jackson enough time in the pocket to find his receivers. If the offensive line has just started clicking, then maybe the season isn’t lost after all.
Dual Backs
It sure looks like Childress and company have found the sweet spot by balancing touches between Peterson and Taylor. Peterson carried the rock 20 times and Taylor had 22 rushes for 83 yards. Give Richardson his one carry, and the Vikings ran the ball 43 times. That’s a hell of a ground game.
The Vikings now have someone who can provide the team with the explosive plays we were lacking. Peterson had runs of 27 yards, 67 yards, 73 yards, and 35
yards.
I love the idea of having Taylor and Peterson on the field at the same time; it’s gotta create match up problems for opposing defenses and keeps them off balance as well.
Finally, it sure looks like the addition of Peterson to the roster has helped improve Taylor’s game.
Receivers
The game could have been a blowout if our receivers didn’t continue to drop so many balls. The first pass on a slant to Troy Williamson hit him in the chest and ricocheted around before falling to the ground. Had Williamson caught that ball, he might have slipped the defenders for a long gain or even a touchdown. It was smart to go right back him on the next play.
Williamson also dropped a third down reception on a crossing patter just at the sidelines that hit him in both hands and would have been a first down. He did lay out for an overthrown bomb but even on his 60 yard touchdown reception, Williamson caught the ball with his arms rather than his hands. Even so, just the fact that he caught a long touchdown bomb has got to go a long way toward boosting Williamson’s confidence and giving opposing defenses something to think about.
Sidney Rice also dropped an easy catch on a slant that would probably have gone for a touchdown but he also made a very nice diving catch to convert a first down. Bobby Wade didn’t make a third down catch he should have that would’ve resulted in a first down.
Tarvaris Jackson
TJax was not the panicked QB he was before the bye. But pass protection will do that for you.
Jackson the aforementioned passes that were dropped. His 60 yard touchdown to Williamson was a perfect strike. But I thought his most impressive pass was the one he threw deep to Robert Ferguson in the end zone. It was thrown to the sideline side of Ferguson so only the receiver could catch the ball. It would have been a tough catch, but Ferguson should have made it.
On the other hand, Jackson did have quite a few misses; a lot of his passes were behind his receivers. He had Shiancoe open down the seam for what would have been a long game and perhaps even a touchdown, but Jackson overthrew him.
He missed a wide open Tony Richardson for a catch that would’ve gone for a long gain or even a touchdown. Jackson also missed Williamson by a step for another bomb.
But the fact that Jackson didn’t look like a wild-eyed rookie and didn’t turn the ball over is progress.
Vikings Defense
Going into the Bears game, you would have thought that the weakness of our defense would be our young corners, Cedric Griffin and Marcus McCauley. With the exception of McCauley’s fourth quarter dropped interception that was followed by a Bears touchdown, the two played exceptionally well.
Who would have thought it would be the savvy veterans Antione Winfield and Dwight Smith that gave up touchdowns. Excuse me, when you’re just trying to prevent a score, how do you let Devin Bloody Hester get behind you?!?
Erasmus James was in for a few plays and on at least one, he was a half-second behind his line mates off the ball. The guy still does not have his explosion back and you wonder if he ever will regain it.
E.J. Henderson continues to kick some serious football ass and Ben Leber made an outstanding pick.
But the story of the defense was certainly the abysmal play of Chad Greenway. The guy has got to learn how to shed blocks. Jeeze. What is he doing out there?!? Instead of trying to push a lineman away on his way to the ball carrier, Greenway explodes into them, as if he were the one doing the blocking. It was ugly.
Vikings vs. Cowboys
While I’m more hopeful and excited about the Vikings prospects after the Bears game, I am not insane and therefore I have to say, sadly, that the Cowboys are going to absolutely dismantle the Vikings.
Vikings head coach Brad Childress has tried to be vague about who he will start at quarterback all week, but all signs point to, and logic dictates, that Tarvaris Jackson will resume his starting role and continue his growth as an NFL quarterback. Or so we would hope.
By moving up in the draft in a move that many thought was a reach, Childress indicated clearly that he considered Jackson the future franchise quarterback. Forced to face the fire in his second year despite sparse NFL experience because the team refused to add a viable veteran signal caller to the roster, Jackson must develop whether he’s ready or not.
There have been some promising signs during Jackson’s short exposure to pro football: He’s obviously very athletic and can make things happen with his feet; he’s got an extremely strong arm; he has shown composure at his position; and for the most part he has not tried to force the ball where it shouldn’t go.
On the other hand, during his past two games, Jackson’s looked like a deer in the headlights: He’s looked panicky in the pocket and he’s tried to make plays that weren’t there, resulting in turnovers. And he’s still got to prove he can win a game. He’s taken steps backwards.
If the Vikings beat the Bears today, there’s still a faint hope that they can salvage their season. If we lose, we’ll have to consider it another rebuilding year and hopefully Jackson will blossom in the absence of the pressure of playoff hopes. Only time will tell if Jackson is the answer.
Aside from all the problems you typically get with a young, inexperienced quarterback, the most maddening thing about Jackson is that for a guy who’s got a rocket arm, he appears to have absolutely no feel for the long pass. He’s consistently missed deep receivers, even when they’ve been wide open.
Kelly Holcomb has had the same problem, which is pretty inexcusable for a guy with ten years experience. Worse, though, is Holcomb’s crybaby attitude. The most indelible image I have of Holcomb is him rolling his eyes or yelling at his teammates. That’s not just a lack of leadership, that’s poisonous.
0 for 4 At Quarterback
Jackson, Mike McMahon, Brooks Bollinger, Kelly Holcomb; thus far, Brad Childress is zip for four on his quarterback choices. We won’t know whether Tyler Thigpen was a wise personnel evaluation for quite some time, as he is buried on the Chief’s depth chart and it is too soon to fairly judge whether Jackson is the real deal. But it is clear th McMahon was incompetent and Holcomb looks little better. Bollinger has all the look of a career backup.
Considering all of the Vikings quarterback problems under the current regime, you have to question their ability to evaluate talent. McMahon and Holcomb are the most glaring indictments of said weakness because they came from Philadelphia, so presumably Childress was much more familiar with them than he would be with a player that came from elsewhere.
Worse still, is the apparent lack of development of any of our quarterbacks.
That tells me that they are either 1) not being taught well, 2) they are being forced into the system and asked to do things of which they are not capable, or 3) both.
If the problem is the first, then, well, what can you say? The big selling point with Childress was his ability to develop talent: See Donovan McNabb. Maybe the coach ain’t all that. If the problem is that the QBs are being forced to do things they are not good at, there’s plenty of supporting evidence in that regard: all of last season was an example of that.
This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Saturday pickup touch football games on October 6, 2007:
Pete absolutely took over the game by nabbing back to back to back
interception returns for touchdowns to earn the appropriately named
ThreePete and win the Plays of the Day.
