Minnesota Vikings

By Gonzo Well, last week the Steelers provided the Vikings with their biggest challenge of the season to date, and the Vikings responded by. . .putting up their worst red zone performance of the year.  This is what we in the business call "bad timing."

By Drew Magary Just a reminder: I'll be heading to Minneapolis on Monday morning to cover Packers-Vikings for this fair site. What can you expect from our little excursion? RUBBED BEEF! I will at least stand outside the First Avenue club. You go to the Twin Cities, you pay the birthplace of The Replacement...

By Adam Warwas The Favre We Were Waiting For As expected, the Vikings unleashed Favre today.  He threw a whopping 46 passes, completing 24.  He became the first quarterback in the Childress era to toss a 300 yard game.  He ended with 2 touchdowns and 1 pick.

Vikings Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye both spoke to the media today. One big topic for Manusky was Adrian Peterson and his 3-yard effort against the 49ers back in 2007. Raye also spoke on some current team injury issues, including that of WR Brand...

By Gonzo 6) Brad Childress has been somewhat maligned by Viking fans for the past couple of seasons, largely because many people feel that his offense is dull and predictable, despite the presence of Adrian Peterson.  What is your impression of Coach Childress and what he's done over the last thre...

By Gonzo More photos » by Jim Mone - AP 4 days ago: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who suffered a left knee injury last week in practice, returned to the field for some jogging exercise during NFL football training camp Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in Mankato, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

By Gonzo The Vikings, on the other hand, should have no such problem.  While the Bengals were #12 in the league in total yards allowed in 2008, they were 21st against the run.  They were also a blistering 1-7 on the road.  There are no easy wins in the National Football League. . .but I would be pretty surpris...

No, not Adrian Peterson. And no, not that starting quarterback who has yet to be identified. For the upcoming 2009 season, the Vikings' Super Bowl chances seem to hinge on one player. Percy Harvin brings all three of those qualities to the Minnesota Vikings.

By Anthony21 Subject to change based on the Vikings' pursuit of Brett Favre. Without him, they have the same major question -- quarterback. Still, I don't mind one bit the quote Pat Williams recently gave to Sirius NFL Radio about the young quarterback:

By Marc Hooks In Jackson’s case that moment was his first playoff start against the Eagles. His QB rating, 45.4, tells us he failed. In the second half, Adrian Peterson was shut down and touched the ball only 8 times. With the fate of the Vikings on him, Jackson through a pick 6 right before half-time down by 2 a...

By Adam Warwas Jamarca Sanford was the Vikings last pick of this weekend’s draft, and he also comes with an arrest record which includes stealing a car stereo, disorderly conduct, and failure to comply. Sanford told Childress he didn’t need to worry about that ever again and apparently Childress belie...

By Gonzo That was Mel Kiper's assessment of the Minnesota Vikings' 2005 Draft the day after said draft had taken place.  Kiper and his hair gave the Vikings a B+ "grade" for their draft. As any Viking fan knows, Minnesota's 2005 draft class is on the short list of worst drafts in NFL history.  To review. . .

By Gonzo 2 days ago: In this Oct. 11, 2008 file photo, Illinois' Vontae Davis carries the ball during an NCAA college football game against Minnesota at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. Davis is a top prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

By danzinski The 2006 NFL draft marked the debut of Brad Childress and his new regime, who inherited from ousted coach Mike Tice a 9-7 squad that had huge question marks all over the defense and offensive line, and was still reeling from the departures of superstars Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper (the...

But wouldn't a team that is built to win now, eventually win? Not the Vikings. They have consistently failed to reach the pinnacle of success in many facets; whether it be the Super Bowl, playoffs, or division titles. We saw it in 1998. In 2000. And all the other years where getting to the playoff...

Three quarters of the NFL regular season have been played and we head into what should be an exciting fourth quarter. Nineteen teams are in strong contention for postseason play.   The Giants, Titans, Cardinals and Broncos each have three-game leads in their divisions and are on the verge...

By vikes geek(noreply@blogger.com) In short, Vikings' fans probably ought to warm to the prospect of trying to make the playoffs without the services of either Pat or Kevin Williams. And warm to the notion that the suspensions could buy head coach Brad Childress another year should the team fail to make the playoffs this seas...

By Cole Pepper “I will be playing football next year,” Taylor said bluntly. Following Sunday’s 30-12 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, we were visited by Fred Taylor on our post-game coverage. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Taylor was candid (as always) in his review of the Jaguars current situ...

By Bob Sansevere Vikings win, 28-27.                          The Packers opened the game with a three-and-out. And the Vikings got lucky. On third down, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers missed a wide-open Jordy Nelson. The Vikings got a nice return into Packers territory by Charles Gordon.

By Ryan Rust The Vikings will, hopefully, be able to re-focus and shake this loss before next week’s Monday night game at the Superdome.  If they can eliminate the mental errors and play relatively penalty-free football, they have a good chance of winning the game.

By Dave Halprin (Grizz) One note, the Cowboys sure wanted to get a look at the line, the receivers and Bartel because in the second half when the Vikings kept blitzing and getting pressure, the Cowboys kept on throwing the ball basically abandoning the running game. WR

By Gonzo Reason the third. . .if "that guy" were to end up in Minnesota somehow and this team DID win the Super Bowl under his guidance. . .who, exactly, do you think would get all the credit? Adrian Peterson?  I doubt it. Brad Childress?  Hardly. Jared Allen?  Ummmmm, no.

By Gonzo QB Tarvaris Jackson QB Gus Frerotte QB John David Booty RB Adrian Peterson RB Chester Taylor RB Maurice Hicks FB Thomas Tapeh FB Jeff Dugan WR Bernard Berrian WR Sidney Rice WR Bobby Wade WR Aundrae Allison WR Robert Ferguson WR Jaymar Johnson TE Visanthe Shiancoe TE Jim Kleinsasser

By Anthony Hall On the defensive side of the ball, Phat Pat is a 98, while K-Will and Jared Allen both received ratings of 97. Other notables: E.J. and Darren are both 92s, Antoine is a 91, Madieu was given an 88, and rookie Tyrell Johnson will begin his NFL career with a Madden rating of 80.

By Gonzo QB Tarvaris Jackson QB Gus Frerotte QB John David Booty HB Adrian Peterson FB Naufahu Tahi FB Jeff Dugan 1)  They were the wide receivers that the Vikings had when Brad Childress took the reins before the 2006 season. 2)  None of them are drawing a paycheck from the Minnesota Vikings any more.

By Gonzo With Organized Team Activites officially underway, the battles for position have officially started.  The Vikings don't have a lot of intrigue as far as who the starters are going to be in many cases, but the battle for roster spots should prove to be fairly interesting at a few positions. ...

By Gonzo 49) OL Marcus Johnson - What do you mean "you forgot he was still on the team?" 80) S Dustin Fox - Spent a year on IR and was cut, never played a game for Minnesota.  Now plays for the Bills. 219) CB Adrian Ward - Didn't even make it through his first training camp.

By Gonzo Vikings By spending more than $70 million on new talent, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf is telling Coach Brad Childress that his third season better include a playoff berth. Unless Tavaris Jackson doesn't improve a lick, the Vikings have the team to beat in the NFC North. If Jackson continues to ma...

By Ryan Rust Quarterback The arrival of free-agent backup Gus Ferotte essentially guarantees that Tarvaris Jackson will be handed the starting job in 2008. Personally, I don’t believe this is a bad thing. Jackson showed flashes last season that made me believe he should be given another year at the st...

By Gonzo If the Minnesota Vikings are allowed to leave the state of Minnesota, I will follow them and cheer for them regardless of where they land. Besides, if I wasn't a Vikings fan, what would I do? Stop watching football all together?  Not bloody likely.

By Gonzo Vikings' War Cry muses about the Beloved Purple's backup QB situation, and the possibility of J.P. Losman coming to Minnesota.  I'd rather spend a #3 or #4 on Josh Johnson and get someone like Quinn Gray in here to back up Tarvaris Jackson, but I'm not in charge of the team.

By Gonzo Player CommentNANANoneMarcus Johnson, GAnother flop from the 2005 draft class.  Hey, you know who the best Viking that was a rookie in 2005 is?  Chris Kluwe. . .a guy that wasn't even drafted.NANANoneErasmus James, DESee above.  Basically zero production in 3 years qualifies you as a flop.  By...

By Gonzo Skol Vikes - Skol Vikes is alright.  He's still under the impression that Daunte Culpepper had something to do with Randy Moss being traded in 2005 (he didn't), and he might take the Vikings a little too seriously, but overall it's a good site.  Hell, I can't think of a "bad" Vikings blog, to be...

By Gonzo Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey  1st2nd3rd4th+OTFVikings141031441Giants703717 Gonzo's Final Score Prediction:  Giants 20, Vikings 17 SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!

By Dave Halprin (Grizz) TE – Jason Witten caught 10 passes on the day. That’s just fantastic work by a TE. He also ran a wide receiver screen that picked up 11 yards. It goes unnoticed sometimes but Witten has really improved as a blocker and was Romo’s security blanket all day in the passing game. One last thing, on T.O’s T...

By Gonzo What's even more unfortunate is that the Vikings, thanks to Brad Childress' infinite stubbornness and inability to evaluate the progress of his players, don't currently HAVE anything better at the quarterback position to turn to.  There's absolutely no point in playing Kelly Holcomb...

By Gonzo Quite frankly, it looks like the only team capable of stopping Adrian Peterson is. . .the Minnesota Vikings.  And don't think for a minute that we won't be getting to that later. OR If your answer was "b," then you just might be Brad Childress. . .offensive genius.

By Gonzo Yes, I know the Vikings' offense has been accused of being "boring."  Well, you know something?  Sometimes "boring" works just fine.  Third and short, hand the damn ball to Adrian Peterson. . .or Chester Taylor. . .or Mewelde Moore. . .or Naufahu Tahi. . .or anybody, really.

By Gonzo There really wasn't much not to like about the Vikings' performance on Sunday afternoon.  The Vikings didn't allow any points until midway through the fourth quarter, and the Atlanta offense didn't get into the Minnesota red zone all afternoon.  While the offense didn't look spectacula...

By Dave Halprin (Grizz) Last year's starting QB Brad Johnson has signed with Dallas to be our backup. So how is the new guy Tarvaris Jackson looking so far? I also see you recently acquired Kelly Holcomb. What's the QB situation for the Vikes? BTB: You had Chester Taylor last year, now you added rookie RB Adrian Peter...

Vikings' quarterback Tarvaris Jackson finished his play last night with two completions on four attempts. Bollinger equaled those numbers. And, for the night, the Vikings totaled a mere eight completions on eighteen pass attempts.

By Gonzo At least, that's the take from Smilin' Jimmy Souhan at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  I'm amazed at how quick some of the Twin Cities media types are to throw anyone and everyone associated with the Vikings under the bus. Friday, the Vikings' lone field goal was their lone offensive highli...

By Gonzo Chris Mullin, ladies and gentlemen.  Yes, much like Chris Mullin, when I was in sports in high school, I could best be classified as not real big and not real fast.  Sort of like Chris Mullin.  From there, I've grown up into a. . .not real big, not real fast adult.  The more things change. . .

By Gonzo 2)  We know that the 2006 Vikings' offense was one of the absolute worst in team history.  How much of that do you feel falls on the shoulders of Brad Johnson, and how much of that falls on the shoulders of head coach Brad Childress? 4)  How much of an impact do you think Adrian Peterson will have...

By Gonzo And you know something?  I haven't even gotten to the crown jewel yet.  One of the top 2 offensive playmakers in this year's draft. . .Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma. Did you know that there were actually morons out there that thought that Adrian Peterson wasn't going to play this season?  How st...

By Judd Zulgad Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson is the Vikings’ pick with the seventh-overall selection. The Vikings had their pick between Peterson and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn and they elected to go with the running back. UPDATE 2: Peterson just did a conference call with the Twin Citi...

By Chris Beaumont It has been a while since we had a film with Vikings in it. The last one I can remember is 1999's The 13th Warrior, which was helmed by John McTiernan and starred Antonio Banderas. There may have been something in between, but I cannot recall any. Now, eight years later we are faced with the Marcus...

By Gonzo Scouting Reports taken from NFL Draft Countdown.) Steve Smith, Southern California 5'11.75", 197# 40-yard dash:  4.44 sec So, there you have it. So, when it's all said and done. . .with the 41st pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select. . . Anthony Gonzalez, wide receiver, Ohio State

Presumbaly, the Vikings would be interested in trading up only if they could be assured of selecting wide receiver Calvin Johnson. That might be a stretch given that virtually every NFL team has shown an interest in Johnson. Even if it is a possibility, however, it appears to be an unwise mov...

By Gonzo A couple of other random NFC North thoughts. . . You know what all four NFC North teams have in common?  We don't have to worry about ANY of them winning the Super Bowl this year.  Seriously, when did the Vikings trade Brad Johnson to Chicago?