On The Move... Already

Hello everyone,

I quickly became aware of the fact that this was not going to be an appropriate venue if I wanted to host the BEST Vikings website on the internet.

While things are still in the design phase, I would like to direct you to www.vikingsterritory.com which I will now be making my permanent home. 

Please go to www.vikingsterritory.com from here on out.

Thank you for the support!

Live Chat Right Around The Corner

Good morning ladies & gents!

The Vikings home opener against Tampa is right around the corner and I want to invite you to a live chat to mark the event.

Please click here to join me for a live chat right around kickoff.

Back Into Hibernation

Right now, I think it is just my close pals that are visiting this site and that is not a coincidence... it is by design.

I have received lots of great feedback on the site and I have quickly come to the conclusion that this style isn't going to work out real well.

So, I'm cooking up something new.

The "something new" is going to feature an easier-to-use comments system, forums acting as a great place to hang out, and tons more!  I'm really excited about it and look forward to getting you all on board.

However, I'm not technically savvy enough to put this together over night, and I am redirecting my efforts into web design with hopes of getting the new site "live" as soon as possible.

I still plan on (hopefully) doing a live chat during Sunday's game against Tampa.  If the live chat isn't located on this site, I will provide a link here for you to follow.  So, keep checking back for updates!

My best to you all, and thanks for all of the awesome feedback!

Adam

Question Of The Week: Pick The Winner

Vikes Avoid Home Opener Blackout

I am not sure what over 2,000 people saw in Sunday’s opening game in San Diego to cause them to jump up and buy tickets to this week’s game against the Bucs, but they did.

Last week, the Vikings had 3,000 tickets remaining to the home opener against Tampa Bay and Jeremy Fowler reports that the team avoided a local blackout and have under 1,000 tickets remaining.

Assuming the rest of the tickets sell this will be Minnesota’s 137^th consecutive sellout.

Vikings Daily is still somewhat in “beta” mode, but I do plan on trying to host a live chat here during Sunday’s game.  So, if you weren’t one of those fans that purchased tickets to the game, I hope to see you here.

Rushing Adrian All Day May Have Been A Mistake

All offseason long, as pointed out by Kevin Seifert, first year head coach Leslie Frazier made it clear that he planned on making Adrian Peterson the team’s workhorse as his formula for success.  As evidenced by the reported $100 million deal Peterson signed just prior to week one, the Vikings feel he can take over and dominate any game.

On Sunday, however, it became clear that this offense needs more than one platinum running back to win football games… even the games they appear to have in the bag.

The team ran the ball on 15 of their 19 first downs which is being criticized as too predictable of a offensive game plan.  Peterson ended the day with 16 carries for 98 yards, and save for a 46 yard bolt he had a fairly pedestrian outing.

The Vikings ended the day with 26 runs and 15 throws, with four of those runs coming from quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Joe Webb.

I am just being my normal old self, and not just being contrary for the hell of it, when I say the run to pass ratio had far less to do with this loss than the simple fact that the Vikings couldn’t execute in the passing game.

I mean, their average yards gained per passing play was a whopping 1.6 yards.  That dog just isn’t going to hunt.

Even Frazier himself, however, seems to agree with Seifert’s observation that the Vikings game plan was not balanced enough to warrant success.

"That is something you have to guard against,” Frazier said.  “They were stacking the line of scrimmage, and when that happens, you have to take advantage of that down the field. That is something that we are going to a look at. Adrian is such a threat, and such a focal part of our offense, we have to be aware of how people are going to try to defend us. This game will hopefully be one of those games that we look back on and will have helped us."

It sounds like we can expect the Vikings to examine their game plan and look for ways to improve, which could include more passing attempts on early downs, but what the film is going reveal to anyone that knows anything is the Bill Musgrave’s offense simply failed to do its job.

The result was a downward spiral, which Vikings fans are all too familiar with, towards frustration penalties and an exhausted defense on their way to losing a game they had every chance to win.

On Monday The Vikings Swap Centers

Jon Cooper was feel good story when he joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and then proceeded to make the team’s active roster as a reserve.

Cooper’s time with the Vikings has, at least for now, come to an end.

According to 1500 ESPN, the Vikings waived Cooper the morning after their 24-17 loss to the Chargers and replaced him with veteran center Joe Berger.

Berger, 29, has played for both the Cowboys and Dolphins over the course of his career and is thought to possess the versatility that Cooper failed to display during their 2011 training camp.

I still find it a little crazy that the Vikings continue to carry three centers and a long snapper, but at least Berger brings some added versatility to the mix, making the roster a little less thin at the guard position.

"(We) just felt like for what we were trying to do and where we want to be that this is the right thing to do," said Leslie Frazier about the move. "Jon has done a great job for us. Really like what he has done for our football team and in our locker room as well. But for where we're trying to get we just thought that this would be a good move. We'll see how it goes."

The Vikings offensive line remains a work in progress and fans should expect ups and downs throughout 2011, but it is a positive sign that the Vikings seem willing to shake things up a bit with hopes of making this unit more sound into the future.

Week One In The Books… Unfortunately

Through about 30 minutes of regular season football it looked like the Vikings couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.

The opening kickoff of their 2011 season, acting as underdogs to the home team Chargers, turned out to be an electrifying 103 yard touchdown from none other than Percy Harvin.

The defense looked stout in the first half.  Brian Robison disrupted Phillip Rivers’ release on one play, which ended up being an interception for hard hitting cornerback Antoine Winfield.  A 46 yard run from Adrian Peterson, a three yard touchdown throw from Donovan McNabb to Michael Jenkins, and a Jared Allen sack all contributed to a comfortable lead at halftime for the Vikings of 17-7.

Then, as if Bill Musgrave’s halftime adjustments included letting Darrell Bevell call the plays via Skype from Seattle, everything came to a screeching halt.

Jared Allen’s nifty interception in the third quarter was about the only play that us Vikings fans will want to remember.

Chris Cook, while he did make a few solid plays, often just looked lost and was certainly easy for a Pro Bowler like Rivers to pick on.  Eric Frampton and Cedric Griffin had a stupid penalties that both contributed greatly to scoring drives from the Chargers.  E.J. Henderson and Chad Greenway for some reason dropped out of coverage to make sure Rivers wasn’t going to run the ball (huh?) and gave up a touchdown pass to Mike Tolbert.

Perhaps most worrisome was the offense’s inability to, well… move.

Donovan McNabb finished with a ridiculous passing total of 39 yards.  95% of those yards came in the first half.  If you do that math (don’t worry, I got you covered) that means he only threw for two (TWO!) yards in the entire second half.

The offensive line certainly looked better run blocking than they did pass blocking, but overall it wasn’t a terrible day put in by a unit that everyone expected to be terrible.  Adrian Peterson was able to run for 98 yards on 16 carries.

The Vikings unveiled what is being referred to as their “Blazer Package” which is a setup that includes Joe Webb, Adrian Peterson, and Percy Harvin on the field at the same time.  The nickname stems from Webb’s time playing for the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers.  The back-to-back attempts ended up being laughable as they went absolutely nowhere, unfairly setting up McNabb with a third and long situation.  This package could be fun, but it is obvious that they need to polish it up a bit.

To make matters worse, the Vikings couldn’t even get lucky.

When Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding left the game with a season-ending injury on Harvin’s opening touchdown return, the home team was left in a bind when punter Mike Scifres had to take over field goal duties.  At the time, I thought this injury was going to be the difference in the outcome of the game, which is why it was so disheartening to see Scifres nail a 40 yarder like it was nothing.

Meanwhile, Ryan Longwell struggled to place his kickoffs anywhere near his opponent’s end zone.

In a way that was all to representative of the Vikings inability to compete for 60 minutes, the game ended when the defensive tackles couldn’t help but bite on Rivers’ hard count and jump offsides, leaving the Chargers with a 24-17 victory.

A New Home

Come one, come all, to the soon-to-be-anointed greatest Vikings blog of all time.

Okay, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

First, let me explain a little about myself.  I am a 26 year old father of one and husband of one.  I live in Valdez, Alaska where I design powerlines for a living.  More can be read about me in the spiffy, new “About Me” page, but I should also tell you I am not exactly a total newbie to this whole blogging thing.

In the last two and a half years I penned over 2,000 articles (about three of which were worth a hoot) over at the very fine website Vikings Gab which I highly recommend you add into your favorites folder. 

Okay, let’s try and get you oriented a bit.

If you click on the title of this post, it should bring you to a separate page where you can comment on this post.  Go ahead, give it a whirl and make sure it works.

On the right side of this page you will see a search tool, an archive of my posts, an area to sign up and subscribe to Vikings Daily updates, a blogroll called “The Hoard” that has tons of great sites on it, and towards the bottom you will find some of the most recent Vikings-related headlines constantly updating for your convenience.

At the top are some tabs to bring you to different pages that are featured on the site.  Eventually, you will see more features posted up there.

Also, don’t be shocked if you see some advertisements gracing these pages at a (hopefully) increasing level over the course of time.  These are not meant to annoy, by any means, but rather will be designed to not be invasive.  And, who knows, maybe you will see something you like and want to feed this hack blogger’s piggy bank by giving it a click.

So, these are my new digs.  Updates on the Vikings will be coming up next!

Take a look around, try some things out, and let me know what you think.