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Vikings Pulse
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Vikings 2019 Preview |
QB - Tarvaris Jackson returns as the starter and he enters the final year of his rookie contract. He has gotten better every year and this year he's playing for a contract so expect him to have a big year. Rumor has it he's got his sights set on league MVP this year. Tervaris Marshall returns for his 2nd season in the league as the backup. Marshall didnt perform as well as expected when he entered games but it was all part of the rookie process. Veteran David Greene was signed as the emergency QB but the team is confident he could manage a game if he ever needs to play.
RB - Adrian Peterson enters his 3rd season in the league and is already one of the leagues best backs. He's a dual threat runner/receiver and must always be in the back of defenses minds. 2nd year man Antonio Wright returns as the #2 RB and will remain important in this offense. In limited duty last season he scored 7 TDs. Mewelde Moore is also back as the #3 RB and is mainly an insurance policy for Peterson. At FB Marquis Wright is back for his 2nd season and rookie FA Lawrence Beckett was signed to back him up. The FB is not utilized very much in our offense so these guys are mainly special teams players.
WR - The WR core has always been the strength of the Vikings and the two stars Aaron Gooden and Troy Williamson are back again. Added to the mix is a third star in Randy Moss. He is back to finish out his career where it started and he hopes to draw some of the attention away from Gooden and Williamson. 3rd year man Aundrae Allison will put his progression on hold for a season as he moves down to the #4 spot to make room for Moss.
TE - Our offense has always lacked one thing and that was a big receiving TE. We hope we found a gem in this past seasons draft. 6'6" Trevor Johnson was drafted in Round 3 and if he shows the ability to hang onto the ball in traffic our offense should click on all cylinders. Jim Kleinsasser returns as the blocking TE and Vincente Schiancoe returns and will be the backup receiving TE. If Johnson struggles Schiancoe will find himself back in as the starter.
OL - 4/5 of the OL is back and the newest addition is the huge RT Jarred Roberts out of Texas. He is an immediate upgrade to what we've had in years past and we hope he is able to gel with the other linemen.
DL - Left side of the line remains the same with Michael Strahan being resigned to play LE. In the middle Kevin Williams is back as one of the leagues best DTs. On the right side we have some new faces. In the middle Pat Williams is gonna take a step back due to declined skills in favor or huge rookie O.J. Johnson out of North Carolina. OJ checks in at 341 pounds and looks to plug some holes. On the right end we got a new star in Richard Seymour who was picked up in a deadline hour trade with New England. Seymour is a beast and is basically a DT playing on the end and looks to push some OL back.
LB - LOLB Kenrick Walls looks to improve after his rookie year last season and ROLB Chad Greenway has been solid ever since he entered the league. The MLB position will have a new starter in Danny Baker. Baker is young and fast and will be spelled by Al Wilson if he should struggle.
DB - Secondary has no changes to the starters this year as we have a solid group that at times was dominant. In fact the only change was Darren Sharper not being resigned and rookie Quincy Foster was signed after not being signed by the team which drafted him.
K/P - Adam Vinatieri returns as the placekicker and Chris Kluwe returns as the punter. |
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Forum Discussion
(by Kobe on 01/06/2008)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 10 |
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Minnesota Season Outlook |
Not a lot of changes were made in the offseason because we were a young team to start and letting everyone mature was the plan. Main changes were on defense where we get quite a bit faster.
QB - Tarvaris Jackson returns as the starter and he's had a great offseason. Last year he was one of the top 10 QBs in the league and this was after a horrible start to the season. An offensive coordinator change during the season was a great move and Jackson looks to have a big year and be a top 5 QB this year. In the draft we got Tervaris Marshall who is a fast, scrambling QB with a great arm. If Jackson should happen to go down I think teams will fear seeing Marshall come in.
RB - Last years rookie of the year Adrian Peterson hopes to improve on a stellar year. This year his eys are on league MVP and he has the talent to accomplish it. In the draft we picked up HB Antonio Wright he is a tiny guy at 5'8", but he is fast and quick. Expect him to make lots of defenders miss and be a nice changeup from Peterson. Also drafted was FB Marquis Philips who filled a need on the roster but doesnt expect to be on the field too much.
WR - No changes to the WR corp except experience. We go 5 deep at WR and all will see playing time this year. We invite teams to try and double someone cause they will pay for it.
TE - No changes to the TEs this year. We are weak at offensive production from the TEs but a weak draft crop didnt help us any. This is probably the #1 concern on the team.
OL - All OL starters are back this year and they expect to dominate again like they did last year.
DE - No changes were initially planned at DE however management struck a deal right before the deadline to bring in veteran Michael Strahan. He is a huge upgrade to the left side and should give us some much needed QB pressure.
DT - The Williams Wall is back in the middle to clog things up for the LBs to make plays.
LB - Chad Greenway and Al Wilson return as starters but Ben Leber was released after the drafting of OLB Kenrick Walls. Walls outshined Leber in just about every category and should provide a big upgrade. With Walls playing behind Strahan he should have plenty of room to roam on the line of scrimmage.
CB - In the draft we picked up Kenny Blade and Quinton Stevens. Blade will be either our nickel or dime back depending on production. Stevens will be a special teams player to start but will provide solid depth should injuries occur.
S - Gem of last season's draft was SS Stephen Dudley. He is a monster of a strong saftey and he is fast. Look for him to learn from Daren Sharper and be the main guy real soon espcially with Sharper in his last year of contract. Dwight Smith returns as the other starting saftey and its predicted he'll have another outstanding season.
K - Chris Kluwe returns as the punter but he's got competition. 6th round pick Daryl Tripp has outperformed Kluwe in camp so both will start the season on the roster. Longtime kicker Ryan Longwell was released as Adam Vinatieri was signed to replace him. |
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Forum Discussion
(by Kobe on 10/27/2007)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 15 |
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Minnesota End of Year Report |
Vikings finish a dissappointing 8-8 but have many reasons to be excited about next season. The young players are turning into stars and the veterans are getting wiser every year.
Quarterbacks - An answer has been found to the QB situation created when Brad Johnson retired. Last year's 2nd round pick JJ Cobb has blossomed since becoming the full time starter in Week 6. The coaching staff gave Tarvaris Jackson too many chances to prove himself before finally benching him. Despite only starting 11 games Cobb ended up the league's 6th rated passer and by far the best QB out of last years draft class and should be a candidate for rookie of the year. Cobb's only downside was too many INTs but fortunately the majority were off tipped passes which is something that can be minimized.
Running backs - Chester Taylor stayed consistent carrying the ball this year. He has gone over 1000 yards in all 3 seasons with the Vikings. In the past he lacked a capable backup but Bubba Rodgers emerged this season and at times both HBs often found themselves in the backfield together. Only thing lacking from this group was rushing TDs and will be a big focus during the offseason. This duo isnt the fastest group but they get the job done. Jim Kleinsasser continued his dominance at FB leading the way.
Wide Receivers - Minnesota has one of the best 1-2 WR punch in the league. Aaron Gooden and Troy Williamson are both fast deep threats should be even better with an experienced QB at the helm next season. This combo routinely burns defenses when they see a 4-6 lineup and we seen a lot of it for some reason. 2nd year slot man Perry Blackmon put together a solid season with 40 catches and a couple of scores.
Tight Ends - Veteran Jermaine Wiggins lost his starting job to rookie beast Jimmy Mason midway thru the year but Mason didnt produce like we thought he would. Mason is a towering 6'7" and 290+ lbs. He was inconsistent by dropping way too many passes and he let smaller defenders outjump him for INTs. The TE position will be wide open come next season and this is a big area for concern.
OL - The OL stayed solid this year with the exception of RT. Marcus Johnson has struggled and will look to be replaced in the offseason. His lack of any pass blocking has limited our offense by limiting any rollouts to the right. We've had to turn the plays around and roll left which has worked fine but its not natural for a right handed QB to do that.
DL - The DL once again featured the Williams' wall in the middle with Erasmus James and Kenechi Udeze on the outside. James and Udeze have turned into fierce pass rushers as well as solid run stuffers.
LBs - 2nd year MLB Sergio Ricker had a little letdown but still finished with a solid 88 tackles. On the outside Ben Leber was a full time starter for the first time and his run stopping skills were a bright spot.
DBs - Secondary was a bad spot for us this year. In the 2nd half of games we could not stop the pass and our ability to hang onto easy INTs was non-existent. If our DBs had played to their ability this year we would of won several more games and be in the playoffs.
Special Teams - Ryan Longwell remained one of the top kickers in the league and Chris Kluwe was consistent enough to not warrant a change for next season. |
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Forum Discussion
(by Kobe on 05/25/2007)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 10 |
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Late Game Defensive Meltdowns Almost Cost Vikings |
After 3 games Minnesota sits at 2-1 and we feel fortunate to be sitting where we are.
Week 1 we traveled to Chicago in a defensive slugfest. Bears held onto a 6 point lead for most of the 2nd half and we were one big play away time and time again but couldnt convert. They made the stops when they needed to and we fell on the road.
Week 2 opened our home schedule as we hosted the Lions. Offense was not a problem in this one for the first 2 quarters anyway. We took a 20-0 lead midway into the 3rd quarter before Detroit woke up and started hitting stride. The first of our defensive meltdowns let Detroit get back into the game and only the clock saved us as we held onto a 4 point victory.
Week 3 we welcomed the resurgent Panthers into the Metrodome. Once again offense was not a problem in the 1st half and just like against Detroit we took a big lead into the 2nd half. Then just like last week the defense struggled late in the game. Maybe it's fatigue, maybe its coaching but whatever it is it almost cost us the game. In the end we held onto a 30-24 victory.
Bright spots for the team have to be the running game. Chester Taylor and Bubba Rodgers have had big holes to run thru even though we've faced some tough defenses. The other big bright spot has to be our run defense. Running backs have been running into the Williams Wall and not getting past it so far.
Areas for improvement are plenty for this team. First one is the quarterback position. Tarvaris Jackson has to improve on his completion percentage. He's at 44% right now and this team is used to a 60% rate. His inaccuracy hurt us in the Bears loss but in our 2 wins it hasn't been too big a factor. Jackson will continue to be the starter but will be on a short leash. The other area we need to improve on is our late game pass defense. Eventually we will get burned if we cant stop anyone in the 4th quarter. |
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Forum Discussion
(by Kobe on 04/06/2007)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 8 |
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Vikings Coming Alive |
After a dissapointing start Minnesota sat at 3-4 but the good news is that 3 of the 4 losses easily could of been wins. Since then we've won 3 in a row and hope to keep the run going. We're still in 3rd place but a big matchup with the Bears this week could move us into 2nd place with a win. On offense the bad spot is still QB Tarvaris Jackson but he has actually had 5 good games in a row and only really has 3 bad games out of 10 this season. If he can eliminate some silly mistakes the offense could become really potent.
On defense they have been playing great with the exception of the dropped INTs. Each game we are dropping 5+ picks and it has hurt us in our losses and kept our opponents close in our wins. If our DBs can start catching the ball like they should then look out. |
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Forum Discussion
(by Kobe on 02/10/2007)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 11 |
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At A Glance
| INJURY REPORT |
| PLAYER |
POS |
OVR |
LENGTH |
| NFC North |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #2 |
 Bears |
0-0-0 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
| #19 |
 Lions |
0-0-0 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
| #20 |
 Packers |
0-0-0 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
| #32 |
 Vikings |
0-0-0 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
| VIKINGS SCHEDULE |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME/RESULT |
| 1 |
Sun |
at  Seahawks #28 |
1:00pm |
| 2 |
Sun |
at Bears #2 |
1:00pm |
| 3 |
Sun |
vs  Patriots #22 |
1:00pm |
| 4 |
Sun |
vs Bears #2 |
1:00pm |
| 5 |
Sun |
vs  Redskins #26 |
1:00pm |
| 7 |
Sun |
vs  Dolphins #13 |
1:00pm |
| 8 |
Sun |
at  Jets #18 |
1:00pm |
| 9 |
Sun |
at  Bills #4 |
1:00pm |
| 10 |
Sun |
at Packers #20 |
1:00pm |
| 11 |
Sun |
at  Giants #16 |
1:00pm |
| 12 |
Thu |
at Lions #19 |
1:00pm |
| 13 |
Sun |
vs  Falcons #15 |
1:00pm |
| 14 |
Sun |
vs Packers #20 |
1:00pm |
| 15 |
Sat |
vs  Cowboys #12 |
1:00pm |
| 16 |
Sun |
at  Eagles #14 |
1:00pm |
| 17 |
Sun |
vs Lions #19 |
1:00pm |
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