Dan Wiederer began covering the Vikings in 2011, enthusiastically delivering insight on the team across the Star Tribune's print and digital products. Prior to joining the Access Vikings team, he spent seven seasons covering ACC basketball at The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He also covered the Chicago Bears in 2003 and 2004. Follow him on Twitter @StribDW.
Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL the past 20 years, including the Browns from 1991-95 and the Vikings and the NFL since 2003. Since 2008, Craig has served as one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. He can be followed on Twitter at @markcraignfl.
Posts about Vikings offense
Getting to the quarterback
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: November 26, 2012 - 3:38 PM
Pressure drop
The Bears entered Sunday’s game with the Vikings ranked near the bottom of the league at allowing sacks. So why is it the only time Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was technically sacked was when he got his foot stepped on by his own lineman, falling to the ground?
In other words, why were the Vikings unable to get to the quarterback?
A big reason, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said, is that the Vikings rarely put the Bears in the position of having to get the ball deep downfield. “They had a lot of five, six-yard passes and trying to run after the catch,” Frazier said. “So we didn’t get them into the kind of game we needed to be, where we were able to take advantage of what we thought was an opportunity for our defensive line.”
The Bears started the game by chipping on the Vikings defensive ends with the tight end, and never really had to deviate from that plan. Things were different for the Bears against San Fransicso the week before. In that game Chicago got behind early and had to get more aggressive in the passing game.
Sunday the Bears came out with a conservative game plan -- helping the line with tight ends and backs -- and the Vikings never forced Chicago to change.
“Their passing game was different than what they had used the week before or the week before that,” Frazier said. “They really shortened some things down, which was smart. They did the right things to do.”
And the Vikings offense never put the Bears in a position to have to change things up.
“In (the San Francisco) game they were behind,” defensive tackle Kevin Williams said. “They had to get receivers out and backs out to catch the ball. (Sunday) they chipped our ends and doubled up inside. That made it tough to get to the quarterback.”
--Williams was asked if playing outside, on natural grass, was a problem for the Vikings. Minnesota will do that again this week in Green Bay. “You’ve just got to execute,” Williams said. “Doesn’t matter where you play the game at. It’s about executing and doing your job. If you don’t do it you don’t win, whether it’s inside, outside or on the roof.”
--Center John Sullivan said the Bears used an unusually high amount of line stunts in an attempt to get pressure on quarterback Christian Ponder. “There were a lot of line stunts, but that’s also because they were up by so much, we were forced to pass the ball. It’s a byproduct of how the game is going. When a defense like the Bears can get you behind, and they can just pin their ears back and pass rush, it can be a pretty tough group to deal with.”
Chat OT: Harvin's health, Winfield's resurgence, Ponder's upside
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: November 21, 2012 - 12:32 PMIf you missed my live Vikings chat on Tuesday afternoon, you can check in here and read the back and forth in full. In addition, each week I will attempt to go overtime, bringing good questions I didn’t get around to answering on the chat here to the Access Vikings blog for discussion. Here are Tuesday’s leftovers. Save them for the day after Thanksgiving if you must.
Question 1: I don't believe Percy Harvin won't play in Chicago this weekend due simply to soreness in his sprained ankle. That dude is tougher than nails and wants to compete worse than anyone. I gotta believe they'll just tape that ankle up and let him go. What do you think?
I think the same way. By kickoff Sunday, Harvin will have had 20 full days between games, a lengthy break that will have given him plenty of time to treat that sprained left ankle. With a division game and so much at stake and also knowing how antsy Harvin always is, I just don’t see him sitting this one out. Unless, of course, there’s some sort of significant setback at practice this week. And you’d have to believe, the Vikings will take it easy on him this week as a precaution.
Stay tuned for our updates from Wednesday’s practice.
Question 2: Vikings 24, Niners 13. Niners 32, Bears 7. I think this one is in the bag. Am I wrong?
Ah, yes. The good ol’ transitive property. Which we all know doesn’t work in the NFL. But if you’re looking for all the common opponents the Vikings and Bears have had to this point, let’s have a little fun with this.
- Jaguars: Vikings win 26-23 at home in Week 1; Bears win 41-3 on the road in Week 5. --> Bears plus 25
- Colts: Vikings lose 23-20 on the road in Week 2; Bears win 41-21 at home in Week 1 --> Bears plus 23
- 49ers: Vikings win 24-13 at home in Week 3; Bears lose 32-7 on the road in Week 11 --> Vikings plus 36
- Lions: Vikings win 20-13 on the road in Week 4 and 34-24 at home in Week 10 (average score 27-19); Bears win 13-7 at home in Week 7 --> Vikings plus 2
- Titans: Vikings win 30-7 at home in Week 5; Bears win 51-20 on the road in Week 9 --> Bears plus 8
By my count, the Bears are plus 18 overall. Divide that by five opponents. And you find Chicago is plus-3.6. So basically, anticipate a 24-20 Chicago win.
Question 3: It seemed like Antoine Winfield found the fountain of youth this year – fewer snaps, staying over the slot in the nickel defense and thus remaining closer to the line of scrimmage. But since Cook went down, he's had to play more. Is that decreasing his effectiveness?
Aside from Adrian Peterson, no Viking has impressed me more in 2012 than Winfield. The guy is a true pro and one of the most respected players in that locker room. At 35, he’s still playing at a high level and even drawing some chatter as a possible Pro Bowler this year. I don’t buy the notion that Cook’s absence the past two games has decreased Winfield’s effectiveness. He was pretty darn solid in the last outing against Detroit and continues to be a menace in run support. We’ll see if Winfield can stay fresh down the stretch here. But the coaching staff gives him a lot of down time during the week, understanding that they need him fresh on Sundays.
Keep an eye on Winfield the rest of the way. Not so much out of fear that Winfield will wear down but with an understanding that he won’t be around forever. And it’s wise to appreciate just how good a player he is while he’s still around – and excelling.
Question 4: Why do so many fans act as though RG3, Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton, etc., have so much going for them when their respective teams are NO better than the Vikings in Christian Ponder's first full season?
Question 5: There is a guy named Ryan Mallett sitting in New England. He has a HUGE gun for an arm, he’s accurate and looked great in preseason games. Will the Vikings ever go after this guy?
Move over Dwayne Bowe. We have our first “Why aren’t the Vikings trying to get Ryan Mallett?” question. I just wanted that noted for fun and am not about to spend any more time on that topic. I’ll give the questioner the benefit of the doubt and let him off the hook with the idea that the question may have been somewhat facetious.
But as for that first question, well, that one goes a little deeper. And it’s well documented that I think the most vocal Ponder naysayers are susceptible to premature judgment and can’t allow for even the idea that he will continue to grow as a quarterback and could one day emerge as the real catalyst of the Vikings’ offense.
The kid needs time and patience to test himself and the Vikings coaching staff and front office is doing a great job with managing that situation.
That said, if you can’t see the difference between RG3 and Ponder with a simple eye test, then I’m not sure I can help you. Griffin has only three interceptions in his first 10 starts. (Ponder had 13 picks.) Griffin has completed 67.1 percent of his passes in his first 10 starts. (Ponder had a .544 completion percentage through his first 10 starts). Griffin has a total of 18 TDs in his first 10 starts (12 passing, six rushing). Ponder had 13.
Anyway, to make a long story short, it’d be hard to find anyone with extensive football knowledge who would claim that Ponder had a brighter future than Griffin or Luck. Those two simply are a notch above Ponder in terms of athleticism and talent.
The biggest worries with Ponder come from those stinker games. Like the 58-yard afternoon and 35.5 rating against Arizona in Week 7. Or the 44 net passing yards and 37.3 rating in Seattle. Those drastic dips really don’t settle the anxiety of the fan base. And to date, Griffin hasn’t had a major stinker like that. And now, he’s coming off an effort in a 31-6 thrashing of Philadelphia in which he went 14-for-15 for 200 yards and four TD passes. That marked his fourth game this year with a rating above 100. (Ponder has five such games in twice as many starts).
Luck has had a few dips himself. He had three picks last week in New England, three picks in a season-opening loss in Chicago and was erratic in a 35-9 road loss to the Jets. His rating this season of 77.2 is well below Ponder’s (85.2). That said, Luck has thrown for 280 yards or more seven times. (Ponder has two such games in twice as many starts.) So it’s easy to deduce that Luck seems to be the more prolific quarterback.
Ponder may be in the same ballpark with Dalton when it comes to ability and upside. Dalton aided a playoff charge in 2011 as a rookie and has been pretty solid throughout 2012. He’s 14-12 as a starter. And while that’s not exactly a Canton credential, that kind of early success buys extra time and votes of confidence from all around.
Luck and Griffin get that extra time and those votes of confidence based on where they were picked and their obvious upside.
Ponder? In order to buy himself more time from an always jittery fan base, he needs to continue proving he’s getting better and making the Vikings’ offense better as a whole. Leading a charge to eight wins this season would be a big step in the right direction.
But overall, Ponder also needs to understand that his slumps cannot be as dramatic as they have been in his first two years. His recent funk drew twice as much worry because the end of his 2011 season was such a spill. He’ll also have to proceed knowing there’s a chunk of the fan base that will never be satisfied with anything he does. It’s just part of it.
Question 6: Who do you think needs to step up most these last six games for this team to make the playoffs?
I’ll give you a handful of names.
- Ponder: The obvious one.
- Jared Allen: Look, Adrian Peterson is doing his job as a superstar carrying the offense. Now it’s time for Allen to deliver on a similarly high level. There’s no greater opportunity than against a shaken offensive line in Chicago this weekend.
- A.J. Jefferson: The third-year corner will have to do his part in slowing Brandon Marshall twice in the next three weeks. He’ll also be tested in two games against Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay and will see Andre Johnson in Houston in Week 16. Chris Cook's broken arm was a major setback to a secondary that was on the rise. It's up to Jefferson to keep things humming.
- Letroy Guion: Assuming his turf toe issue doesn’t linger, the nose tackle will have to prove he’s as good as the coaching staff believes he can be. He’ll play a big part in making sure the run defense stays solid.
- Brandon Fusco: His play has been ordinary at best for the past month-and-a-half with back-up Geoff Schwartz seeing more time at right guard. The Vikings offense needs stability up front. And that means Fusco has to do his part to keep it together.
Opportunity calls the Vikings
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: November 19, 2012 - 2:18 PM
it has become very fashionable to talk about the difficulty of the Vikings’ upcoming schedule. Minnesota’s game at Chicago Sunday is the first of three straight games in the NFC North Division. In all, the Vikings play the Bears and Green Bay Packers twice each in the next six games.
But defensive end Jared Allen doesn’t see it quite that way. He sees a great opportunity.
“That’s been our focus,” he said. “And coach {Leslie} Frazier harps on it. We are in position to control our own destiny. And that’s all you can ask for. Right now we’re 2-0 in our division, which is phenomenal. And we have our division coming up, three straight division games that could very well determine where we’re sitting.”
Allen has a colorful way of characterizing game. In the days before the Vikings’ victory over Detroit before the bye, Allen didn’t call it a must-win game, but he did label it better-win. So how about this one?
“It’s not a make-or-break game, but it’s a dang critical game for what we’re trying to get to,” he said. “We have six games to get as many wins as we can get to get us in the playoffs. And it starts with Chicago. This game is as big as it gets this week. Might as well be the Super Bowl for this week. Then we’ll move on to next week.
“ “We have to go up there and we have to be right. We have the advantage of coming off a bye, so everybody should be fresh. And hopefully everybody’s mind is focused.”
Allen, Part II
The bye came at a good time for Allen, who had struggled with a groin pull in the weeks leading up to the break. He said he’s feeling better, but still isn’t 100 percent.
“No, not at all,” he said. “Not even close. I’m probably 75 {percent}. But you just work through it. Nobody is 100 percent this time of year.”
That said, Allen said the break helped.
“Just trying to stay fresh, do some things to try to numb the pain for the rest of the season.”
Improvement needed
While the players had some time off, the coaches spent much of the bye doing some self-scouting. So what conclusions were reached for the offense?
“They talked about what we needed to work on, and the big thing is our turnover differential,” quarterback Christian Ponder said. “And our Red Zone. Those are two things that we’ve got to work on, especially with our schedule stacked up.”
And what is the key to improvement in those areas? Execution of course. “We've just got to keep working on it and finding ways to make it happen,” Ponder said. “When we look back at the film and what we did wrong, it just goes back to execution and getting through my reads quicker and being able to check the ball down and not forcing things outside.”
The victory over the Lions before the bye did a lot for the team’s confidence. It also showed everyone – especially Ponder – that the offense could be productive without an injured Percy Harvin in the lineup.
We really want Percy back and hopefully he will be back,” Ponder said. “Obviously we know he’s a big part of this offense. But I think it gives confidence to everyone else that we can do some things without him and we can spread the ball around a little bit.”
Coming out of the bye weekend, with a huge stretch of games coming up, it should be no surprise that the focus of some conversation in the Vikings’ locker room Sunday centered around ... college football.
Where to start?
How about Matt Kalil? The former USC star had a bet with Chris Kluwe (the UCLA alum) about last Saturday’s game between the two schools. Apparently, the wager had to do with pushups to be done in the middle of the practice field after the game. According to Kluwe’s tweets, Kalil was a no-show after UCLA upset the Trojans. In his singular style Kluwe asked his followers for suggestions on how to deal with Kalil, saying he might have Kalil sing the UCLA fight song in a video….while wearing a cheerleader outfit.
All in good fun, right?
“I couldn’t get on the field, first of all,” Kalil said. “So I guess he said I bailed out. Maybe we’ll bargain for something else.”
That said, Kalil was ready to jump in again, predicting that USC – which will play without injured quarterback Matt Barkley – would upset Notre Dame this weekend.
“USC will win, I would say, 28-14,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the plethora of Notre Damers in the Vikings locker room felt differently.
“I’d like to see Notre Dame win, 21-14,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said.
Said John Sullivan: “They probably won’t score on us, to be honest. It hurts them Barkley is out. I’m not going to guarantee anything; sports are too fickle.”
One more college note: Last week Toby Gerhart was asked by Stanford to be an honorary captain for the Cardinal game at Oregon. Because of a prior commitment, Gerhart couldn’t go. After watching Stanford upset the Ducks in overtime, he rues that decision.
“Man it would have been fun to be there,” he said. “It was awesome.”
The numerical breakdown of Christian Ponder's rebound performance
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: November 12, 2012 - 11:00 AMVikings quarterback Christian Ponder snapped out of a funk in Sunday’s 34-24 win over Detroit. Ponder went 24-for-32 for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked only once, didn’t turn the ball over and added 15 rushing yards.
With Percy Harvin – the NFL’s receptions leader heading into Sunday – sidelined with a sprained left ankle, the Vikings offense had to turn elsewhere for aid. Adrian Peterson’s 171 rushing yards certainly helped. But Ponder also completed passes to 10 different players and the Vikings coaching staff did its best to open up the field with subtle schematic adjustments. Here’s a quick statistical breakdown of Ponder’s day.
Free agent punter works out at Winter Park
Posted by: Chris Miller Updated: October 30, 2012 - 8:29 PMThe Vikings, on the Tuesday off-day for players, often conduct tryouts for players and today they worked out a free agent punter.
Brian Stahovich, a former San Diego State punter who was with the Colts during the preseason, worked out, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Wilson is the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun. He cited NFL sources in reporting the workout on Twitter.
Stahovich has a Twitter account, but made no mention of his workout.
Vikings punter Chris Kluwe had a rough game in Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay, but it is unlikely the Vikings have any intention of making a move.
ADVERTISEMENT
recent posts
- Adrian Peterson delivers ear-catching remark on gay marriage
- With contract issues on hold, Jared Allen aiming to have big 2013
- Brian Urlacher retires, assuring he won't be Vikings middle linebacker
- NFL calendar change could push draft into May, combine into March
- Vikings' Chris Kluwe to sign with Oakland Raiders
- Vikings sign three more draft choices; only first-rounders left
- Hold off on buying that Urlacher jersey ...
- Vikings sign three draft picks; Chuck Muncie dies; Urlacher "rumored" to Vikings ...
- Access Vikings blog: ESPN's Bayless, Smith debate whether Ponder was as responsible for playoff run as Peterson (really)
- Bar to be higher for Ponder, lower for Peterson in 2013
- Dayton, PTI hosts question Vikings over Kluwe cut
- Vikings sign Mankato receiver Adam Thielen, tackle Brandon Keith
- Vikings make it official: Punter Chris Kluwe has been cut
- Vikings searching for best development plan for Cordarrelle Patterson
- Rookie Locke could have punter's job locked up by Monday
- Erin Henderson stepping into new role with 'more lead in my pencil'
- Ponder talks: Cassel, Harvin and a scary visit to the emergency room
- Vikings announce signings of 16 undrafted free agents
Post By Category
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters