vikings/nfl
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 Packers
Update: Winfield and Ponder on Vikings' injury report
Posted by: Chris Miller Updated: January 4, 2013 - 2:58 PM
Quarterback Christian Ponder is listed as questionable for the Vikings-Packers game tomorrow because of his sore right elbow. Ponder had limited participation in practice all week.
Cornerback Antoine Winfield is also questionable because of his broken right hand.
Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said Thursday that he expected both to play.
Tyrone McKenzie, one of the team's top special teams player, is out because of an injured shoulder.
Listed as probable are running back Adrian Peterson (abdomen), safety Harrison Smith (knee), defensive end Brian Robison (shoulder), defensive end Jared Allen (shoulder), cornerback A.J. Jefferson (ankle), defensive end George Johnson (quadriceps), punter Chris Kluwe (left, or non-kicking, knee) and right tackle Phil Loadholt (knee).
Update: For the Packers, defensive end Jerel Worthy (knee) and wide reciever Jarrett Boykin (ankle) are out, and running back James Starks (knee) is questionable.
Cornerback Charles Woodson returns from a broken collarbone and is probable, as are wide receiver Jordy Nelson (knee), receiver/kick returner Randall Cobb (ankle) and running back Alex Green (hip).
Out means a player has no chance of playing (unless he's Brett Favre). Questionable is 50 percent chance. Probable is virtual certainty he will play.
Behind Enemy Lines: After slow start, Aaron Rodgers carved Vikings up last week
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: January 4, 2013 - 8:18 AMAs the Vikings prepare for Saturday’s playoff showdown with Green Bay at Lambeau Field, we asked Tyler Dunne, who covers the Packers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, to give us his up-close-and-personal scouting report. Here are four things you need to know …
1) The Packers will welcome two key contributors back to the field – one on offense, one on defense.
After missing last Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, receiver Randall Cobb has been back at practice all week and progressing nicely, likely to start Saturday night and eager to add some pop to the Packers offense.
On the other side of the ball, defensive back Charles Woodson, a 15th-year veteran, seems likely to return after a nine-game absence due to a broken collarbone.
So which return is more important?
Cobb was Aaron Rodgers’ top target during the regular season, registering 80 catches for 954 yards with eight TD catches.
“The Vikings had a little bit of success blitzing Rodgers last week,” Dunne said. “He wasn’t lights out like he usually is against that. But I’d have to think having Cobb back in the slot and on the same page, that’s a big cure for that. And it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Packers offense with both Cobb and Greg Jennings together, both at full strength, playing their best. That’s a big deal.”
As for Woodson, his last action came on Oct. 21 in St. Louis. With the Packers having significant confidence in a young secondary that includes Casey Hayward, M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian, Woodson’s veteran presence isn’t mandatory but should help. His versatility allows defensive coordinator Dom Capers to unleash his impressive creativity as well.
“As good as those young guys have been, they all had key errors in that game last week,” Dunne said. “So there’s definitely room for Woodson.”
Now it remains to be seen just how extensive a role Woodson will be able to take on, his conditioning certainly lessened due to his extended absence.
“They seem pretty confident that he can jump right in and be a difference maker,” Dunne said. “But you’d have to think there will be some type of transition.”
2) Green Bay’s defense still has no answers for Adrian Peterson.
If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. And if you don’t succeed then? Well, that’s the predicament the Packers seem to be in after allowing Peterson to run for 409 yards in two regular season games. Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy continues to insist that his defensive players simply need to do a better job of tackling to slow Peterson. But that’s an easy request for a coach with a headset to make. For the guys absorbing Peterson’s shoulder blows and stiff arms and ridiculous power, the challenge is elevated.
“The Packers can say all the right things around here,” Dunne said. “But you’d have to think that Adrian Peterson, to some degree, has gotten in their heads a little bit. How in the heck do you stop this guy? And what’s even more confusing is that their tackling has been better this season. They did shutdown Arian Foster [29 yards on 17 carries] and Chris Johnson [11 for 28]. They did a pretty good job with Marshawn Lynch [25-98]. Yet, for whatever reason, Peterson owns them.”
Peterson’s 199 yards Sunday came with the Packers devising a decent game plan designed to keep the star running back inside. Still, the yards just kept coming.
“He was chipping away, chipping away,” Dunne said. “That has to be a concern. It seemed like the Packers had a good game plan and guys in position to make stops all game long. And still, they couldn’t do it. So now what?”
3) As good as Peterson is, reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers was at the top of his game last Sunday as well.
During one break in the action, Peterson and Rodgers stopped to talk with one another, both offering sincere praise of the other as the best in the game at their position. So, see, it’s not just the fans who recognized the legendary qualities of Peterson and Rodgers last weekend.
Troubling for Rodgers in last week’s loss: Green Bay’s slow start. The Packers punted on their first three possessions, allowing the Vikings to build confidence and a 13-0 lead.
“Some of that is an offensive line getting comfortable and being able to make calls in a tough environment on the road,” Dunne said. “Similar things happened at Detroit, at Seattle. Sometimes on the road, it’s been a little rocky at the start of games just getting assignments down and knowing who blocks who and getting into a rhythm for everybody. But once they figured that out, they got on a roll.”
Not troubling for Rodgers: he found his groove eventually leading six scoring drives on the Packers’ final seven possessions. Green Bay probably would have won last week’s game had they had the ball last, especially with Rodgers in a zone and picking apart a Vikings’ secondary that lost Antoine Winfield to a hand injury late in the first half. Rodgers threw for 318 of his 365 yards after Winfield’s exit.
“That was as good as they’ve looked in a really long time,” Dunne said. “And after Winfield went out, the Packers went after [Marcus] Sherels. They were just attacking him for big chunks.”
The Packers offense also got a notable boost last week from 24-year-old running back DuJuan Harris, who had 70 yards on 14 carries. Signed to the practice squad in October and later promoted, the diminutive Harris didn’t see his first action until Week 14 as he became the next man up in an injury-ravaged Green Bay backfield. His effort last Sunday was impressive.
“The Packers have a lot more trust and confidence in the guy,” Dunne said. “And his running style is just a little different than everybody else. Ryan Grant is so good on those stretch plays where he can press the hole and cut upfield when something’s there. Alex Green is more of a spread offense kind of back. Harris just gets it and goes. He’s a north-south tough runner.”
4) It’s not just the Vikings trying to vanquish the bad memories of their last playoff game.
For the Vikings, a 31-28 overtime loss to New Orleans in the 2009 NFC Championship game doesn’t require revisiting. It was 236 different kinds of painful. And Saturday will be their first playoff game since.
Green Bay’s last playoff game? A 37-20 home loss last January to the Giants, filled with uncharacteristic errors and providing a galling conclusion to a season in which the Pack went 15-1 during the regular season.
“That was a strange game, especially for the offense,” Dunne said. “They had three fumbles all year and then three fumbles in that game. They rarely dropped passes all year then dropped a ton of passes in that game. With the season on the line and so much at stake, everybody just fell apart, crumbled, played bad. That’s where the sting remains. They just weren’t themselves when it mattered most.”
The emotional scars of that loss won’t impact Saturday’s game with the Vikings much if at all. But certainly it provides motivation and a reminder of capitalizing on postseason opportunities as much as possible.
“You have to think they have that feeling of needing to play their best when it matters,” Dunne said. “Without a doubt, that’s in the back of your head – that feeling of having left something on the table and wanting to make things right.”
New cast may be key to keeping Antoine Winfield on the field Saturday
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: January 3, 2013 - 5:20 PMLast week, Antoine Winfield wore only a wrap and a protective pad on his fractured right hand. This week, he’ll go with a sturdier soft cast. And that more than anything else is giving Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier optimism that Winfield will be able to play more Saturday night in Green Bay than he did in last weekend’s home win over the Packers.
“I feel better,” Frazier said following Thursday’s practice, the Vikings’ last of the week. “Just to see him move around with that cast, he was actually over there hitting the dummies and doing some things to jar it just to see how it would feel. And he said it felt great. So that was encouraging, very encouraging.”
Winfield played only 18 of 64 defensive snaps last weekend. And the Vikings defense was chewed up after his exit in the second quarter. Even if Winfield can start Saturday night, Frazier has dabbled with contingency plans, one of which would include moving A.J. Jefferson inside as a slot corner and using rookie Josh Robinson outside. Marcus Sherels, who replaced Winfield on Sunday, is also an option in the slot, though it seems clear the Vikings are looking for ways to minimize Sherels’ role on defense.
Winfield will likely be listed as questionable when the Vikings issue their official injury report on Friday. It seems likely that he will start. Keeping that hand protected will be key.
Winfield also noted after Thursday's practice that he would definitely be seeking medicinal help to numb his right hand as much as possible.
In other injury news …
- Quarterback Christian Ponder continues dealing with tightness in his right elbow this week and has been limited in practice the last three days. “He’s done a lot more stuff mental than physical right now,” Frazier said. “But he should be fine.”
- Rookie safety Harrison Smith continues to work through a minor knee injury, a setback that kept him out of practice on Tuesday and limited him on Wednesday and Thursday. But Smith will start Saturday.
- Adrian Peterson was also back at practice Thursday and, according to Frazier, moved around well even as he continues dealing with a lingering abdomen injury. Defensive end Brian Robison also seems to have made notable progress with the shoulder sprain he’s been dealing with for the past two weeks.
Michael Jenkins justifying his title as "The Professor"
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: January 3, 2013 - 9:22 AMThe last time the Vikings visited Lambeau Field, their receivers seemed invisible, held without a catch for the first 57 minutes while finishing with a grand total of three grabs for 38 yards.
In the rematch with Green Bay last weekend, the production spiked significantly. Not only did Jarius Wright, Michael Jenkins and Jerome Simpson combine for nine catches for 166 yards but five of those connections either converted third downs or went for touchdowns.
Another -- by Jenkins in the first quarter – produced a 9-yard gain on third-and-10, allowing the Vikings to then convert a fourth-and-1 opportunity.
Jenkins has been making a habit of supplying clutch grabs during the Vikings’ four-game winning streak. Since leaving Lambeau, Jenkins has an ordinary stat line of 10 receptions for 145 yards. But nine of those grabs have come on third down (for 118 yards) -- with eight of those producing first downs.
That’s why receivers coach George Stewart continues to speak highly of a reliable veteran whom he has nicknamed “The Professor.”
“He knows this offense inside and out,” Stewart said. “Our young players can go to him with any question they have. I always go back to his professionalism. That sucker is a pro.”
Stewart raved most about the 3-yard TD catch Jenkins made last weekend in a scramble drill with the veteran receiver spinning back toward the left sideline and then outmuscling Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings for the score.
“Michael had to come back and be friendly to the quarterback to beat that safety back to the ball,” Stewart said. “Christian threw that pass on faith. Because he knew Michael Jenkins would work his way back to that football.”
Vikings experimenting with slot options in case Antoine Winfield can't play
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: January 2, 2013 - 3:34 PMThe Vikings seems to have little doubt that veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield will play Saturday night in Green Bay. But even if Winfield can start, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to finish, still dealing with a fractured right hand that is significantly swollen and grew so painful Sunday that he left the game for good in the second quarter.
Marcus Sherels supplanted Winfield as the slot corner thereafter and may still be the Vikings’ most likely option there if Winfield can’t play or is limited this weekend. But defensive coordinator Alan Williams admitted that he is shuffling things around in practice this week and has tried everyone from Josh Robinson to A.J. Jefferson to a few of the team’s safeties as the Vikings look for reinforcements to their passing defense.
Reflections of …
When the Vikings left Green Bay at 6-6 following a Week 13 loss to the Packers, most outsiders figured it would be a longshot for the Vikings to win out and reach the playoffs. Jared Allen? He thought back to 2008 when the Vikings were 5-5 and in a crowded NFC North race yet won five of their final six to reach the postseason.
Said Allen: “You start looking around your team and realizing, hey, we’ve got a better team here than 2008. We’re deeper. We have more depth, and we’re injury-free. And we’ve got, especially on the defensive side, some guys playing at a high level. And our back end is playing really well.”
Allen said the Vikings channeled that big-picture into focus and went about plucking off each of their final four wins as independent lines on a checklist.
Truly special
It might have seemed like special teams coordinator Mike Priefer was kidding Wednesday when he mentioned the constant lobbying that Adrian Peterson does to find a role on special teams. He wasn’t.
“He always asks,” Priefer insisted. “He’s a football player. Gunner, field goal block, returner. The guy is awesome. I always say yes. And then I ask the head coach and he says no.”
Peterson confirmed his desire to get on the field more with a role outside of the offense.
“Yeah, for the past two years I have been trying to get in on field goal block,” he said. “Come in off the edge. You know. It’s just going to take one block for them to really be [like], ‘OK, you know what, let’s take the chance and let you go out there and get it done.’ … I believe in having your best players on the field, especially in critical times. You never know what can happen. That’s what I would do.”
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recent posts
- Update: Winfield and Ponder on Vikings' injury report
- Behind Enemy Lines: After slow start, Aaron Rodgers carved Vikings up last week
- New cast may be key to keeping Winfield on the field Saturday
- Peterson, Walsh named NFC players of the month
- Michael Jenkins justifying his title as "The Professor"
- Sanford's investment, rapid growth typifies Vikings' resurgence
- Frazier on Harvin not being around team: 'It's purely up to him'
- Vikings experimenting with slot options in case Antoine Winfield can't play
- Ponder limited with bruised right elbow
- The words in Christian Ponder's pre-game speeches don't matter
- Ex-Viking Larry Bowie dies
- Walsh wins his third NFC special teams Player of the Week award
- Jared Allen: No 5-year plan, 'I'm here to win now'
- Practice indoors or outside? Vikings opt to straddle the fence
- Vikings defense still has plenty to worry about after Green Bay's explosion
- 'Instant Classic': Erin Henderson couldn't get enough watching Sunday's win back
- Playoffs nothing new to Charlie Johnson
- Pro Bowler Felton hopes he's found long-term home with Vikings
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