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 John Sullivan
Unlucky Seven: Vikings' first half possessions were miserable in Sunday's loss
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: November 27, 2012 - 8:41 AM
A lot has already been said and written about the Vikings’ lackluster 28-10 loss in Chicago on Sunday. And until the Vikings flip the page this weekend in Green Bay, a whole lot more will be said and written about what all went wrong.
But perhaps the simple solution to ceasing all the frantic discussion is with this simple recognition: Chicago is undeniably a better team than the Vikings in all three phases. Done and done.
Still, the Vikings’ failed to light the wick for their upset bid at Soldier Field in big part because they delivered a dud effort offensively in the first half, falling behind 25-3 and never getting back on track. The Vikings had seven possessions before halftime and did next to nothing with any of them.
Just like that, they were buried on the road.
Here’s a snapshot of how the first half in Chicago fell apart offensively.
POSSESSION 1
Three plays, 4 yards
Time of possession: 1:48
End result: Punt
Place the blame on: Right guard Brandon Fusco
Worst mistake: On the first play, with an empty backfield and five receivers spread wide, Christian Ponder had barely caught the shotgun snap when he was devoured by Henry Melton for a 9-yard sack. Melton used a basic swim move to slither past Fusco. Center John Sullivan failed to redirect Melton as well. And that was that. Facing second-and-19 and third-and-18, the offense had little chance to make up for the offensive line’s malfunction.
POSSESSION 2
Four plays, 6 yards
Time of possession: 0:50
End result: Field goal
Place the blame on: Receiver Jerome Simpson
Worst mistake: A Chad Greenway fumble recovery put the Vikings in ideal position to deliver an early uppercut. Taking over at the Chicago 28 should have been just the kind of jolt the Vikings needed to jumpstart their day. Instead, on third-and-4, Christian Ponder’s slant dart to Simpson hit the inconsistent receiver in the hands, then hit the ground. Opportunity squandered.
POSSESSION 3
One play, 1 yard
Time of possession: 0:06
End result: Fumble
Place the blame on: Running back Adrian Peterson
Worst mistake: Peterson was simply carrying the ball too loose and light contact from linebacker Nick Roach jarred it loose. Peterson lost control of the football, the first of his two fumbles on the day and an indication that Peterson might not have had his usual focus. Don’t forget, he also missed the team bus from the hotel to the game and had to take a taxi to Soldier Field.
POSSESSION 4
Three plays, 9 yards
Time of possession: 1:32
End result: Punt
Place the blame on: Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave
Worst mistake: After a 1-yard completion to Simpson on first down, it’s hard to know what the objective was on second-and-9. Musgrave went with two tight ends but kept both Kyle Rudolph and John Carlson in as blockers. That left the Vikings with Simpson trying to get open against Tillman and Michael Jenkins working against Tim Jennings. Jenkins wasn’t even out of his break yet when Ponder bolted from the pocket and rolled right – signs of the receiver’s lack of speed and the quarterback’s impatience. Eventually, Ponder threw the ball out of bounds. A third down completion to Jarius Wright on a drag route netted 8 yards but not enough for a first down.
POSSESSION 5
Nine plays, 53 yards
Time of possession: 3:32
End result: Blocked field goal
Place the blame on: Receiver Jarius Wright
Worst mistake: Technically, you could easily point the finger at Fusco and Phil Loadholt, who both failed to slow the push of Julius Peppers on Blair Walsh’s 30-yard field goal attempt. Peppers blocked that kick. But the Vikings were only left to attempt that after stalling inside the red zone. Most confounding: on second-and-4 from the Chicago 12, Musgrave called in a play that seemed to show his desperation with Percy Harvin out and no other reliable receivers to turn to. Instead, the Vikings only had one receiver on the field: Wright, a rookie, who didn’t really do anything wrong but couldn’t get open in the middle of Chicago’s zone. The Vikings had four other potential pass catchers on the play, including three tight ends. But John Carlson was slow getting off the line, was only 2 yards down field when the pocket began to cave and was knocked off his path by Lance Briggs. Rhett Ellison was still early in his route and Kyle Rudolph was never open. Ponder ended up under-handing an incompletion out of bounds just to avoid a sack.
POSSESSION 6
Five plays, 14 yards
Time of possession: 2:06
End result: Interception
Place the blame on: Quarterback Christian Ponder
Worst mistake: On an afternoon where Ponder never seemed settled and his pocket poise was absent, his worst throw cost the Vikings dearly. On a second-and-10 from the Vikings 25, Ponder felt pressure from Nate Collins and tried to gun a pass to Devin Aromashodu on a dig route 18 yards down the field. But Ponder’s pass sailed way over Aromashodu’s head and hit Bears safety Chris Conte right in the numbers. Conte returned the ball to the 13. And Chicago scored on the very next play. Ponder said after the game that he has to learn not to force the ball downfield. But in truth, the throw was far more worrisome than the decision. Also worth noting: Collins stunted and ran right over Fusco, who had been beaten a play earlier by Israel Idonije.
POSSESSION 7
Three plays, 5 yards
Time of possession: 0:27
End result: Punt
Place the blame on: Ponder
Worst mistake: After taking possession with 1:48 left before halftime, the Vikings inability to run more than 27 seconds off the clock before punting was inexcusable. On first down, Ponder had no one open and skipped a pass in the direction of Wright. On second down, Ponder got pressure from Shea McClellin and airmailed Rudolph on a deep ball down the seam. On third down, Ponder settled for a 5-yard safety valve completion to Wright. The Vikings’ third three-and-out of the day was a fitting way to end the half.
Getting to the quarterback
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: November 26, 2012 - 3:38 PMPressure 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.”
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.”
Did Wright earn more playing time?
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: November 12, 2012 - 4:18 PMSince being drafted in April Jarius Wright has been described as a Percy Harvin-type receiver, primarily a slot receiver, for a lot of reasons. He is fast. He is not particularly tall. He has a rather thick, strong build.
Not that this is a bad thing, as Wright joked Monday. “Being compared to Percy Harvin doesn’t bother me at all,” he said.
But it wasn’t until Harvin was hurt that Wright was finally activated for a game. And Wright responded. He caught a 54-yard pass from Christian Ponder on the Vikings’ first series. Two plays later he made his first career TD catch. He finished with three catches for 65 yards.
With Harvin’s sprained ankle expected to be healthy coming out of the bye, the question is whether the Vikings can – or will – try to use both receivers at the same time. After all, Wright did show some field-stretching speed.
“We always felt he had a chance to help us,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “That was the reason we drafted him. To see him play as well as he did is great for our team, great for his confidence. (But) it will always be week-to-week with some guys. It probably won’t be any different with Jarius. We’ll take a look at him every week.”
Wright, meanwhile, sounded very confident that the team’s offense has room for both he and Harvin.
“There is definitely room for me and Percy on the field at the same time,” he said. “And I’m sure in the future you might get a chance to see some of that. Me and Percy go bring similar styles of game to the field. But, at the same time, who’s complaining about what me or Percy brings to the game?
A good question.
Wright said he has gotten the majority of his practice snaps in the slot, but said he could play outside if asked.
When asked if two smaller-sized receivers could work together on the field, Frazier said yes.
“If you believe a guy can really help you get it done, you’ll figure out a way to make that work numbers-wise,” he said. “It does mean you have to put someone else down if you dress five wide receivers. But there are ways we can get that done if we want both of them on the field.”
Wright, for one, was just happy to have been on the field Sunday.
“I’m very excited about my performance,” he said. “And I’m glad I was able to help the team. I’m glad the coaches gave me the chance to be able to help the team. And hopefully they continue to give me that opportunity.”
HEALTHY FOR THE STRETCH RUN
A knee injury kept him out of the preseason, and a concussion kept him out of two regular season games. But tight end John Carlson is healthy now and will be for the stretch run. But does that men a bigger role in the passing game? Carlson, an off-season free agent signing, caught one pass for 11 yards against Detroit Sunday and has just four receptions this season.
“Obviously I want to contribute,” he said. “I want to help the offense. Yes, I would like to be involved more. But there have been some things that have happened. I’ve had some setbacks to deal with over the course of the season. And the team goals always come first, whether I have 50 catches or four catches. The team goals always come first.”
And that, he said, means doing whatever he’s asked to do.
“Whether it’s playing more and blocking in the run game or protecting in the pass game or catching more balls, I want to contribute and help the team win,” he said. “but I need to continue to work and earn that right.”
LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN
Safety Mistral Raymond said he felt 100 percent healthy in his return to action after missing six games with an ankle injury. He was used in a rotation at the position along with Jamarca Sanford Sunday. Given that he was the starter when the season began, and the fact that Sanford played well in his absence, there figures to be some strong competition for playing time going forward.
“Always has been,” he said. “Ever since I’ve been here there always has been. And that makes us all better.”
ETC.
--Tight end Kyle Rudolph said his bye-week plans are to go to South Dakota with John Sullivan, Chad Greenway and Cullen Loeffler to do some pheasant hunting. It should be interesting, considering Rudolph said he’s never hunted before.
Vikings fall in Seattle
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: November 4, 2012 - 9:03 PMSEATTLE – As one of the Vikings veteran leaders, Chad Greenway knows he’ll be shouldering some heavy responsibility in the days ahead. Suddenly, the once giddy Vikings have been engulfed by frustration.
So following a long afternoon at CenturyLink Field, Greenway tried to convince himself that Sunday’s 30-20 loss to the Seahawks wasn’t a season killer.
“It’s just mental errors,” he said in a glum locker room. “It’s stuff we’ve got to get right. But we’re not going to point fingers. … The sky is not falling.”
It was a declaration noble in concept but also hard to take entirely at face value given the setting.
Surrounding Greenway, a pack of his defensive teammates all stared blankly through one another as they absorbed their second consecutive double-digit loss.
Greenway himself seemed dazed by the beatdown and the understanding that the schedule is rapidly getting tougher.
Outside, a low and gray Seattle sky only intensified the depression. If it wasn’t falling, the clouds sure weren’t breaking.
On a day the rest of the NFC North seemed to hit stride – the Bears rolled up 51 points in Tennessee, Aaron Rodgers was on fire for the Packers and even the Lions seemed to find their offensive punch again – the Vikings’ many shortcomings seemed to multiply.
For the third straight week, an opposing running back mowed through their defense for more than 100 yards. Marshawn Lynch did the steamrolling Sunday, piling up 124 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.
On top of that, for the third time this year, a rookie quarterback methodically chopped the defense apart like Gordon Ramsey dicing an onion.
This time it was Russell Wilson firing three Seahawks touchdown passes and steadying the offense with his aplomb and agility.
Worst of all for the Vikings, their passing attack flat-lined, providing indisputable proof that their offense is one-dimensional and too easy to slow.
By now, certainly you’ve heard the most embarrassing stat, that total of 44 passing yards the Vikings posted. And certainly you’ve digested the latest numbers for second-year quarterback Christian Ponder – 11-for-23, 63 yards, four sacks, one interception – which will inevitably lead to a bombardment of “Joe Webb” yard signs popping up around the Twin Cities.
But what makes the passing ineptitude harder to digest is that no one seems to have an explanation for what’s going wrong. Ponder was asked if he could put his finger on it.
“No,” he said. “Not yet. Give credit to them. But I’m sure there will be stuff on film that we’ve got to fix.”
Added center John Sullivan: “I wish I knew. It’s hard to pinpoint.”
Even coach Leslie Frazier seemed astounded by the passing failures. After all, running back Adrian Peterson ran wild all afternoon. He broke loose for a 74-yard run just two snaps into the game and added five other rushes for at least 12 yards.
At day’s end Peterson had 182 rushing yards with two touchdowns even as the Seahawks stacked eight- and nine-man fronts to stop him.
Conceivably, that should have given Ponder a lot more field to attack. Instead, his longest completion was a 14-yarder to Jerome Simpson.
For the second consecutive game, he failed to complete a pass to Kyle Rudolph. And on eight third-down passing plays, he had just two completions plus an interception and three sacks.
“Going into it, we had an idea of things we thought we could execute well in the passing game,” Frazier said. “We felt like we’d be able to run the ball. And we thought we had a good plan in the passing game. But they obviously did some things to affect our pass offense.”
To a man, the Vikings insisted they would use their thorough video review of Sunday’s game to diagnose the problems. (That certainly won’t aid the mood.)
Frazier also again made clear no changes at quarterback are on the horizon.
“I don’t necessarily think Christian is the problem,” he said.
Still, everyone agrees the passing offense as a whole has become an anchor that’s sinking the Vikings.
Said Frazier: “We need some balance. … And we have to look at the tape as coaches and figure out what we have to do to create that balance.”
After a surprising September and an ordinary October, the first game of November sent the Vikings home from the Pacific Northwest with a gaping confidence wound. Four division games await, which doesn’t seem like the remedy right now.
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