One more Vikings flaw: QB-go-round

The Vikings lost three of their last four games in 2010. So if you include those defeats along with their 2-7 record this season, the team is only 3-10 -- including 1-5 at home -- in their past 13 games.

During those 13 games, the Vikings have employed five quarterbacks, a clear example how a team without a consistent passer in the lineup doesn't win. It also shows just how important Brett Favre was to the team in 2009.

Since then Tarvaris Jackson, Joe Webb, Favre, Donovan McNabb and Christian Ponder have taken a turn at quarterback.

The streak started at the end of the 2010 season, with Jackson losing 21-3 to the Giants. Favre then lost 40-14 to the Bears, Webb split the next two games, beating Philadelphia 24-14 and losing to Detroit 20-13.

During the current 3-10 streak, Jackson and Favre both went 0-1, Webb 1-1, Donovan McNabb 1-5 and Ponder 1-2.

What this proves is that the Vikings could have continued to be a power in 2010, instead of being 6-10, had Favre stayed healthy and was able to play like he did in 2009 when he was probably the best quarterback in the NFL and the Vikings were one or two plays from beating the Saints and going to the Super Bowl.

The Vikings had weaknesses in 2009 like they have today, but it shows how a great quarterback can carry a team.

The Vikings have a good young quarterback now in Ponder, who could carry the team in the future. But it took Aaron Rodgers of the Packers three years to develop into being the NFL MVP and people are going to have to be patient with Ponder, too.

Knight saved Coach K Duke's Mike Krzyzewski now holds the career record of 903 college basketball coaching victories, passing Bobby Knight after Duke beat Michigan State on Tuesday night.

Coach K played for Knight at Army, spent a season (1974-75) at Indiana as an assistant coach under Knight, and then was named head coach at Army in 1975, where he coached until he was named the head coach at Duke in 1980.

There were reasons that Krzyzewski was hugging Knight the other night after he set the record. And why Krzyzewski later told the TV audience and others that he wouldn't be the position he is today if it wasn't for Knight, who was his tutor.

Tom Butters was the athletic director at Duke when Knight convinced the former Pirates pitcher to hire Coach K.

Krzyzewski then went 24-10 the following year and the rest is history, 11 ACC championships, three NCAA titles, an Olympic title and today he is the most dominant college basketball coach in the country.

Knight has done a few good things -- contrary to what some people think.

Jottings • Vikings center John Sullivan was asked how frustrating it is to be a member of a team that two years ago was in the running for the Super Bowl and now is 2-7. "I think you have to keep the negative thoughts and emotions out of it," he said. "I think we just have to focus on taking this week-by-week. Forget about the big picture of the season and our record, and just focus on becoming a better football team each and every week that we go out there."

• On Saturday when the Gophers clash with Northwestern, there will be three Chicago Robeson high school teammates on the field: Charles Brown of the Wildcats and Brandon Green and Johnny Johnson of the Gophers. The trio played together from elementary school through high school.

• All-state Eden Prairie tackle Nick Davidson, one of the top nationally recruited players in the state and son of Vikings offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, suffered a serious injury when he broke his leg in the Class 5A quarterfinal game against Anoka and needed surgery.

• Kevin Harlan, the former Timberwolves broadcaster who lived in Mankato for a long time, and Solomon Wilcots, a member of the Vikings in 1991, will do the Oakland-Vikings telecast on Sunday.

• Former Vikings Pro Bowl special team player Heath Farwell was signed by the Seahawks but two other veterans the Vikings released, receiver Bernard Berrian and tight end Jeff Dugan, still are looking for jobs.

• The Wild, which has a three-point lead in the Northwest Division going into Thursday night's game against division rival Colorado, is the fifth-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 27. The Avalanche is the youngest team, at 26.

• Former Wayzata standout AJ Tarpley is having a great sophomore season with the Stanford Cardinal. Tarpley, an inside linebacker, is fourth on the team in tackles at 43 and has two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery along with an interception.

• Ex-Gophers defenseman Nick Leddy is fifth in scoring for the Chicago Blackhawks with two goals and 10 assists in 18 games and is second on the team with an average time-on-ice of 21 minutes and 25 seconds. ... Former Gophers defenseman Jordan Leopold has four goals and two assists in 18 games with Buffalo and is third on the team with an average of 20:37. ... Another former Gophers defenseman, Aaron Ness, has two goals and five assists in 15 games with Bridgeport of the AHL.