We interrupt this program to bring you some non-Adrian Peterson analysis. Certainly the Peterson controversy is the biggest problem on the Vikings' plate at present, but it's not the only one. There are some on-field issues as well. Specifically, two of the most important positions on any football team – cornerback and left tackle – are becoming more and more of a concern for the Vikings by the week.
I'm not a football coach, nor do I play one on the Interwebs. I don't pretend to have all the answers when it comes to what a player is doing wrong with his technique. However, I have been watching NFL football for more than 40 years and covering it for 20, and what I do know is that two of the most important positions to any football team (aside from quarterback, obviously) are left tackle and cornerback – especially in this day and age of the pass-happy NFL. Can we all agree on that much?
I believe it's also fair to say the Vikings were convinced they had adequately addressed these two critical spots in recent drafts with the first-round selections of Matt Kalil (2012) and Xavier Rhodes (2013). Nobody with an office at Winter Park would argue with that.
However, following Sunday's game against the Patriots in which both Kalil and Rhodes had, by some accounts, the worst games of their young careers, it's fair to wonder if either spot is as settled as we all assumed. This is where the subjectivity comes in.
How bad were things this past Sunday? Somewhere between lousy and really awful.
When asked about both players on Monday during the non-Adrian Peterson portion of the press conference, head coach Mike Zimmer acknowledged Kalil had some things to work on and Rhodes is still honing his technique. You didn't really expect him to say they both stunk on Sunday, did you?
It's probably a good thing no reporter asked Zimmer what he thought of Pro Football Focus' assessment of both players. The tension was high enough. Zimmer has made it clear before that he doesn't attach significance to what ProFootballFocus.com does. They don't know the plays that are being called or each player's assignment, Zimmer told reporters in August. They don't grade on the same things or in the same way the Vikings coaches do. Both fair points.
Even so, Zimmer watched the game and he can read the box score just like the rest of us. We all saw the sacks and quarterback pressures Kalil ceded. The blocked field goal was on Kalil, too. We also saw the penalties Rhodes was flagged for, as iffy as one or two of them may have been. Kalil looks slow and unsure, and the knee injury that bothered him last year is no longer an issue. Rhodes has yet to intercept a pass, gets flagged too often and has had some injury issues of his own.
