Villaume: Week One Vikings' Report Card

All the teachers are doing it. Or should. We use rubrics to measure performance and create standards for use in evaluation. Once established, everyone should know what is expected of them, and what is needed for grading purpose.

4 - exceeded standards of position
3 - met standards in all areas
2 - met standard partially; stood out in areas
1 - partial standard met at best

Only a few Vikings will be evaluated in Week One.

Antoine Winfield. A Four.

Winfield had a hand in ten tackles, many of them bringing down Mike "Marion Butts" Tolbert. Antoine sacrificed himself throughout the game. He also forced a fumble; and had an interception. Minnesota could not have asked for much more from Winfield.

Adrian Peterson. Three.

Peterson, coming off of the 100 million dollar signing, ran for 98 yards on only 16 carries. While he was bottled up early by Chargers' linebacker Taeo Spikes, he created holes later in the game. If Minnesota would have had the ball for more than the 22:43 they did, Adrian would have better numbers. But he looked real good at times.

The Vikings' ends created pressure at times. They were also asked to drop into coverage as Minnesota relied heavily on the blitz to create pressure, which they did in the first half, but not the second. Allen had an important interception; but combined with Robison to have only a single sack. Allen finished with six tackles, Robison three. They were decent.

E.J. Henderson, Erin Henderson, and Chad Greenway, LBs. Two.

The linebackers made tackles. E.J. Henderson had nine with a sack, Greenway eight. But the trio was asked to blitz frequently and only got to Rivers a few times in the game. In addition, the LBs are often responsible for running backs out of the backfield. Mike Tolbert and Ryan Matthews were held to 80 rushing yards on 24 carries. But they combined for 131 yards on 12 receptions. The backers might be a victim of the defensive scheme, but the grade stands.

Letroy Guion, Donovan McNabb, Bill Musgrave, and Bernard Berrian. One.

Each made costly mistakes.

McNabb threw for a total of 39 yards. His early mistake throwing low to Percy Harvin resulted in his first ever Vikings' pass being intercepted and cost Minnesota 7 points. McNabb made a couple of nice runs, and was the victim of a drop or two, but overall, Brett Favre was better last year.

The Vikings' offense was pathetic in the second half. Bill Musgrave, brought in from Atlanta, did little to change that. The insertion of Joe Webb cost the Vikings one of the few series they had the ball in the second half. Percy Harvin was looked at too often early, but not enough late. Minnesota did amass 159 rushing yards, but even Tarvaris Jackson threw for more yards in week one. Realizing Harvin returned the opening kick for a TD, the Vikings managed only 10 points on offense.

Berrian was supposed to be the go-to-guy in 2011. He was thrown to twice, and once he dropped a relatively easy pass. Sure, Phil Loadholt did not do enough to protect McNabb on the play, and Berrian had his man easily beaten; but the short ball still was catchable. Go-to-guys make that catch.

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A very frustrating loss to start the season, considering it was 17-7 Vikings at half time. But there were signs that things might be better. I liked the improved play of the secondary, and the special teams coverage was decent. Minnesota won the turnover battle 2:1.