Minnesota Vikings Looks to Have Locked up Ten Wins – Maybe More

By now everyone knows about the latest head-turning acquisition in the NFL. No ladies and gentleman, we are not talking about Michael Vick. This is the return of the return of Mr. Brett Favre. I got a look at the Vikings schedule which didn’t interest me much prior to the huge pickup. But let’s all take a look together now that Favre has joined the club.

The first five games should produce a 5-0 start; at Cleveland, at Detroit, home against rebuilding San Francisco, home against defensively struggling Green Bay, and at the inept St. Louis Rams.

The next three games are tough; home against Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, home at Green Bay. I’d say the Pittsburgh game is a loss. The one against Green Bay could be a shootout based on pure emotion alone that could go either way. The game against the Ravens figures to be hard-nosed and I’ll give the Vikes the edge in that one being at home to bring them to 6-2 midway.

After that they get to rest up for a week before they face the Lions again at home, then inconsistent Seattle at home, and Chicago who has defensive and wide receiving woes at home as well. I think all three are wins bringing them to 9-2.

The final stretch is where it gets tough; at Arizona, a trap-game like matchup against Cincinnati at home, at Carolina, at Chicago who may be in the division race at that time, and home against the New York Giants who might be in playoff or NFC East title contention as well.

If the Vikings turn out to be solid, they should win one or two of those last five games. If they mold into a great team then 12-13 wins should be on the horizon. Favre may be 40 years old, and have shown signs of decay over the last half of the previous year, but in Minnesota he has a proven deep threat in Bernard Berrian, and a put-the-team-on-my-back rusher in Adrian Peterson along with starter-worthy Chester Taylor.  

This team is much more balanced offensively and stronger defensively than the Jets were last year and that should be the difference in how well Favre plays through another 16 game stretch.

SportsRoids Top 10 Fantasy Running Backs

I am not going to bore you with stats or insult our readers intelligence with mindless opinion. Keeping in mind it is “FANTASY” I humbly bestow upon you SPORTSROIDS Top 10 Fantasy Running Backs

10. Knowshon Moreno – I love this kid! And the history of Georgia Bulldog running backs in the NFL speaks for itself. He will carry a big load with Jay Cutler gone but I promise you he will handle it.

9. Clinton Portis – Every year people sleep on this guy and every year the guy that picks him between 8 and 12 usually wins the fantasty championship or overall points if not both. At 27 nothing changes for Portis.

8. Steve Slaton – Monster sleeper last yaer and bravo to anyone who drafted this kid before the 10th round and before they took a defense. Are you still not a believer?

7. DeAngelo Williams  – Okay SLOW DOWN …. becaue he will too … I am not ready to anoint him the second coming of Emmitt Smith…yet

6. Ladainian Tomlinson  – I would still take him number 1 overall because I love him and he is the man. Something happens to a man when he turns 30 and you’ll find out what I mean this year. Renaissance!

5. Adrian Peterson – Anyone can pick this guy number 1 but you ask the people who took him number 1 last year how that worked out for them come playoff time – BOINGER LAYIN IT DOWN!

4. Ronnie Brown – Contract Year ‘nough said

3. Maurice Jones-Drew – “Mr Mo-Jo Risin” He’s 24 with 3 years experience under his belt and poised to carry the full load for big numbers with an offensive line that has something to prove.

2. Michael Turner – Some may say I’m crazy but with just 15 million guaranteed for this 27 year he will look to give the Falcons a reason to secure him some more of that dough. Plus they’re loaded.

1. Matt Forte – The man that rushed us to victory! He’s my guy and I’m sticking with him. Plus anytime you hear a guy mentioned in the same sentence with Gayle Sayers, you tend to get a little wide eyed. Go ahead don’t be afraid. It’s just fantasy!

Where Will Jay Cutler Go from Here?

Yesterday it was reported that the Pro Bowl Quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Jay Cutler, had officially requested a trade. Today, we the people, began contemplating where he might end up if his request is honored. I’m sure there are many fans out there whose team could use a guy in Jay Cutler who played like the potential franchise-type quarterback that many analysts foresaw. The scoop is that new head coach Josh McDaniels, who was offensive coordinator for the Patriots, wanted to trade Cutler for Matt Cassel since he was familiar with his system already. This has since angered the young Cutler and he now wants to go… but where?!

To start off an easy process of elimination, every team in the AFC is out since teams don’t usually like to send star players away to in-conference franchises. And although Cassel was finally traded to another AFC team, like his former Patriots, in the Chiefs, that was more of an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” deal.

This was the widespread thought when that deal went down, because Scott Pioli, the former general manager of the Patriots moved onto Kansas City to try and resurrect that ball club.

So the AFC is out!

In the NFC East, Dallas has Tony Romo, NY has Eli Manning, and Philadelphia has Donovan McNabb. So far, Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins still has a lot to prove, while Cutler seems way more promising than him thus far when both their careers are compared.

In the NFC North, the Packers have Aaron Rodgers, and the Vikings made moves to throw their young QB Tarvaris Jackson into a competition with newly acquired Sage Rosenfels from Houston. I don’t think that the Lions could attract an odor, so the Bears are definitely a hot spot. They’ve had no success with Rex Grossman, and minimal with Kyle Orton.

In the NFC South, the Saints boast Drew Brees, and the Falcons have a young star in rookie of the year Matt Ryan. The Panthers would have looked to have some great trade bait with the disgruntled Julius Peppers, but now it looks like he may be a Patriot soon. However, with Jake Delhomme being their current signal caller you still can’t count them out. Then there’s the Buccaneers who got rid of veteran Jeff Garcia.

After that, in the NFC West, the Seahawks have Matt Hasselbeck who is not past his better days yet, and Kurt Warner is obviously safe as the Cardinals QB. Cross those two teams out and you have the 49ers with the disappointing results of Alex Smith’s progress, and the St. Louis Rams, who should have started thinking about dropping Marc Bulger quite some time ago.

So there you have it. The top candidates to have Jay Cutler for President!

Free “O”

Here we go again. The ink is not even dry yet on Manny Ramirez’s contract and this morning we learned that our favorite media darling, Terrell Owens, has been released by the Cowboys. I guess we are not really too shocked by this but I can tell you for sure Tony Romo is the saddest cowboy on the plain. But who cares about him? All I want to know is: Where is T.O. going now?

There are 31 other teams out there that surely would love to have his numbers injected into their offense but only a handful would find it worth it. As well an even smaller group have enough to lure him in. Further still even less would take the risk.

So who are they? Well, first you would have to weed out the pretenders. T.O. is not going anywhere a rebuilding is in progress. Certainly he is not going anywhere there is no QB with a resume. That leaves teams with coaches that have job security as well as stability. But Philly is out and Parcells disciples Coughlin and Sparano surely would not have him.

I do not think that Atlanta or Baltimore would risk the progress of their young starting QB’s by bringing Owens in to help. The Vikings could certainly use his services. However, they do not throw the ball in an offense built around Adrian Peterson nor do they have a QB to get Owens the ball.

The Jets? HAHA

How about the Redskins, Saints or Chargers? Hey why not right. The Redskins and Dan Snyder have proven they will spend money on anything. Owens would love the chance to remain in the division and now stick it to Philly and Dallas. Given the way he regularly torches the Giants that would mean six games worth of great potential from Owens. The Saints have the high powered offensive attack that would suit Owens wants as well as his need to be with a big time QB in Drew Brees. But is there room for him and his ego among all those other big names? Shockey Bush Colston etc. San Diego might be the best fit. He becomes the number one option for Phillip Rivers who is probably salivating as we speak. It would take pressure off Antonio Gates and his big toe. As well this would open up a running lane or two for Ladainian Tomlinson and allow him to be L.T. again.

Allow me to just throw this out there: X Y Z – Owens Welker Moss. Get your pop-corn ready!

Tim Tebow To The Turf…Of The Metrodome?

I will be the first to admit that I just do not like Tim Tebow. I absolutely want to vomit every time he hits the pull up jumper down on the goal line. Until today I thought he would not make much of a career in the NFL either. However, last night my opinion began to change a bit. Certainly not because the Fox broadcasters convinced me he is the Messiah. (Were they terrible or what?) As I watched Percy Harvin bust that long run to put the Gators back in business it made me think about Adrian Peterson and this year’s NFL playoffs. All year long we had to listen to grumblings about the Vikings being a Super Bowl contender if they had a QB. So I thought to myself who are they going to find that could get them over the hump? They are built to win now. They need a leader on that offense and a veteran is just not going to be available to them and Tavaris Jackson will never be that guy. And I have news for you, Sam Bradford and the rest of the nation’s would-be rookie class of QB’s are no where near the level of last year’s draft class. So forget another Matt Ryan/Joe Flacco type playoff run. Then as the Gator offense got rolling I thought of Vince Youngs performance in both Rose Bowls and wondered if Jeff Fisher wouldn’t roll out the “Wildcat” this weekend with Vince against the Baltimore Ravens.

Then it hit me. Tebow to the Vikings. Just like that. I think he would be the perfect fit for the Vikings offense. He could run that offense all day with Adrian Peterson behind him or beside him. He easily becomes the leader of that offense and probably the team. He is perfect for the role. He would not have to worry about passing the ball all that much. With that defense and that run game behind that offensive line try to imagine having to stop both he and Peterson every down. Thrown in a short passing game the occasional deep ball and a pull up jumper here and there, you’ve got something. No?

Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles Playoff Primer

The final game of Wild-Card weekend 2009 may be one of the toughest to predict. It exhibits two teams that struggled to secure playoff births, but at the same time are more than capable of advancing in the post season past the obvious win that one of them will be getting this weekend. The Eagles had blown a game in Washington against the Redskins in week 16 by a score of 10-3 to fall to a record of 8-6-1, and needed to beat the Cowboys in Philadelphia, and hope the Buccaneers and Bears would lose in week 17. Luckily for them, all three of those scenarios became a reality. As for the Vikings, they would have clinched the NFC North regardless, due to the Bears loss in Houston in week 17, but could guarantee the division title with a victory in the final week. Since they beat the Giants in Minnesota 20-19 on a last minute 50 yard field goal to finish 10-6, they were able to hold up their end of the bargain. Now what has unfolded for week 18 is a bout between two teams, one filled with wily veterans in Philadelphia, and another with a collection of young and perhaps budding talent in Minnesota.

 

Advantage Minnesota

 

One of the key factors that Minnesota can rely on to win this game is the fact that they own the league’s top rush defense giving up only 76.9 yards per game going up against an Eagles ground attack that ranked 22^nd with 106.1 yards per game. Couple that with the fact the Eagles were 4^th in the league in pass attempts and 22^nd in rushing yards with 106.1 per game, and the Vikings have a seldom-available luxury: the chance to play an opponent who is virtually one dimensional.

 

One of the most commonly preached strategies in defensive football is the ability to force an opponent to be one-dimensional, i.e. try to get the opponent to beat you with the pass by loading up the line of scrimmage with an eight-man front. What we have here is a team in Philadelphia who by preference already is one-dimensional and mainly likes to pass.

 

The second factor that helps the Vikings is the improved play of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson since he returned to the starting lineup. In his two games to start the season, he was 30-59, good for a 51 percent completion rate with one TD, while throwing for 178 and 130 yards respectively. Now, Jackson has risen to the occasion in the last three and a half games of the season posting 740 yards, 8 TDs, and only one interception while completing 64 percent of his passes. All this has provided the stability at the QB position the Vikings were looking for in Gus Frerotte.

 

Advantage Eagles

 

The Eagles strengths lie in their defense and experience. Even though the Vikings are sporting the 1^st ranked run defense, their pass defense is only 18^th in the league, giving up 215.6 yards per game. That does not match well with the defense of Philadelphia as they ranked 4^th in run defense, 92.2ypg, and 3^rd in total pass defense, 182.1ypg. That type of run defense is more-than solid and should be able to keep Adrian Peterson, the league’s top rusher with 1,760 yards, in check for the most part. And I stress “for the most part” as even though the Eagles rush D is just three spots behind the Vikings, Peterson is still the league’s leading rusher for a reason, and for that, I believe he will have at least one big run in the game.

 

What really stands out for the eagles defensively is their pass defense, because Jackson, although he has improved, is still only averaging 185 yards through the air in his return, which is only 2.9 yards more than what the eagles are giving up. This means that he could easily be limited to within 100-150 yards, and if the Vikings main threat is going to be one to, at the most, three big gainers from Peterson and only a game-management style of play by Jackson, things are not looking up.

 

Conclusion

 

Although the Vikings play at home this weekend, they face a veteran team in the Eagles who are more accustomed to playing in big games. Even if it took four straight NFC Championship games for Donovan McNabb to finally get his team to a Super Bowl, he is still much more playoff savvy than the young Tarvaris Jackson, as is the entire Eagles team. Although both teams are great at stopping the run, Philadelphia is averaging 244.4 yards per game through the air, and with the disparity in the rankings of the two clubs pass defenses being 15 spots (Vikings 18^th minus Eagles 3^rd equals 15), then that is where the true edge in this contest lies.

 

Eagles move on.

Atlanta Falcons to Gain the Two Seed in the NFC?

One thing pissing me off big time after week 16 is the following… why is no one mentioning that the Falcons have a chance to lock up the number two seed in the NFL? If The Falcons accomplish the highly un-venerable task of defeating the waste-filled Saint Louis Rams in Atlanta this weekend, and the Carolina Panthers are defeated in New Orleans next week, the Atlanta Falcons end up winning the NFC South. We already know that the Giants have locked up the top seed by beating Carolina in OT Sunday night, but the Cardinals at best can finish 9-7 in the NFC West, and the Bears or Vikings can only finish at 10-6 to win the NFC North. What does this mean? Either the Falcons or Panthers are guaranteed the two seed.

But why is no one talking about it? Because every dumb analyst has it in their mind that the Falcons wonderful turn-around in the post Michael Vick mortem was simply in clinching their Wild Card berth. But hello! They can even get a bye! That would be totally huge!

Not only do they overcome last year’s fiasco and make the playoffs with a rookie QB, but they now have a chance to put themselves in a highly viable position of reaching a Super Bowl with one home win and one road win, as long as the Giants win their first game. I mean, geez, they could end up hosting the NFC Championship if the Giants lose their first game!

Someone please talk about it. I’ve watched PTI, Sports Center, and heard every FOX, CBS, and NBC analyst and commentator and not one of them has thought about this. It pisses me off and I almost hope to god that the Falcons get the two seed to see if they all have dumb looks on their faces.

Carolina… pleeeeease lose. I already know the Falcons have the Rams game in their back pocket, so I’m not worried about you. Later.

NFL Playoff Outlook

With just two weeks of play left in the regular season of the 2008-2009 year, a few teams have locked up a spot in the playoffs while others are still fighting to make it. What is about to unfold in this article is, what are in my mind, the teams that will make it.

We already know the Steelers and Titans have locked up spots and first round byes in the AFC. In the NFC the Giants have clinched their division while the Cardinals have as well. First I will go over the locks to get in.

In the AFC the only sure-fire lock I have is the Indianapolis Colts. If they beat Jacksonville this Thursday in Florida, they’re in. With the way the Jags have disappointed, I do not even see them using the rivalry bug as added motivation to beat Indianapolis.

In the NFC, surprisingly, the Carolina Panthers have not clinched even with an 11-3 record, which is a testament to the competitiveness of the NFC. However, one more win or one more loss from another team or two would put them in. The Cowboys have been hot lately. I don’t care about Romo’s performance in Pittsburgh. The game was still close, and it has been their only slip up since his return from injury. They face the Ravens at home, and Eagles in Philadelphia. The Eagle game should be tough and they easily can lose, but to me, I think all of the air got sucked out of the Raven team with their last minute loss to Pittsburgh last weekend.

The Vikings should clinch their division as the Bears face the Packers on Monday Night at home, but then travel to Houston the last week. Houston is on pace to finish up 9-7 and Andre Johnson should be able to shred their weak pass defense.

After that I don’t think Tampa will get in as they have slipped up and their weaknesses are beginning to be exposed. The Falcons and Eagles to me will be the ones to fighting for the 6th seed in the NFL as they have both been consistent as of late.

Back in the AFC, I’ll take the Patriots to win their division. They are at home against the Cardinals who have clinched, and then at a bum Buffalo team. That would put them at 11-5. The reason I see this happening is because the as-of-late inconsistent Jets should lose in Seattle this weekend, and the Dolphins will beat the Kansas City Chiefs. But when they play each other in New York, I’ll take a last-ditch effort by Favre to even their records at 10-6, giving one of them the 6th seed.

The only seed I am unsure of is the 4th seed in the AFC as the Broncos are 8-6 and Chargers 6-8. If the Chargers beat Tampa Bay in Tampa this weekend, which is not an oversight, and the Broncos lose at home to the Bills, which is still a bit of a stretch even if the Broncos aren’t so consistent, then they will be playing in San Diego for the division in week 17. If that happens, I’ll take the Chargers.

So that’s how I believe the “tournament” brackets will be set up come January.

NFL Player’s Association and Minneapolis Judge Assist Suspended Players

It seems as though a judge in Minnesota by the name of Gary Larson has decided to halt the suspensions of the two mammoth nose tackles, Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of the Minnesota Vikings. It also seems as though this judge in Minnesota may manage to find another loophole for players that deserve to be punished.

 

Although the momentary clearing of these suspensions doesn’t give the two players the right to play on Sunday, but rather to be on site and remain somewhat employed, they still may get a chance when the NFL Player’s association asks a federal judge to nullify these suspension so that they, and Deuce McAllister, Charles Grant, Will Smith, and Bryan Pittman can all get off on the same account as well for eligibility to play this Sunday.

 

Assuming that this judge and the NFL Player’s Association are successful, what does this mean for Roger Goodell’s plight to clean up the league and regulate it with a firm hand? In a nation where celebrities constantly get out of legal punishments on technicalities and loopholes, how can the NFL ever expect to police the conduct of its players when they are all practically celebrities?

 

Although it truly hurts the Vikings to have these two players out, as well as the Saints two starting DEs in Grant and Smith, and their power running back in McAllister, and even Pittman who is a long snapper for the Houston Texans, this is no way to help set the example if they all get off.

 

What is even more discerning is that the NFLPA is assisting these players to void a ruling that they agreed upon with the NFL that the masking agent for steroids they all tested positive for would be enough grounds to merit a suspension.

 

No matter the ruling, this makes the NFLPA look somewhat irresponsible, and could make the NFL look hopeless in its ability to keep the league steroid and drug-free.

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