Fish Fear Me

NFL History

Watching history this afternoon. Adrian Peterson has become the seventh NFL running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season(right now he's #4 on the list). He has just busted out another long gain in this game against the Packers and now he is just 61 yards away from taking the all-time season rushing record from Eric Dickerson.

Wow. 

Updates:

He just passed Barry Sanders to become #3 all-time at 2,057.

To be clear, I really don't care all that much if the Vikes get into the playoffs. They are a pretty good team and AP is amazing, of course, but I have little confidence that Christian Ponder will step up enough to get them past the first round. I want AP to get the record.

The way the Vikings have played the last part of the fourth quarter, I now don't think he is going to get it.

AP has now passed Jamal Lewis for #2. I cannot believe how stupidly the Vikes have managed this game with history on the line. 

They let the clock run down. Assholes. I know, the game isn't about personal records, but this is an exception. Leslie Frazier is a douchebag. 

Nine yards shy. Leslie Frazier is a fucking asshole.

My final words on this: I will never respect Leslie Frazier because of the way this game was called when Adrian Peterson was so close to making history. Never. 

Vikings-Titans

A 30-7 win makes a whole bunch of complaints go away, but I have a couple of things to note about the Vikings-Titans game yesterday.

The CBS coverage of the game was awful. Poor camera work, poor commentary, and absolutely horrible replays, or lack thereof. I lost count of how many times they gave us a glimpse of a definitive replay angle and then repeatedly showed us angles that were inconclusive. Maybe, maybe they would get back to the definitive angle again. Maybe not. That was if they showed us a replay at all. I also lost count of how many times I wanted to see a replay of an important play or penalty and instead got a bunch of witless banter and banal views of the crowd or sidelines. The Vikes are usually on Fox, so I'm wondering if that was just one of their "B" crews or if CBS NFL coverage is always that bad.

Speaking of "B" crews, I was not exactly impressed with referee Jeff Triplette and his crew yesterday either, particularly back judge Steven Freeman. A moment where Freeman displayed unprofessional conduct ended with Vikings safety Harrison Smith being ejected for "excessive contact" against Freeman in the second quarter and that could have had a game-changing impact. The NFL has a crappy video clip of CBS' crappy coverage that sort of shows what happened.

After one play where the Vikings picked off Tennessee QB Matt Hasselbeck, some Vikings and Titans players were jawing with each other on the field. Smith came to teammate Chris Cook's aid after he was shoved a little and the jawing continued. Enter Freeman who decided to keep the words from escalating by pushing Smith away from his opponents. I don't have a problem with some intervention, but it looks like Freeman shoved Smith about 5 yards down field and that was totally unnecessary. The players were separated after just a couple of yards and Freeman had no valid reason for continuing to shove Smith. Well, I guess Smith pushed off from Freeman at that point and that was that.

Not that I justify pushing an official. You put your hand on an official and you are immediately at their mercy. Smith should have turned his back and walked away, no doubt. On the other hand, it's not clear from that crappy video that Smith's offense warranted ejection by Triplette. Perhaps it did, but it's interesting that the NFL decided today to not only pass on suspending Smith, they aren't even going to fine him.

Hmmm...sounds to me like everybody just wants this one to go away. Smith has properly groveled and I'll bet Steven Freeman has been counselled behind the scenes to not get so aggressive with the players. 

All's well that ends well, I guess.

Victory!

My FFL opponent's last chance to beat me earned him a big fat zero last night and the Dallas Cowboys were utterly humiliated by the Bears. Monday Night Football doesn't get much better than that.

Unless there are pictures of Jerry Jones crying. Are there pictures of Jerry Jones crying?

The Bears win leaves them tied with the Vikings for the lead in the NFC North. Green Bay is one game back and Detroit is the surprising laggard at 1-3. The latter was supposed to be occupied by the Vikings at this point.

The good start is welcome to Vikings fans, of course, but I think ESPN's Kevin Seifert expresses the right amount of skepticism here:

The Vikings are the darlings of the NFL after a wholly unexpected 3-1 start, including two victories against 2011 playoff teams. But with that success brings added scrutiny, and it's fair to question whether the Vikings can sustain on the low-octane offensive model displayed at various points during this start. Let's be clear on how rare it is to win a game without an offensive touchdown, as the Vikings did Sunday.

Last year the team was a mess from top to bottom, for all sorts of reasons. This year's team is a vast improvement over that one and shows solid improvement in just about every area. That doesn't make them great though, and I suspect some tough losses are ahead if the offense doesn't step it up a notch.

Still, an impressive win against the 49ers and going into Detroit and coming away with the victory are nothing to sneeze at. If nothing else, they aren't the patsies that pretty much everybody figured them to be. That's a big improvement over last year by itself.

NFL/FFL Start

Not a bad start to the 2012 NFL season. I wish I could say the same for the start of the 2012 FFL season. I still have AJ Green going tonight for the Bengals, but it's not realistic to expect him to single-handedly overcome the lead my opponent built over my other starters yesterday. So it goes.

Any disappointment over FFL though, has been mostly relieved by seeing Adrian Peterson make a fantastic return after major knee reconstruction and rehabilitation. Two touchdowns and 84 yards rushing and he might not have been back to 100% yet, but he really looked good. 

On top of that, the Vikes pulled out a great win over Jacksonville yesterday at the Metrodome.

The defense couldn't hold the Jaguars at the end of regulation and they took a three point lead with only 20 seconds left. Like most Vikings fans I bet, the gaping maw of another dismal season had opened before my eyes. Christian Ponder would come out and flounder for a couple of plays and the first loss would be in the books.

Or not.

After a decent return to the 31, Ponder came out and threw two quick passes to get the Vikings to the point where a 55-yard field goal would put the game into overtime. In a way it was just uplifting to see Ponder prove me wrong. Expecting rookie kicker Blair Walsh to make such a long kick under that kind of pressure though, that would be ridiculous.

Or not.

Walsh made that one and another in overtime and the Vikes walked off with the victory this time. They need to repeat that kind of resolve a few more times before anyone gains confidence in them, but you have to start somewhere.

Good on Christian Ponder for hanging in there, Blair Walsh for cool under pressure, and Adrian Peterson for all of the hard work in coming back and the courage to put it all to the test yesterday.

As The Vikings Stadium Turns

It's 11:00 PM here as the Minnesota Legislature works to reconcile the House stadium bill passed on Monday with the Senate stadium bill passed yesterday. It appears that a lot of the action has been done piecemeal throughout the day to avoid a quorum of the conference committee and allow legislators to work things out privately. I can't say I'm a big fan of that.

It appears that the final bill will be voted on quickly after it is crafted, so the public will probably have no time to weigh in on it until after the fact. I can't say I'm a big fan of that either.

Here are some of the changes that the St. Paul Pioneer Press thinks will be in the final bill:

-- The Vikings share will rise to $477 million, the state's will drop to $348 million.

-- Team retains naming rights to new stadium.

-- St. Paul will get $2.7 million, city has suggested it could be used to pay for new St. Paul Saints stadium in Lowertown.

-- Minneapolis will be allowed to use some of its tax money used as part of the deal to upgrade the Target Center.

-- Construction cost overruns to be picked up by the builder.

I won't be waiting up tonight.

Did Not Pass Go

The Vikes lost their first game of the season yesterday to the San Diego Chargers by a score of 24-17. The Vikings actually led at halfrtime 17-7, but then had an absolutely dreadful second half on offense. Adrian Peterson and the rest of the running game did their job, but Donovan McNabb passed for an appalling 7/15 for only 39 yards. You aren't going to win many games against playoff caliber teams with that kind of passing. 

It's pretty much as simple as that.

See Ya

Yesterday's atrocious outing against Green Bay left little doubt that this was coming:

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf made the move Monday morning that many at Mall of America Field called for during the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon. He fired coach Brad Childress.

To some extent getting fired is just part of the coaching job. When you win you're a hero and when you lose you're a dog. Just the way it is. One might think that a 12-4 season earns one a bit more goodwill to see a tough season through, but that was part of Childress' problem. After that 12-4 season the owner did everything possible to keep that team intact and for the most part he did. Expectations were high and so the 3-7 record is all the more disappointing. I don't think I've ever seen a head coach go from hero to zero so fast.

Where did it go wrong? I think the first area where Childress lost control was on the wide receiver corps. Letting Sidney Rice screw around about getting his hip surgery turned out to be a disaster as there was nobody available to fill that role by the time it was apparent that Rice was going to miss the first half of the season. I think that was a contributing factor to Favre getting off to a rough start, but Favre needs to shoulder his share of blame for his play also.

With the offense going three and out way too often, the defense has been unable to rise to the occasion. Childress is not solely responsible for the lack of pass rush or the poor play of the cornerbacks, but he is ultimately the one accountable. 

I hope though, that we don't hear too many anonymous cheap shots at Childress from the team. The press is going to be hunting for those and the players should have the grace to recognize that their poor play contributed as much as any coaching mistakes. It's done, just regroup and move on like professionals are supposed to do.

I never cared much for Childress as a head coach, though he earned some respect from me for the 12-4 record last year. I'm not sorry to see him go, but I have no ill will for him either. And I guess he will still get $6 million over the next two years so, you know, I think he'll be okay. Good luck, Brad.

When Only A Head Smack Will Do

Even hard left dictator clowns agree:

You have to play the full game on offense, Brad and Brett. Taking the first three quarters off is simply not going to get it done. You got that, ladies? Call us when you decide to man up and play like you're more than some overgrown Pop Warner team.

Sporting News

Ouch: It was a tough loss for the Twins last night and familiarity with the script didn't ease the pain any. Once again the Twins took the lead and and once again they couldn't hold it. Francisco Liriano was tooling along pretty well until the sixth inning and then he just lost it. On offense, the Twins had their chances but couldn't put the game out of reach. I'm not going to say it's over, but the Twins must now win at least one in New York, even if they manage to get the W tonight. I've seen nothing that says this team has the chops to do that. 

Instant Buzz: I don't think the return of Randy Moss quite eclipsed the Twins in the news, but it was a near thing. A true deep threat who can go after the ball is just what the Vikings needed to open up the short game and relieve some of the pressure on Adrian Peterson. If the offense can get in synch now, when Sydney Rice comes back it could be one heck of a beast.

.500. After opening with two losses, I've managed to claw my FFL team back to 2-2. I'm not entirely happy with my team, but a few moves have improved it and I think I'll hold tight for now. In the meantime it would be awfully nice if Chris Johnson could put together a string of good weeks instead of this one good/one bad stuff.

Pish-Posh

All I'm going to say is that I'll believe it...

Brett Favre's spectacular stint with the Minnesota Vikings might be over.

Favre has informed the Vikings he will not return to Minnesota for a second season, according to multiple reports.

Favre has sent text messages to teammates saying, "This is it," league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

...when I see Tarvaris Jackson run out on the field to take the first snap in, how long, Rob?

37 days.

Right.

From what I've seen so far, including the 5:00 news this afternoon, this is an entirely media driven frenzy. Brett Favre hasn't said anything on the record and it's pretty much a telltale that any sportswriter who has already counted this as Favre's third retirement announcement is an ass whose opinions can be safely ignored down the road.

Talk to me in about two weeks.