Vikings Come Up Short Against Pack, Killa Cam Awaits in Week 8

The best QB in the NFL. *Wipes Eye*

Welcome back to Odin's Eye ladies and gentlemen! Week 7 marked the beginning of the Christian Ponder era, and boy did it start with a bang. Michael Jenkins came inches away from being the guy with 50+ yard touchdowns on two different players' first ever NFL pass, taking a nice double-move route 72 yards. Two plays later, CP7 had his first career touchdown pass and the state of Minnesota let out a collective sigh of relief. We may have a franchise quarterback.

Speaking of franchise quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers was surgical against us as I predicted. This man is the best quarterback in the league and has been. Some folks have been keeping the Bradys and Mannings of the world above him, but you simply cannot deny it any longer. Manning and Brady have been doing it for longer and that may be why some people give them the nod over Rodgers, but let's get real. How often do you see either of those guys roll out at full speed and with a flick of the wrist, drop a ball 35 yards upfield right into their receivers' chest? The man is a beast. Rodgers finished with 335 yards, 3 touchdowns, and only 6 incompletions (Oh, and one discount double-check). He sits atop the league with a robust 125.7 passer rating. In case you are wondering, the record for passer rating in a season is 121.1, set by Peyton Manning in 2004, so he's not just playing well, he's playing record-breakingly well.

What I did not predict however, was Christian Ponder pumping some life into what was an absolutely stagnant offense only a week ago. Sure, he went 13-32 and threw two pretty bad picks to Charles Woodson, who was quoted as saying he thought he should have had four (He did have 4 decent opportunities, but the 2 he converted were especially easy). These are areas he will need to improve on, as one was just a forced throw on an out to Shiancoe and the other he simply needed to get more loft on and the route was undercut by Woodson. HOWEVAH, he did something that Donovan McNabb had failed to do for six games and that was consistently convert third downs (9-16) and hit receivers between the numbers while doing it. Ponder showed some great improvisational skills and was at his best on rollouts, and I was very impressed with his ability to bounce back after completing ZERO passes in the 3rd quarter and throwing 2 interceptions within a three-throw span. He led us on a great drive to bring the score within 6, but fell just short on the next after being faced with a 98-yard field. The defense couldn't stop James Starks after we punted with little over 2 minutes left and 3 timeouts, and that was that. Eye-Catchers and Stink Eyes as well as a Week 8 preview, after the jump.

Bird Season: Vikes crush Cards, get 1st 'W' of the Year

   I was jarred from my slumber Sunday afternoon like a bear out of hibernation. My girlfriend's phone went off, as ESPN notifies her phone every time the Vikings score. The night before had been SCSU's unofficial Homecoming, since my school is currently more broke than even I am and cannot afford an official one, and I had taken part in the celebration. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and flipped on the television with urgency to find my beloved Vikings. Right as I found the game, Brian Robison was in the midst of executing a pure speed rush around Jeremy Bridges, hitting Kevin Kolb's arm in motion and causing an errant throw into the arms of Asher Allen. Was I still dreaming?

Yesterday's game was (mostly) the stuff of dreams. After three nightmare games where the Vikings had a win firmly in their grasp until the final seconds, only to have it pried from their fingers, and a terrible showing overall in Kansas City, most everything came together and it added up to a big first win for the Purple. I will say that I still think Donovan McNabb is just awful, but he doesn't turn the ball over. He is a modern-day Trent Dilfer, for all intents and purposes. In all seriousness, Trent Dilfer may be better than what we have starting at QB right now, but I digress. Adrian Peterson ran pissed off. It was awesome to see. I didn't get to see the first touchdown run, but that was his tamest of runs anyway. At the end of the second TD run, Patrick Peterson, the highly-touted rookie corner, stood between "The Cashier" and the end zone. AD seemed to accelerate another 10 MPH, gave him a shoulder that said, "stay the hell out of my way, rookie" and zipped past for the score. Apparently P-Twice didn't get that memo, however, because on the very next Viking possession he found himself in a very familiar spot...

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.. - AP

It's a tough way to get broken into the league, Patrick, but the five yards that Adrian Peterson drove you back into the end zone for his third touchdown were character-building yards. Someday, you'll be able to tell your grandkids about the time the most freakishly athletic and talented running back to ever play the game put you on your back. On another note, Chris Cook is looking more and more like a starting defensive back. Brian Robison is making anyone who thought we should have handed Ray Edwards a big contract look silly, and on the other side of the line, Jared Allen is playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level, regardless of our awful record.
The final 3 quarters of this game were about as interesting as watching the Metrodome turf grow. After a team record-setting 28 point first, they simply chewed clock to ensure a victory. No huge collapses, no stupid penalties, and no painfully close losses here. The offense did a great job getting touchdowns and not field goals, but this was a game won by our defense. They caused two turnovers out Arizona's first three offensive possessions. Stat of the day: the Vikings' average starting field position on their first three touchdown drives was the Arizona 22. 


Eye Catchers and Stink Eyes, after the jump.

Finishing Strong: Predictions for the Final Five Games

Alright Kids, so with 11 games down and predicted, these Vikings are sitting at an imaginary 5-6 record. Things are not looking great, but with a big game or two against some of our tougher opponents by someone like Donovan McNabb,  Purple Jesus, Percy, the defense or any combination of the 4, we could be sitting at 7-4 or better. With an underwhelming performance or two (which we might be more accustomed to), we might be sitting at 3-8 or worse and in competition for the Andrew Luck sweepstakes (woo-hoo! right after the year we FINALLY drafted a 1st round QB!).
 The final five games of the season give us a great chance to finish strong. We have 3 opponents that finished with worse or equal records to us and two other games against teams that were only wild-cards, both of which are at home.
In our 12th game of the season we have the Denver Broncos. Outside of grabbing Von Miller in the draft at number 2 this past year, they will return Elvis Dumervil who was a sack machine in 2009 before missing the entire 2010 season due to injury as well as Jamal Williams who, though injury prone, is considered one of the better nose tackles in the league when healthy. Their secondary is aging, to put it nicely. As great as Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins have been in their careers, they've got to start dropping off someday, and last season I believe was the beginning for them both. Their receivers aren't really much to sneeze at and their best running back (Knowshon Moreno) is hardly ever healthy. This should be a W for us.
Next up, we have Detroit which has already been hit with quite a few injuries in the preseason. We will be visiting the Kitties in this game, and the Vikings have taken 15 of their past 17 in Detroit. These Lions have been a darling of the media in the off season, further strengthening their already formidable defensive line with a player in Nick Fairley who was at one point expected to go in the top 3 picks of the draft. They added a power back in Leshoure, but he is already lost for the season. Stafford has played about 1/3 of the games he's had a chance to, and Megatron has not always been a model of perfect health, either. Their secondary is also especially weak. I expect a close game and an improved Lions squad, but history should ultimately repeat itself as it tends to do. Put another W on the board.
The following week the Saints roll into town with these imaginary Vikings on a two game winning streak. Last year, we came awfully close to beating this team in the Superdome and in my opinion should have won. I think that the addition of Mark Ingram should prove to be a good one for the Saints, but I also believe that this team is aging in a lot of areas. I'm very happy to not see Reggie Bush on the roster for this game as he has always given the Vikings fits when we are matched up against him.  Percy Harvin has come into this year 15 pounds lighter and claims to be quite a bit faster (How?! Don't ask me). I look forward to seeing him burn the aging Darren Sharper ( DA haaaahdest hittin' safety in da leeeague). Breesus may pick us apart, but if our secondary is still healthy with Ced Griffin and Winfield (maybe even a half-decent performance from former early round picks Asher Allen or Chris Cook?), I think we can weather the storm enough to take this one down as well. Now we're rollin' with a three game winning streak.
In the second to last game of the season, we have our new QB coming back to his stomping ground of last year at the Washington Redskins. Unless you believe what Peter King is writing about John Beck, the 30 year old fifth-year pro from BYU (don't), we might be matching up at this point in the year with one of the worst, if not the worst team in the league. I believe this to be more than likely true, as their starting running back will either be Tim Hightower or Ryan Torain and best wideout will STILL be Santana Moss. You probably can't name another receiver on this team, and neither can I. Their offensive line will be below average, their defensive line is average at best, and outside of London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo, they don't have much more than a few overrated players on defense. If this is the case, they will more than likely have completely given up at this point in the season and we should take this game. McNabb (assuming he hasn't tanked and given the reins over to CP7) will also be coming back to the town where he got benched for Rex Grossman. That must still burn, given that Rex Grossman is basically an abortion in a jersey. This should add some extra motivation for Mr. Chunky Soup himself.  Barring a miracle, the Vikes definitely take this game convincingly.
Our final game of the season comes against the Chicago Bears and in this imaginary world I have constructed (Inception'd!) we could very well be fighting for a wild-card spot at this point. We might even be fighting for it with these very Bears. What better way to end the regular season than sending these flunkies home crying (or if you're Jay Cutler, staring indifferently) and marching into the postseason on a five game winning streak? Answer: there isn't one, unless we could somehow simultaneously knock the Packers out of contention. A lot will be at stake, which is perfect against someone as averse to being clutch as Cutlerception himself. The Thunderdome will be blaring so loudly we might register on the Richter scale, and I see the Vikes coming through in the clutch this time and sending Cutler, Hester, and Chester Taylor and his 2.9 YPC average home for the winter. If 10-6 is enough to make the playoffs, which generally speaking it is, you're looking at a wild-card berth for the 2011 Vikings IMHO.

OK, holy shit have I done a lot of writing in the past 18 hours about these Vikings, but after getting that whole regular season outlook accomplished I feel good. All my potential readers have plenty to read here, so unless some big Vikings news goes down in the next few days, I think I've earned a little break.SKOL.