Frazier Makes His Mark On Vikings

Coaching changes happen all the time in the National Football League. This year, there are seven new head coaches foraying into new jobs. Some of them are learning on the job. Leslie Frazier falls into this category, but he also falls into another familiar demographic of first time head coaches. He's cleaning house.

This is a common trend in the NFL. When new regimes start, changes are made. Take a look at the Detroit Lions.

When Jim Schwartz was hired for Detroit, he did everything to change the culture. The Lions were coming off the ugly Matt Millen era. Schwartz did everything down to changing the color of the locker rooms to try and erase Detroit's past. Schwartz also did another thing: He took out the trash to bring in some of his own guys via the draft (Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh) and through free agency (Kyle Van Den Bosch).

The same thing is going on at Winter Park. Much like when Brad Childress was cutting people left and right when he took over in 2006, Frazier is doing the same to send a message.

At the beginning of training camp, a 400 pound Bryant McKinnie showed up out of shape and lethargic. Frazier didn't want that to represent his team, so he cut him. Many Viking fans will point to the job that McKinnie is doing with Baltimore and say that it was a mistake. However, Frazier had to send a message. Even at the expense of starting...ewww...Charlie Johnson...

The message has been delivered loud and clear to some players in the locker room, and the ones who aren't getting it are getting pink slips. Bernard Berrian is the latest casualty of the Frazier era.

Berrian was shockingly overpaid after the 2007 season when the Vikings were desperate for receiving help. While Berrian had a good first season with 964 yards and 7 touchdowns, his production had dropped off since. As Berrian's stats went down, his moodiness went up.

The last straw might have been the Twitter war with State Rep. John Kriesel, who made fun of Berrian's inflated ego. Berrian defended himself saying that he had been open "the past four years" and that Kriesel, a supporter of the Viking stadium bill, should "sit down and shut up."

Two gameday deactivations later, Berrian is looking for work.

It's hard to praise a coach that is 1-6, but Frazier is simply in the first step of rebuilding. No NFL coach will ever tell the media that because there is no time to rebuild in the league. Yet, with a couple of solid drafts and personnel decisions, Frazier could be making the first step for setting the Vikings up with success.

A Step In The Right Direction

On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers 33-27. While the Packer fans will rejoice in beating a team with a rookie QB, a depleted secondary, a junk offensive line, and no receiving corps to speak of by six, the loss for Viking fans seems different than the other ones in 2011.

First of all, the Vikings began a new era by making Christian Ponder their new quarterback. It wasn't a Cam Newton type debut, but Ponder threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns. On the negative side, he also completed just 13 of his 32 passes and threw two interceptions, but these things are to be expected from a rookie quarterback.

Ponder set some milestones along the way, as well. Ponder is the first rookie quarterback to throw for two touchdowns in his debut since Tommy Kramer in 1977. More importantly, he's the first quarterback to throw two touchdowns for the Vikings in any game since last December's win over the Buffalo Bills.

The bottom line is that Ponder made some plays for a stagnant offense. It may take some time for Ponder to develop into a legit starting quarterback, but he has some promise.

Second, the Vikings receiving corps showed some signs of life. Michael Jenkins had a solid game with three catches for 111 yards. Jenkins also had a 73 yard catch that started the festivities at the Metrodome. The play was easily the longest pass play of the season for the Vikings, and it got the crowd into the game.

The receivers thrived despite Benard Berrian being deactivated for the second time this season. The first time Berrian was deactivated, October 9th against Arizona, Viking head coach Leslie Frasier said it was due to "disciplinary actions." You have to assume that this was not a "disciplinary action." The guy who's been open for the past four years simply isn't good enough to be on the field as a starter anymore. It was time to give other options a try. That's what happened Sunday.

Finally, the Viking offense decided to use their best offensive weapon repeatedly: Adrian Peterson. In the past, we've seen teams with rookie quarterbacks lean on their running back to ease the load off the rookie. On Sunday, Peterson had his best game of the season, picking up 175 yards on the ground.

With McNabb at quarterback, the Vikings may have leaned to heavily on a depleted pass game. Don't get me wrong, McNabb is insanely inaccurate and unable of running a NFL offense at this point of his career, but if the Vikings used Peterson the way they did Sunday, would they still be 1-6?

The development of Ponder, the re-emergence of the receiving corps, and the use of Adrian Peterson, made Sunday's loss a little more tolerable. With all the obstacles the Vikings faced, to lose by six to the best team in the NFL is nothing to be ashamed of in this chapter in Viking history.