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.

Superbowl Homeboy...

So once again I should apologize for not updating as much as I should be. This computer issue will be resolved shortly and hopefully we'll be up and running in no time.

I've missed a lot over the past week, but I can't miss anything related to football.

THE ARIZONA CARDINALS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!! You have no idea how excited I am about this. There are many good things to come out of the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl. First and foremost, it gives any team in the NFL hope for the future. Think about this. Ever since I started watching football, the Cardinals have always sucked. Even in 1998 when the Cardinals came into the Metrodome for an ass kicking in the NFC Divisional Playoff game, I still thought in the back of my mind that the Cardinals were 4-12 and were allowed into the playoffs as a sympathy vote. Now, the Cardinals have earned it and they have very good players on both sides of the ball (Mr. Fitzgerald, you are an absolute BEAST). If the Cardinals can make it, the Lions, the Vikings or any team in the NFL has the opportunity of getting there. If the Cardinals win, the idea of a Super Bowl championship for any team would become a reality.

The second plus is that Donovan McNabb may have played his last game as a Philadelphia Eagle. If that's the case, he could be wearing purple next season. McNabb threw for 375 yards yesterday. He also threw for 3 TDs. He was very solid, but the fans in Philadelphia still hate him. This could mean that McNabb would head elsewhere and he'd be a perfect fit for the Vikings. Remember, Childress was McNabb's offensive coordinator when he first came into the league. That's the main reason Childress is here right now, because he could take a "piece of clay" and mold it into an NFL quarterback. Unfortunately, Tarvaris Jackson still looks like the crappy plate that I made for my mom for Mother's Day in fourth grade. Hopefully, Zygi will open up the checkbook again and get Mr. McNabb to the Purple.

In the opposite corner, wearing the black and gold trunks are the Pittsburgh Steelers. These guys earned their way into the Super Bowl by surviving a steel cage match with the Baltimore Ravens. If the Ravens had an offense, it might be a different story, but Joe Flacco will improve over the offseason. There's nothing for Baltimore to be ashamed of. The Steelers come in with maybe the nastiest defense I've ever seen, including the 2000 Ravens. Every time Troy Polamalu makes an interception, it's an incredibly exciting play, maybe because of his hair, but the guy is a beast out there. It's going to be fun to see a great offense go up against a great defense. However, buyer beware.

The last time a similar scenario happened, was when Tampa Bay played Oakland in the Super Bowl. Oakland had a great offense that year, but Tampa Bay had a great defense and destroyed the Raiders, leading them into a massive free fall to where they still stand today.

So, as of now, I'd say the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. I'm not going out on a limb, but I think the game will be a lot closer than people think. You also should remember that Steeler fans travel INCREDIBLY well. Remember Super Bowl XL in Detroit? Yeah, that game was in Detroit, but it looked like it was at Heinz Field because of all the Steeler fans. Tampa Bay will probably be flooded with Steeler fans as well. I'm not going to give a score just yet, but I will make a formal prediction next week.

Pro Bowl Selections

So for the most part it looks like the NFL got the Pro Bowl selections right. If you haven't seen them yet, follow the link

http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story?id=09000d5d80d60467&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

I was kind of stretching on some of the earlier predictions I had, but I got most of them right. When I was thinking earlier, I forgot that Drew Brees and Kurt Warner had been putting up video game numbers this season, so those picks are totally justified. That leaves Eli Manning and Rogers. I think it came down to their teams records so Eli got the nod. Greg Jennings being snubbed was also a surprise since he was having a solid name as well, but I can't complain with the four receivers that did get selected.

I was suprised Darren Sharper didn't make it for the Vikings until I looked at his stats. Sharper only has one interception this year and that usually is the benchmark for pro bowl safeties. It's kind of weird that both teams only have three safeties each. I thought there would be a backup for both postitions, but oh well.

Matt Birk also didn't get in this year. Although Birk hasn't played great this season, I thought Birk would get in on his reputation as he has the past couple of years. The Giants offensive line has been one of the best in football so Sean O'Hara isn't a bad choice at all.

Matt Ryan was another guy I think should have went to the pro bowl. He's done everything he can possibly do to make the Falcons a better team and if you would have told me they would be 9-5 right now back in August, I would have thrown down a lot of money against it. The guy is a lot of fun to watch. I probably won't watch the pro bowl, but still Matt Ryan is the next great NFL quarterback.

BRICK WALL

So on Sunday I said that the Vikings had a real shot of making noise in the postseason. Well, remember how Pat Williams went off on a cart in the second half at Arizona? Yup, Phat Pat is now out 2 to 6 weeks with a fractured shoulder. Two weeks would be ideal for ol' Phat Pat to eat running backs such as Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, and Jonathan Stewart but I don't think that's going to happen. Fractured shoulder sounds pretty serious to me and if Williams came back in two or even three weeks, I would be stunned. Now the problem turns to who is going to replace Pat Williams on the defensive line. There are many candidates for this, but I think the best one would either be Brian Robison (who may be injured, but I'm not sure) and Jimmie Kennedy. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Kennedy(...Kennedy), he was the 13th overall pick in the 2003 draft by the St. Louis Rams. Now, the Rams defense hasn't gotten better since then, so I'm just going to let you assume that he absolutely sucks. Kennedy was cut earlier by Jacksonville this season and when Pat and Kevin Williams were suspended in Starcapsgate '08, the Vikings pounced on him immediately. The purple will just have to wait and see how this turns out. If the Vikings expect to win, Michael Turner and Matt Ryan need to be destroyed at any cost by the defensive line.

In other news...

I was watching ESPN this morning and saw one of those annoying product ads. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. These are the ads that start off with something ridiculous like, "Do you have problems using a pencil?" As that's being said they show some moron trying to write and screaming "I can't do it." Then, the ridiculous product is introduced. Well, I usually don't get too worked up about these ads, but this one sent me over the edge.

The product was a Snookum (?) blanket. This one started by showing a woman that was too cold, but she didn't want to turn up the heat because it would jack up her heating bill. She didn't want to use a normal blanket because it falls off when she wanted to change the channel on the TV or answer the phone, or any other ridiculous thing. So, she went ahead and got the Snookum blanket which was a blanket with sleeves! Now you too can look like a priest anytime you want around your house. SIGN ME UP FOR THIS ONE!

Here's the best part about this. Not only does it act like a blanket, but it also can be used as a hospital gown around the house, around the campfire, and they even suggested sporting events! I would seriously pay the 19.95 plus shipping and handling if they had one with Green Bay Packer logos all over it and give it to some 450 pound Packer fan who would definitely test the "one size fits all" mantra that the Snookum guarantees. Not to mention, most of rural Wisconsin would wear the damn thing like a hospital gown with nothing underneath. With that said, when we would watch Packer games from now on, we would see more crack than the Miami police department and it would be BRUTAL.

The funniest thing about all of these products is that some moron lunges to their phone to buy them. For a select percentage of people, this hospital gown would serve a purpose, but I highly doubt that nobody really cares that much about having the blanket fall off of them if they go to pick up their child or their dog on a cold night. If anything, they would simply tuck them under the blanket as well.

Pro Bowl Reaction - The NFL Pro Bowl rosters will be announced later today. I'll jump on with my reactions, but as far as Vikings go, I'll predict these players will make it.

RB Adrian Peterson
G Steve Hutchinson
C Matt Birk
DE Jared Allen
DT Pat Williams
DT Kevin Williams
LB Chad Greenway
CB Antoine Winfield
S Darren Sharper

Peterson, Allen, and Kevin Williams should be locks, but I think that the other players are very deserving of making the pro bowl roster. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. As for the Packers, I don't know too much, but here's who I would take...

QB Aaron Rodgers
WR Greg Jennings
LT Chad Clifton
DE Aaron Kampman
CB Charles Woodson
S Nick Collins

Any player on the Packer defense is not a lock because they've been absolutely awful the last couple of weeks. However, Woodson has a great number of his interceptions in the fourth quarter and most of those sealed Packer wins in the first half of the season. I'm not a big fan of Collins, but he has the numbers that could make it to Honolulu.

The Beginning of something beautiful?

Coming into today's Vikings game against the Arizona Cardinals, I wasn't sure what to expect from my beloved Vikings. As mentioned before, when something positive is on the line, the Vikings find spectacular ways to lose. Today, the Vikings found a way to win.

The Vikings turned to Tarvaris Jackson for the start today and that alone made you think that they were going to get clobbered. However, things started turning the Vikings way in the middle of the first quarter. Bernard Berrian, who is looking more and more like an adaquate pickup for this offense, ran a punt back for a touchdown. Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, Kurt Warner looked something more like he did in his New York Giants days rather than his "Greatest Show on Turf" days with the St. Louis Rams. The Cardinals continued to make mistakes and the Vikings pounced on them repeatedly.

Then, there was the play of Jackson. Jackson only threw the ball 16 times, but he was very smart and patient when he had to throw the football. He threw a gorgeous pass to Berrian to put the Vikings ahead 14-0. Then, after another Cardinal turnover, Jackson threw another touchdown on a screen to Chester Taylor. Jackson continued to impress throughout the game as he wound up with four touchdowns. The Vikings cruise to a 35-14 victory on the road (although I think the crowd in attendance was 60 percent Vikings fans) and are on the verge of their first division title since Daunte Culpepper was taking the league by storm in 2000.

So, after this performance, I can't help but wonder. You can say I'm jumping the gun all you want, but I ask this question. Why can't the Vikings make a run in the playoffs? Most Minnesota teams have faltered in big game situations lately, but these Vikings seem unflappable in their last couple of big contests. Last year, the Vikings had a chance to go to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but dropped a big Sunday night game to the Washington Redskins. That seems to have changed this year. The Vikings were able to defeat the Packers at the Metrodome in a game that was considered one that would tell who would control the division. (The Packers have been in free fall ever since.) Then, a showdown with the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. After a sluggish start, the Vikings unleashed the fury of the 99 yard pass and found themselves on top of the division. Then there was today, which you should read the previous paragraphs if you still need convincing. The Vikings have seemed to shed their fear of big games, and that would benefit the purple.

The Vikings personel is also incredibly better than it was in previous playoff runs. This team may be as talented as the 1998 team that missed the Super Bowl by that much. Of course, Randall Cunningham was WAY better than Tarvaris Jackson is right now, but if you look at some areas, they are better than that '98 team. Instead of the explosive offense coming through the air, the explosiveness has come from the running game. Adrian Peterson has evolved into the best running back in the NFL and Chester Taylor is a very solid backup. The passing game may not be as great as it has been in the Vikings glory days, but Peterson is fully capable of carrying this team deep into the playoffs.

The Viking defense also is markedly improved and it starts with Jared Allen. I was one of those who bashed Allen at the beginning of the season, but Allen has the same impact on defense that Adrian Peterson does on offense. Jared Allen has 14 1/2 sacks after today's game. Last year's leading sack man, Ray Edwards had 5. Allen has turned this defense into one of elite status and they get better each and every week. Not even Arizona, who had the league's 2nd best passing offense coming into today's game could maul the Vikings in the air.

So, again, I could be jumping the gun, but based on recent performances, the Vikings could surprise each and every one of us and play deep into January or even GULP! February?