Purple Pain Original Content

We have a new episode of Vikings Report with Drew and Ted out. We wallow in the aftermath of another disappointing playoff loss, talk about the Defensive Coordinator position, preview the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs, and use our big board one last time to review the Vikings season.


Thanks for joining us this season, and stay with us this off-season, as we'll still be doing weekly shows, previewing free agency, the draft, looking at team needs by position, and then before you know it training camp will be here.


We have a new episode of Vikings Report with Drew and Ted out. We wallow in the aftermath of another disappointing playoff loss, talk about the Defensive Coordinator position, preview the Divisional

Having secured the #3 seed at 13-4, the Vikings face an equally as lucky Giants team in the first playoff game in the Kevin O'Connell era. Can they set out on the right foot with a win, or end the season in massive disappointment?



Line: Vikings -3 (55% of bets on Giants)
SuperSim Calculated Line: Vikings -5.5 O/U 51.5

Injury Report

Vikings
CB Dantzler - Questionable
RB Nwangwu - Questionable
SS Smith - Questionable

Giants
none


* My Thoughts *

I haven't changed my thoughts a whole lot from Christmas Eve when the Vikings prevailed, minus the fact that we were coming off an emotional win against the Colts that I thought would cause us to lose. Now at mostly full strength, the Vikings are in better shape, but so are the Giants. CB Adoree' Jackson and SS Xavier McKinney are back and should be an improvement to an otherwise poor secondary. They may improve the ability to cover Jefferson, but they still have no options for Hock as their LBs have been horrific coverage.

Just in general, I haven't ever seen a team with more Abysmal ratings, that being a PFF grade in the bottom 10% of their position. Defensively this unit has been carried by the forces of Thibodeaux, Williams, and Lawrence. It will be interesting to see how the Giants attack the Vikings on offense, as they focused on the passing game that mostly worked, minus a bad pick thrown by Jones in the 4th quarter. They could opt to hand the ball to Barkley more, as the Vikings have proven to be weak against the run the past few weeks. If Barkley can run like Aaron Jones did a few weeks back, we could see him reach 30+ points.

Prediction: Vikings 30, Giants 28

Yup, I expect another one possession score. What can I say? We're facing a bad defense that the offense should be able to score on consistently, while our own defense does not have the ability to stop offenses until the final 5 minutes... well, the Giants were an exception the last time. But for as much as the Vikings have been fraudulent, the Giants match them.

Any thoughts?
Having secured the #3 seed at 13-4, the Vikings face an equally as lucky Giants team in the first playoff game in the Kevin O'Connell era. Can they set out on the right foot with a win, or end the

A few years ago, NFL.com posted this list of league records that will be tough to top. Perhaps even unbreakable.

1. Career Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice (22,895)
Next closest: Larry Fitzgerald (17,492)
Closest active player: Julio Jones (13,629)

2. Consecutive Games Started by a Quarterback: Brett Favre (297)
Next closest: Philip Rivers (240)
Closest active player: Tom Brady (110)

3. Most Rushing Yards Titles: Jim Brown (8)
Next closest: 4 titles (5 players tied)
Closest active player: Derrick Henry (2)

4. Coaching career wins: Don Shula (347)
Next closest: Bill Belichick (329)
Next-closest active: Bill Belichick (329)

5. Sacks in a game: Derrick Thomas (7.0 against Seahawks in 1990)
Next closest: 6.0 (Derrick Thomas, Osi Umenyiora, Fred Dean, Adrian Clayborn)

6. Interceptions in a season: Night Train Lane (14 in 1952)
Next closest: 13 (Dan Sandifer, Spec Sanders, Lester Hayes)

7. Most points scored in a game: Ernie Nevers (40 points in 1929)
Next closest: 36 (Dub Jones, Gale Sayers, and Alvin Kamara)

8. Most playoff wins by a QB/head coach: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady (30)
Next closest: Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw (14)

9. Career rushing yards: Emmitt Smith (18,355)
Next closest: Walter Payton (16,726)
Closest active player: Derrick Henry (8,335)

10. Most touchdowns in a season: LaDanian Tomlinson (31 in 2006)
Next closest: Shaun Alexander (28 in 2005)

It's a fine list. #4 feels pretty breakable. Whenever I see a list of "unbreakable" NFL records I rarely see any mention of Paul Krause's record of 81 career interceptions. Here's the current Top 10 in career interceptions.

1.   Paul Krause              81
2.   Emlen Tunnell         79
3.   Rod Woodson          71
4.   Night Train Lane      68
5.   Ken Riley                  65
5.   Charles Woodson   65
7.   Ed Reed                    64
8.   Ronnie Lott             63
8.   Darren Sharper       63
10. Dave Brown            62
10. Dick LeBeau            62

On the strength of a ridiculous NFL record, Paul Krause was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. His ridiculous record has stood for over 40 years and will be tough to top. It’s been stated many times and many ways that records are set to be broken. Krause’s career record of 81 interceptions is one that might never be. The Woodsons and Ed Reed made recent runs at the record but still fell at least a couple of interception-filled seasons short. The Woodsons played until they were 38. Reed played until he was 35. They were three of the best interceptors the league has ever seen but never really threatened Krause’s record.

How about the active interception leaders?

Devin McCourty: 35
Harrison Smith: 34
Patrick Peterson: 34

Look at that. A couple of current Vikings players. All three are closer to the end of their career than the start and aren’t even half way to Krause’s 81.

There aren’t any young interceptors with 30 career interceptions. Xavien Howard has 28. He’s 29. J.C. Jackson has 25. He’s 27. Both have had fine starts to their career but are well off the pace.  

Paul Krause's 81 career interceptions is a tough record to top. Unbreakable? I don't think that any record is unbreakable. With today’s passing game, I think that Jerry Rice's ridiculous career receiving yards record falls before Krause’s 81. Justin Jefferson? You never know. My general belief is that if something's been done once it can be done again. The fun part is witnessing it.







A few years ago, NFL.com posted this list of league records that will be tough to top. Perhaps even unbreakable. 1. Career Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice (22,895) Next closest: Larry

Our inaugural (and hopefully the first of four this season) playoff edition of Vikings Report With Drew and Ted is out!


We take stock of the rest of the NFC North and try and figure out who is the top competition for the Vikes next year as it stands today, we make our Wildcard playoff picks, we preview the game against the Giants, and Ruby dials up another great trivia segment!


Come join us, and get ready for a great weekend of NFL playoff football!



Our inaugural (and hopefully the first of four this season) playoff edition of Vikings Report With Drew and Ted is out! We take stock of the rest of the NFC North and try and figure

Our latest episode is out. Of course, we share our thoughts on Damar Hamlin, answer some viewer questions, preview the Backup Bowl with the Bears, and have an all picture puzzle trivia. 


Our latest episode is out. Of course, we share our thoughts on Damar Hamlin, answer some viewer questions, preview the Backup Bowl with the Bears, and have an all picture puzzle trivia

The Vikings face the pathetic Bears after a horrid outing vs the Packers. My main question for this game... is this is the worst ever team I've made a depth chart for?



Injury Report

Vikings
C Bradbury - Out
DE Lynch - Out
LB Asamoah - Questionable
OLB Smith - Questionable
CB Dantzler - Questionable


Bears
QB Fields - Out
CB Ja Jones - Out
LB Weatherford - Out
DT Blackson - Questionable
CB Gordon - Questionable
OLB Lewis - Questionable


Line: Vikings -6, 62% of money on the Vikings
Super Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -24.5

You're seeing that right, 24.5 points! Of course, that's assuming we play our starters the whole game (they won't), but it's indicative of how little talent there is on this team. This is certainly the worst defense I have ever seen, and by a country mile. Only a single average player with not an above average player in sight. It's so bad that it's apparent that many players on defense are struggling simply because there is nobody good to anchor around - when they had guys like Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, Khalil Mack, and Robert Quinn out there, some of these guys weren't bad. Note that they have 4 former Vikings - Watts, Lee, Hand, and Holmes.

The CB group is so shallow that they're down to 2nd rounder Gordon and 3 guys who were all signed within the past couple months and have played less than 50 snaps together.

Offensively the Bears aren't horrible, but with Peterman starting they just might be. They could score some points if they could run the ball, but the Vikings have the luxury to be able to stack the box on any obvious running down. They don't have any receivers who are threatening, as Kmet has been fine and that's it. Claypool has been bad this year and hasn't looked fully healthy, while Pringle, Pettis, St. Brown, and Harry are all #4 receivers at best. They spent a 3rd round Velus Jones Jr. and have barely used him despite being a 25 year old rookie.

The one bright spot on this team is that they appear to have hit a home run on 5th round rookie LT Braxton Jones. With Teven Jenkins looking like a stalwart guard and Whitehair as solid as ever, they at least have a foundation for a quality O-line.

Prediction: Vikings 26, Bears 13

This is a hard one to gauge with the Vikings likely playing backups for at least 50% of the game. The Bears are so bad without Fields that they should still be dispatched by at least 10 points, and they might just nab the first overall pick.

Any thoughts?The Vikings face the pathetic Bears after a horrid outing vs the Packers. My main question for this game... is this is the worst ever team I've made a depth chart for? https://i.imgur.com/

Dan Daly's book, The National Forgotten League, is loaded with fun and informative facts, notes, and stories. This little nugget about the 1929 Orange Tornadoes caught my attention. The Tornadoes were a professional football team that competed in various leagues at various levels from 1887-1941 and 1958-70. From 1929-30 the Tornadoes were an NFL team. Their time in the league was only a blink, a very unique blink. No matter the sport, we are accustomed to seeing numbers somewhere on a player’s uniform. From the time that someone first decided to put personal identifiers on an athletic uniform that identifier has been a number. For some reason, the Tornadoes went a different route in 1929.

Here's their lineup for the first of two games against the Frankford Yellow Jackets:

A-Phil Scott, E, No College
B-Felix McCormick, B, Bucknell
C-Heinie Benkert, B, Rutgers
D-Leon Johnson, E, Colombia
E-George Pease, QB, Columbia
F-Ernie Cuneo, G, Penn State/Columbia
G-Frank Kirkleski, B, Lafayette
H-Ted Mitchell, C, Bucknell
J-Ernie Hambacker, B, Bucknell
L-Ralph Barkman, B, Schuylkill
M-Bob Beattie, T, Princeton
M-Steve Hamas, FB, Penn State
N-Paul Longua, E, Villanova
O-Jack McArthur, G, St. Mary's (California)
P-Bill Feaster, T, Fordham
Q-Bill Clarkin, T, No College
R-Andy Salata, G, Pittsburgh
S-Carl Waite, B, Rutgers/Georgetown
T-Jack Depler, C/T/Coach, Illinois
X-Johnny Tomaini, E, Georgetown

Letters! The 1929 Orange Tornadoes used letters to identify the members of their football team. Teams were often trying gimmicks in the early days of professional football to try and catch the attention of the public. This was their attempt to be a little different. The Tornadeoes’ two-year time with the Bears, Cardinals, Packers, and Giants will be best remembered by their unique use of the alphabet.

The two M's are a curiosity. Daly thought that it could just be a typo.

There's no "I" in team. Or apparently a “K.”

The Tornadoes’ brief time in the NFL does have a “distant” connection to the Minnesota Vikings. In 1929, Duluth Eskimos owner Ole Haugsrud sold his NFL franchise rights to Piggy Simandl, a wholesale meat salesman and sports promoter from Orange, NJ. Simandl named his NFL team the Orange Tornadoes. Due to an agreement made with the NFL through the sale of the Eskimos, Haugsrud would have “first dibs” on any future NFL team in the state of Minnesota. He was a part of the Vikings’ original ownership group in 1961.

If you haven't read Dan Daly's book, I highly recommend doing so.Dan Daly's book, The National Forgotten League, is loaded with fun and informative facts, notes, and stories. This little nugget about the 1929 Orange Tornadoes caught my attention. The Tornado

After yet another close win, the Vikings now have an opportunity to put the dagger in the Packers' season. Somehow the underdogs despite having 5 more wins, the Vikings have a chip on their shoulder and can beat an underwhelming Green Bay team, but can they actually do it? Or is Vegas right and will we get beat by multiple scores?




Injury Report

Vikings
C Bradbury - Out
DE Lynch - Out

Packers 
CB Nixon - Questionable
WR Watson - Questionable


Line: Packers -3 (63% of bets on Vikings)
Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -4.5


* My Notes *

The Packers are in better shape offensively compared to Week 1, with Bakhtiari finally playing and the rookie WRs up to speed. Still, Watson is 50-50 to play and won't be 100% healthy, and Patrick Peterson can erase the likes of Allen Lazard. It won't be hard for Rodgers & Co to move the ball through the air against the Donashell defense, but this is where the bend-don't-break D comes in. The Vikings are one of the best teams against the run, and can hold Jones and Dillon if they stack the box. This wouldn't work if Rodgers had the likes of Adams or a deep threat, but I don't seen Lazard/Cobb/Doubs beating us downfield.

Defensively, the Packers are just not very good. Their run defense has been plundered for 2166 yards, including 5 yards per carry. The Vikings should take advantage and pound the ball with Dalvin Cook early and often. With Dean Lowry on the IR, they'll be forced to play Devonte Wyatt, of whom they've been avoiding to use, and Kenny Clark is having his worst season. The LB corps is nothing to be afraid of, as Walker has flopped so far. Preston Smith is their only pressure generator with Gary on the IR, as the next best edge defender is a 6th round rookie.

On pass defense, the Packers have given up the 3rd least yards, but that's because teams have thrown the least amount of passes against them. They are 24th in yards given up per pass play, so they're still not good. PFF hates their two safeties, who are both ranking in the bottom 10 this year despite having solid careers. Alexander and Douglas are playing well, but neither of them are going to hold a candle to Justin Jefferson. Expect to see JJ and Hockenson be heavily targeted.

Prediction: Vikings 31, Packers 24

Despite their luck and penchant for winning close games, the Vikings are handily the better team and should be motivated enough to retain the #2 seed and kill the hopes of their greatest rival. With Kirk and Jefferson on fire, the Packers don't have the fire engines required to quash the flames.

Any thoughts?After yet another close win, the Vikings now have an opportunity to put the dagger in the Packers' season. Somehow the underdogs despite having 5 more wins, the Vikings have a chip on their shoulder

Our new episode is out, and it's a banger, as the kids would say. Since we didn't do a live post game show last week, we briefly touch on the Giants game, discuss Kirk and JJ as potential MVP candidates, give the Vikes a couple New Year's resolutions, preview the Packers game, trivia, and more!

All to the backdrop of our movie tribute, 'Miracle', the greatest sports movie ever made.


Our new episode is out, and it's a banger, as the kids would say. Since we didn't do a live post game show last week, we briefly touch on the Giants game, discuss Kirk and JJ as potential MVP

After a whirlwind of a game last week, the Vikings have kept the #2 seed to themselves. They'll need to keep winning to fend the 49ers off, and face an overachieving Giants squad that also has a rookie head coach.



Injury Report

Vikings
C Bradbury - Out
ILB Kendricks - Questionable
CB Dantzler - Questionable

Giants
CB Jackson - Out
G Lemieux - Out

Line: Vikings -4 (51% of bets on Vikings)
SuperSim Calculated Line: Vikings -5

* My Notes *

New coach Brian Daboll has this team playing very well despite having a top 10 roster riddled with a bunch of injuries. While Daniel Jones hasn't taken the next step like some thought he would, he's levelled out as an average starter and has worked on limiting the turnovers. In conjunction with a rebound year from Saquon Barkley, it's allowed the offense to just good enough to support the defense. Give Jones a legit receiver like how Hurts got AJ Brown, and the offense might take a big step forward.

Defensively, the Giants rely on the trenches to control the game to hide their problems at LB/CB/S. They've been shockingly easy to run on with Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence in place, as they've actually been better pass rushers than run stuffers this year. Thibodeaux has been getting hot the past few weeks, we'll have to see if our OL can hold. If it can, Jefferson & Co should roast this secondary to high heaven, as they lack a single healthy above average starter.

Prediction: Giants 27, Vikings 24

I have to pick the Giants to win after seeing how the Vikings come off emotional wins, especially a long overtime win. The Giants still look bad on paper, but they've consistently outperformed thanks to their far improved coaching. With a mobile QB in Jones, I could see the Giants successfully move the ball by mixing in Barkley runs (and passes, he's a great matchup against our LBs in coverage) and rolling Jones out. The Vikings' luck in one-score games has to come to a close at some point... doesn't it?

Any thoughts?
After a whirlwind of a game last week, the Vikings have kept the #2 seed to themselves. They'll need to keep winning to fend the 49ers off, and face an overachieving Giants squad that also has a

While trying to come down from the exhilaration of a 33-point comeback win, I found myself thinking about Minnesota Vikings drafts of the past. Perhaps, thinking about the past calms me in the moment. Who knows? Anyway, the Minnesota Vikings have been taking part in the NFL Draft for 62 years. In those 62 drafts, the Vikings have selected 64 players in the first round. Here are those first round selections:

1961: Tommy Mason, RB, Tulane
1962: No Pick
1963: Jim Dunaway, DT, Mississippi
1964: Carl Eller, DE, Minnesota
1965: Jack Snow, WR, Notre Dame
1966: Jerry Shay, DT, Purdue
1967: Clinton Jones, RB, Michigan State
          Gene Washington, WR, Michigan State
          Alan Page, DT, Notre Dame
1968: Ron Yary, OT, USC
1969: No Pick
1970: John Ward, OT, Oklahoma State
1971: Leo Hayden, RB, Ohio State
1972: Jeff Siemon, LB, Stanford
1973: Chuck Foreman, RB, Miami
1974: Fred McNeill, LB, UCLA
          Steve Riley, OT, USC
1975: Mark Mullaney, DT, Colorado State
1976: James White, DT, Oklahoma State
1977: Tommy Kramer, QB, Rice
1978: Randy Holloway, DE, Pittsburgh
1979: Ted Brown, RB, North Carolina State
1980: Doug Martin, DE, Washington
1981: No Pick
1982: Darrin Nelson, RB, Stanford
1983: Joey Browner, S, USC
1984: Keith Millard, DE, Washington State
1985: Chris Doleman, LB, Pittsburgh
1986: Gerald Robinson, DE, Aubrun
1987: D.J. Dozier, RB, Penn State
1988: Randall McDaniel, OG, Arizona State
1989: No Pick
1990: No Pick
1991:  No Pick
1992: No Pick
1993: Robert Smith, RB, Ohio State
1994: DeWayne Washington, CB, North Carolina State
          Todd Steussie, OT, California
1995: Derrick Alexander, DE, Florida State
          Korey Stringer, OT, Ohio State
1996: Duane Clemons, DE, California
1997: Dwayne Rudd, LB, Alabama
1998: Randy Moss, WR, Marshall
1999: Daunte Culpepper, QB, Central Florida
          Dimitrius Underwood, DE, Michigan State
2000: Chris Hovan, DT, Boston College
2001: Michael Bennett, RB, Wisconsin
2002: Bryant McKinnie, OT, Miami
2003: Kevin Williams, DT, Oklahoma State
2004: Kenechi Udeze, DE, USC
2005: Troy Williamson, WR, South Carolina
           Erasmus James, DE, Wisconsin
2006: Chad Greenway, LB, Iowa
2007: Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma
2008: No Pick
2009: Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
2010: No Pick
2011: Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State
2012: Matt Kalil, OT, USC
          Harrison Smith, S, Notre Dame
2013: Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida
          Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State
          Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee
2014: Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA
          Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
2015: Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
2016: Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi
2017: No Pick
2018: Mike Hughes, CB, Central Florida
2019: Garrett Bradbury, C, North Carolina State
2020: Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
           Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU
2021: Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
2022: Lewis Cine, S, Georgia

A Breakdown:

Hall of Famers:
Carl Eller
Alan Page
Ron Yary
Chris Doleman
Randall McDaniel
Randy Moss

Adrian Peterson will join this list.

If I were to pick a past first round pick that hasn’t received the Hall of Fame consideration that he deserves, that player would be Chuck Foreman. There was a four-five year stretch in which he was arguably the best running back in the league. He was certainly the most versatile. He was such a fun back.

Joey Browner and Keith Millard would be in Canton if injuries hadn’t whittled away at their career.

By position:

Quarterbacks (4):
Tommy Kramer
Daunte Culpepper
Christian Ponder
Teddy Bridgewater

Running Backs (10):
Tommy Mason
Clinton Jones
Leo Hayden
Chuck Foreman
Ted Brown
Darrin Nelson
D.J. Dozier
Robert Smith
Michael Bennett
Adrian Peterson

Receivers (8):
Jack Snow
Gene Washington
Randy Moss
Troy Williamson
Percy Harvin
Cordarrelle Patterson
Laquon Treadwell
Justin Jefferson

Offensive Linemen (10):
Ron Yary
John Ward
Steve Riley
Randall McDaniel
Todd Steussie
Korey Stringer
Bryant McKinnie
Matt Kalil
Garrett Bradbury
Christian Darrisaw

Defensive Linemen (18):
Jim Dunaway
Carl Eller
Jerry Shay
Alan Page
Mark Mullaney
James White
Randy Holloway
Doug Martin
Keith Millard
Gerald Robinson
Derrick Alexander
Duane Clemons
Dimitrius Underwood
Chris Hovan
Kevin Williams
Keneche Udeze
Erasmus James
Sharrif Floyd

Linebackers (6):
Jeff Siemon
Fred McNeill
Chris Doleman
Dwayne Rudd
Chad Greenway
Anthony Barr

Cornerbacks (5):
DeWayne Washington
Xavier Rhodes
Trae Waynes
Mike Hughes
Jeff Gladney

Safeties (3):
Joey Browner
Harrison Smith
Lewis Cine

It’s interesting that defensive line is by far the most popular first round position but a defensive lineman hasn’t been selected in the first round since 2013.

During the NFL-AFL bidding wars of the 1960s, drafted players had options. They could sign with the established NFL team that drafted them or they could sign with the newbie AFL team that drafted them. The Vikings lost 1963 first-round pick Jim Dunaway to the Buffalo Bills. He developed into an integral player on one of the best defenses in the AFL. He would’ve paired quite nicely with Alan Page in the middle of Vikings defensive line. Or, maybe the Vikings don’t draft Page if Dunaway is already playing well on the line. We’ll never know.

The Vikings traded 1965 first-round pick Jack Snow to the Los Angeles Rams before he ever played a snap in Minnesota. Despite playing college football in the Midwest at Notre Dame, I believe Snow didn’t like the snow and wanted to play professionally closer to his Southern California home.

Picks that thrilled me to the point of hyperventilation:
Joey Browner
Randall McDaniel
Dwayne Rudd
RANDY MOSS
Chris Hovan
Bryant McKinnie
Chad Greenway
Adrian Peterson
Percy Harvin
Harrison Smith
Anthony Barr
Teddy Bridgewater
Justin Jefferson

The selection of Randy Moss in 1998 damn near killed me.

Then, there’s this one.
I had watched a lot of Darrin Nelson at Stanford and he was a terrific back. I was thrilled when the Vikings drafted him but my thrill was muted a bit by the fact that Marcus Allen was still available. I hadn't seen as much of Allen in college as I'd seen of Nelson but I'd seen enough. I knew that Allen was going to be the better professional running back but I did really like Nelson’s versatility in the Vikings offense.

Picks that disappointed so, so much as players:
Dwayne Rudd
Bryant McKinnie

I was thrilled when both players were drafted but I can't remember ever being thrilled watching either play. Dwayne Rudd put more energy into celebrating routine plays than he ever put into actually making plays. For the entirety of his career, Bryant McKinnie simply showed no energy and no interest while he was on the field. He made one Pro Bowl, probably because Brett Favre made him look better than he was, and was sent home before the game was even played. Who does that? McKinnie being sent home from the Pro Bowl was less surprising than his actually being selected for the game. I've never been one to hate the players that play for the team that I love but I hated seeing these two players play for the Vikings. I was thrilled when both were drafted but I was more thrilled when they left.

On ten occasions, the Vikings made multiple picks in the first round. The success with those multiple picks is wide-ranging. There’s the high of selecting Clinton Jones, Gene Washington, and Alan Page in 1967. There’s the brutal low of selecting Troy Williamson and Erasmus James in 2005.

On nine occasions, the Vikings made no selections in the first round. Four of those were the rough draft years of 1989-92. The Vikings traded their 1989 first round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for linebacker Mike Merriweather. That was a good trade. The Vikings traded their 1990-92 first round picks, several other picks, and several players to the Dallas Cowboys for Herschel Walker. That was a bad trade. A very bad trade.

As a youngster in California, I fell for the Vikings in the early 1970s. The first draft that I really remember following was the 1976 draft that brought James and Sammy White to Minnesota. Thanks to the tremendous work of Joel Buschbaum, Paul Zimmerman, and Mel Kiper I gradually started to understand and appreciate the football fun of the NFL Draft.

While trying to come down from the exhilaration of a 33-point comeback win, I found myself thinking about Minnesota Vikings drafts of the past. Perhaps, thinking about the past calms me in the moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kXGVhIr0Q&t=1301s

In our latest installment, we talk about the defense, preview the Colts, and have a killer trivia. Also, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is not 'stupid', it's awesome.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP13oQWMeY4 In our latest installment, we talk about the defense, preview the Colts, and have a killer trivia. Also, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is not

After a disappointing loss to the Lions, the Vikings will look to keep control of the #2 as they host the Colts. It will be an intriguing battle between a bad offense vs a bad defense, and a good offense vs a good defense. Can the Vikings beat the Colts for the first time in 25+ years?



Injury Report


Vikings

C Bradbury - Questionable
CB Dantzler - Questionable
DT Phillips - Questionable
ED Hunter - Questionable
ED Jones II - Questionable

Colts

CB Facyson - Doubtful
CB Moore II - Out
WR Strachan - Out

Line: Vikings -3.5 (68% of bets on Vikings)
Super Sim Calculated line: Vikings -3.5

* Notes *

The Colts offense just isn't the same as it was last year. Matt Ryan isn't even the biggest factor, it's been the interior OL and the run game. Quenton Nelson had been elite in 2019-2020, but PFF has his grades falling off severely in 2021-2022. He still grades out as great because guard play has plummeted in 2022, but he's not the difference-maker he used to be. Ryan Kelly has also fallen off a cliff, and the RG spot has been an issue the whole year. Add in Jonathan Taylor not looking quite the same after he dominated in 2021, and the offense's main power supply has been crippled, and Matt Ryan looking cooked is a byproduct of this.

On defense, the Colts' pass defense has been their primary strength. They are able to get pressure with their 4 man rushes and they have a #1 CB in Gilmore who has had a rebound year. The Colts have been somewhat weak against the run with Shaquille Leonard missing most of the year, but their replacement LBs have been good enough.


Prediction: Vikings 23, Colts 17

This feels like a rebound for the Vikes, as the Colts simply stink. I do think the Colts defense can keep this game close enough to make it yet another one possession win, but I think our defense will have a better outing and finally hold a team under 400 yards.

Any thoughts?After a disappointing loss to the Lions, the Vikings will look to keep control of the #2 as they host the Colts. It will be an intriguing battle between a bad offense vs a bad defense, and a good

We found out today that Vikings has become the second highest rated fan based Vikings podcast on YouTube in terms of subscriptions. All the other channels are from local Minneapolis media outlets or the Vikings official YouTube channel.

Thanks to all of you that have tuned in and subscribed since we came over here. It's been a lot of fun joining and interacing here, and we're all really looking forward to the rest of this season and the years ahead. We're truly humbled, and can't wait for what the future brings.

Drew, Ruby, Ted, and Chris


We found out today that Vikings has become the second highest rated fan based Vikings podcast on YouTube in terms of subscriptions. All the other channels are from local Minneapolis media outlets or

After yet another one score win, the Vikings line up against a feisty Lions squad that is somehow favored to win this one. Will they be able to make it to 11-2?



Injury Report

Vikings
DE Bullard - Out
C Bradbury - Questionable
S Smith - Questionable
LT Darrisaw - Questionable

Lions
G Awosika - Out
LB Barnes - Out
CB Lucas - Out
C Brown - Doubtful
CB Harris - Questionable
CB Okudah - Questionable
WR Raymond - Questionable
QB Sudfeld - Questionable

Line: DET -2 (51% of bets on Vikings)
SuperSim Calculated Line: MIN -9

Notes:

Last time we played, the Lions lost both Swift and St. Brown midway through the game to injuries. Both are now fully healthy and the Lions have already had a ton of success with Jamaal Williams, and with his ability to punch in TDs, they shouldn't have the redzone woes the Jets did. Swift is capable of doing what Tony Pollard did to this defense, it's really a matter of whether their OC schemes in some routes against LBs for him. Losing Hockenson is a pretty big blow since the TE depth chart is mostly 3rd stringers/practice squad types. Josh Reynolds had his biggest game of the year carving up our defense Week 3, and he could be down for more of that with St. Brown drawing attenion. To be fair, we didn't cover him well last time either.

Jameson Williams played his first game last week, but only played 8 snaps. I'd expect 10-20 this week, so don't expect him to have a huge impact.

The Lions OL quieted our pass rush in Week 3 (0 sacks), and is still in great shape. Their primary weakness is RG Stenberg, who was benched for a UDFA. Perhaps Tomlinson can line up on him?

Defensively this unit is still very bad, but they've shown some improvement. They have 3 rookie starters playing at an at least average level, with Joseph recently stepping up and seizing the SS role. Hutchinson isn't quite the monster some envisioned, but he's certainly been better than #1 pick Travon Walker.

The D-line is quite bad against the run, with McNeill being the best stuffer of the group by far. Brockers appears to be cooked and hasn't been getting snaps anymore. They desperately need a 3 tech. The LB position is also quite bad, with 5th rounder Rodriguez being the only positive contributor. It is worth noting that rookie OLB James Houston has 3 sacks the past 2 weeks, which were also his first two games.

The CB room is intriguing, as both Oruwariye and Hughes have been benched. Jacobs has stepped up as the #2 and former safety Harris is locked into the slot CB job. Former top 5 pick Jeffrey Okudah is finally beginning to live up to his draft billing, and he was able to shut down Jefferson in Week 3 (albeit with a bunch of mugging that somehow didn't result in flags).



Prediction: Lions 35, Vikings 26

This has the feel of a grind-it-out divisional game that we should win on paper, but we don't because you simply can't win them all. The Lions' roster is healthier and has players stepping up, and I suspect they will come out swinging and playing more physical than the Vikings. To be frank, I don't think this game will end up being all that important of a loss - perhaps we'll see some regression in the luck category / have some bad penalties or turnovers that usually don't happen to this 2022 Vikings squad.

Any thoughts?After yet another one score win, the Vikings line up against a feisty Lions squad that is somehow favored to win this one. Will they be able to make it to 11-2?

I recently read Joe Kapp's book A Life of Leadership: Joe Kapp "The Toughest Chicano." It's a fun read. That's no surprise as every book about the 1960s Minnesota Vikings is a fun read. They were fun teams. Kapp's time with the Vikings is a bit before my time but I've read, heard, and learned enough about those teams that I feel as if I actually experienced them. Kapp joined the Vikings in 1967. That was the same year that Bud Grant was hired as head coach. After six years of entertaining but mediocre, at best, play, winning football games was about to become the norm in Minnesota. The Vikings won their first division title in 1968. They won the NFL title in 1969. The 1969 team isn't thought of as a champion because they unfortunately went on to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. That day wasn't their day but the 1969 Minnesota Vikings team is still one of the best in NFL history. In his book, Kapp put together an interesting chart that details how the 1969 Vikings team was put together. The chart broke the team down by the year each player joined the team and their position. The most interesting feature of Kapp’s chart is that he lists a value that each player brought to the team. I've never seen a player, coach, general manager, anybody do such a thing. Kapp called it the Development of the 1969 Minnesota Vikings.

Player/Position/Value
1961 (3-11)
Grady Alderman, T: Control
Paul Dickson, DT: Loyalty
Jim Marshall, DE: Spirit
Ed Sharockman, CB: Commitment

1962 (2-11-1)
Fred Cox, K: Responsibility
Mick Tingelhoff, C: Determination
Roy Winston, LB: Wisdom

1963 (5-8-1)
Bill Brown, FB: Toughness
Karl Kassulke, S: Enthusiasm

1964 (8-5-1)
Carl Eller, DE: Confidence
Milt Sunde, G: Dedication

1965 (7-7)
Dale Hackbart, S: Humor
Gary Larsen, DT: Effort
Earsell Mackbee, CB: Concentration
Dave Osborn, RB: Perseverance
Lonnie Warwick, LB: Intensity

1966 (4-9-1)
Doug Davis, T: Awareness
Jim Lindsey, RB: Reliability
Jim Vellone, G: Empathy

1967 (3-8-3)
John Beasley, TE: Faith
Bobby Bryant, CB: Courage
Bob Grim, WR: Poise
Jim Hargrove, LB: Steadiness
Clint Jones, RB: Attitude
Joe Kapp, QB: Hunger
Alan Page, DT: Resourcefulness
Gene Washington, WR: Respect

1968 (8-6) Central Division Champs
Bookie Bolin, G: Cooperation
Gary Cuozzo, QB: Pride
John Henderson, WR: Courtesy
Paul Krause, S: Patience
Bob Lee, QB: Ambition
Mike McGill, LB: Judgement
Oscar Reed, RB: Desire
Steve Smith, DT: Harmony
Charlie West, DB: Integrity
Ron Yary, T: Trust

1969 (12-2) NFL Champs, lost Super Bowl IV
Kent Kramer, TE: Balance
Bill Harris, RB: Initiative
Wally Hilgenberg, LB: Aggression
Mike Riley, LB: Alertness
Ed White, G: Madness

I find the last one funny. Ed White was an All-American defensive lineman at Cal. The Vikings successfully flipped him to the offensive line. Kapp felt that White brought madness to the team. 

I've long known Dale Hackbart as a hard-hitting, versatile safety for the 1960s Vikings. From Kapp's book, I discovered that his versatility stretched beyond the football field. Kapp valued Hackbart for his humor. The always smiling safety's ability to make his teammates laugh kept the team loose.

Some aren’t a surprise at all:
Jim Marshall: Spirit
Mick Tingelhoff: Determination
Bill Brown: Toughness
Karl Kassulke: Enthusiasm
Gary Larsen: Effort
Dave Osborn: Perseverance
Paul Krause: Patience
Wally Hilgenberg: Aggression

And Joe Kapp was definitely Hungry. Always hungry. 

So many things make a football team a TEAM. This is an interesting, inside look at what made one of the best teams in Vikings franchise history.

Roster note: With a roster much smaller than today, the Vikings still kept six running backs. It was a very different time.


I recently read Joe Kapp's book A Life of Leadership: Joe Kapp "The Toughest Chicano." It's a fun read. That's no surprise as every book about the 1960s Minnesota Vikings is a fun read. They we

It is no secret to anyone that if Mike Zimmer was given the choice between a QB like Kirk Cousins or one like Teddy Bridgewater, he would go with Teddy Bridgewater 100% of the time. Zimmer loved Bridgewater, had a strong disdain for Cousins, and preferred a QB who did just enough to get a team to win against bad teams most of the time and good teams some of the time, over a QB who would put up huge stats against bad teams while never beating good teams.

In 2015, Zimmer almost had that QB. Teddy Bridgewater wasn't lighting up a stat sheet by any stretch of the imagination, but he was helping to run an efficient offense and he was winning over two games per loss. In 2022, KOC has Cousins not lighting up the stat sheet, but he is winning five games for every loss, something he never approached under Zimmer, despite putting up significantly better passing stats. Instead of getting blown out by every good team he faces and struggling to put-up double-digit points against top ten pass defenses, Cousins is still struggling against those good defenses, but the offense is succeeding regardless (excluding Philly and Dallas that is). KOC is doing with Cousins what Zimmer had wanted to do with Bridgewater and failed to do with Cousins, and the similarities between the two QB statistically in their winningest years are kind of crazy.

EPA/Play

Expected points added per play the two are nearly identical between Bridgewater’s 2015 season and Cousins current one, with Cousins coming in slightly behind Bridgewaters' .101 at .095. For context, Mahomes currently sits at .182 while Baker Mayfield was at -.013.

QBR

Not quarterback rating but ESPN's QBR, which is one of the better predictors of league MVP (when it is a QB). Cousins QBR this year is ranked 21st out of 31 qualifying QBs at 51.5. Bridgewater in 2015 ranked 17th out of 33 qualifying QBs at 57.7. For context here again, Mahomes currently sits at 78.5 and Mayfield at the bottom at 18.3.

Passing DVOA

This isn't as accurate now as it will be by the end of the year, but Teddy's passing offense ranked 19th at 10.3% in 2015 while Cousins' passing offense ranks 19th at 7.1%. Miami currently sits at #1 in this stat with a whopping 43.0% passing DVOA, while Houston sits at the bottom at a horrifically bad -31.3% (the worst since Josh Rosen's rookie season with AZ in 2018).

PFF Stats

2015 Bridgewater

Overall Grade: 68.9 (17th out of 27)
Average Depth of Target: 7.4 (24th)
Adjusted Completion %: 79.2% (1st)
Turnover Worthy Play %: 3.3 (15th ironically tied with Kirk Cousins that year)
Time to Attempt: 2.79 (2nd longest)
Deep Pass %: 10.6 (20th)

2022 Cousins

Overall Grade: 72.7 (15th out of 28)
Average Depth of Target: 7.6 (19th)
Adjusted Completion %: 76.8(13th)
Turnover Worthy Play %: 3.6 (20th)
Time to Attempt: 2.63 (12th longest)
Deep Pass %: 8.7 (21st)

Other Stats:

2015 Bridgewater

TDs: 14
Ints: 9
YPA: 7.2
Rating: 88.6
Attempts: 471
Completion %: 65.6%

2022 Cousins

TDs: 18
Ints: 9
YPA: 6.5
Rating: 88.1
Attempts: 449
Completion %: 64.6%

For the most part the numbers say these two QBs are the same type of QB with a few key differences. First, Cousins is significantly better in the red zone this year than Bridgewater was in 2015 leading to the difference in touchdown passes thrown despite Bridgewater moving the ball better. Even if you include TDs scored with their legs the difference only decreases to three touchdowns. Second, as most of us know that 2015 relied a lot more on the run then the pass which is why Teddy had a similar number of pass attempts in 16 games to what Cousins has thrown in 12. Still, even with those differences, on a per pass basis the similarities are uncanny.

So how did this happen, and should Vikings fans be happy or upset about it? Tackling the second part of this question first, the answer is probably not very happy. Even the most diehard Teddy Bridgewater fans (Funkytown ) would tell you that if Teddy had played exactly like he did in 2015 in 2016, and shown no progression, it would have been time to move on. Teddy playing like he did in 2015 in his second season is one thing, but that lack of production, even while winning, is something you need to move on from if it continued into his 3rd season. And if it isn’t good enough for Teddy in his third season, it sure as heck isn’t good enough for Cousins in his 10th. On top of that, Bridgewater’s play calling was being done by a very mediocre play caller in Norv Turner, and if KOC can’t do better offensively with an improved Oline, more dynamic RB, experienced QB and significantly better receiving options, it is a concerning indictment of his play calling to say the least.

As for why Cousins has suddenly turned into Bridgewater, or perhaps a better comparison and another Zimmer favorite, Andy Dalton, the answer to that is complex, in that the offense and responsibilities are too complex for Cousins, and there are multiple reasons for the decline in statistics. Cousins is struggling moving beyond JJ as a primary target far more than he has in the past and that shows whenever JJ is taken away by a quality, shutdown CB and this could be attributed to him being asked to do too much at the line. There is likely a reason the Vikings offense shifted away from having the QB call audibles with Cousins under center and it might be wise to simplify Cousins’ responsibilities once again. Then there is the fact that a good majority of pure pocket passers are struggling this year more than most due to a shift in defensive strategies. Teams have figured out how to slow the Ryan/Carr/Cousins type of QBs, taking away the plays that inflated their stats that made them seem better than they were.

It isn’t all bad though and there is a reason Zimmer preferred a Bridgewater over a Cousins. Cousins is winning more now than he ever has in his career, and while the stats would tell you he is having little to do with that, Kirk must be doing something to contribute to those wins. JJ isn’t throwing those passes to himself.

In the end the Vikings are 10-2 with Kirddy Couswater, the offense is above average, and the Vikings will almost certainly win the division. As long as a missed chip shot field goal doesn’t result in a first-round playoff loss, this transformation is better than what we had previously with Kirk. Even if success with this level of QB play isn’t maintainable.

It is no secret to anyone that if Mike Zimmer was given the choice between a QB like Kirk Cousins or one like Teddy Bridgewater, he would go with Teddy Bridgewater 100% of the time. Zimmer loved

VR Episdoe 82 is out. We recorded late, so it's a bit of an abbreviated show, but we still hit all the injury news, do a full preview of the Lions game, and we wrap up with trivia, like we always do. Our movie tribute is 'It's A Wonderful Life' and I'm sorry but if you don't like that movie you're basically un-American. Anyway, enjoy the show!


VR Episdoe 82 is out. We recorded late, so it's a bit of an abbreviated show, but we still hit all the injury news, do a full preview of the Lions game, and we wrap up with trivia, like we always do.

After a mini-bye, the Vikings get the surprisingly good Jets in a third straight home game. Will the defense rebound against new starting QB Mike White, or will they continue to be porous while the Vikings offense gets stopped by a very good defense?



Injury Report

Vikings
LT Darrisaw - Out
TE Ellefson - Out
DT Blacklock - Questionable

Jets
S Davis - Out
RB Carter - Doubtful
RT Ogbuehi - Doubtful
LT Brown - Questionable

Line: MIN -3 (52% of bets on Jets)

SuperSim Calculated Line: MIN -8

Prediction: Vikings 26, Jets 20

The Jets are a well-coached team, but they have many holes that I think O'Connell and co. can exploit. With RBs Breece Hall and Michael Carter down, I think their run game will be ineffective with Tomlinson back in tow. The LT/RT duo is weak, priming Hunter and Smith to feast on a QB who has not played very well under pressure. On the other side of the ball, the Jets have the best CB in football who might be able to slow down Jefferson. Even so, the Vikings have proven themselves able to figure out ways to move the ball against good defenses, and I think this might be a big game for Hockenson.

Any thoughts?After a mini-bye, the Vikings get the surprisingly good Jets in a third straight home game. Will the defense rebound against new starting QB Mike White, or will they continue to be porous while the

The Minnesota Vikings entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1961. They took part in the 1961 NFL Draft that was held December 27-28 1960. That brought 20 rookies to the team. To help the new team be "competitive" with 12 existing teams and the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL allowed the Vikings the opportunity to select veterans from established teams through an Expansion Draft. The Cowboys were excluded from the plucking because they were entering their second season after going winless in their first. The draft was held on January 26, 1961. The 12 established teams listed eight of the 38 players on their roster and the Vikings selected three players from each team's list to fill their roster. Here are the 36 players that the Vikings selecteded and the teams from which those players were selected in the 1961 Expansion Draft.

Chicago Bears
Bill Bishop, DT
Glenn Shaw, FB
Charlie Sumner, DB

Detroit Lions
Grady Alderman, OG
Dave Middleton, WR
Dave Whitsell, DB

Green Bay Packers
Ken Beck, DT
Dick Pesonen, DB
Paul Winslow, RB

Cleveland Browns
Rich Mostardo, DB
Fred Murphy, WR
Gene Selawski, OT

San Francisco 49ers
Hugh McElhenny, RB
Clancy Osborne, LB
Karl Rubke, LB

Los Angeles Rams
Don Ellersick, WR
Charlie Janerette, OG
Jerry Stalcup, LB

St. Louis Cardinals
Ed Culpepper, DT
Mike Rabold, OG
Perry Richards, WR

Baltimore Colts
Don Joyce, DE
Lebron Shields, DT
Zeke Smith, LB

New York Giants
Don Doll, OT
Bill Kimber, WR
Frank Youso, OT

Philadelphia Eagles
Jerry Huth, OG
Bill Lapham, C
Gene Johnson, DB

Pittsburgh Steelers
Tom Barnett, RB
Byron Beams, OT
Jack Morris, DB

Washington Redskins
Dick Haley, DB
Bill Roehnelt, LB
Louis “Red” Stephens, OG

Of the 36 players selected in the 1961 Expansion Draft, the following made the 1961 Vikings' roster:

Grady Alderman
Bill Bishop
Ed Culpepper
Dick Haley
Jerry Huth
Gene Johnson
Don Joyce
Bill Lapham
Hugh McElhenny
Dave Middleton
Jack Morris
Rich Mostardo
Fred Murpy
Clancy Osborne
Dick Pesonen
Mike Rabold
Karl Rubke
Lebron Shields
Charlie Sumner
Frank Youso

1961 starters are in bold.

20 of the 36 players selected made the 1961 Vikings roster. 15 of the 20 that made the team started.

The entire offensive line:
LT Grady Alderman
LG Jerry Huth
C Bill Lapham
RG Mike Rabold
RT Frank Youso

and the entire defensive backfield:
CB Jack Morris
CB Dick Pesonen
LS Rich Mostardo
RS Charlie Sumner

Of the 20 expansion draftees that made the roster in 1961, seven made the roster in 1962. The great Mick Tingelhoff bumped Lapham from the center spot and ultimately the roster. The remaining four offensive linemen returned as starters. The other three were Hugh McElhenny, Clancy Osborne, and Charlie Sumner. McElhenny contributed, Osborne started, and Sumner provided depth. By 1963, only Alderman and Huth remained from the expansion draft. Both were starters. By 1964, it was only Alderman.

Hugh McElhenny is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for what he did before the Vikings dug him out of the 1961 Expansion Draft heap. He did have a little left in the tank as he made it to his final Pro Bowl in 1961.

Among the expansion draftees, McElhenny might've been the biggest name and made the biggest early impact. The best player, by a very wide margin, was Grady Alderman. In his 14 seasons with the Vikings he was selected to six Pro Bowls and named 1st Team All-Pro once. He arguably ranks behind only Hall of Famers Ron Yary and Gary Zimmerman among the best offensive tackles in franchise history. In 2010, Alderman was named one of 50 Greatest Vikings. He should be in the team's Ring of Honor.

The Vikings were 3-11 in their first season. For good or bad, the 1961 Expansion Draft made up a significant part of that first team.




The Minnesota Vikings entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1961. They took part in the 1961 NFL Draft that was held December 27-28 1960. That brought 20 rookies to the team. To help the new team

In the aftermath of The Game, Drew and Ruby take it surprisingly easy on Ted, but not TOO easy. We also talk about injuries and CB depth, preview the Jets, roll along with our contests, and our movie tribute this week is A Christmas Story.

So, give it a watch. Just don't shoot your eye out, kid.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuq8zE2GRiQ&t=4s In the aftermath of The Game, Drew and Ruby take it surprisingly easy on Ted, but not TOO easy. We also talk about injuries and CB

Since 2018, I've been creating draft boards that are based upon the consensus of a few specifically chosen 'draftniks'/scouts in the media that I find to be accurate, throw in some other metrics like RAS (Relative Athletic Score) and PFF grades, and create a board that I use to judge the 'accuracy' of draft picks and what account for as 'reaches' and 'value picks'. For this article, I'll compare every 1st and 2nd round pick from 2018 and 2019 to what my draft board recommended, and see which teams would have benefitted from taking my advice and see which would have suffered. So, for example, here's my 2019 draft board:



And let's see how the Packers did compared to my recommendations:



Key:
Actual = The player the team chose in that pick
Recommend = The player that my board prefers. If both players match, then nothing happens.
Actual AV = PFR's AV stat. This is the per year AV that the team's selection has generated
Actual PFF = PFF grade melted down into a tiered system, that being from 1 (Elite) to 5 (Average) to 9 (Abysmal / Did not play enough). This is what the player who was selected is graded as
My AV = The per year AV that my recommended player has generated
My PFF = The PFF tier that my recommended player falls into

So in 2019, the Packers selected Rashan Gary, while my board would have preferred Montez Sweat since both players are 3-4 edge defenders. In most scenarios, I kept the positions the same in order to reduce complexity. Only in a few situations where I either had a specific opinion on a player (Giants, don't take a RB at pick #2) did I switch the position.

Then Gary and Sweat are compared - both have similar PFF grades, but Sweat has generated more AV, so the Packers are given a -2 score. This totally not arbitrary number is how I ranked all teams.

Now, let's see the graph of all of the teams graded, to see if I (well, the draftniks I chose) know more than NFL teams!



The results are in - NFL teams are right more often than me by a slight measure: about -0.4. Teams in the bottom left are the ones who would have been better off following my board, and the ones in the top right quadrant would be worse off taking my advice. Well, it's not a shocking conclusion, but there were teams that could use my help. Let's see how the Cardinals could improve:



Turns out I liked Lamar Jackson more than Josh Rosen, so the Cardinals would have gone down a much different path in this scenario. Since they found their franchise QB (and I didn't love Murray going at #1), I instead had them take my #1 player on the board, Nick Bosa. Now instead of having one good QB, the Cardinals have one good QB (that I personally think is better) and an elite pass rusher. You can thank me later, Arizona!

Now let's see the opposite side of the spectrum - how would I screw up the Browns? [insert Browns joke here]



While I keep the Mayfield pick the same, I waste the 4th overall pick on Josh Jackson, who fell to the 2nd round and should have fallen farther, as he's already been cut and is a end-of-the-roster player compared to the #1 CB Ward has become. I make one good move in upgrading from Corbett to Daniels (Corbett was a total flop with the Browns but the Rams fixed him, but I'm not counting that), but then completely screw up by not taking Chubb and blowing a pick on Derrius Guice. Then I miss out on Greedy Williams (who has been underwhelming in his own right) for Justin Layne, who has played 150 snaps on defense in his whole career and is only good at special teams work.

Finally, what about the Vikings?



This ends up being basically even. I was clear that I loved Will Hernandez over Mike Hughes, but Hernandez turned out to be a below average guard who got benched. Still, he provided more value than Hughes who was always hurt and usually only played a part-time role. 

I was surprised to see Orlando Brown ranked ahead of Brian O'Neill on my board, and even though Brown would not be a scheme fit, I think the Vikings may have missed out on a really good LT. They don't get dinged for that very much since O'Neill has turned out to be very good in his own right.

Finally, I loved Andre Dillard in the 2019 draft, which turned out to be a very bad opinion since he couldn't even win the starting LT job of the Eagles over a 7th round pick. He's just a swing tackle now, which is even a far cry from Garrett Bradbury. AV makes Bradbury look like a competent center - which he isn't - but Dillard is clearly an even bigger bust than Bradbury.

So, would you like to see any other teams' grades compared to my boards? Or would you like to see some expanded analysis that goes beyond the 2nd round or even into the 2020 draft? Let me know what you think!
Since 2018, I've been creating draft boards that are based upon the consensus of a few specifically chosen 'draftniks'/scouts in the media that I find to be accurate, throw in some other metrics like

On September 17, 1920, representatives of football teams scattered around the midwest and east met in Canton, Ohio to discuss organizing a professional football league. The result of that meeting was the formation of the American Professional Football Association. In 1922, the APFA renamed themselves the National Football League.

The NHL has their “Original Six.” The NFL has an “Original Two.” 14 teams competed in that inaugural 1920 season. Only two of those teams are still competing today. Here’s a look at how the NFL has gone from 2 to 32.

Chicago Bears (1920)
The Chicago Bears got their start as a company team. A.E. Staley had a company that produced a range of starch products. He also had a fondness for sports. His company fielded some teams. In March 1920, George Halas was hired to head the football team. He also put his Chemical Engineering degree to work in the factory but he was really there for the football. When the call came for those with football teams to come to Canton, Halas was there. The team competed as the Decatur Staleys in 1920. The football team turned out to be a significant drain on Staley’s funds. Instead of dumping the team, Halas got his greatest wish. Figuring that a bigger market would be a boost, Staley sent Halas, the team, and $5,000 to Chicago to make a go of professional football. In exchange for the funding, the team would carry the Staley name for a single season. In 1921, the team was known as the Chicago Staleys. George Halas got his football team and the Staley name got the 1921 NFL title. With baseball’s Chicago Cubs in mind, Halas renamed his team the Chicago Bears in 1922.

1920: Decatur Staleys
1921: Chicago Staleys
1922-present: Chicago Bears

Chicago Cardinals (1920)
Dating to the 1890s as a club team, the Cardinals are the NFL’s oldest team by a wide margin. They are also one of the most traveled.

1920-59: Chicago Cardinals
1960-87: St. Louis Cardinals
1988-93: Phoenix Cardinals
1994-present: Arizona Cardinals

Due to the financial and resource struggles during World War II, the Cardinals combined with the Pittsburgh Steelers to compete as a single football team in 1944. 

The two Chicago teams are the NFL’s Original Two. It’s always annoying to hear Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers described as the league’s oldest rivalry. How could it be? The Packers weren’t even part of the professional football league during the inaugural season. Bears-Packers is the league’s most contested rivalry. It isn’t the oldest rivalry. That distinction belongs to Bears-Cardinals. During most of the 39 years that the two teams shared Chicago it was one of the most heated.

Green Bay Packers (1921)
The Packers were and are a town team. They were formed in 1919 and competed independently during their first two seasons. In 1921, the Packers joined the APFA/NFL. They almost didn’t get a second season. The Packers were kicked out of the league following their first season for using some players with college eligibility remaining. Cheaters. The Packers made whatever amends needed to be made as they were re-admitted before the 1922 season.

All of the NFL teams struggled greatly during those first couple decades. So many teams came and went. Some of that was intentional. Realizing that the NFL’s future was in bigger cities, league President Joe Carr made a concerted effort to weed out the teams from the smaller towns. Canton, Akron, Pottstown, Hammond, etc. Green Bay is the one town team that survived. It helped that the Packers soon became one of the best teams in the league. Much has been made of the Packers “cute” ownership structure. I’m one of those owners. I have a share of their worthless stock. It’s fun to say and think that I own the Packers. I look forward to attending one of their shareholders meetings in full Vikings gear and just hacking up the process.

New York Giants (1925)
Other than playing home games in New Jersey, there isn’t anything remarkable or notable about the Giants. They have a strong history and a fairly straightforward one.


Detroit Lions (1930)
The Detroit Lions got their NFL start in Portsmouth, Ohio. They soon became one of the league’s best teams. Playing for an NFL title in 1932 and winning one as the Detroit Lions in 1935. It’s tough to believe now but the Lions were a powerhouse in the 1950s. They played in four title games, winning in 1952, 1953, and 1957.

Portsmouth Spartans: 1930-33
Detroit Lions: 1934-present

Washington Commanders (1932)
The freshly named Washington Commanders have a fairly troubling history. That happens when a team is owned by a racist and an idiot. George Preston Marshall was the racist. Daniel Snyder is the idiot.

1932: Boston Braves
1933-36: Boston Redskins
1937-2019: Washington Redskins
2020-2021: Washington Football Team
2022-present: Washington Commanders

Philadelphia Eagles (1933)
Pittsburgh Steelers (1933)

1933-39: Pittsburgh Pirates
1940-present: Pittsburgh Steelers

During the World War II years, the Steelers merged with the Eagles in 1943 to form the awkwardly named “Steagles.” In 1944, the Steelers merged with the Cardinals.

Historically and geographically, the Pennsylvania teams feel linked. They entered the league together. Eagles owner Bert Bell and Steelers owner Art Rooney were terrific friends. They even jointly owned the Steelers for a few years until Bell was elected league Commissioner. The Steelers and Eagles even swapped cities in 1941.

Los Angeles Rams (1937)
The Rams have a well-traveled history. As the Cleveland Rams, they jumped from the second AFL (there have been three AFLs) to the NFL in 1937. From there the team bounced around a bit.

1937-45: Cleveland Rams
1946-94: Los Angeles Rams
1995-2015: St. Louis Rams
2016-present: Los Angeles Rams

During the World War II years, the Rams suspended operations for the 1943 season. One of the interesting things about the Rams is that they won NFL titles in each of the cities that they played. They won as the Cleveland Rams in 1945, as the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 and 2021, and the St. Louis Rams in 1999. Yes, the Rams bolted Cleveland the year after they won an NFL title.

Cleveland Browns (1950)
The Cleveland Browns competed in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946-49. They won all four of that league’s titles. The Browns joined the NFL, after the folding of the AAFC, in 1950 and continued their domination. They played for the title from 1950-55, winning in 1950, 1954, and 1955. Much has been made of Tom Brady leading his teams to ten title games, winning seven. Otto Graham led the Browns to ten title games in ten seasons, winning seven. Graham did in ten years what Brady did in 23.

The Browns have a strange history in that today’s Browns have really no connection to the initial Browns. Today’s Browns are an expansion team. The initial Browns are in Baltimore as the Ravens.

1946-95: Cleveland Browns
1999-present: Cleveland Browns

San Francisco 49ers (1950)
Like the Browns, the San Francisco 49ers competed in the AAFC from 1946-49. Like the Browns, the 49ers joined the NFL after the folding of the AAFC.

Baltimore Colts (1953)
The Baltimore Colts have a very interesting history. Like the Browns and 49ers, a Baltimore Colts team jumped from the AAFC to the NFL. That Colts team was terrible and folded after a single season. The Baltimore Colts team that’s playing in Indianapolis today can arguably trace it’s roots to an original NFL team. The Dayton Triangles. I’m not going to try and untangle that connection here. For the purpose of this, I’m going with the Baltimore Colts joining the NFL in 1953.

1953-83: Baltimore Colts
1984-present: Indianapolis Colts

An interesting nugget in the Colts interesting history is that owner Carroll Rosenbloom traded the team to Robert Irsay in exchange for the Los Angeles Rams in 1972.


Dallas Cowboys (1960)
As the 1950s came to a close, the NFL felt pretty good and stable with their 12 teams. After three-plus decades of significant struggle, the NFL finally had stability. They had no interest in expanding. The threat of the American Football League changed everything. The new league had what few of the teams in the old league had. Money. The AFL’s owners had serious money and a willingness to spend it. The NFL had established teams, established players, and an established history but the threat posed by the AFL forced the NFL to add teams. The first addition was the Dallas Cowboys to compete with the AFL’s Dallas Texans.

Minnesota Vikings (1961)
The Minnesota Vikings became the NFL’s 14th team in 1961. The NFL’s best and most important team was originally aligned with the AFL. They were supposed to be one of the new league’s original eight teams. They even took part in the new league’s first draft. The NFL successfully pried the Vikings their way.

Atlanta Falcons (1966)

New Orleans Saints (1967)

The NFL-AFL Merger (1970)
One of the most significant events in the NFL’s history was the 1970 merger with the AFL. The merger was originally agreed to in the spring of 1966. A combined title game was played from 1966-69 but the complete merger didn’t take place until 1970. 10 AFL teams joined 16 NFL teams to form one league. The NFL reformed into two conferences. The NFC and the AFC. To balance things, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Colts moved to the AFC.

Kansas City Chiefs (1970)
1960-62: Dallas Texans
1963-present: Kansas City Chiefs

Tennessee Titans (1970)
1960-96: Houston Oilers
1997-98: Tennessee Oilers
1999-present: Tennessee Titans

Buffalo Bills (1970)
1960-present: Buffalo Bills

New England Patriots (1970)
1960-70: Boston Patriots
1971-present: New England Patriots

New York Jets (1970)
1960-62: New York Titans
1963-present: New York Jets

Denver Broncos (1970)
1960-present: Denver Broncos

Las Vegas Raiders (1970)
1960-81: Oakland Raiders
1982-94: Los Angeles Raiders
1995-2019: Oakland Raiders
2020-present: Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers (1970)
1960: Los Angeles Chargers
1961-2016: San Diego Chargers
2017-present: Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins (1970)
1966-present: Miami Dolphins

Cincinnati Bengals (1970)
1968-present: Cincinnati Bengals

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976)
Seattle Seahawks (1976)

These two teams have felt linked to me as they were the first expansion teams during my time as a fan. An interesting thing about the Buccaneers and Seahawks is that each has spent time in both conferences. Geography be damned, the Buccaneers were jammed into the AFC West in 1976. They’ve been an NFC team since 1977. The Seahawks were in the NFC West in 1976, flipped to the AFC West in 1977, and returned to the NFC West in 2002.

Carolina Panthers (1995)
Jacksonville Jaguars (1995)

Baltimore Ravens (1996)

It’s been nearly 30 years and I still can’t think of the Baltimore Ravens and not see the original Cleveland Browns. Nothing about that move felt right. No franchise move feels right but this is a strange one. Baltimore and Cleveland are iconic NFL cities and neither team playing in those cities feels like the ones that should be. It’s also ridiculous that the Ravens have inducted eight former Colts players into the team’s Ring of Honor.

Houston Texans (2002)

From the Chicago Bears and Cardinals to the Houston Texans, the National Football League went from 2 to 32.
On September 17, 1920, representatives of football teams scattered around the midwest and east met in Canton, Ohio to discuss organizing a professional football league. The result of that meeting was

How will the Vikings rebound from an absolute drubbing from the Cowboys? They face the best head coach in recent memory and a top heavy team that is firing on all cylinders defensively, but is a mess on offense. Will our Vikings be able to prevent the first losing streak of the season?



Injury Report

Vikings

CB Booth - Out
CB Evans - Out
LT Darrisaw - Out
DT Tomlinson - Questionable


Patriots

LT Wynn - Out
WR Parker - Questionable
T Cajuste - Questionable
C Andrews - Questionable
CB M Jones - Questionable


Line: Vikings -2.5 (66% of bets on Vikings)

Super Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -4.5

Prediction: Patriots 23, Vikings 13

Give me the team that is better in the trenches, and right now that is the Patriots. While their OL also has some problems, I am afraid that their defense can do similar things that the Cowboys can. While their pass rush isn't as ferocious, Belichick's unit is great at covering up the pass game with their 6 DB sets. Running the ball at them is a must. On offense, NE should be spamming the ball to their RBs after seeing what Pollard was able to do. Their passing offense is flat-out bad and they will be in big trouble if they fall behind. In the end, I think the Vikings' injuries and short break between games will cost them this one.

Any thoughts?
How will the Vikings rebound from an absolute drubbing from the Cowboys? They face the best head coach in recent memory and a top heavy team that is firing on all cylinders defensively, but is a mess

Pop quiz! That’s right, you underperform, you get a quiz.

Question 1: Which of the above guys is the starting quarterback for the Patriots? If you can’t answer that, guess what! You have something in common with Bill Belichick! (answers at the end)

Question 2: Which of the above guys looks like the sort of player you would trust to lead your team?

Question 3: What is "Mac" in Mac Jones, short for?


The Patriots have won exactly 0 games this year on the back of a good passing game by their starting quarterback. Their one impressive passing game came on the back of Backup quarterback Bailey Zappe. The patriots are on a three game win streak, but those three wins have come against:
The Jets
A Colts performance so bad, it made an ESPN announcer subsequently look like a competent coach
The Jets

On the ground Rhamondre Stevenson is a good back, but has only one game where he has really carried the team, a 163 yard explosion against a Lions team that managed zero points that week.

The Patriots offense is slightly worse than the Commanders. I could argue this will be the worst offense the Vikings have faced all season (the problem is the Packers are technically worse, so that's a tough argument to make). The defense needs to play with more intensity after the Dallas debacle, but they should be able to sell out against the Patriots run game.

Last week, the Cowboys were the most difficult team to write a “how to beat” statement for; there was no obvious trend that I found on weak players, schemes that worked, or obvious flaws to be exploited. This isn’t to say the Cowboys are unbeatable, just that they are balanced. The Patriots on the other hand are the easiest of the year, so I'll just get right to that:

How to Beat The Patriots
I mentioned selling out to stop Rhamondre Stevenson, do that.  Dalvin Cook has to out rush Rhamondre Stevenson.   The reason the Patriots are one of the easiest teams to figure out for a “How to Beat” scheme is because of how strong a correlation there is with run game success and winning their games.  In ten games the Patriots have played this year, the team that rushes for more yards has won eight. 8-2 is a really solid track record.  The exceptions are:

The Dolphins beat the Patriots 20-7 despite being our rushed 78-65; that’s a very pass heavy Dolphins team and not a huge run total for the Patriots, so not a shocker.
And
The Patriots beat the Colts despite the Colts outrushing the Pats 78-70 in a game with Sam Ellinger at quarterback; 8 yards is not nearly enough to overcome that liability.

When there is a stat like that with a strong correlation to winning, I also ask, does this make sense? Looking at the Patriots:
- Stevenson is arguable the Patriots best offensive player, taking him away should limit their offense.
- The Patriots passing game has a high completion percentage but isn’t very explosive, it requires a complimentary running game.

The big different between this week and last week is that the Patriots don’t have the luxury of a Good WR1, WR2, TE and QB to support their good RB.

But what about the Patriots Defense

Before I dive into the Patriots defense, I need you to ask yourself a question: what do you think of Jared Goff? (why would I ask about the Lions’ quarterback… this makes no sense!!! Just do it, OK, you don’t even have to type a response, you only need to answer to yourself). I think of Goff as a low end starter, with the right team around him he can be a functional player with a winning record; he is also prone to mistakes and bad throws that an average to poor team won’t be able to cover up. If I were raking all the starting QBs, I'd put Goff in the 20-25 range.

Agree or disagree with me on Goff, it doesn’t matter as long as you have your opinion of him. Now, why that matters.  Jared Goff is probably the best quarterback the Patriots defense has beaten this year. The Patriots have beaten:

Mitchel Trubisky – before he was benched for Kenny Pickett

Goff – Is who he is

Jacoby Brisett – capable of piloting a team with a strong defense, running game and big time addition of Amari Cooper into a 3-7 ditch; so … maybe an equal to Goff.

Zach Wilson – His only game over 300 passing yards. 3 bad interceptions sunk this day and it was still a 22-17 game.

Sam Ehlinger –Why would the Colts think this is a good contingency plan to Matt Ryan? Because Jim Irsay is on drugs… ohhh… well… yeah, then that adds up.

Zach Wilson (again) – This 77 yard, 3 point outburst is more like him.

That’s the list of QBs the Patriots have beaten this year.  Additionally, the Patriots have lost games while Justin Fields threw for 99 yards; great for a pass defense stat sheet, bad for winning football.

With that in mind have a look at the Patriots defense:



Most of their pass rush comes from Deatrich Wise Jr. and Matt Judon, those two along with Ja’Whaun Bentley are the 3 main guys on the front 7, the others all rotate out playing about half of snaps or less. Wise and Judon are the threats. I could write about how Brian O’Niell will need to play better than he did against Dallas and how the Vikings should help Brandle (he will and they should), but this isn’t about what the patriots are good at, this post is about how to beat them. When looking at how to beat them, it is important to know that Wise and Judon are good pass rushers, they are not as good at run defense. This ties into the main thing on how to beat them – beat them with what they are bad at.

Cook and Mattison should be targeted for 30 carries between them. This is a beautiful game to feed them both and use Mattison as a sledge hammer to keep them soften up for Cook coming right at them.

Quiz Answers
#1 – Clockwise from Top Right: Mac Jones, winner of a Mac Jones look-alike Contest, possibly Tom Brady, and Jake Bailey – who is the only correct answer to question #2 as he is the only one who shaves and is also the Patriots punter.  #3 "McCorkle".
Pop quiz! That’s right, you underperform, you get a quiz. Question 1: Which of the above guys is the st

After an exciting and unlikely win against the Bills, the Cowboys are up next. While they are a decent team, you'd think they would be the next team to lose by a single possession to the Vikings... we'll have to see if they play at 100% after a long game against Buffalo.




Injury Report

Cowboys

P Anger - Questionable
LB Barr - Questionable
DT Bohanna - Questionable
CB Brown - Questionable
DE Lawrence - Questionable

RB Elliott - Questionable


Vikings

CB Evans - Out
DT Tomlinson - Out
OLB Smith - Questionable


Line: Cowboys -1.5

SuperSim Calculated line: Vikings -1

Prediction: Vikings 30, Cowboys 24

I can't get behind that the Cowboys are the favorite in this game with how poorly their defense has fared the past two weeks. After they gave up 28+ points to the Justin Fields show and the Aaron Rodgers travelling tire fire, they are primed to be whipped by a Vikings offense that is getting the ball to Jefferson and Cook. On offense, they've been mediocre so far and don't match up great against a Vikings defense that has gotten hot. Until the Vikings start stumbling, I'm not going to predict them to lose against a team that is a couple steps below them on paper.

Any thoughts?After an exciting and unlikely win against the Bills, the Cowboys are up next. While they are a decent team, you'd think they would be the next team to lose by a single possession to the Vikings...

Am I even required to take the Dallas defense seriously after the greenest of Green Bay Packers mocked them despite a ruined season in prime time?  They might as well just throw a bunch of chickens at the Cowboys.

The Dallas defense is fine, but they are running more on reputation than substance (I am aware that is redundant with saying they’re the Dallas Cowboys). Still there are a few things to learn about them. Let’s start with the one good player they have. True or False tests are always an easy way to draw people in, it seems so easy.

True or False: Micah Parsons is a great linebacker for Dallas.
The answer is false. Parsons is good, but he is not playing linebacker, he is playing defensive end. Compare four players in this game and look at their season to date snap counts:

Leighton Vander Esch
Run Defense: 242
Pass Rush: 22
Coverage: 261

Eric Kendricks
Run Defense: 210
Pass Rush: 21
Coverage: 380

Micah Parsons
Run Defense: 216
Pass Rush: 240
Coverage: 60

Za’Darius Smith
Run Defense: 132
Pass Rush: 287
Coverage: 20

Parsons’ numbers look more like Za’Darius Smith than Eric Kendricks. In fact, as I watched games, I started to think Dallas was actually running a 3-4 defense with Parsons lined up as an edge rushing OLB, rather than a 4-3 linebacker. Parsons moved around the formation like a linebacker, but he almost always rushes. This pass rush heavy strategy seems to make sense with another trend I’m seeing: coverage that can be beaten deep. It looks to me like the Cowboys' defensive strategy is to pressure opponents into passes against a secondary that is sitting on routes looking for interceptions.

This play against the Lions is a microcosm of how I think Dallas wants their defense to work. First you see Trevon Diggs sitting on a route as Goff stares down the receiver. Then in the second snap, you can see the Lion receiver has beaten Diggs for the TD, but the ball never got out as Goff was sacked. This risk reward seems to be a trade the Cowboys will willingly make.





Is this strategy working? Not really. The Cowboys have 7 interceptions this season, last year by this time Diggs had 8 by himself.

If it’s not the defense, what drives the Cowboys?
Dak Prescott is a respectable quarterback. He plays his role, but he's not in the elite QB tier - if anything he's about one season away from becoming Tony Romo 2.0.  

Zeke Elliott is a bit like Alexander Mattison at this point, a hard running sledge hammer who forces the defense to man up. People can hate him because he isn’t the #1 pick in fantasy football anymore, but that role still has value.

That leaves two potential guys to answer the question of what drives the Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb and Tony Pollard, which brings me to….

How to Beat Dallas:
The Vikings need to figure out which player they need to take away. There is a good argument for both.

The argument for Tony Pollard – he’s averaging 6.0 yards per carry on 103 carries and had big games when Elliot was out the last two weeks. He could be the guy that drives the team.
The argument for CeeDee Lamb – Cowboy game most often swing on which team has two things: Fewer pass attempts and a higher yards per pass attempt. Lamb is their best guy to get these deep balls.

Looking at Cowboys game logs and player stat lines, their most impressive game are when Lamb has a high catch rate and high yards per reception. My question is, is it the run game opening things up or Lamb, or the threat Lamb drawing the defense deep to make Pollard look great.

Time to look at 3 important passes to Lamb. I picked two from the Commanders game (Lamb had a good game in a win against what has proven to be a strong Commanders defense) and one from the Packers game. I’m looking more for trends than scheme breakdowns.

Catch 1 – A simple Crossing Route that Lamb takes for 23 yards.  Lamb got matched up on a linebacker who was forced to chase him in man coverage.  



There’s a lot of catches like this. This type of pass is #1 on the list because it highlights the dilemma the Vikings will face. Patrol the middle of the field with Kendricks and take this away or come up and stop Pollard.  This play will look extra bad for Washington later when you see Prescot's heat map for passer rating - the Commanders took something Prescott is bad at and made it easy for him.

Catch 2 – This play broke the game open and really put the score out of reach for the Commanders. I’m not sure what to make of this play, Washington is taking the non-traditional approach of not bothering to cover Lamb. I think Harrison Smith can make this cover.



Catch 3 – this pass should have sealed the Packers win, but the Cowboy defense packed up camp too early.



This is the most dangerous play because Lamb faked a post going across the field then just ran away from the defense. It looks like the Packers saw the Cowboys' tendencies and are taking away the middle of the field. I think the Packers overdid it with taking away the middle of the field. And more importantly, I think the Vikings safeties will be better at covering the sideline.

One final image, Prescott’s passing chart:



Before I get to Lamb, This image raises two very important questions.  First, if Patrick Peterson consistently lines up on the right side of the offense, left side of the defense, how will the Vikings cover the left side of the field where Prescott is much better? It’s not Lamb, he moves all over. That will be an interesting game within the game. If you hear the announcers talk about how “the Cowboys have been picking on that guy (on the left) all day.” You know better, it’s not the Vikings player, it’s that Prescott can only throw one direction.  Second question: Is Dak Prescott, the sleep number mattress salesman, really cool enough to be rockin' a tattoo that far up his neck?  Seems like a questionable choice. 

Dak isn’t a great passer over the middle of the field. His 6-4 TD to INT ratio isn’t great. This is an interesting weakness when he has CeeDee Lamb who seems to be strong going across the middle. It also tells me how I would approach the game…

If given the choice, I would favor pass coverage over run support for Jordan Hicks, Eric Kendricks, and Chandon Sullivan. If this means Pollard breaks off a few runs, so be it. Force Dak to make more throws outside and deep where safeties are already lurking. It’s the high percentage catch and runs that the Cowboys feast on.  If the Vikings take those away I don't think something like a 150-yard rush day for Pollard would be enough to pick up the slack.
Am I even required to take the Dallas defense seriously after the greenest of Green Bay Packers mocked them despite a

The band is out on the field…

Whenever there’s a need for a desperation play at the end of a football game, The Play is referenced. Whenever a play must be kept alive with laterals, The Play is referenced. Forty years ago, The Play played before disbelieving eyes.

November 20, 1982. Cal-Stanford. The Big Game. The Battle for the Axe. Over the past 40 years, the 85th edition of the Big Game has been whittled down to it’s final moments.

The band is out on the field…

Trailing 19-17 with 53 seconds to play, Stanford quarterback John Elway guided the Cardinal (the color, not the bird) down the field. Overcoming a fourth-and-17 from their own 13-yard line, it was an agonizing drive. It was a drive that ended with a 35-yard Mark Harmon (not that one) field goal. 20-19 Stanford. Four seconds on the clock.

The band is out on the field…

A Harmon squib kick brought the ball to Kevin Moen. Then it was chaos.

Kevin Moen to Richard Rodgers to Dwight Garner to Richard Rodgers to Mariet Ford to Kevin Moen

“the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football.”

Five laterals. Stanford claims that Garner’s knee was down. They’re wrong. Stanford claims that the final lateral was more forward than backward. They’re wrong. Cal won 25-20. Elway was sad.

The Stanford Band was out on the field. That entire band was spread out across the field from the 20-yard line through the end zone. Stanford’s idiotic band has always been a clown show. It’s really no surprise that they blundered their way into a football game before it was done. Trombonist Gary Tyrrell was crushed by Moen in the end zone. They’ve been friends ever since. Yesterday, Cal unveiled a statue in front of Memorial Stadium of Moen with ball held high. Looking for a band member to annihilate. Tyrrell is missing. His trombone is at the base of the statue.

It was insane. Last year, ESPN called it the second-biggest American sports moment. It was a moment made by football craziness and Joe Starkey’s classic call.

I was supposed to be in the Memorial Stadium stands that day. That was supposed to be my freshman year at Cal. It was not to be. My Cal admission was redirected to UC Santa Cruz. I had to be a Banana Slug before I could be a Bear. Instead of sitting in the stadium stands I watched the game in the lounge of my UCSC dorm. Grrrrrah! 

The 85th Big Game had some Minnesota Vikings connections.

Joe Kapp was in his first season as Cal’s head coach. He was and is a Cal legend. Vikings legend too. He quarterbacked the Vikings to their first Super Bowl. He quarterbacked Cal to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1958. Sadly, that’s the last time Cal has played in the Rose Bowl. 64 years! Kapp’s last game as Cal’s head coach in 1986 was my only Big Game win as a Cal student.

Paul Wiggin was Stanford’s head coach in 1982. He went on to coach the Vikings defensive line from 1985-91. From 1992-2015, he worked as the Vikings senior consultant for pro personnel.

Joe Starkey has been the voice of Cal football since 1975. I’ve listened to his voice all of those years. In 1977, he was also the radio voice of the Minnesota Vikings.

Today’s Big Game, the 125th edition, will be Starkey’s last game as Cal’s radio voice.

The band is out on the field… Whenever there’s a need for a desperation play at the end of a football game, The Play is referenced. Whenever a play must be kept alive with lateral

I’ve read several books about the 1970s Oakland Raiders, Ken Stabler, John Madden, Al Davis, John Matuszak, etc. Characters and criminals. Those Raider teams were loaded with both. On the field, it was rarely routine. In a single decade, the Raiders played many games with names. Immaculate Reception, Ghost to the Post, Sea of Hands, Holy Roller. Off the field, it was never routine. It might be why Madden only coached 10 seasons. Those 10 seasons probably felt like 20. There are so many great Raiders stories from that era. This is one of my favorites.

The Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were a different sort of football team. They fielded very good, if not great, football teams but they were a little bit different. Al Davis put those teams together in his image and little else really needs to be said. The Raiders of that era were renegades and you could tell that from the company that they kept. Off the field as well as on. Many of the Raiders were friendly with Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and the rest of the Black Panthers. Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels could be found on bar stools next to Ken Stabler, John Matuszak, and Phil Villapiano. You might even find Barger on the sideline of a Raiders football game. It wasn't always beers and fun with the Oakland Raiders and the Hell's Angels. They nearly went to war.

Most NFL teams of the 1970s still held training camp at small colleges. They stayed in the dorms. For at least a month, they lived a decent distance from the rest of civilization. The Oakland Raiders were, of course, a bit different. They were housed at the El Rancho Tropicana Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA. It wasn't a lovely place. They practiced on nearby fields. As soon as they were free of the daily practices and meetings the rowdy Raiders would scatter to the bars that dotted the area. The Bamboo Room was usually the first and most frequent stop on the rounds. The players would fly to the bars as soon as they could and then fly back to the Tropicana to make their 11pm curfew. One night, linebacker Phil Villapiano didn't make it back for that curfew. There were many hell-raisers on those Raiders teams but they were all pretty good at meeting the few rules that the team had. It was unusual for any of the Raiders to miss curfew. Villapiano was drinking off a particularly rough day of practice on this night that he missed curfew. He was being switched to inside linebacker. He had also suffered a pulled muscle. It wasn’t a great day. It was about to become a worse night. When he finally ventured outside the Bamboo Room he found some gentlemen leaning against his car. He didn't take too kindly to their actions. They didn't take too kindly to his reaction. Villapiano was hit in the head with a hammer before he discovered that he was in a fight with some of the Hell's Angels. The fighting ceased when Villapiano was able to relay that he was friends with Sonny Barger. He believes that association probably saved his life. By the time the tardy linebacker had finally made his way back to the Tropicana his teammates were gathered in the courtyard. After hearing the tale, the Oakland Raiders wanted to go to war with the Hell's Angels. The coaches and Villapiano were able to calm the rest of the team before a Bay Area War could erupt. It all ended well. About a week after the incident, the Raiders were practicing when the air was filled with the roar of several Harley motorcycles. The noise and interruption didn't please John Madden too much but the Oakland Raiders and the Hell's Angels had made their peace.I’ve read several books about the 1970s Oakland Raiders, Ken Stabler, John Madden, Al Davis, John Matuszak, etc. Characters and criminals. Those Raider teams were loaded with both. On the field, it

Buffalo Bills wild west entertainment + Crazy Run and Shoot Mustache = Josh Allen. It doesn’t get any more fun than this. Let’s get the show started double time. Would I talk about anything else? I can’t see why I would, Josh Allen is much too interesting. It’s all over the media:


Bills' receivers allegedly have the ability to break off any route and go deep whenever they think they can get behind the safety. Per Bills game broadcasts.

I’m going to take the lazy way out of all the screen prints this week and provide you unlimited access to all this cool stuff Josh Allen does:

Cool Josh Allen Stuff

Or just go out and watch Sports Center (Note to self: check if Sports Center is still an actual show).

The proof is in the stats, just look at how amazing Allen is at those deep throws with QB ratings way above league average more than 20 yards down field.



If you made it past that time suck trap that was the link to all the Josh Allen highlights, I’ll assume you’re interested in how to beat the Buffalo Josh Allens. I’ll start with a truth that I posted for Jalen Hurts and Kyler Murray, because like those two, Allen is mobile. But, like them, Josh Allen is a quarterback, the most valuable thing a quarterback does is throw the ball. Here is a comparison for Allen.



Allen might seem so dominant that he looks unbeatable, but I think the Vikings have a few situational and scheme advantages that I think could help them. First off, for all those deep ball highlights, remember Allen's intended air yards per pass is 8.7. Air yards per completion is 7.3. I’m going to put a filter on Allen’s passing heat map:



That doesn’t look nearly as dominant, in fact Allen looks downright ordinary. But you might be thinking “Uhhh… Midwinter, you can’t just take away the thing that Allen is best at.” No, I can’t. But Ed Donatell’s defense can. The entire season I have had the same complaint about the Vikings defense: their safeties line up so deep, they are effectively playing themselves out of all but the deepest passes. I’m purposely re-using a snip I posted after the Dolphins game that I used to illustrate that a safety giving up a 28-yard cushion on 1st and 10 down wasn’t helping:



However, if the primary goal becomes to be “Take away the one thing Josh Allen is best at” then suddenly that defensive scheme has value.

I hereby officially put all complaints about safeties being too deep on hold for one week.

Step one in beating the Bills: to force Josh Allen to play situational football and hit short windows. This isn’t his game. If anything, the Bills' deep shot mentality makes it more difficult. If Allen is waiting an extra split second to see if a receiver is going to break a route deep, that only makes short timing windows harder to hit.  

But what about the Bills' defense?
They are the #1 scoring defense in the league. No team has scored more than 21 points on them. However, it appears the Bills are reliant on playing complimentary football. An interesting stat: When opponent scores 20 or more points, the Bills are 2-2.

Even more interesting, when an opponent scores 20 points, the Bills have had to rely on turnovers to keep pace. Here are the four games where opponents scored 20 or more points:

Bills lose to Dolphins 21-19 – Dolphins had no turnovers in this game

Bills over Ravens 23-20 – The Ravens had their opportunities in the second half, but Lamar Jackson threw two interceptions with the game tied on the Ravens last two drives.

Bills over Chiefs 24-20 – Mahomes threw two interceptions on the Chiefs' first and last drive of the game.

Bills lose to Jets 20-17 – A competent quarterback masquerading as Zach Wilson went 25 passing attempts without an interception.

Taking a look at those four interceptions by Jackson and Mahomes to look for themes:

Interception 1 (Jackson) – ball was thrown at the face of a defensive lineman and popped up for a tipped ball drill. Nothing to learn.

Interception 2 (Jackson) – This one is interesting. A 4th and goal from inside the 3 and Jackson tries to make a play, you can see the rush and Jackson dropping back to float a pass into the end zone that was easy pickings. Just looking at this play, knowing the quarterback is about to try to hit a receiver in the back right corner of the end zone; what do you think is going to happen? Exactly that happened. 



Maybe some lessons here?
1) take the points.
2) run from the 3-yard line
3) if you’re going to throw, make sure it’s a good play with a quick throw and you don’t have a QB try to go all street-ballin, that will just get you beat.
Let's see what the next interception shows about these three lessons

Interception 3 (Mahomes) – A scramble play by Mahomes. This ball was snapped from the left hash and he worked his way all the way across the field before floating it into the end zone against pressure. Many of the same lessons as Jackson’s second interception.



Interception 4 (Mahomes) – One of Mahomes patented side armed throws to get the ball around the defender to intended receiver Skyy Moore. Mahomes locked on Moore and didn’t notice Taron Johnson (just barely out of frame) waiting to jump the route.



The lesson here is very clear: you do not play street ball against the Bills defense, they will stay disciplined and take your ball and go home. The Vikings' passing game will have to be patient and take what is given.

It was when quarterbacks were trying to “make a play” that backbreaking interceptions happened. Given the power structure of the AFC, it makes perfect sense that the Bills defense would be focused on preparing for guys like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes’ specific quirks. Teams haven't had to rely on explosive passing plays either: the Dolphins threw for 171 yards, Wilson threw for 154. It didn’t take a prolific passing attack to beat the Bills, just a disciplined one.

Looking at rush defense and the ability to play ball control. The Bills rush defense is ranked highly (No. 6) but they aren’t much better than mid pack in terms of yards per carry. They allow a 40% conversion rate on 3rd down (17th best). The Bills have a good defense, but it’s not impenetrable.

Step two to beating the Bills is to favor ball control offense and field position over any risky passes. Force the Bills back to step 1: playing situational football (which they aren’t great at).

Other advantages
In addition to those two steps, 1 – Take away the deep ball AND 2 – Play a disciplined offense, there are a lot of things ways the Vikings match up well.

Cousins is a risk averse QB who takes what the defense gives him.

The Vikings' defense is geared towards stopping big plays.

The Vikings' run defense is questionable, especially without Dalvin Tomlinson, but the Bills don’t have a strong running attack.

The Vikings are thin at corner, but the Bills don’t have much depth at receiver.

The Bills get most of their pressure from two edge rushers (Von Miller and Gregory Rousseau), but the Vikings have excellent tackles.

Both teams are good at creating turnovers, but the Vikings are better at not giving the ball away.

How to Beat the Bills
The Vikings tendencies match up better than many teams. The Vikings will correctly be underdogs, but if the Vikings offense can manage 21+ points in the form of two good drives and kick return or turnover, they should give themselves a good chance to win.

Note: this was posted before learning of Josh Allen's playing status for Sunday. I assume he will start, but if it's Case Keenum, his scramble and keep things alive profile doesn't change much.   Buffalo Bills wild west entertainment + Crazy Run and Shoot Mustache = Josh Allen. It doesn’t get any more fun than t

The Minnesota Vikings spent most of the 1980s trying to return to the glory days of the previous decade. They weren’t successful. The 1980s included the most frustrating season of all my years with the team. 1984. The Les Steckel year. That one year felt like a decade. It was so bad that it brought Bud Grant out of retirement. The franchise icon returned the team to some degree of respectability and handed the keys to Jerry Burns. It’s what should’ve been done after the 1983 season. Burns made Vikings football fun again. The final years of the 1980s were the decade’s best years. In 1987, they damn near returned to the Super Bowl. Here’s a look at some of the best Vikings players of the 1980s.

Minnesota Vikings 1980s All-Decade Team

Offense

Quarterback
Tommy Kramer

If only Tommy Kramer could stay on the field. There may be no greater “what if” if Vikings franchise history. Kramer was drafted in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft to be Fran Tarkenton’s successor. He assumed that role in 1979. When he was on the field, he was a fun, exciting quarterback. He was a daring gunslinger. He was Brett Favre before Brett Favre. Unfortunately, Kramer could not stay healthy. During his 13-year Vikings career, he played every game in a season only twice, 1979 and the strike-shortened 1982 seasons. If Tommy Kramer could stay on the field, the 1980s would’ve been a very different decade for the Vikings. He had the talent to be one of the league’s best quarterbacks.

Running Back
Darrin Nelson

This might be a controversial choice. The worst thing that Darrin Nelson did was not be Marcus Allen. The Vikings selected Nelson with the seventh pick of the 1982 NFL Draft. Allen was selected with the 10th pick and went on to a brilliant Hall of Fame career. All Nelson did was be a good back for a decade. He edges Ted Brown for this team.

Fullback
Rick Fenney

Rick Fenney was the Vikings lead blocker for the final three years of the decade. His production didn’t quite match that of his predecessor, Alfred Anderson, but he was the better blocker. Fenney did rush for 588 yards in 1989.

Wide Receivers
Anthony Carter
Ahmad Rashad

Anthony Carter is an easy choice. Cris Carter and Randy Moss cast a long shadow over the Vikings strong tradition of receivers. Anthony Carter isn’t far behind them. He was a brilliant football player. He broke 1,000 receiving yards each season from 1988-90. His best season was arguably 1987. He gained 922 yards on only 38 catches for a ridiculous 24.3 yards/reception. His performance against the San Francisco 49ers in the 1987 playoffs is one of the greatest in franchise history. Ahmad Rashad’s best years were the last half of the 1970s. He makes this team for his Pro Bowl years of 1980 and 1981.

Tight End
Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan is another easy choice. A member of the Vikings Ring of Honor, he’s arguably the best tight end in franchise history. In an era of emerging offensive production from the tight end position with the likes of Kellen Winslow and Ozzie Newsome, Jordan was one of the league’s best. While the best Vikings tight end of the 1980s is an easy choice, I must mention Joe Senser. In 1981, he caught 79 passes for 1,004 yards and eight touchdowns. He was incredible that year and his future was so bright. An injury in 1982 ended it all. He missed the entire 1983 season. He tried to come back in 1984 but his career was done. Senser had Canton-level potential.

Offensive Tackles
Gary Zimmerman
Tim Irwin

More easy choices. Gary Zimmerman is a Hall of Famer. Tim Irwin was the Vikings right tackle for nearly all of the 1980s. Zimmerman was great. Irwin was very good. Both are among the best players in franchise history.

Offensive Guards
Randall McDaniel
Terry Tausch

Randall McDaniel is one of the best guards to ever play. Terry Tausch was the Vikings right guard for about half of the 1980s. He edges out Jim Hough and Wes Hamilton.

Center
Dennis Swilley

Dennis Swilley had the unfortunate responsibility of replacing the great Mick Tingelhoff. The Vikings have a strong center tradition. It started with Tingelhoff. Swilley continued it. He was a very good center for most of the 1980s.

Defense

The Vikings used a 3-4 defense from 1981-84. I’m picking a 4-3 defense because it was used for the majority of the decade and because I prefer it. Or, maybe it’s just that the 4-3 is more familiar to me.

Defensive Ends
Chris Doleman
Doug Martin

Chris Doleman is an easy choice. He was a game-changing player and Hall of Famer. Doug Martin is one of the most underrated players in franchise history. He led the league with 11.5 sacks during the strike-shortened 1982 season. He had 13 sacks in 1983 and nine-sack seasons in 1986 and 1987. He was a terrific and somewhat forgotten pass rusher.

Defensive Tackles
Keith Millard
Henry Thomas

At the end of the 1980s, there was a second coming of the Purple People Eaters. One might even pose the sacrilege argument that the Vikings defensive line of the late 1980s was better than the original Purple People Eaters. The greatness of the late-1980s group was the dominance of the defensive tackles. Keith Millard was Aaron Donald-like in 1988 and 1989. In 1988, he was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award and was fifth in the voting for MVP. He was even better in 1989. He was the Defensive Player of the Year and was third in the voting for MVP. Millard and Doleman combined for 39 sacks in 1989. Henry Thomas quietly wrecked offenses. He was an immediate starter at nose tackle as a rookie in 1987. In 1989, he chipped in an impressive nine sacks. He was a very good player for 14 years (eight with the Vikings). His 93.5 career sacks and steady play should give him an argument for the Hall of Fame.

Linebackers
Matt Blair
Scott Studwell
Fred McNeill

Matt Blair and Scott Studwell are easy choices. Both are in the Vikings Ring of Honor. Both were team leaders and Pro Bowl players. With six consecutive Pro Bowls and an All-Pro nod, Blair was one of the league’s best outside linebackers for all of the early 1980s. Once he took over for the ageless Wally Hilgenberg, Fred McNeill put together a solid 12-year career.

Cornerbacks
Carl Lee
Najee Mustafaa

Carl Lee is an easy choice. He’s one of the best cornerbacks in Vikings franchise history. The other cornerback isn’t so easy. Issiac Holt is a contender. His eight interceptions in 1986 is a highlight. John Turner, Willie Teal, John Swain, Rufus Bess. There are several contenders. Najee Mustafaa emerged as the starter opposite Lee in 1988. For the next four seasons he was a very good second corner.

Safeties
Joey Browner
Tom Hannon

Joey Browner is an easy choice. He was a great football player. If injuries hadn’t started whittling away at his talents, he’d be in Canton. Even with an injury-shortened career, he has a strong argument for the Hall of Fame. Tom Hannon was one of my favorites for the entirety of his career. He had the unfortunate responsibility of replacing Paul Krause. Hannon was a solid starter for seven years.

Special Teams

Kicker
Chuck Nelson

Chuck Nelson edges out Rick Danmeier for the kicker spot simply by being the Vikings kicker for half the decade.

Punter
Greg Coleman

Greg Coleman is an easy choice as he was the Vikings punter from 1978-87. He was a fun punter. If punters can be fun.

Kick Returner
Eddie Payton

Walter Payton’s more talented brother gets the kick returner spot. His 1184 kick return yards in 1980 led the league. He had a 99-yard kick return touchdown in 1981.

Punt Returner
Leo Lewis

Leo Lewis was a fun football player. He was a solid receiving option for most of the 1980s. He wasn’t the Vikings dedicated punt returner until 1987. From 1987-89, he averaged over 10 yards per return with a touchdown. I don’t think that I watched a Vikings game during Lewis’ career when an announcer didn’t mention that Leo Lewis Sr. played for Bud Grant in Canada.












The Minnesota Vikings spent most of the 1980s trying to return to the glory days of the previous decade. They weren’t successful. The 1980s included the most frustrating season of all my years

Not even the optimists had the Vikings coming in with a better record than the Bills in this one, yet here we are. Will the Bills be firing on all cylinders having lost to the Jets, or will the injury to Josh Allen throw the #1 favorite to win the Super Bowl into chaos? Will the Vikings' good luck continue? This will be an intriguing one to watch, whether Allen or Keenum plays.




Injury Report


Bills
QB Allen - Questionable
LB Edmunds - Questionable
SS Poyer - Out
DE Rousseau - Out
CB Elam - Doubtful


Vikings
CB Dantzler - Out
NT Tomlinson - Out


Line: Bills -3.5 (62% of bets on the Vikings)

Super Sim Calculated Line: BUF -0.5 with Allen, MIN -3 with Keenum

I ran out of time to do a full analysis, so I'll skip straight to the prediction:

Prediction: Bills 20, Vikings 16

Despite the injuries to several key Bills players, I think they will eek this one out. I wonder if they might attempt to establish their ground game going with Singletary with Tomlinson out. Even with Keenum at QB, Diggs should feast lining up against Evans with Peterson staying on his side of the field. The X-factor for them is Hines, of whom they just traded for and might start using in the passing game. Defensively this unit is still playing well even down their safety duo and top CB. White may play, but their CBs have survived the season and their D-line can do what Washington just did to ours. Add on top of that a better LB corps and better coaching, and I think we'll see the Vikings meet their match.

Any thoughts?Not even the optimists had the Vikings coming in with a better record than the Bills in this one, yet here we are. Will the Bills be firing on all cylinders having lost to the Jets, or will the

The NFL's slate of games for December 17, 1978 looked like this:

New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles
San Diego Chargers @ Houston Oilers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers @ Los Angeles Rams
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Jets
Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills @ Baltimore Colts
Atlanta Falcons @ St. Louis Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers @ Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings @ Oakland Raiders

11 games. The Colts were still in Baltimore. The Cardinals were in St. Louis. Jim Hart had a terrific game in the Cardinals 42-21 win over the Falcons. NFL teams played 16 regular season games for the first time in 1978. This was the 16th week of the season. December 17, 1978 was the day that I attended my first NFL game. I was at the last one on the list. Minnesota Vikings @ Oakland Raiders. As an itty-bitty Vikings fan this was a momentous day. Despite the 27-20 loss. And the rain. It was glorious. I was able to see nearly all of my childhood heroes. Bud Grant, Fran Tarkenton, Jim Marshall, Chuck Foreman, Ahmad Rashad, Matt Blair, Paul Krause, Carl Eller, Ron Yary, Wally Hilgenberg, Bobby Bryant, Jeff Siemon, Sammy White. It was a damn shame that the Vikings felt compelled to release Alan Page earlier in the season. A damn, painful shame. It was an even greater shame when the Chicago Bears signed Page to their roster. The absence of Page from the Vikings roster hurt the day but didn't ruin it. This was the last regular season game of Tarkenton's career. Tingelhoff too. Eller played his last regular season game for the Vikings. He played one more year for the Seahawks. This was also the last game of John Madden's coaching career.

From a purely football perspective, the game was terrible. There was some rain. There was a lot of slipping. It seemed like the Vikings slipped more than the Raiders. Through mistakes of their own, the Vikings quickly spotted the Raiders a 21-0 lead. Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler didn't even play in the second half. Tarkenton threw five interceptions. The Vikings had seven turnovers in all. A fourth quarter comeback made it closer than the game really was. The Vikings actually had a chance to tie the game at the end but the officials refused to let them have a fifth down. It's odd how they try to avoid allowing a fifth down. Despite the loss, the Vikings still made the playoffs when the Packers lost to the Rams. The whole day was a dream. Still is.

The Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings played in Super Bowl XI. That game didn't go the Vikings way either. Despite four Super Bowl losses the Vikings had been one of the best teams in the league for about a decade. Same with the Raiders. Unlike the Vikings, they had a Super Bowl win as proof of their football success. This game, and this season, was the beginning of the end of the Vikings dominant run. It was also the end of the Raiders run under Madden. Unlike the Vikings, the Raiders quickly rose again under new coach Tom Flores.

12 members of the 1978 Oakland Raiders have been inducted into the Pro Football of Fame:

Al Davis
John Madden
Ken Stabler
Gene Upshaw
Art Shell
Dave Casper
Fred Biletnikoff
Ted Hendricks
Willie Brown
Ray Guy
Tom Flores
Cliff Branch

Seven members of the 1978 Minnesota Vikings have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Bud Grant
Fran Tarkenton
Ron Yary
Mick Tingelhoff
Alan Page
Carl Eller
Paul Krause

-Page was released during the 1978 season

I recently watched a recording of this memorable game. It felt like I was there all over again. Without the rain. George Allen and Jim Brown were teamed with Vin Scully to broadcast the game. That puts the Pro Football Hall of Fame count in the Oakland Coliseum that day at 20. A very respectable showing. Page should’ve made it 21.

Minnesota Vikings at Oakland Raiders on December 17, 1978 was one of those events and one of those days that stands out in a life. There was a dream-like quality to it even while it was happening. Every moment was longer. Everything was brighter. It was a cloudy, rainy day that neither looked nor felt like one. The day shined. It was beautiful. This week’s passing of Ray Guy has had me thinking a lot about this game and that day. During pre-game warmups, Guy launched a wild punt into the stands. My brother caught it. I was hoping that he’d make a run with the ball but he returned it to the security forces that were quickly circling him. Football finally felt real that day and I finally felt a part of it. From Al Davis and John Madden smoking cigarettes while checking the field’s pre-game footing to players milling about on the sideline to Ahmad Rashad catching touchdowns in our little corner of the field, it was all so close. So real. The Vikings had never before felt so real. It was a beautiful day. A kid should have dozens, hundreds of great days in all of their days as a kid. This day was one of those days that's so much better than the rest. The best day. It was a day when a kid saw nearly all of his heroes. As a fan of a team that played their games half of a country away I only knew them as little figures on a TV screen. That day, they were finally real. So real. For months before the game I slept with the tickets under my pillow. The day couldn't arrive soon enough. I didn't care that Christmas was a week away. This game was the only Christmas that I would ever need. NFL history will show December 17 as a slate of 11 games. For this little Vikings fan, it was so much more. Still is.
The NFL's slate of games for December 17, 1978 looked like this: New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles San Diego Chargers @ Houston

Episode 79 is out! It's a Happy Gilmore theme, and we discuss the Happy 'Vibe' surrounding the Vikings this year so far, update and continue our contests, and preview a tough match up against the Bills.

And for the Drewster's Millions segment, Ted's grandson Gabriel intros it, and did such a good job it's going to be the intro for that segment for the rest of the season. Give it a view, then like and subscribe if you haven't already!https://youtu.be/nEA17cvwRcE Episode 79 is out! It's a Happy Gilmore theme, and we discuss the Happy 'Vibe' surrounding the Vikings this year so far, update and continue our contests, and

The Vikings “get” to travel to the worst stadium in the NFL. And good news! It turns out it wasn’t even raw sewage pouring on the fans, only fetid rainwater that, for some reason, they stored for a sunny day in case fans were too happy, so… yay!

The Commanders went and won three is a row, so I guess I have to write an actual preview rather than post dumpster fire memes. Looking at stats and watching Commanders games I have several things that I noticed before I get to the key to the game:

1. Curtis Samuel is the Washington gadget player getting a lot of carries on things like jet sweeps, misdirections, screens, and short crosses. I investigated if slowing him down or ignoring him has any correlation with the Commanders winning or losing, it doesn’t. Don’t panic if he gets 70-90 total yards; that’s normal.

2. It’s kind of unbelievable that a single franchise has all 3 of the top 3 dumbest team names in NFL history.

3. The Commanders are also pretty good at covering franticly hopeless lateral plays. I’m not sure if this will relevant to Vikings game plan, I just wanted to get this in :


Fun fact, there were 5 laterals on the last play of the Packers v Commanders game, only one of them was illegally thrown forward: Aaron Rodgers’.

A Profile of Taylor Heinicke



Heinicke has certainly been an X factor in the last two Washington seasons. This year he’s come in and beat two teams in the Packers and Colts that even if they aren’t great, at least have delusions of adequacy. So, I started my game review looking for ways to beat Heinicke. It turns out Heinicke isn’t a bad QB, he just doesn’t have very much arm strength. Watching him was a lot like watching Teddy Bridgewater in Week 6 vs the Dolphins. His passes are almost exclusively three types:

- Check downs to RBs
- Short to mid crossing routes
- Rainbow balls deep downfield

These throws he can often hit with reasonably good accuracy. For example, this absolute gem of a 37-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin over Jaire Alexander.



That’s good coverage and a small window right up against the sideline and Heinicke dropped it in beautifully. His problem is that without a deep out throw in his arsenal, defenses don’t have to cover as much of the field and the deep routes are easier to cover. The Vikings have generally been good at covering this type of bomb this year.  It's also important to remember that Heinicke can and has hit this throw; if he does, there's not much a defense can do about a perfectly thrown pass to a receiver with good hands - but one or two of these shouldn't cost the Vikings the game because the rest of the Commanders performance has been so inconsistent.

Next aspect of his game: Heinicke is another mobile QB, and like Hurts, Fields, and Murray he has his own unique running style. He’s not nearly as dangerous as those three guys, but I think he does have one advantage over those guys: Heinicke’s first instinct is to step forward in the pocket and run straight ahead. This means he gets a few extra steps to find a receiver as he starts his scramble – which he does with some regularity because he is also good at keeping his eyes downfield.

The Vikings clearly have the better QB in the game, but Heinicke isn’t without strengths. Because of Heinicke’s tendency to throw over the middle, a delayed pass rush up the middle could be a good way to wreck his day.

Key to the game

Vikings running backs need to outplay the Washington backs. This doesn’t mean more yards. In order, what I want to see is:
#1 – The ability of a back to pass protect AND pass rush getting past the extra blocker
#2 – The ability of a back to be a safety check down in the passing game AND cover backs in the passing game
#3 – Running with the ball

The Commanders have a very interesting tendency – they throw to backs a lot on offense and on defense they are very aggressive at covering backs out of the backfield. Here are a few looks that caught my eye.

The Colts are running a play action on this play. The first reason I picked this play is because the Commander linebackers bit hard on the play action, but when the play revealed itself to be a pass, they didn’t drop off.



After the play action, the Colts quarterback had time to complete the handoff and look downfield, at this point I see two things: First, the Commander linebackers are still right on top of the offensive linemen. I count all seven defenders from the Commanders front seven still in the box. Second, a safety has proactively made a hard break towards the expected safety outlet, RB Jonathan Taylor. The safety wasn’t lined up here, he didn’t break on the back until the back came out into the flat for a pass, then he closed down 7-10 yards on Taylor at a dead sprint; there was immediate recognition that there was a high likelihood the Colts would need to check down. The throw went to Taylor anyway and he was stopped for no gain. I think Taylor would have been better served picking up the rusher and giving the Colts a shot at a deeper pass.

Next play, I wanted to know if these linebackers would just stick close to the line of scrimmage on play action. This vs the Packers:



Again the linebackers aren’t that deep despite no play action threat. More interesting is what linebacker Jamin Davis did in coverage; he completely ignored the tight end #85 Robert Tonyan as Tonyan ran past and tracked Aaron Jones before the pass was thrown. In this snap, it looks like Tonyan might be covered, it baited Rodgers into the check down that Davis was already lining up for the tackle. The result of this play was a check down to Aaron Jones for a 5-yard loss. There were a ton of options for a play like this: shallow LBs + tightly covered check-down back. One last straight drop back, the Commanders are so focused on not letting the backs get the ball, they leave open the part of the field where Justin Jefferson feasts.



Even when the Packers tried to get a pass to a running back, it didn’t work. Seeing this trend of tracking RBs in the passing game, this example was a fascinating chess match. The Packers put both Jones and Dillon in the backfield (shotgun flanking each side of Rodgers); both ran a route through the same left off tackle hole:



Rodgers looked left like the Packers wanted to get a pass to Jones or Dillon. Both were tightly covered as defenders turned and ran with both of them. Rodgers had to look away to a tight end on the other side of the field.

Commanders running backs on offense
Switching gears, not only do the Commanders cover running backs in the passing game with near religious fervor, they also utilize their backs in the passing game. A lot. Here is a percentage of which teams throw most often to their RB1 + RB2. Vikings are included for comparison. Eagles are included as a low-end comparison as they very rarely throw to RBs.



The Commanders throw more frequently to the backs than teams like the Chargers and Saints who have pass catching savants in their backfields. Does this mean the Commanders are productive on throws to running backs? Not particularly, yards/reception and catch % don’t stand out as notable. But whatever the reason (my best guess: their other players stink), it's important to know they do it a lot so the Vikings need to be prepared for it.

How to Beat the Commanders: Win the running back chess match.
Step one: Accept that the Commanders won’t let Cook or Mattison get anything in the passing game; the Vikings need someone else as a safety outlet. Once they have made their piece with that reality, Cook and Mattison will have to do other things, particularly pick up rushers from an aggressive front. They will also have to sell the play action. They can also pull defenders out of the middle of the field as decoys, that could be extremely valuable. If they do these things, there should be space behind the Washington linebackers for medium passes.

On defense, the Commanders will be taking the opposite approach, looking to pass the ball to their own backs. If the Vikings can give the Commanders a taste of their own medicine and take that away, the Vikings should gain an advantage because Washington relies on that play so much more.  
The Vikings “get” to travel to the worst stadium in the NFL. And good news! It turns out it wasn’t even raw sewage

With the Vikings on bye, let's have a look around the NFC! Here is a visual I made with each team's records and injuries to their starters:



The Eagles and Vikings are certainly enjoying healthy while some other teams are getting destroyed. How long will the good and bad luck last? 


Now let's go through each team and get a pulse on the fanbases.


Eagles

I have little to report here, as the Eagles are undefeated and will face little adversity in the near future (they play the Steelers, Texans, and Commies). Only the Cowboys, Giants, and Colts (frankly I can't believe they have a winning record) are the teams left on their schedule with a winning record. This feels reminiscent of 2017, where the Eagles won the #1 seed and the Vikings won the #2 seed... is that what we're looking at for 2022?

Giants

All is well here, as the brand-spanking new regime in New York has reflected how the Vikings have fared. HC Brian Daboll has worked wonders with little in the cupboard, and Giants fans have responded with a 99% confidence rate in a poll. However, only 28% voted that clinching the playoffs is a requirement for a successful season... can't blame them for their low confidence, but c'mon! Demand excellence, New York!

One storyline I will be watching is QB Daniel Jones, as he will be hitting free agency in 2023. He's been mediocre once again, but the Giants might be deluded into extending him for way too much money, or sinking far too much of their cap into a franchise tag. It's been my opinion for a while that the NFL needs QB middle class contracts, and Jones would fit that bill.


Cowboys

Dak returns this weekend, and while some fans debate how the offense will look (the Cooper Rush acolytes have mostly dispersed), here is their confidence meter:




Packers

After a second straight loss to a New York team that was supposed to be bad, the latest matchup is being billed as "A Packers loss to Washington would be particularly embarrassing". Let's hope the Packers keep up the incompetence and Rodgers finishes his career on a very disappointing note!


Falcons

Off to a 3-3 start, the Falcons have covered the line in all 6 of their matchups. The fans are pleased:



I find it hard to believe they will be able to maintain this pace with a bottom 5 roster, but this year has been a weird one!



Buccaneers



Tampa's 3-3 start has the fans concerned. Very, very concerned.



With all of the drama circling around the team with Brady, injuries abound, and the elephant in the room - that Bowles has a poor track record as a HC and doesn't appear to be doing a great job so far. With the rest of the NFC scuffling, there is plenty of time to rebound, but the Bucs are covered in red flags when they should usually be black. Or maroon?


Seahawks


I called Seahawks fans delusional for thinking Geno Smith would be able to replace Russell Wilson, and 6 games in it looks like I'm wrong!



Fans think they will either finish 1st or 2nd in the division, which feels generous but the rest of the NFC West has underwhelmed to this point. Another intriguing talking point is 4th rounder CB Tariq Woolen - a 99.99% percentile athlete who has 4 picks and looks like an absolute stud despite his struggles in college. Their draft class has been paying the dividends so far, but it's hard to believe that Geno will be their QB for the foreseeable future.


49ers


"The 49ers’ move for Christian McCaffrey signals ‘Super Bowl or Bust’" - with tons of draft capital sunk into Trey Lance and McCaffrey, the 49ers are trying to take the Rams' approach to win a Super Bowl now. We'll get to see them face off against the Chiefs and they will have their studs in the trenches (LT Williams, DE Bosa) back on the field.


Rams


The Rams are a disaster on offense so far, partly of their own making and partly due to injuries. Their OL had a stick of dynamite inserted into it and exploded - their LT, LG, C, and RG are out and even a backup IOL is on the IR. They are down to starting UDFAs Alaric Jackson and Jeremiah Kolone, guys who are practice squad talents at best. Add in the fact that they sunk $15M a year into a washed-up Allen Robinson, and it's been a recipe for Stafford to look cooked again. The fans haven't quit yet:



The NFC is so weak the Rams could rebound, but unlike the 49ers I don't think they have it in them this year. Good thing they won it all last year!


Commies


Things are dire, which should be to nobody's surprise. Even as early as Week 4, a poll asking who should start at QB finished with Heinicke (54%), then Wentz and Howell tying at 24%. Not many fans have been drinking the maroon Kool-Aid and are already done with Wentz. Hey, at least they didn't give him a massive extention like a certain other QB who was traded... meanwhile, owner Dan Snyder is hogging the headlines, and perhaps his departure will give the fans some hope.


Cardinals


I really don't like watching the Cardinals, Kyler Murray hasn't been the same since he looked like a top 5 QB in the first half of the 2021 season and Kliff Kingsbury is a clown. The fans have seen enough:



Of course, management just gave Kingsbury an extension through 2027 and Murray is going to be paid like he's Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen for several years... have fun digging out of that pit, Arizona!


Saints


I will sum them up in a single tweet:




With Brees and Payton gone, there's no reason to spin the tires like this. New Orleans should burn this roster to the ground and start over, as floundering around like they are now is not going to lead to anything more than postponing the inevitable.


Panthers


The tire fire is open for business, and the Panthers look primed to land the 1st overall pick in the 2023 draft and they'll have some additional draft capital. Will they be willing to move guys like Derrick Brown, DJ Moore, and Brian Burns? And who will be their HC in 2023? My choice would be an offensive-minded coach like Byron Leftwich or Kellen Moore.


Lions


After a pinch of optimism over the offseason had the Lions fans excited, reality sunk in. Dan Campbell isn't a good coach and the roster still isn't close to being ready. The defense is garbage:




And they don't have a franchise QB. The offense is running well right now, but is Jared Goff, the poor man's Kirk Cousins, ever going to make a difference when push comes to shove? Despite the high draft picks the team has made, the team isn't seeing dividends. Aidan Hutchinson only has a sack in one game so far, CB Jeff Okudah has been brutal up until now, and Penei Sewell is a good RT, but RTs aren't the hardest to find. Maybe Jameson Williams will be a game-changer once he's healthy?


Bears


Bears fans shouldn't be disappointed with what's happened so far, this should have been the expectation. The new regime has let Fields out to dry with only the RB unit being passable by NFL standards. The receiving corps is a joke, and the OL is impeding his ability to develop as a passer. Despite this being apparent in the offseason, the new regime has a 41% success rate. This is a full rebuild and it will take time. This team was never going anywhere with the number of veterans moved without credible replacements.


Alright, that's enough from me, what are your thoughts?With the Vikings on bye, let's have a look around the NFC! Here is a visual I made with each team's records and injuries to their starters:

The Vikings come cruising in at 6-1 with a 5 game winning streak, but the Commies are also on a 3 game win streak as Taylor Heinicke has lead the team to a few comeback victories. Can the Vikings take care of business in Washington and meet the Bills next week both having 7-1 records?



Injury Report

Commies
WR Dotson - Out
LB Holcomb - Out
LB Mayo - Out
DE Toney - Questionable
RB McKissic - Out


Vikings
CB Dantzler - Questionable
WR Nailor - Questionable
NT Tomlinson - Out

Line: Vikings -3 (53% of bets on Commies)
Super Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -10.5

*My thoughts*

The Commanders have taken an unexpected turn as of late. It shouldn't be a surprise that Carson Wentz stunk and then got hurt, but them going on a 3 game winning streak even though Heinicke's play has been quite shaky has been unexpected. PFF has not liked his play, but they're 9-8 with him as starter and there's no question he has some clutchness in him. The Vikings have been able to force turnovers quite well this year, and could be able to intercept a couple passes. Washington's run game has been shaky, as they've inserted rookie Brian Robinson Jr in after being shot. He's been a below average runner while Antonio Gibson, who's by far the better player, has been getting underutilized. With McKissic out, Gibson has been fairly productive in the passing game.

The receiving weapons are shaky outside of McLaurin, yet again. First rounder Jahan Dotson is hurt, meaning that Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas will need to continue to step up. After a 2021 season lost to injury, Samuel has game-breaking upside with the ball in his hands, but he hasn't made a whole lot happen downfield. Thomas hasn't been quite the same since an ACL tear last year. Dyami Brown will likely suit up as the third receiver, but he's been woefully unproductive in his short NFL career after being a 3rd round pick. They've also used the 6'5" Cam Sims plenty the past few weeks, but usually more as a blocker.

Outside of LT, Washington's OL is a shaky unit. Leno has rebounded after Chicago cut him after they thought they were paying him too much, but the Bears appear to have made the wrong move there. Washington has been able to have him play for cheaper than the average LT. Norwell is a fine blocker, but still not what he used to be for the Panthers several years back. They're on their 4th center after Roullier and Schweitzer went down, and they've landed on Larsen over Martin, but both are underwhelming options. Turner is another veteran stopgap (another guard who started under Rivera in Carolina) and is closer to below average, especially as a pass protector. I don't know what's happening at RT, as Cosmi seems to have been benched despite him being a quality player after spending a 2nd rounder on him last year. Maybe he's not fully healthy, as Lucas is still starting in front of him despite being a lesser player.

Defensively, this unit is playing like I thought they would in 2021 (as they were a huge disappointment). Even with Chase Young out, they've been able to rush the passer and defend the pass quite well. It starts with the front four, with Sweat, Payne, and Allen all being great pressure-makers. Obada has been an underrated rotational rusher as well. They're not stopping the run quite as well, giving up a 4.6 YPC, and several members on the DL have poor run defense grades. The LB department is vulnerable, and while Jamin Davis is playing better in Year 2, he's still suspect to missing tackles and being out of place in coverage. With the emerging Holcomb injured, they'll likely field Bostic as the other every-down LB. The key to beating this defense is running the ball right at them where they are weak, and passing off that success. 

The safeties are the key to Washington's success, as 4th rounder Darrick Forrest has come out of nowhere to be a fantastic contributor as an explosive tackler and a solid cover guy. They've made him their 3rd LB and nickel CB (basically what we hoped Cine would be by this point) and they've been able to let McCain stay as the free safety and Curl retain his SS role. Right now, Curl is the highest rated safety by PFF's standards. The 7th rounder could be in for a lucrative extension with the way he's played. The CB position looks like a weakness, especially after trading William Jackson III away, but they've been able to hold serve so far. Kendall Fuller isn't a great #1 CB, but he's been a consistently above average CB for several years and can man the slot if need be. St. Juste has been a liability early on in his career, though I thought he was a questionable 3rd round pick in 2021. Wildgoose has been playing some snaps as a slot / dime CB and hasn't graded super well.

Prediction: Vikings 23, Commies 20

This feels like a cop-out, but I just can't pick the Vikings to lose when they have the superior roster and coaches. I think Washington's luck has been more unsustainable than the Vikings', plus the Vikings are just better in the trenches. Perhaps Tomlinson's injury starts to open the ground game for Washington, but I don't think that will be enough for them to move the ball consistently.

Thoughts?
The Vikings come cruising in at 6-1 with a 5 game winning streak, but the Commies are also on a 3 game win streak as Taylor Heinicke has lead the team to a few comeback victories. Can the Vikings

News team, assemble!!! Episode 78 is out! We mourn the loss of Adam Zimmer, discuss the TJ Hockenson trade and other trade deadline news, preview the Commanders game, trivia, contests, and more! Join us!

News team, assemble!!! Episode 78 is out! We mourn the loss of Adam Zimmer, discuss the TJ Hockenson trade and other trade deadline news, preview the Commanders game, trivia, contests, and more

Episode 77 of Vikings Report is out! We talk Vikings news, preview the Cardinals game, our contests roll on, trivia, and Ferris Bueller. What more could you want!!


Episode 77 of Vikings Report is out! We talk Vikings news, preview the Cardinals game, our contests roll on, trivia, and Ferris Bueller. What more could you want!! https://www