I was very disappointed with the game Monday night, I was really hoping for a 3 to 2 finish, kind of disappointed in ALL the offense in the second half. We'll see if Kasey Casum can have good back, to back games. Not convinced. Erin Rogers coming to town and he seems like he is having a good year, so not too excited for Sunday's game. I might go hike around the Ney Center Sunday with Skeddy.
I went up to the compost site and found a whole bunch of walnuts that someone dropped off. I have secret knowledge of the whereabouts the Packers are spending the night before Sunday's game.
Thinking I could recruit a few Tiger ballplayers into joining me for some walnut wiffle ball batting practice outside their hotel Sunday morning...oh...about 3 am. LETS PLAY.
Oh my - that was an eventful game against the Packers last week with Erin Rogers going down with broken collarbone, which resulted in some creative fella coming up with the first line to a joke - so Erin Rogers walks into A. Barr. I guess it's not much of joke if you are a Packers fan or worse yet, have Erin as your QB for your fantasy league. I don't get the fantasy thing, but that might be due to a lack of imagination on my part, anyhow, I digress. There has been a bunch of hubbub this week about the hit. Some calling it dirty, Packer's coach saying unnecessary and some delusional nut jobs saying that's what Barr meant to do. Seriously? You nut jobs really think Barr was sitting there and said - hey if I chase him down and tackle him I will break his collarbone? Wow - that's beyond rational but it does take all types to make the world spin.
The fact that there was no flag and the fact the NFL did not fine Barr tells one all you need to know on whether it was dirty or illegal. Now for the unnecessary comment, well yes he probably could have let up but anyone that understands the game knows if you put a good hit on the QB early on the game as he waits for a receiver to open, that the next time he will probably get rid of the ball quicker to avoid the hit. There it is, plain and simple, those hits are designed to make the QB get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to. Nothing more, nothing less and as Barr so eloquently stated, if Erin wasn't hurt on the play no one would be talking about it. That's spot on and quite insightful for a UCLA grad. BTW - my sources in Green Bay are telling me Kleenex sales there are brisk and some stores reportedly out of stock and the Milwaukee breweries are all running at full capacity. (It's always good to keep the in-state breweries busy, with that said, make sure you get some Schells Oktoberfest before its all gone!) Oh, and one more thing, I think the bit about Barr being concussed was bologna, I believe that to be made up so he didn't have to answer 20 questions after the game as those in concussion protocol are not available to the media - yes I believe in conspiracies.
Now to the game at hand, the Baltimore Ravens. The line is at 5.5 which seems high for a team with it's starting RB out for the year and the starting QB out for a while, plus the starting G and 2 WRs out for this game. I don't see it as an easy win and if Flacko gets hot, it will be a long day for the Vikings defense. The Ravens have a very good defensive backfield, maybe one of the best in the NFL and if Suggs comes to play, he can almost control the game himself, especially with Kasey Kasesum at QB, still not convinced Kasey is all that good. Then there is the Vikings KR, that guy looks like he is scared to death. Maybe they will find someone else to throw back there. Should be interesting to see some of the other WRs on the field and maybe LaQueen can have another decent game to build some confidence. SKOL!
Big tilt tomorrow against the L.A. Rams - time to see what the Vikings are made of. Casey Casum keeps looking like Johnny Unitas, well for a bit and then throws two klunkers back to back, WTH was that? That's second string QB stuff, wait, he is the second string. Maybe third. He also had a couple of badly thrown balls in the first half that were lucky enough not to be close to any defender - I was kind of giggling when they were bragging up his first half passer rating. It wouldn't shock me to see Teddy here at some point. Imagine if those klunkers were on the first 2 drives, that would have been a totally different game. Then again, if I would have had 2 more aces I would have beat your flush. Think on that analogy.
Talk is it will be a big defensive game but I'm not so sure. If Ever Sunny Son Griffen isn't 100% at right DE, it's going to be a long day for the Vikings, especially with Sendajo out. Harris doesn't do much for me and Kearse seems more like a linebacker than a DB. The RT is out again so hopefully Hill isn't noticeable, which means he will have a good game. Maybe Zim can come up with some confusing defensive schemes for the young Rams QB, seems like there might be some up tempo stuff from the Rams (college like, I say) so plan your beer runs to the fridge accordingly. Maybe get the cooler from the garage and just put that next to the recliner.
I'm hoping to see the Vikings do a Double Dutch Jump Rope bit if they score a TD, with the scorer in the middle skipping rope. That would be almost as good as the CFL Limbo celebration. (Google it.)
After dispatching the Dirty Birds from Atlanta, the Vikings continue with their southern rock tour this weekend visiting the Panthers of Carolina.
We'll see a couple familiar faces playing for the Panthers. Left tackle DoorMatt Kalil will be tasked with slowing down Everson Griffin, and nickel cornerback Captain Munnerlyn will match up with Adam Thielen in the slot. Good luck with that.
We all know about Kalil's struggles as a Viking, and great news-he hasn't gotten any better. I'm thinking Griff should have about 26 sacks this game.
Munnerlyn was a solid nickel corner for the Vikes, and I was worried the team would miss his services. However, it looks like Captain has been playing more like a Private First Class down in Carolina. Expect a big day in the Viking aerial attack, as the Panthers are pretty solid defending the run game.
