Right Off Russell

This week we have Gonzo from the Minnesota Vikings Blog- The Daily Norseman. He gives us the in’s and out’s on what to expect from the New Purple People Eaters.

1- It has been the Ravens MO to make teams beat them through the air. If the Ravens stack the line to stop AP, who is going to have a big game at receiver?
If I had to pick one Viking receiver to have a big game this week, even though all of them are starting to develop a rapport with Brett Favre, I’d probably have to take Sidney Rice. I’ve liked this guy a lot ever since we drafted him in ‘07, and after a couple of years dealing with injuries, he’s really started coming around. He’s already over halfway to personal bests in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Favre seems to like him a lot. . .he’s got really good hands, good size (6′4″, 200 pounds), and controls his body well when he’s making the catch. Percy Harvin is a bit dinged up, but if he plays, he could still have an impact, and Bernard Berrian is becoming money on slant routes, but Rice is probably Minnesota’s most complete receiver at this point in time.

2- The Ravens have been quite pass-happy these 1st 5 games. Do you see the Vikings using blitz packages to stop them?
It really depends on how well the Baltimore offensive line handles Minnesota’s front four. Much of the Vikings’ defensive scheme is predicated on the front four being able to get to the quarterback without any help from the back seven. If they can do that against the Ravens, I wouldn’t expect a lot of blitzing. Leslie Frazier will still probably dial up a few blitzes against a youngster like Joe Flacco in the raucous environment of the Metrodome, but the play of the O-line of the Ravens will dictate just how frequently that happens. I haven’t seen a status update on Jared Gaither yet, but having him in there would be a huge boon for the Ravens against Jared Allen. . .and it’s going to be interesting to see the matchup of Pat and/or Kevin Williams against Matt Birk after they spent the last few years practicing against each other in Minnesota.

3- The Vikings seem to have strength in their defensive line, if you were coaching against them, what are the weaknesses that you would attack?
Minnesota’s defensive line might be the best in the league, not only because the starters are good, but they’ve got quality depth behind them with guys like Brian Robison and Fred Evans. They also do a good job of rotating players in so nobody gets overly fatigued. If I were to try to attack them, I think the weak link would be at the RE spot where Ray Edwards resides. Don’t get me wrong, Edwards has played well this year, but the other three guys are All-Pro caliber, and Edwards just isn’t there yet. The best way to go about that would probably be by running a lot of swing passes to the outside, throwing a lot of quicker passes, anything to keep Jared Allen and Kevin Williams off of your quarterback. If you do that and force the Vikings to blitz to get pressure, you can make some hay against the Minnesota offense.

4- Put the 5-0 start in perspective. Is this team as good as advertised?
I think a lot of folks may have been expecting a 5-0 start, given the look of the early schedule. I’ll grant that the Vikings haven’t played many “good” teams. . .shoot, at this point, you could probably argue that they’ve only played one quality opponent. . .but you can only play who the nice people that make the NFL schedule tell you to play on any given Sunday. So while the 5-0 start isn’t entirely surprising, we realize that there are going to be doubters and skeptics. These next three games for the Vikings. . .home against the Ravens, at Pittsburgh, and at Green Bay. . .are going to be their opportunity to silence those doubters. They could go into their Week 9 bye at 8-0. . .and they could also go into it at 5-3. I don’t think either outcome would surprise too many people.

5- Being that the Vikes can only count on Brett for this season, is this their one opportunity to get it done?
Well, Favre signed a two-year deal, so he’ll definitely be back next. . .oh, who am I kidding?

Brad Childress has cast his lot with #4, that’s for sure. The fan base has been waiting for something big ever since he became the Minnesota coach, and his teams have shown steady improvement since he came to Minnesota (6-10 to 8-8 to 10-6, and now 5-0 this year). But with Zygi Wilf having opened the checkbook and the consensus being that the Vikings were a quarterback short of winning the Super Bowl (or at least contending for one), this season could be it for Favre AND Childress. If the Vikings can’t win at least one playoff game this season, the odds will be pretty good that Childress will be gone, and Favre would likely be gone as well. I don’t know if this is their “one opportunity” to get it done, but it certainly wouldn’t get any easier next season with a new quarterback and (presumably) a new coaching staff.

Extra Credit- Did Brad Childress grow out the beard to avoid the comparisons to Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street?
Bonus - I’ll be honest. . .this is the first time I’ve heard the Mr. Noodle comparison. We actually had a Brad Childress look-alike poll in the early days of the Daily Norseman, and some of our candidates were Dr. Tobias Funke from the Fox series Arrested Development, Vladimir Lenin, Dennis Rader (the BTK killer), Gerald McRaney (who once finished second to Brad Childress in a Gerald McRaney look-alike contest), and G. Gordon Liddy. But that’s another good one to add to the list