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I won't be posting here until at least late July, but until then check out my new blog, MN Sports Hotdish.







As always, thanks for stopping by.

What to do with Tarvaris Jackson

While posting on this site halted shortly after the season began, it's time to officially put the 2007 season to bed at Vikings Countdown.

From move-in day in Mankato to the final whistle of the 2007 season, the Minnesota Vikings' season was all about one thing in my eyes: the development of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

Now that the season has ended, it's time to pass judgment on T-Jack and discuss where the team should go from here.

If you're of the mind that a quarterback's main job is to secure victories (he went 8-4 as a starter), Jackson's season would probably grade out at around an A- or B+. If you're more interested in how a quarterback runs the passing game or the statistics he puts up (1,911 yards passing, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions), Jackson would garner a grade in the D range, if not worse.

The correct grade for Jackson is somewhere in between. We'll call it a solid C. Considering preseaon expectations and early struggles, that's looking pretty good moving forward.

While Brad Childress has yet to commit to Jackson as his starting quarterback in 2008, I think it would be wise if he did so as soon as possible. Childress hitched his wagon to Jackson this past offseason, and should keep it that way.

If Childress and the rest of "The Triangle" have a change of heart they have two options: acquire an established quarterback or start the rebuilding process all over again.

Since the fan base still hasn't embraced Childress, he cannot afford to start over with another young quarterback. He simply doesn't have the time. Couple that with the lack of quality quarterbacks available (and in general) and it seems obvious Childress' best chance to remain in Minnesota for years to come is to stick with Jackson.

Often times, it pays off for a team to commit to a quarterback as the franchise guy — to move a player up through the system, to mould him into the player you want. Just look at the playoff teams from the past three seasons and the Super Bowl teams from the past five years.

STUDYING SUPER BOWL QUARTERBACKS

Quarterbacks from the past four Super Bowls
Drafted: Payton Manning, Rex Grossman, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb
Acquired: Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Delhomme

In 1999, the Buffalo Bills were forced to cut stars Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith in order to get under the salary cap. While that offseason, and that team especially, became the poster child for salary-cap casualties, every team has seen its share of franchise-type players depart to due salary numbers, the Vikings' most notable being former defensive leader John Randle.

In the years that followed, teams studied up on their "capology" and began regaining control of the numbers. While there are still a handful of notable cap casualties every year, there has been much more stability over the past four seasons especially.

As you can see from the information above, during those four seasons five of the seven quarterbacks to start Super Bowls had never played a down for another team. The two that had, Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck and Carolina's Jake Delhomme, had only seen limited action with their previous organizations. Delhomme attempted 86 passes in his first two seasons in the NFL with New Orleans while Hasselbeck only attempted 29 passes while backing up Brett Favre in his first two years in the league. Taking that into consideration, none of the Super Bowl starting quarterbacks over the past five years had previously established themselves with another organization. They all developed with the team they led to the Super Bowl.

While anything can happen in the NFL, it would appear this year's Super Bowl will more than likely feature two quarterbacks who were drafted or developed by their current organizations. The only playoff quarterbacks who weren't signed of college by their current teams are Hasselbeck, Washington's Todd Collins, Tampa Bay's Jeff Garcia and Favre, who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons.

While he put Washington over the top, Collins could easily be left off this list, since the injured Jason Campbell is the team's "real" quarterback. Hasselback and Favre could also be removed, since they were developed by their current teams. That leaves Garcia as the only quarterback who developed under another team before arriving at his current location.

The point of all this? Unless the Buccaneers win the NFC, this year will mark the sixth in a row that both Super Bowl teams will start a quarterback they either drafted or developed.

While this trend does not apply to two of the three previous Super Bowls (Trent Dilfer faced Kerry Collins in 2001 and Brad Johnson faced Rich Gannon in 2003), the current streak is impressive nonetheless.

With so many teams in the current era having success moulding their own quarterbacks, the best thing for the Vikings to do is stick with Tarvaris Jackson and find out how far he can take them in the future.

Would you bet Donovan McNabb would not only stay heathy, but be worth what the Vikings would give up in a trade? Would you be willing to give up a No. 1 and 3 pick for Cleveland's Derek Anderson? Are you ready to start over with a different young signal caller? Or would you rather take a chance on an aging veteran like Steve McNair?

Didn't think so.

Like it or not, T-Jack's the best chance the Vikings have in 2008.

On T-Jack and Vikings Q-Backs

Just admit it now. The Vikings have no shot at winning the Super Bowl this year.

If the Vikes aren't headed to Arizona this January, what's the point of sitting Tarvaris Jackson if he's healthy? Now, I realize T-Jack is more than likely out this week with a groin injury, but if Kelly Holcomb or Brooks Bollinger put up nice numbers, they're still not saviors. I'm sorry. That's just the way it is.

Yes, at this point in time Kelly Holcomb probably gives the Vikings the best chance of winning games. But should that even matter at this point? Whether it was a mistake or not, the team invested in T-Jack as its quarterback of the future instead of signing a short-term starter like Jeff Garcia or pursuing a younger QB like Matt Schaub. Now the Vikings have to figure out what they have in T-Jack so they know whether or not to invest in him once again next season.

Sure, on a week-to-week basis Vikings games might be more bearable with a veteran like Holcomb or Bollinger starting, but what's the best-case scenario of sitting T-Jack? A 9-7 record and a potential playoff appearance followed by a first-round exit? Sounds about right, and that's the best-case scenario.

Is T-Jack the answer for the future? I don't know, but the team has to find out this season.

I just wanted to make sure I got that down before the imminent quarterback controversy coming up.

Winds of Change In Chicago?

The biggest Week 1 story coming of the NFC North has to be the fact that the defending conference champs are looking up at the rest of the division.

Yes, the Bears had to play the NFL's best regular-season team from last year, the San Diego Chargers, but it's a great start for the Vikings, Packers and Lions, who need the Bears to take a couple steps backward in order to contend for the division crown. While it's difficult to rip into Chicago for losing their opener on the road, there were two things I took out of Sunday's game that should at least encourage fans around the rest of the division.

1. Cedric Benson struggled in his first game as the starter.
Benson, who had just 42 yards on 19 carries, is expect to shoulder the bulk of the rushing load for Chicago with Thomas Jones now with the Jets. With the shaky at best Rex Grossman at quarterback, Benson may be the team's key to success this season.

Chicago did win several games last year largely due to Grossman's ability to connect with receiver Bernard Berrian for big gains, but it was the running game that opposing defensive coordinators had to gameplan for. If the Bears' rushing attack can't live up to last year, it should be easier for defenses to shut down Berrian, who had five catches for 83 yards Sunday. Yes, the defense is spectacular, but every team needs to get some production from its offense in order to win on a regular basis.

2. Defensive captain Mike Brown is out once again.
It was almost like Brown wanted to remind everyone just how good he can be Sunday, intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble. With Brown and tackle Tommie Harris returning from injury this year, I was expecting the Bears' D to be better than ever. Well, there's another thing of note Brown did this week. He got hurt again, and it looks like he may not see the field again in '07. The Bears did play great with Brown out the final 10 games of last season and throughout the playoffs, but I'd far rather face Chicago without him rather than with him.

I fully expect Chicago to get back on track this week when they host the terrible Kansas City Chiefs. It's very hard for me to envision the Bears losing this one, but if the running game struggles again I will be very confident someone will have the chance to catch the Bears this year.

To the Vikings' side of this story, the first time the Bears play Minnesota is Week 6. The Vikes have their bye Week 5, and three more winnable games before then. For fun let's just say the team beats both Detroit and Kansas City the next two weeks before falling against Green Bay at the Metrodome and enters that game rested with a 3-1 record.

Continuing with the fun, lets say Chicago beats KC, loses at home to Dallas, wins at Detroit and loses at Green Bay. If that actually happens, the Bears would enter Week 6 a desperate team at 2-3.

The rested and ready 3-1 Minnesota Vikings rolling into Soldier Field to face the down and desperate 2-3 Chicago Bears Week 6? I don't think it's that unrealistic.

The Morning After Pill: Week 1

Every week I'll bring you a high dosage of post-game reactions, analysis, team news and anything else published by Monday morning quarterbacks in The Morning After Pill. Enjoy.

- TBIRD41 from The Ragnarok named Adrian Peterson, Kevin Williams and E.J. Henderson the three stars of the game. Peterson already has some nicknames, but I think I like "Purple Jesus" more than anything I've heard already.

- Dave the Falconer from The Falcoholic may have said it best: "That game reminded me of a fistfight between two really old dudes. Sure, it's a fight, but they're swinging so slowly and so pitifully that it's both boring and embarrassing to watch."

- The Vikes Geek did what needed to be done and threw the Vikings' PR department under the bus for blaming their issues with ticket sales on the bridge collapse. On a day in which most Vikings news was very positive, it was nice to see someone rip into the team for this.

- After reading Jon Marthaler's post on TNABACG, I'm starting to think maybe the Vikings should just punt every time they get the ball.

- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Orlando Ledbetter put together a Q & A with Kevin Williams after the game. Here's what Williams had to say about his touchdown:

"We actually didn't get lined up in time and they snapped it. I had to go across the center's face and he just threw it right in my arms. I got my hands up and was trying to deflect it."

- Kenechi Udeze, who went all last season without recording a sack, was mobbed after he sacked Joey Harrington to end the game.

- Brad Childress' game of 20 questions got at least some of the players fired up before the game. This organization has had issues with coaches not getting their players up for gameday (missing the playoffs due to a loss to the worst team in football) so it's nice to see Chili can get the guys going.

- Among other things, the Pioneer Press' Tom Powers poked fun at the 20 questions routine.

- Star Trib columnist Jim Souhan compared Leslie Frazier's approach in his first game as defensive coordinator to what his former boss Tony Dungy has done so well for so many years.

- The Pioneer Press named Adrian Peterson the MVP, Peterson's juggling 60-yard touchdown the Play of the Game, rookie Brian Robison as the Unsung Hero and the Falcons' special teams as the Goat of the Game.

- The Star Trib's Mark Craig recanted a hilariously painful Joey Harrington interview from yesterday.

- Sean Jensen of the Pioneer Press reports that Adrian Peterson's father, Nelson Peterson, was one of 20 family members and friends who were in attendance at the Metrodome. That's noteworthy because it's just the third time nelson has got to watch his boy in person.

Big plays vault Vikes over Falcons

Big-time players make big plays. Lucky for the Minnesota Vikings, their big-time players showed up big against the Atlanta Falcons earlier today.

The body of work for the Vikes was unimpressive, however, rookie Adrian Peterson and defenders Kevin Williams and Antoine Winfield put the team over the top. The Falcons weren't so lucky, falling 24-3 to the Purple.

Of the Vikings' three touchdowns, two of them came from the defense. Williams' 54-yard interception return for a touchdown set the tone, took some pressure off the offense and put the Vikings up 7-0. The other defensive score came from Winfield, whose 14-yard TD sealed the deal, putting Minnesota up 24-7.

In between the two defensive highlights Peterson showed the "sold out" Metrodome crowd why the team used its No. 7 pick on him at the draft. After Chester Taylor went down with a hip injury it was up to Peterson to shoulder the load. AD racked up 103 yards rushing (a record for a Viking making his NFL debut) and hauled in -- just barely -- a swing pass that he took 60 yards for a touchdown.

The offense looked eerily similar to last season's, but the presence of a big-time player may mean more points for the Purple this season. If you look at what the Chicago Bears did on their way to the NFC Championship last season you'll notice they leaned on their play-making defense and big plays from the offense.

Not every drive is going to be pretty for Minnesota. Tarvaris Jackson and Bobby Wade probably won't be Pro Bowlers. As long as the defense can show up in key spots and the offense can provide a big play here and there and limit turnovers, the Vikings will be a difficult team to beat.

The Vikings will head to Detroit next week. The Lions also won their opener, scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter to put away the Oakland Raiders and win 36-21.

OTHER IMPRESSIONS FOR WEEK 1
- I thought E.J. Henderson did a great job in the middle today, finishing with seven total tackles and two sacks. His job shouldn't be all that difficult with Kevin and Pat Williams demanding so much attention, so I didn't quite understand all the preseason concerns surrounding E.J. moving back inside.

- Brian Robison looks like he'll be this year's Lance Johnstone, who recorded double-digit sacks in consecutive seasons (2003-04) while rotating in on passing downs. I don't know if Robison can have that kind of success playing limited downs, but a two-sack debut is an awfully nice start.

- Tarvaris Jackson did exactly what he needed to do: Not lose the game. T-Jack was 13/23 with the TD to Peterson and what I would consider a tough-luck interception. Jackson fired the ball slightly off target to Visanthe Shiancoe, the ball flew off Shanc's shoulder and down field where DeAngelo Hall was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Most of the time that would've hit the turf as an innocent incompletion. T-Jack also ran for 10 yards on two carries.

- Chester Taylor's long-term status in still unknown. For updates I would suggest you check out Access Vikings and/or Vikings Now, as those guys will know the situation first.

- This is probably as good a time as ever to post a link to a couple of Adrian Peterson wallpapers I made last month.

Vikings-Falcons Pregame

Whatever happens Sunday, one thing's for sure: We are going to learn a lot about both the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons. Every team has its question marks heading into the season, but there may not be two bigger unknowns than these two teams' offenses.

First-year starter Tarvaris Jackson and the Vikings' receiving corps make up what is perceived to be one of the worst passing attacks in football. Fantasy football players around the country will be tuning in to see how the team uses running backs Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson.

You might have heard Michael Vick will not be quarterbacking the Atlanta offense this season. Instead, the Falcons have Joey Harrington and head coach Bobby Petrino running their offense this year. The addition of former Pro Bowler Joe Horn may help stabilize their passing game, but first-round busts Michael Jenkins and Roddy White still haven't show much on the field. On top of everything else, tight end Alge Crumpler is banged up and may be forced to sit out Week 1. Oh yea, Warrick Dunn is another year older.

This game is huge for both teams, as they will try to start the season on a positive note. The Vikings, who narrowly avoided a blackout when Channel 9 stepped in and purchased the remaining tickets for this game, will need a victory to sway their fan base to get back on the bandwagon.

The Falcons, who had their image dragged through the mud with the Michael Vick dogfighting incident, are also looking to win back their fan base after loosing the face of the franchise.

It's hard to justify this statement with it being only Week 1, but I think it's true: This is a must-win game for both these franchises.

THE WAY I SEE IT
The Vikings' pass defense -- the weakness of last year's team -- will be challenged this week. Petrino's reputation at Louisville was as a pass first play caller. With the stout Pat and Kevin Williams plugging up holes in the running game, the Falcons may do what several teams did against the Purple last season and abandon the running game. I think at this point it's safe to say Joey Harrington doesn't scare anyone, but he could put up big numbers this week unless the Vikings show they've fixed the issues with the pass defense.

While the Vikes' offense is going to be all about the running game this season, T-Jack is going to have to make some plays. With veteran rush end John Abraham and the rest of the Atlanta defense having their sights set on the young QB, Jackson can expect to be pressured in passing situations. If T-Jack can convert on third-and-long and the offense can come through in the red zone, the Vikings should start the season 1-0. If not, Chris Kluwe and Ryan Longwell will be busy men Sunday.