- Kevin Williams
- Asher Allen
- Jugs
- Madieu
- Offensive Line
- On The Bright Side
- Quarterback Controversy
- Have You Noticed?
Okay, aside from our dismal quarterback situation, what else did we learn from Monday’s shellacking?
Despite Kevin Williams‘ best efforts, the defense allowed both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to run for 100 yards.
Williams was a beast.
He batted down a pass at the line early in the game. He had a goal line tackle. By my count he had three tackles for losses and nearly had a fourth but on that play he essentially forced a tackle for loss on the other side.
ASHER ALLEN
After a strong start by Asher Allen during which he broke up a pass and intercepted another, Allen was bru-tal. All game long.
Allen was burrrnned on a long, overthrown pass to Hakeem Nicks that would’ve gone for a touchdown if Eli had the touch on the play.
Ahmad Bradshaw made him look like a fool with a move that left Allen flat-footed.
One of the maddening thing about Allen is how often he gives up the slant route and surprise! surprise!, look what happens when he stays close to his guy on that route: An INT.
Passing play after play after play after play went to his side.
Did Eli Manning even throw to his right side? It didn’t seem like it. If he needed yards, he Manning had to be comforted by the thought of number 21.
Here’s the thing: It took a few years for Cedric Griffin to get good and if the Vikings see enough potential in Allen, then we’re just gonna have to grit our teeth and bear it.
He does have his moments. Unfortunately, on Monday, they were all in the first quarter.
JUGS
First Frank Walker gets a pick, Asher Allen. Looks like Leslie Frazier took me up on my suggestion that he get his D-backs a Jugs machine.
Now he should get a Jugs machine for the linebacking crew because, though it was a tough play, Ben Leber had a shot at an interception too.
MADIEU
Madieu Williams continues to play horribly. He took yet another awful angle on Brandon Jacob’s 73 yard run.
Sure, Jared Allen should have had contain on that play and E.J. Henderson might’ve taken a better angle but this is Williams’ game: He consistently takes ridiculous angles.
I’d love to play him at pool…with some money down.
OFFENSIVE LINE
…didn’t play so well.
But you knew that, didn’t you?
Let’s keep in mind that this defensive front is pretty fearsome. So it was not so surprising to see Bryant McKinnie get wasted by Justin Tuck. Nor was it surprising to see center John Sullivan fail to pick up a blitzing middle linebacker who tackled Adrian Peterson for a loss.
Nor should it have been a surprise to see rookie left guard Chris DeGeare get schooled. It was a tough day at the office.
- DeGeare was effortlessly shoved aside by defensive tackle Chris Canty, who seemed a tad annoyed that DeGeare was in his way.
- On another play, DeGeare failed to pick up Barry Cofield, thus giving up a sack.
- Osi Umenyiora beat him on another play
- Rather than keeping him from the play, DeGeare drove Justin Tuck directly into the screen pass to Toby Gerhart, resulting in a 1 yard gain.
Again, this was DeGeare’s second start. He was facing a damn good front four.
It was tough to watch but all you really need to know: Adrian Peterson = 26 yards.
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
Husain Abdullah is not Madieu Williams; seriously, though, Abdullah does seem to improve game to game and he’s capable of some tough hits. The hit he put on Bradshaw in the red zone was loooooud and would’ve brought most running backs down.
Greg Camarillo has got him some game in the return department! Wasn’t that 52 yard return something to behold?…up until he didn’t know where the sideline was and prematurely stepped out of bounds.
Still.
Do you think he said anything to Tarvaris Jackson after the quarterback promptly gave the ball back to the Giants by throwing an interception directly to linebacker Keith Bullock?
“Dude!”
Lorenzo Booker has proven to be a nice pickup so far. He’s definitely got himself some shake and bake.
On one kick return, Booker made an absolute fool out of one of the Giants cover men, leaving the dude grasping for air as he himself flew through the air.
And then there was his 96 yard kick return for at touchdown, negated by Jasper Brinkley‘s unnecessary block in the back penalty.
He even took a wide receiver screen for a first down. That’s Percy Harvin‘s play.
Word is, Harvin will be back at practice this week.
Coincidence?
QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY
…as in, do we have a quarterback?
With Tarvaris Jackson suffering from turf toe…
<DIGRESSION>
And here’s another thing about TJax…in addition to being not very good, he’s fragile. Also, you probably didn’t notice, but in the photo gallery for Monday’s game at Vikings.com, which quarterback is show first and which quarterback is shown last? Foreshadowing?
</DIGRESSION>
…and Brett Favre‘s status still uncertain, the Vikings don’t know who their starter will be and are pondering a free agent pickup to find one.
One: It tells you a lot about where the coaches think Joe Webb is in his development.
Two: We’ve officially become sillier than the Lions.
HAVE YOU NOTICED?
How rarely we take shots downfield? Even with Brett Favre at quarterback? Even with Sidney Rice back in the lineup?
Gawd, do we need a deep threat. That’s supposed to be Bernard Berrian, but as we saw yet again on Monday, Berrian just can’t defeat a jam. It’s hard to be a deep threat if you can’t get off the line of scrimmage.
And by the way: When was the last time the Vikings called a flea-flicker? With Adrian Peterson carrying the rock, you’d think that’d be a standard.
Is it because we’ve got no deep threat, even on a play-action pass? Do the coaches not trust Adrian to flick the rock back to the quarterback?
Whatever the reason, I think it’s been since Daunte Culpepper was tossing the ball that the play was last called.