All Kinds of Random Things

Donovan McNabb rumors: I don't think it happens. He's a better fit with the Eagles and I don't think that franchise really wants to start over with a very unexperienced QB in Kevin Kolb. McNabb still gives them their best chance to win and unless Minnesota throws a Jared Allen type offer in for him, which they won't, I can't see it happening. I still hope Favre returns for one more year, but I'm not counting on it. T-Jack still scares the hell out of me, although part of me wants to see what he can do with a full year behind number 4.




I've seen some tidbits about Chester Taylor not returning next season due to the "uncapped year" BS. There isn't an anyone on this roster that can fill Chester's shoes. Albert Young and/or Ian Johnson are not the answer. We need to find a way to bring CT back.



The loss of Cedric Griffin is huge. The timetable for his return is 6-9 months. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he is the most underrated and under-appreciated Vikings. Probably one of the most, if not the most consistent player in our secondary. That is going to hurt us next year and even when he does come back, no player ever regains the same speed when they come off a knee injury. He's going to have to adapt his game. CB is now a top priorty in the draft. I believe Benny Sapp and Karl Paymah only signed one year deals last off-season so I'm unsure of their status as for next year, but I would definitely bring back Sapp. He was much improved this season and filled in admirably for Winfield the second half of the year. I also really like Asher Allen, and I'll get to the rest of the rookies in a second, but he seems to have a knack for jarring the ball out. I think he is a darkhorse to start next season depending on what happens and Griffin's status.



Speaking of rookies, this was one of the most solid draft classes we've had and actually every draft class under Childress has been superb. All 5 rookies this season were able to contribute in some capacity. Obviously ROY Harvin was huge. I'd like to see him get more carries next season. He gets consistent yardage when it appears there is no room for him to go anywhere. I liked how the coaching staff gave him more carries against the Saints. Phil Loadholt. Can't say enough about the job he did starting at RT all season long. You barely heard his name called and that's a good thing. I don't remember him being called for any holds or false starts and if he was, there were very few instances. If he can stay healthy, we should be set at RT for years to come. As I mentioned, Asher Allen had a solid season. He was inactive every week until Antoine Winfield went down with injury, but gave the defense some fresh legs and even picked off a pass and forced a fumble. Big time potential, probably as a nickel back for Allen. Jasper Brinkley was solid in replacing EJ Henderson at MLB. He clearly was an upgrade from Napoleon Harris last year, in my eyes anyways. He got off to a slow start, but eventually you noticed him making fewer and fewer mistakes and we were essentially back to the pre-EJ-injury defense. Lastly, Jamarca Sanford. He was a stand out on special teams and earned his way into playing time on the defense, where he split snaps with Tyrell Johnson. Sanford showed he can lay the wood ala Antoine Winfield, and the knack on him coming out was his range on defense, but that didn't seem to be much of a problem for him. He shows more decisiveness than TJ. The only bad thing he did all season was knock EJ's femur into next year. Early grade on our rookies has to be an A- or B+. All 5 draft picks were able to contribute.



Do I really have to talk about the game? Ugh. First things first Adrian Peterson, who refused to focus on his fumbling last off-season, needs to focus on his damn fumbling this off-season. Bring in whoever helped Tiki Barber, bring in Tiki Barber himself or something. At the very least he can give PJ some tips on life after football. On a side note, I can't stand Tiki Barber, or Ronder Barber, or Shaun Alexander. I think they're triplets and I'd like to see PJ strangle all three of them. Anyways, back to the game. You can't turn the ball over 5 times on the road, especially against the number 1 seed in their house and expect to win. We hadn't turned the ball over more than twice a game all season. That's what hurts the most. We fumbled the damn game away and they could barely beat us. That should have been a 2-3 score game in our favor. I'm not going to put that loss on the refs, but there were some very questionable calls (Ben Leber PI, no-call on 93 going low on Favre's first INT and knocking him out of the game temporarily, the Pierre Thomas TD (which we should have challenged), the PT overtime first down, which he clearly lost control of the ball and was not across the line when he regained posession, etc). Enough of that. A lot of people want to blame Childress for losing this game, and while I have never been the most supportive guy of Childress, I can't put that loss on him. We came to play and dominated every aspect of the game except for turnovers. He has preached ball control from the day he was brought in here. The fumbles are not on him, nor are they on RB coach Eric Bienemy. I think Bienemy is a great RB coach and if you've ever been down to Mankato to watch training camp, I think you'd agree. They do strip drills and place purple ball sleeves over the football to simulate a wet/slippery football.



12 men in the huddle? Another reason to hate Naufahu Tahi. And to think I was so close to embracing him as one of us after he recovered one of Adrian's fumbles. Apparently the same play was called before and after the timeout. Completely inexcusable for him to not know what was going on.



Bernard Berrian. Huge game. We were all waiting for that to happen and it finally did in the biggest game of the year. He has historically been a clutch playoff WR. Should be enough to shut ignorant fans up for next season. PS he was wide open on Favre's last INT.



I'm out of breath. I'll have more ish next week.