My quick thoughts following the Vikings blowout at the hands of the Chicago Bears…
The 50 Greatest Vikings in attendance were likely embarrassed for their contemporary counterparts, given the beat down the Vikings suffered, it was nevertheless pretty damn awesome watching outdoor football in Minnesota for the first time in 29 years.
BRETT FAVRE
Vikings fans were greeted with two big surprises just before kickoff yesterday: 1) Brett Favre starting at quarterback and 2) Adrian Peterson listed as inactive.
Favre’s an old school quarterback and one of the reasons he cited for playing in his post-game press conference was that he was looking forward to playing in a blizzard. You gotta love that.
Favre’s first drive was the picture of efficiency, as he drove the Vikings swiftly down the field and connected with Percy Harvin on a wide receiver screen for a touchdown.
And you were thinking, here we go! That is, until…
BRYANT McKINNIE
On the Vikings fifth possession, Bryant McKinnie let rookie defensive end Corey Wootton blow by him to sack Brett Favre, driving him hard into the TCF Bank Stadium turf, giving Favre a concussion and forcing him from the game.
That, apparently, is McKinnie’s MO: Aiding and abetting opposing defenses’ efforts to injure our quarterbacks. It was, after all, McKinnie’s incompetence that resulted in Favre’s sternoclavicular sprain incurred while playing the Bills.
I know the argument for keeping McKinnie is that left tackles are so hard to come by but this is ridiculous. McKinnie is awful.
What do you think we can get for him? A sixth-rounder? If that?
…AND THE REST
The rest of the offensive line didn’t fare much better than McKinnie. Ryan Cook promptly gave up a sack as soon as rookie Joe Webb dropped back to pass.
Center John Sullivan has developed a shotgun snap problem. The commentary crew observed that the fact he’s having snap problems is in his head and it’s entirely true.
Once you start snapping the ball inaccurately a few times, you start to focus on it and worry about it and try and place the ball perfectly and as a result you press and you get worse.
The Vikings have serious problems on the offensive line; it is their single biggest offseason need.
MADIEU WILLIAMS
I know the guy suffered a concussion and I hope he’s okay but that still shouldn’t prevent me from pointing out how insufferably horribly he played AGAIN!
Had Madieu Williams any game, whatsoever, he would have made an interception rather than giving up a 67 yard touchdown to Johnny Knox.
Williams was actually in position to make a play on the ball…but he just has no clue.
The sad thing is, considering how many offseason needs the Vikings have, he might be back next year.
JOE WEBB
We got to see a lot of Joe Webb after all…and it was what you might expect.
A pretty difficult performance from a rookie who has taken practically no practice snaps all season and who was thrust on a national stage against a playoff caliber team.
Fifteen of twenty six for 129 yards, two interceptions, and no passing touchdowns. He was staring down his receivers all night. As a result, the ball was delivered to his receivers late and his receivers were often hung out to dry. But he did have one highlight reel-worthy play in his 13 yard touchdown run. [WATCH Joe Webb’s first NFL rushing touchdown.]
It is waaaaay too early to know whether or not Webb can play quarterback but he had some moments that give one hope. In addition to his touchdown run, he threw a couple of ropes. And, on one play, after weaving and dodging defenders, he found an open Greg Camarillo and dropped the ball over defenders to him with a very nice touch pass.
HIGHLIGHTS
I’ve got the highlights for you from last night’s game at the site. [WATCH the Vikings vs. Bears highlights.]