Do you like your Vikings games broken down with a little bit of nonsense and innuendo and absolutely no player quotes? Well, do we have a treat for you. As usual, we’re joined by Big Daddy Drew, who once got a water buffalo to roll over just by looking at it.

RandBall: The Vikings are now 3-0, having outscored opponents by a combined score of 101-30 whenever I get a massage on a Sunday (Falcons, Chargers, Lions). Only a sick-[redacted] sports fan would make the correlation between these two things, but I do enjoy the happy endings … to the games.

Big Daddy Drew: Did Burt Young give you the massages?  ‘Cause I hear he’s the best. Yesterday was surprising because you almost felt like the Giants game was kind of a fluke, given how badly the Giants played.  But yesterday? Yesterday, they played damn near perfect.  It was fun to call for Childress’ head when the Vikes were going 3-6.  But he and the team appear to have really turned a corner. They’re using the running game to set up the pass and keep the other team off the field.  They’re playing to their potential right now, and that’s been really rewarding to watch. That said, a dude on one of the Viking message boards put it well. Basically, he said just when the team is starting to look good and build momentum, they’ll go and drop a game they’re supposed to win.  And that Niner game would certainly appear to be that kind of game.  If they go in and win by 20 points, that would be great.  If they put up a loss like the one they had against KC, this all goes for naught.

RB: Can we start expecting these types of at least decent quarterbacking games from T-Jack? That’s three in a row. And even after his one really bad throw (the pick), he had the [redacted] (though maybe not the brains) to go plowing into his interceptor helmet-first. I’m warming to the kid.

BDD: Yeah, I think we all maybe owe the guy an apology.  Yesterday his throws were spot on.  And he’s just so CALM out there.  That’s a nice quality to have.  I don’t think he rattles that easily.  I also dug the plays he made with his feet.  He wasn’t overrelying on the run, like Vick or someone like
that.  He just made the right decision to run when it was called for.  And that, in turn, opened up the medium-range passing game. Bobby Wade isn’t that good, but four or five times a a game he catches those little ten-yard short posts that go for a first down.  So that was cool.

RB: Purple Jesus. He has healed the sick. He has healed himself.

BDD: Dude, when they hand him the ball, I get so [redacted] excited.  It’s kinda [redacted].  There wasn’t even a trace of a drop in the quality of his running yesterday.  And I thought Childress handled him the exact right way, though I’m not sure he needed to be in during the second half.  But that’s nitpicking.  The play-calling was most excellent.

RB: In retrospect, the injury to PJ might have been the best thing that happened to this team. That’s blasphemy, I know, but hear me out: T-Jack started to assert himself when he didn’t have AP to lean on; Chet Taylor started to run with more authority; the defense picked up its game. Now everything is clicking, and I’m not sure that would have been the case had this remained a one-man show all along.

BDD: Yeah, I can see that.  I think the thing that’s happening is that the o-line just keeps getting better and better, regardless of who’s back there.  And it’s giving T-Jack more confidence (and more time to throw). The pass
protection earlier in the year was [redacted].  Not anymore.  I never would have thought the Cook-Culpepper trade would favor Cook, but there you go. And how about Kleinsasser?  He’s destroying people.

RB: How in the [redacted] does Dwight Smith get into an argument with Childress early in a week that follows a defensive player of the week honor, thus resulting in a benching? That’s just baffling.

BDD: [redacted redacted redacted] stairwell.

RB: Aundrae Allison can return as many kicks as he wants. Troy Williamson’s new job is laminating Childress’ cards.

BDD: Yup.  I think Troy’s days are pretty much over with.  They said it was the longest KO return in team history.  I also feel like it was the FIRST KO return in team history.

RB: That’s four wins in five games, with 29 points or more in all of the victories. I never in a million [redacted] years thought I would write any of those things this season.

BDD: Agreed.  I think there was a big change after the Packer game where Frazier just said, “[redacted] it, let’s release the hounds”.  I mean, they’re zone blitzing and bringing safeties and all sorts of cool [redacted], and it’s working!  And the defense is hitting people HARD.

RB: Playoffs. They control their own destiny, and I have to bump their likelihood from last week’s 20 percent to an even 50-50 now based on how everything else broke Sunday.

BDD: I wouldn’t go that far yet.  The last four games are all winnable, but that’s what makes them daunting.  How this team does with a burden of expectation will be interesting.

RB: A pass rush. Yes.

BDD: Indeed.  Couple extra things: Nifty fake FG.  Why not save it for when we, you know, need it? … What was with the cocktail party that erupted on the field during the Detroit challenge?  I half expected them to break out some Chablis. … MY BOY SIDNEY RICE IS A [REDACTED] STAR!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 11:22 am and is filed under Main, Monday Meltdown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.