Week 6 Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings are a mess.

Minnesota folks were pretty happy about themselves when the defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in London two weeks ago. All that's changed now. Three weeks ago, the Cleveland Browns were a mess until they came into Minnesota and took a close one from the Vikings. Yesterday, the Carolina Panthers were a mess until they came into Minnesota and took apart the Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings have a way of getting other teams feeling better about themselves.

There's probably little doubt that Josh Freeman will be the Vikings starting quarterback as soon as he is able. That could be good. It's bad that he'll be taking the reins of a 1-4 team.

There's really only two ways that a game can go if a team is surfing on intense emotion. It can be either a screaming success or a tremendous failure. The Vikings hit on the latter. Adrian Peterson's recent off field tragedy had to have the Vikings on edge. They did explode out of that tunnel at the Metrodome. That momentum built on emotion ran out of gas pretty quick.

Good or bad, a football game can hinge on a play or two. Even a blowout. The Vikings 35-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers, in my opinion, came down to a two play sequence before the game was even five minutes old. The Vikings had a nice game opening drive going. Then, Matt Cassel sailed a pass over the head of an open Greg Jennings right into the hands of Panthers safety Mike Mitchell. Mitchell didn't even have to do a damn thing but catch a ball thrown right to him. The Panthers first play from scrimmage was pretty much a copy of the pass thrown by Cassel. Cam Newton sailed a pass right into the hands of Vikings safety Jamarca Sanford. He didn't have to do a damn thing but catch a ball thrown right to him. I cheered for there was no way that any professional football player would drop a pass thrown right to him. Sanford dropped that easy interception. About nine and a half minutes later the Panthers had themselves a 7-0 lead. The Vikings never really threatened after that. So sad.

There were a couple of moments of promise for the Vikings. Tight end Kyle Rudolph made some plays. He could be such a dynamic player but in five games he's made little impact. He had opportunities yesterday. He needs more. Rookie cornerback Xavier Rhodes is already a terrific football player. He had one play, in particular, that impressed me. It might go down as a failure as he allowed a reception. A diving attempt by Rhodes forced a nice, diving catch, I believe, by Steve Smith. Rhodes was inches away from the deflection. Despite diving, he had the presence to insure that the receiver was down. His transition from defender to tackler in one smooth motion was impressive. Rhodes is real close. Smith also showed how much more Rhodes has to grow. Smith pretty much coerced Rhodes into a drive extending personal foul penalty.

Wow, there really wasn't much positive to pull away from the game for the Vikings. It's a damn shame. They have too many playmakers to play this poorly. There's still time. No one is really taking control of the NFC North. 1-4 sucks but there's some time. Not a lot, but some. The Vikings have little room for error the rest of the season. It's Freeman time.

Another horrible development for the Vikings is the apparent complete explosion of cornerback Josh Robinson's confidence. At times, it seems that he's simply given up. He's got talent. He's got tremendous speed. It's sad to see. Chris Cook and Rhodes should be the starters at corner. I think that this could be a fantastic duo. I'd rather see Marcus Sherels at nickel than Robinson going forward.

I think that the New England Patriots last second win over the New Orleans Saints was the most impressive win of the day. There aren't many teams that I've ever seen as successful at manufacturing wins as the Patriots. Part Brady. Part Belichick.

Question from a reporter to Belichick: "What makes Tom Brady so clutch?"
Answer from Belichick: "He's obviously one of the best players in the league. He's good in all four quarters."

Good to see the Steelers finally get a win.

The Texans are a bigger mess than the Vikings. I don't know how they can get 198 total yards from Arian Foster and still lose 38-13.

The Vikings will be facing more decisions this week than they've faced in a while. The switch to Freeman seems to be a no-brainer if he's comfortable with the offense. The New York Giants will be looking to get better against the Vikings next Monday Night. ESPN is probably wondering why NBC gets all of the great prime time games.