Surprises

For all but the six teams that had their byes this past week, NFL teams are a quarter of the way through the 2014 NFL regular season. While there is still a lot of football to play and anything can, and probably will, happen, we've seen enough to be surprised by teams.

Here are the standings after the Patriots-Chiefs Monday Night game.

AFC East
Buffalo  2-2
Miami  2-2
New England  2-2
New York Jets  1-3

AFC North
Cincinnati  3-0
Baltimore  3-1
Pittsburgh  2-2
Cleveland  1-2

AFC South
Houston  3-1
Indianapolis  2-2
Tennessee  1-3
Jacksonville  0-4

AFC West
San Diego  3-1
Denver  2-1
Kansas City  2-2
Oakland  0-4

NFC East
Philadelphia  3-1
Dallas  3-1
New York Giants  2-2
Washington  1-3

NFC North 
Detroit  3-1
Green Bay  2-2
Chicago  2-2
Minnesota  2-2

NFC South
Carolina  2-2
Atlanta  2-2
New Orleans 1-3
Tampa Bay  1-3

NFC West
Arizona  3-0
Seattle  2-1
San Francisco  2-2
St. Louis  1-2

The big surprise for me, in a bad way, is the play of the New Orleans Saints. They looked like they were playing in mud on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. Coming into the season, I thought that Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan would have the defense better than they were last season. And, they were playing at a very high level last season. The Saints defense hasn't really stopped anyone. The offense, which is pretty much always terrific, has been sluggish in most of their games. The Saints are lucky for the parity that exists in the NFC South. They have under-performed and they are only a game back with twelve to play. While I didn't have the same expectations for the New England Patriots that I had for the Saints, the Patriots haven't played well. Especially last night.

Cincinnati, Houston, San Diego, Detroit and Arizona might be surprises to some but they are talented teams. It shouldn't really be a surprise that each has played well. Cincinnati's problems usually start popping up in the playoffs. They have done very well in the regular season. New offensive coordinator Hue Jackson does have the offense looking especially sharp. Houston had a terrible season in 2013 but there was still a lot of talent on that 2-14 team. And part of that talent is J.J. Watt. He's been unstoppable through four games. If Houston is still ahead of Indianapolis later in the season, then I'll be surprised. San Diego might be a surprise simply because they beat Seattle. The Chargers are a very good team and quarterback Philip Rivers is playing out of his mind. The Chargers should give the Broncos a real challenge in the division. Detroit has won their three games in interesting ways. They have an explosive offense so it is assumed that they get in footraces and simply outscore their opponents. So far, they haven't been particularly explosive. The defense has played a greater role in the wins. The ways in which they have won have been the surprise. Arizona is the biggest surprise of these teams. They lost several impact defensive players to suspension and injuries and they still find ways to frustrate and stifle opponents. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles should get coach of the year consideration.

The biggest surprise to me, in a good way, has been the Dallas Cowboys. They looked horrible against San Francisco in week one. They have played great ever since. Running back DeMarco Murray is in the conversation with Philip Rivers and J.J. Watt for MVP through four games. The Cowboys defense has been efficient. That is probably the biggest surprise of all.

Week Four Thoughts

Minnesota Vikings vs Atlanta Falcons at 1:25 my time.

Waiting through the morning games for the Vikings game feels strange. They always play in the morning.

The Vikings won the late starting game 41-28.

Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made his first career start. The only bad thing about his first career start was that he limped off the field with an ankle injury. He did so after he led a touchdown drive to take the lead early in the 4th quarter. The injury occurred on third and goal. It looked like his foot was kicked and turned a bit. He handed off to Matt Asiata on fourth down for the touchdown and threw the two-point conversion to Rhett Ellison for the 35-28 lead. Bridgewater left for x-rays but was standing on the sideline at the end of the game. He looks fine now but the Vikings have a short week. That could make things dicey. They travel to Green Bay for a Thursday Night game against the Packers.

The Teddy Bridgewater era started nicely. He was excellent. Efficient. Productive. He was the Vikings eighth starting quarterback since 2010. It's only one game but that revolving door appears to be shut. Teddy Bridgewater will be leading the Vikings for a while.

Bridgewater finished the game with 19 completions in 30 attempts for 317 yards. No touchdowns. No interceptions. One 2-pt. conversion. He ran 13 yards for a score. All four Vikings touchdowns were rushing touchdowns. Asiata scored  the other three touchdowns.

The Vikings offense generated 558 yards of total offense. A pretty ridiculous amount of yards for an offense missing running back Adrian Peterson and tight end Kyle Rudolph. Two of their top playmakers.

The Vikings offense had:
300-yard passer-Teddy Bridgewater (317)
100-yard rusher-Jerick McKinnon (135)
100-yard receiver-Jarius Wright (132)

McKinnon was a step away from a 70-yard touchdown and a monster game. In the absence of Peterson, the Vikings might have a nice "thunder and lightning" combination with Asiata and McKinnon. Asiata added 78 yards and the three touchdowns. Wright has had some big plays in past games but this was his best game.

The Vikings Drives:
1. Touchdown
2. Touchdown
3. missed field goal
4. Touchdown
5. Field Goal
6. Field Goal
7. punt
8. punt-only three and out
9. Touchdown
10. Field Goal
11. Field Goal

The last two drives were with Christian Ponder under center.

If Bridgewater could have one throw back, it would be a deep pass thrown to Wright on a third down in the third quarter. Wright had beaten Falcons corner Robert Alford by about ten yards. Easy touchdown. Bridgewater overthrew him. Badly overthrew him. The missed connection resulted in the lone "three and out."

It was interesting to see Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner call some read-option plays with Bridgewater under center.

One of the Vikings biggest offensive problems over the last several years has been too many "three and outs." These are killers. The offense does nothing and the defense is immediately back on the field. It was good to see the Vikings limit those bad things yesterday.

There were a couple of third and short calls for the Vikings that were a little curious. Early in the third quarter, the Vikings had a 3rd and 1 on the Falcons 23-yard line. The offense tried to get a jump on the Falcons by going without a huddle. Bridgewater took the snap and leaned into the line. He didn't make much of a push as would be expected from a player of his size and the Vikings had to settle for a field goal. The other was the play on which Bridgewater hurt his ankle. Early in the fourth quarter, they had a 3rd and goal from the 2 and tried to hurry things again. The play just seemed rushed and left them with a 4th and goal and an injured quarterback. They used their final timeout to get things right and settle things down before the fourth down attempt. Fortunately, the Vikings scored to take the lead. And, they didn't need the timeouts later. They ran some no-huddle that was mostly effective throughout the game but on these two critical plays rushing things hurt more than helped.

While this game was mostly about Bridgewater and the offense, the Vikings defense played well for much of the game. They had some terrible breakdowns on three of the Falcons touchdowns. There was a ridiculous mix up in coverage on the Falcons first touchdown. Corners Josh Robinson and Captain Munnerlyn both went to cover Julio Jones and Roddy White was left wide (WIDE!) open for a 24 yard TD. In the third quarter Munnerlyn and defensive end Everson Griffen failed to wrap up Devin Hester and you have a 36-yard touchdown. There wasn't much defense on the edge or down the sideline on Antone Smith's 48-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter. Other than those breakdowns they were pretty solid. When you have breakdowns against an offense as explosive as the Falcons you often have touchdowns.

This was the best game of Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes' young career. He was drafted in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft to be a lockdown corner. This was a big step in that direction. Receiving groups don't get much tougher than the Falcons group.

Third-year corner Josh Robinson also had a nice game. Aside from the mix-up with Munnerlyn. He had some very good coverage on Roddy White, Aside from the time that no one covered him. Robinson closed the game with his second interception of the season.

Safety Harrison Smith has been an impact player in all four games. He may have sealed this game with a fourth quarter interception of Matt Ryan.

Thankfully he didn't do it today but Ryan might be the best late-game quarterback in the league. He's scary good at bringing his team back and he has been doing it since he was a rookie.

With veteran linebacker Chad Greenway out for the game with a broken hand and rib, it was interesting to see that the green dot and radio helmet went to rookie Anthony Barr. With Bridgewater on offense and Barr on defense, the Vikings two first round picks from last spring's draft were calling the signals in a big win. The future may really be now.

The Green Bay Packers have been playing the Chicago Bears since 1921. They've played 186 times in the regular season. Twice in the postseason. The series is real close for two teams that have played so many games against each other. The Bears lead the regular season series 92-88-6. They split their two postseason games. It's a fantastic rivalry. I just wish that people would stop calling it the longest rivalry in league history. It's not. The Bears and Cardinals have been playing each other since 1920. That rivalry was pretty intense for the first 39 years when they shared the same city. The Bears haven't played the Cardinals as often as they have played the Packers but they have played them for a year longer.

For a rivalry as terrific as Bears-Packers, it's a real shame that the officiating had to be so bad. It was as if the the officials were watching an entirely different game. Phantom calls. Missed calls. It was really sad. The Bears had a touchdown drive that was mostly dependent on bad calls. Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was called for a personal foul when he touched the helmet and shoulder pads of sliding Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. The questionable officiating went both ways. Bears safety Ryan Mundy was called for a fictitious personal foul on a supposed helmet hit to Packers receiver Jordy Nelson. It was a real shame. Former Bears linebacker Dick Butkus was an honorary captain for the game. This isn't the same game that he played. Not so much for the terrible calls but for the things that you are no longer allowed to do.

Marc Trestman is an excellent football coach. It's amazing that no NFL team gave him a shot until the Bears did in 2013. Trestman was an assistant coach for decades but he had to go to Canada for his first head coaching job. He's finally in the NFL and he should be around for a while.

The Bears took a 17-14 lead in the second quarter on a fantastic playcall by Trestman. From the 8-yard line, Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery went in motion as if a reverse was in the works. Packers corner Sam Shields followed Jeffery. Just as Shields was committing himself to the other side of the field, the ball was snapped and Jeffery reversed his direction, Cutler tossed a short pass to him and it was open field to the end zone. It was a brilliantly designed play. It think that other teams will be copying this play into their playbooks.

The Bears and Packers were in quite a battle until Cutler had something of a meltdown in the third quarter with two interceptions. The Packers defense played a role so it wasn't all Cutler throwing to the wrong guys. The Packers had a four-point lead at the half. It was 38-17 at the end of the third quarter. The game got to the point where Bears backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen finished the game.

Bears receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery get a lot of deserved attention. Tight end Martellus Bennett is also a very dangerous target for Cutler. He had one of his best games yesterday. 9 catches for 134 yards.

Speaking of tight ends. The Detroit Lions drafted North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron with the 10th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft to be an impact player to pair with, and take attention away from, all-everything receiver Calvin Johnson. Just when I start thinking that he hasn't done much, he scores his first NFL touchdown. He entered the game yesterday with only three catches on the season. He had three yesterday. Including a 16-yard touchdown.

It's still strange to see receiver Steve Smith in a Baltimore Ravens uniform. It was even more strange to see him in a Ravens uniform playing against Carolina Panthers. He'd only worn a Panthers uniform before this year. He had a great game against his former team. 7 catches for 139 yards. Two of those catches went for touchdowns of 61 and 21 yards.

The New York Jets must be tired of the NFC North. They played the Oakland Raiders in week one but it's been the NFC North ever since. Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions. They were competitive, even in control, at times in all three of those games but all three ended in losses. They get a break now. They don't play the Vikings until December 7.

Crazy end to the Pittsburgh Steelers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. It's not often that a team gets two last gasp chances at a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes. The Buccaneers did just that. They failed the first time. Forced a punt and got the ball back. They got a big play from street free agent Louis Murphy to get inside the Steelers 10-yard line. That set up a game-winning touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Vincent Jackson. Buccaneers win. 27-24.

Real nice win by the San Francisco 49ers over the Philadelphia Eagles. Excellent defense by the 49ers at the end of that game. Many consider Eagles coach Chip Kelly a football genius. I have some reservations about that lofty status. I have absolutely no idea what he's doing with his runningbacks. He has LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles and they combine for 11 carries. I didn't see the game so I don't know how it all played out but it just doesn't seem possible that a coach, especially a genius coach, would only give the ball to those backs only 11 times.

The Vikings have found themselves a quarterback. Finally!

Game Day Thoughts

It's Bye Week week.

It's easy to tell that the bye weeks start this week when an active player like Richard Sherman is on the set of NFL network's GameDay Morning.

I've never been sold on the need for a bye week. The NFL loves it as they get an extra set of televised games in a seventeen-week season. An extra week of money.  It's not so much that I'm against bye weeks in general. I just think that they start too early. Week 4 is much too early to have a bye. Six teams have a bye this week. The Seattle Seahawks is one of the six, of course. That's why Sherman has a free day to chat with Marshall Faulk, Warren Sapp, Michael Irvin and Kurt Warner. The Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams are the other five teams with no games to play after playing only three. The NFL has given teams a week off since 1990. The NFL was especially generous in 1993. Teams received two weeks off. That was a real treat. Teams certainly don't need two weeks off. It's debatable whether they even need one but a week off can be nice. Byes are best served around week 6. Any time before that is too early. The season has just started. Teams and players are just rounding into team and game shape. The last thing that they need is a week off. Players do need a break. They need a week to get a little healthy. But, they need it later in the season. The NFL should look into concentrating all of the bye weeks from weeks 6-12.

Since I was an itty, bitty Minnesota Vikings fan, the team has played their home games at 10:00, my time. Noon, their time. They have nearly always played in the early wave of Sunday games. Especially when they were playing at home. That's why things feel a bit off today. They play the Atlanta Falcons today at TCF Bank Stadium. They play the game in the afternoon. They usually only do that when they play on the west coast.

This quirk of the Vikings schedule opens up my viewing schedule for the morning game. It almost feels like one of those damn bye weeks. Here's what we have in the morning:

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions at New York Jets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Carolina Panthers at Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts
Miami Dolphins at Oakland Raiders

Typically, I would drift to the Packers-Bears game. Today, I may drift to the Panthers-Ravens game. It's mostly due to Ravens receiver Steve Smith. Joe Flacco, his own quarterback, referred to him as a maniac this week. Smith is a kick. He's been a kick for more than a decade. The first time that I ever saw him touch a ball in the NFL he took a kickoff back for a touchdown against the Vikings. That was his first NFL game and he's been driving defenders nuts ever since. I remember him all too well taking apart Vikings corner Fred Smoot in 2005. He's a fun player to watch. He should be a really fun player to watch today as he plays against the only NFL team that he's even known.

I may end up flipping between the Packers-Bears and Panthers-Ravens.

The last one is a home game for the Raiders in name only. The game is played in London. The Raiders fans were robbed of a home game. I dislike the London games more than I dislike early bye weeks.

On a college note. I'm not so sure that the Cal defense survives the season.

Back to the NFL.

Today is potentially a very significant day in Vikings franchise history. It's the starting debut of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. It's expected (hoped!) that the kid becomes the face of the team for 10, 15, 20(!?!) years. The Vikings have been looking for a long-term, franchise quarterback since Fran Tarkenton retired in 1978. Tommy Kramer was drafted in the first round to step right in and be that guy. He had some terrific moments but he could never stay healthy long enough to sustain anything. Kramer and Wade Wilson took turns leading the team at the end of the 1980s. The 1990s were a crazy revolving door of quarterbacks. Sean Salisbury, Rich Gannon, Jim McMahon, Warren Moon, Brad Johnson, Randall Cunningham, Jeff George. There were some fantastic performances from Moon, Cunningham, and George but they were at the end of their careers. Daunte Culpepper was drafted in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He looked like he was on his way to being elite and a franchise cornerstone until a knee injury derailed everything. Quarterback has mostly been a disaster for the Vikings since Culpepper's knee came apart. A rejuvenated Brett Favre turned things electric in 2009 but that was a lone highlight in a decade of quarterback frustration. Christian Ponder was taken in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft but he's been so inconsistent that the Vikings felt forced to dip into the first round again this past spring and select Bridgewater. The future of the Minnesota Vikings is now the present. It's Teddy Time.

End of a Streak

The Minnesota Vikings drafted Iowa linebacker Chad Greenway in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. His rookie year came to an end before it could even start when he tore his ACL covering a kick in the first preseason game against the Oakland Raiders. His promising rookie year was spent in rehab rather than on the football field. The 2007 season was Greenway's rookie season and he was an immediate starter. He's played in every game since. A total of 115 games. Except for a November 9, 2008 game against the Green Bay Packers, Greenway has started every one of those games. The pass-happy Packers forced the Vikings to open that game with six defensive backs. Despite starting that game on the sideline, he had seven tackles and a sack. Greenway has started 90 consecutive games. That is the longest streak of any active NFL linebacker. His consecutive starts streak and his consecutive games played streak will come to an end tomorrow. He's been ruled out of the game against the Atlanta Falcons at TCF Bank Stadium because of a broken hand and a broken rib. It's interesting that Greenway's first career game and start came against the Falcons in 2007. His game streak ends with the Falcons.

"It's one of those things: When it comes to the weekend and it's time to play, you go play."
     -Chad Greenway

It's going to be strange to see the Vikings defense on the field and not see #52. He's been the one constant since 2007. The Vikings have had a fairly complete turnover on the defensive side of the ball. Greenway, defensive end Brian Robison and safety Harrison Smith are the only starters from last year that start this year. Second-year man Gerald Hodges will make his first career start in place of Greenway. There has been a lot of change in Minnesota since the calendar ticked over to 2014. This is a little more of the same.

It has always been easy to cheer for a football player like Chad Greenway. His effort was always high. More importantly, so was his enjoyment. He simply loved to play football. He was out early to practice to catch punts. He was always running around, smiling. He played the game like we all did as kids. Football is fun. It's fun to watch Greenway play football. Hopefully, he's doing it again real soon. He can start another streak.

Injuries

It's difficult to say whether there are more injuries in football now than in years past. Players now are bigger and faster. The collisions are more explosive. Even with rules designed to curb it, football will always be a violent game. Players of many years past had a greater tendency to play through injuries. With the smaller rosters, they had to play. And smaller paychecks. They couldn't afford to give up their spot on the field. Even for a single down. We hear more about the injuries now. The media and fans demand that information. Coaches, even Bill Belichick, are expected to give up the "dope" on their injured players. It may be that demand for information that makes it seem like there are more injuries than ever before. A player tears up a knee in Charlotte and the news is splashed across the internet and mentioned every 10 minutes on NFL Network and ESPN. Everyone knows about the knee before the MRI is even scheduled. There are more specific injuries now. It used be a foot injury. Now, it's a lisfranc. About 20 years ago, Dan Marino tore his achilles tendon. I'd never heard of such an injury in football. I didn't even know that the achilles tendon could be torn. Foolish, of course. Any soft tissue can tear. And, bones break. I can't think of another player tearing an achilles tendon since Marino tore his. Until recently. There's been a run on the injury the past couple of years. Have players become too big, too strong for their bodies to support them? Who knows? The only certainty is that injuries will always be a part of football.

Nearly every NFL team was struck by injuries in the first week of training camps this past summer. Teams lost players for the entire 2014 season before a preseason game was even played. The Minnesota Vikings were one of the few teams that made it to the regular season intact. They had a few players miss practices. They even had some miss those vital preseason games. Those players were more hurt than injured. That has always been a somewhat funny distinction. If a football player is hurt, he plays. If he's injured, he doesn't play. Most of the Vikings players that missed practices and preseason games were more hurt than injured. They were muscle strains and pulls. Hamstrings and groins. Compared to the alternative, muscle strains and pulls are fairly tame. They still have to be dealt with carefully. Strains and pulls can linger. Sometimes for an entire season. The Vikings were healthy for the first game. They aren't healthy anymore. Against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, the Vikings lost quarterback Matt Cassel and guard Brandon Fusco for the season. They also lost tight end Kyle Rudolph for as much as half of the season. Cassel broke bones in his foot. Fusco has a pectoral injury. No longer a chest injury. Rudolph needed to have surgery for a sports hernia on Tuesday. Linebacker Chad Greenway entered that game with a broken hand. He left that game with a broken rib. In football, it's always next man up. Injuries will always be a part of this game.The team that best deals with those injuries is often the team still standing at the end.

Throwback Thursday: 1970s All-Decade Team

The NFL really got started for me in the 1970s. That's when I discovered football, the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings. It was a great time, perhaps the best time, to discover the Vikings. All of the football players from that decade will hold a special place with me and it's fun to look back at some of the very best. Here is the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s as chosen by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee members.

Quarterbacks
Terry Bradshaw
Ken Stabler
Roger Staubach

Running Backs
Earl Campbell
Franco Harris
Walter Payton
O.J. Simpson

Wide Receivers
Harold Carmichael
Drew Pearson
Lynn Swann
Paul Warfield

Tight Ends
Dave Casper
Charlie Sanders

Tackles
Dan Dierdorf
Art Shell
Rayfield Wright
Ron Yary

Guards
Joe DeLamielleure
John Hannah
Larry Little
Gene Upshaw

Centers
Jim Langer
Mike Webster

Kickers
Jim Bakken
Garo Yepremian

Defensive Ends
Carl Eller
L.C. Greenwood
Harvey Martin
Jack Youngblood

Defensive Tackle
Joe Greene
Bob Lilly
Merlin Olsen
Alan Page

Linebackers
Bobby Bell
Robert Brazile
Dick Butkus
Jack Ham
Ted Hendricks
Jack Lambert

Cornerbacks
Willie Brown
Jimmy Johnson
Roger Wherli
Louis Wright

Safeties
Dick Anderson
Cliff Harris
Ken Houston
Larry Wilson

Punter
Ray Guy


I like looking at the various All-Decade Teams and seeing which of the players may/may not have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. It's been said that to make the Hall of Fame a player must be among the best of his era. Making an All-Decade team is a pretty good indication of being one of the best of a particular era. Some decades may not have been particularly strong at certain positions so an All-Decade player doesn't necessarily mean a Hall of Fame player. As for the 1970s All-Decade Team. Ken Stabler, Harold Carmichael, Drew Pearson, L.C. Greenwood, Harvey Martin, Robert Brazile, Louis Wright, Dick Anderson, and Dick Anderson aren't currently honored in Canton. That's not counting the kickers. Of these players, Stabler is the most curious. He makes the 1970s team over Bob Griese and Fran Tarkenton. Griese and Tarkenton are both in the Hall of Fame. Tarkenton had all of the 1960s to add to his Hall of Fame resume' but Griese is honored in Canton for what he did in the 1970s. Griese has two Super Bowl rings. Stabler has one. It's interesting to see the Hall of Fame Selection Committee prefer Stabler over Griese for the All-Decade Team but not good enough for the Hall. Each played the majority of their career, and the best years of the career, in the 1970s. It would only seem to follow that if Stabler was more deserving than Griese of All-Decade honor that he had the better career. For whatever reason, that isn't the case in the eyes of the Selection committee.

I like seeing former Houston Oilers linebacker Robert Brazile on this team. I don't think that he gets enough recognition for his terrific NFL career. I rarely see his name mentioned for Hall of Fame consideration and I think that he deserves it. For a handful of years, he might have been the best linebacker in the game. He played on some great Oilers teams. Unfortunately, those Oilers teams played in the same division as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A linebacker that isn't on this team but probably should be is Randy Gradishar. Like Brazile, he should be receiving more Hall of Fame consideration. Gradishar was the leader of a tough Denver Broncos defense. A defense that got the Broncos through an AFC conference stacked with the Steelers and Raiders and into a Super Bowl.

The guards and defensive tackles of this team are awesome.

The one other Viking player that I'd like to see on this team is running back Chuck Foreman. From 1975-77, he might have been the best back in the league. Certainly the most versatile. Unfortunately for Foreman, you can remove any of the four backs from the 1970s team. Campbell, Payton and Simpson are among the best six or seven backs ever.

Looking through this team brought back some wonderful football memories.

Love and Hate

My feelings for Directv couldn't be at greater extremes as they are on weekends in the fall. I love Directv on Sundays with their Sunday Ticket. I get to see every Minnesota Vikings game. I hate Directv on Saturdays because they are too stubborn and stupid to come to an agreement with the Pac-12 and offer the Pac-12 Network to their customers. I can't see every California Golden Bears game. I love the satellite biggie on Sunday. I hate them on Saturday.

Directv claims to be a leader in sports programming. It's impossible to make that claim if the network for one of the top college conferences is not available. It's laughable that Directv can't make it happen. Actually, they refuse to make it happen. Both sides are being stubborn. It's been a three-year negotiation with likely little negotiation over the last two years. Directv has offered to make the Pac-12 Network available as an "a la carte" channel to individual subscribers that are willing to pay extra for it. I'm all for this option as I just want the games. The Pac-12 balks at this because they want their network to be part of the regular sports programming package. Big Ten and SEC networks are available in that package. It's a mystery as to why Directv views the Pac-12 differently. Stupidity comes to mind. The Pac-12 has reached agreements with 66 other distributors. Their expectations from Directv are no different from the expectations found agreeable with so many other cable and satellite providers. Directv claims that they don't want to force a sports network on customers that have no interest in it. Directv spokesman Thomas Tyrer said that they would like to make a deal for its customers who want Pac-12 programming "as long as we're not forcing everyone else to pay for it too. Pac-12 schools have a tradition of terrific competition and fair play, so we can't understand why the conference won't allow anyone to simply choose." Well Thomas, the fact that this option wasn't forced on the Big Ten and SEC might be a reason. The fact that no other cable or satellite provider has asked this of the Pac-12 might be another reason. Beyond those reasons, that is a fairly selective view for Thomas and his employer to take. I have zero interest in well over half of the channels available to me. I pay for hundreds of channels so that others can view them. Directv, in this case, is showing an obvious preference for their customers that care little for sports. Seems a little misguided when you consider that the one thing that separates Directv from their competitors is their sports programming. I wouldn't be a Directv subscriber if it weren't for Sunday Ticket. I definitely wouldn't have Directv because of their pathetic little pissing-match with the Pac-12. It's pathetic because it feels like it's gotten personal. Never a good thing in business. So I hear.

There is some potential for good news in the coming months. AT&T has supposedly reached an agreement to purchase Directv. The deal, announced in May, has to be approved by federal regulators. If the deal does come to fruition, there could be a jump-start in the negotiations. The Pac-12 and AT&T have long had, what appears to be, a positive relationship. Most feel that the deal will lead to constructive negotiations. Nothing that has occurred over the last three years would ever be confused with constructive. Until then, I will continue to hate Directv on fall Saturdays and love them on fall Sundays,

Defensive Game Changers

There always seems to be a greater focus on the game changers that reside on the offensive side of the ball. The quarterbacks, the backs and receivers. The players that score the points. The players that appear on the fantasy stat sheets. There are game changers on the defensive side of the side of the ball. Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt might be the biggest, baddest, and best in the game today. He's two games into his fourth season and he gets better with each game. He's probably the one defensive player today that might be in the argument with the quarterbacks as the best player in the game. He's a game changer even if he doesn't score many points. Although the Texans coaches are putting him in the game on offense for a few snaps. Here are a few of the defensive players that I've watched change games over the years.

Alan Page  DT  Minnesota Vikings
Page was named the league's MVP in 1971. He was the first defensive player to take home that award. There were times when he couldn't be blocked. He took over games.

Joe Greene  DT  Pittsburgh Steelers
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the league was littered with terrific defensive tackles. Page, Greene, Merlin Olsen, Bob Lilly, Curly Culp, Buck Buchanan, Henry Jordan. It was a special time for fans of interior line play. Alan Page changed games with quickness. Greene just took offensive lines apart.

Jack Ham  LB Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers of the 1970s had so much talent on defense that it was difficult for any one player to truly stand out. Joe Greene did. So did Ham. I was just learning the game then but I could tell that Ham was a special football player. He was smart and instinctive. Always around the ball. Always making plays.

Randy White  DT Dallas Cowboys
As a Vikings fan in the late 1970s it was real easy to hate White. He was just so good. He followed that great wave of defensive tackles and carried the torch well. Like Joe Greene, he simply took offensive lines apart.

Lawrence Taylor  LB  New York Giants
There are only a few football players that changed the way that the game is played. Don Hutson, Sammy Baugh, Jim Brown, Jerry Rice. Players that were so different than anyone that had ever come before that the game simply had to change. Taylor was one of those players.

Reggie White  DE  Philadelphia Eagles/Green Bay Packers
One of my greatest/worst memories of White was against the Vikings. For reasons that are still a complete mystery to me, the Vikings had receiver Cris Carter chip White. White simply tossed Carter about a dozen yards. It would have been comical if it wasn't so sad. White threw players that were paid to block him too. Just not as far.

Joey Browner  S  Minnesota Vikings
If Browner's career hadn't been shortened due to injuries, he'd be honored in Canton. He might have been the best defensive player in the league in 1988. He nearly destroyed the Rams offense all by himself in the playoffs that year.

Ronnie Lott  CB/S  San Francisco 49ers
Lott was All-Pro at three different positions. He probably combined pass coverage and run stopping ability better than any player before or since. He was everywhere on the football field.

Deion Sanders  CB  A bunch of teams
His time in the league pretty much brought about the term "shutdown corner." He shut down his side of the field better than any corner that I've seen.

Kenny Easley  S  Seattle Seahawks
Even more than Joey Browner, Easley's career was wrecked by injuries. He played for seven seasons but he really played for four. In those four years, he played the safety position as well as anybody.

Derrick Brooks  LB  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jack Ham was the original weak-side linebacker in the cover two. Brooks became the prototype. Like Ham, Brooks was an absolute joy to watch play football. His instincts were unbelievable. His quickness was unbelievable.

Warren Sapp  DT  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tony Dungy was a teammate of Joe Greene and Jack Ham with the Steelers of the 1970s. As the Buccaneers coach, Dungy must have seen some of the same game changing ability in Sapp and Derrick Brooks. Sapp may have had a bit more quickness than Greene so he did things a little differently but his destruction of offenses was very much the same.

Brian Urlacher  LB  Chicago Bears
Urlacher is another difficult player to appreciate. I wanted to hate him and I often did but he could be so good. He thrashed the Vikings offensive intentions so many times.

Rod Woodson  CB/S  Pittsburgh Steelers
Like Ronnie Lott, Woodson was named All-Pro at three positions. Cornerback, safety, and kick returner. He was one of those athletes that could do just about anything on a football field.

Ed Reed  S  Baltimore Ravens
Reed often seemed to know the intentions of the offense better than the offense. He must have been an absolute nightmare for a quarterback. He rarely did the expected so it was impossible to game plan for him.

Ray Lewis  LB  Baltimore Ravens
It felt like he changed games through sheer force of will. He might not have been the most physically gifted football player on the field but he sure played like he was.

Week 3 Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings faced a tough task in New Orleans yesterday. The Saints entered their home opener at a surprising 0-2. Two tough losses for a Super Bowl contender. They defeated the Vikings 20-9 but it wasn't easy.

"We're not doing enough things to win games."
     -Mike Zimmer

The Vikings defense was barely a speed bump on the Saints first two possessions. A blocked extra point by Everson Griffen was the lone defensive highlight. 13-0 and it looked ugly.

The Vikings defense settled down after those first two ugly drives.

The Vikings defense actually played pretty great after that. Outside of those two ugly drives (beautiful drives if you're on the Saints side of things), this was a very even game.

This game turned on a bullshit roughing(?) the passer penalty against the Vikings at the end of the third quarter. 3rd and 13 from the Saints 32-yard line. The Vikings blitzed Brees and the quarterback had no chance. Corner Captain Munnerlyn hit Brees and threw the tender QB on his back. Considering it throwing is a stretch as Munnerlyn was releasing Brees as both players were going backwards. With a mosh pit surrounding the action, Munnerlyn made a football play in a tackle football game. There was nothing excessive about it. Brees immediately jumped up to start his belly-aching so he was hardly impacted by this supposedly violent play. I suppose that Munnerlyn could have just stood there holding onto Brees as he fought to get free but that might have been judged to be excessive as well. Instead of punting from inside their own 20-yard line, the Saints were sitting pretty with a first down near midfield. The Saints took advantage of the official's kind gesture and continued their gifted drive to a touchdown and a 20-9 lead. It was the Saints only score of the game after their early offensive fireworks.

This game will likely be forever known to Vikings fans as the debut of Teddy Bridgewater. First round pick and expected franchise quarterback, Bridgewater entered the game about three minutes into the 2nd quarter. Starting quarterback Matt Cassel apparently broke his foot while scrambling at the end of the previous drive.

An indication of Bridgewater's debut performance might have been seen at the end of the game. Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan sought out the rookie quarterback. Ryan sent much of his defense at Bridgewater on several occasions. The kid stood in there, scrambled, and made some throws. On one play in particular, he displayed some elusiveness that I wasn't sure that he had. In the preseason and in this first real action, Bridgewater has shown a terrific ability to stay calm in the chaos of the pocket.

Bridgewater completed 12 of 20 passes for 150 yards. He came into the game cold, on the road, against an aggressive defense. He looked good. He certainly didn't look overwhelmed. Cassel is going to be out for a while. The Vikings are at home next week against the Atlanta Falcons. It will be good to see him after a week of first team reps and a game plan with him in it.

Cassel directed one scoring drive. Bridgewater directed two scoring drives. All three scoring drives ended in field goals. Field goals are nice but touchdowns are so much better. The three scoring drives ended at the 7, 12, and 22-yard lines. The Vikings have to punch those into the end zone.

The Vikings lost Cassel, guard Brandon Fusco, tight end Kyle Rudolph, and corner Josh Robinson to injuries in the game. Linebacker Chad Greenway entered the game with a broken hand. He started, played, and left the game with a rib injury. Those are heavy hits. Cassel is out for a while. Fusco has a pect injury. They need Fusco. He's quickly become their most dependable lineman.

It was great to see the Vikings put those first two Saints drives behind them and go from there. They were playing one of the best teams in the league and they played them pretty much evenly (after those two damn drives). All those things that they didn't do well early (tackling!) they did very well later. The improvements on defense were actually quite impressive. They could have used some turnovers.

Vikings rookie linebacker Anthony Barr got his first sack. I'm just waiting for him to start making game-turning plays on a regular basis. His extraordinary athletic ability is easily apparent. Once he figures out the game he'll be a dynamite defensive player.

One of the most remarkable things about Drew Brees is that he's done what he's done with the receivers that he has had over the years. Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem and others have made plays over the years. That is mostly due to Brees' accuracy and patience with them. Collectively, they have some of the worst hands that I've ever seen on NFL receivers. It's pretty sad to see. Tight end Jimmy Graham has been Brees' best pass catcher for a while now. It took Graham a couple of years to adjust to the NFL but he's one of the best tight ends ever. Brees finally has an excellent pass catching receiver. Rookie Brandin Cooks. A first round pick out of Oregon State, Cooks is going to be a terrific playmaker for Brees. 8 catches yesterday for 74 yards. And, no drops. Unlike Colston. Even Graham had a ridiculous drop and he usuall catches everything.

The Saints were 9-13 on third down attempts. That sort of conversion rate often leads to wins. Those nine conversions were from 5, 9, 4, 16, 1, 7, 7, 10, and 11 yards. On 3rd and long, defenses have to get off the field.

Vikings losses always suck. This one doesn't feel as bad as most. Except for those first two Saints drives. My goodness, visions of those drives could make for sleepless nights for a while. The way the defense responded and the debut and play of Bridgewater make this loss feel more like a step forward than a step back.

Yep. DeSean Jackson is still an ass.

The difference that a week can make in the NFL is amazing. The New England Patriots were exposed in week one by the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots thumped the Vikings in week two, Yesterday, the Patriots had a rough day at home against a struggling Oakland Raiders team led by rookie quarterback Derek Carr. The Patriots won yesterday but who are they?

The Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers checked their respective offenses at the dome door. Lions win 19-7. The Packers are probably a little surprised to be 1-2 but they are lucky to be only 1-2.

Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch hurt himself celebrating. He'll have an MRI on his knee tomorrow. Brilliant!

Speaking of offenses, the Washington Redskins have found some with Kirk Cousins at quarterback. Robert Griffin III gets hurt and Cousins starts leading touchdown drives.

The Arizona Cardinals defeating the San Francisco 49ers 23-14 might not be a surprise. Even with Drew Stanton at quarterback for the Cardinals. Arizona is a tough place to play. What is a surprise is that quarterback Colin Kaepernick led the 49ers in rushing with 54 yards on 13 carries. The rest of the 49ers runners combined for 28 yards on 11 carries. Even when Kaepernick has run wild before, the backs at least made an impact of their own.

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos played a more competitive game yesterday than they did in February. Overtime this time. Can't get much more competitive than that. A Marshawn Lynch touchdown run on the only possession of overtime won the game.

One of the great sites in all of football is a confused, stunned Pete Carroll. He looked just that way when Peyton Manning threw a touchdown with 18 seconds remaining in the game and then added the two-point conversion to tie it. Forcing overtime. Fortunately, I didn't see Carroll after Lynch's game-winning touchdown. Can't stand seeing that little elf bouncing around the field. These feelings are mostly due to the sleaze that he fostered at USC.

Through two games, the new Broncos defense had yet to truly make an impact. Things were a little bit different yesterday. It was the defense that triggered the comeback against the Seahawks. A safety and an interception got things going. The defense displayed a physicality, a toughness that was missing last year. Much of that toughness was on display on the safety. DeMarcus Ware hit Lynch in the backfield and Lynch was stopped cold. That doesn't happen often. A parade of Broncos defenders followed Ware. Each knocking Lynch back a little further. When he was finally on the ground, Lynch was about seven yards deep in the end zone.

It's Teddy Time in Minnesota!

Game Day Thoughts

Even in the best of times, facing the Saints in New Orleans is a tough task. These aren't the best of times for the Minnesota Vikings. They have been reeling from distracting off-the-field developments in the past week. They are also coming off of a thorough thumping by the New England Patriots last week in their home opener. The Saints are coming into their own home opener today in a foul mood. A preseason Super Bowl pick by many, the Saints have opened the season with an overtime loss to the division rival Atlanta Falcons and a last second loss to the Cleveland Browns. They are close to being 2-0 but the standings show 0-2. The closeness of those games matter little right now.

The Vikings can win this game!

The Minnesota Vikings filled their open roster spot yesterday. That was the spot that was
unfortunately vacated by Adrian Peterson. They signed receiver Charles Johnson off of the Cleveland Browns practice squad. He was originally a seventh round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2013 out of Grand Valley State. At 6'2" and 215 lbs, he's got a nice blend of size and speed. He clocked a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day before the 2013 NFL Draft. Johnson was part of some controversy last season. The Packers had stashed him on their practice squad hoping to develop him from small school, raw receiving talent into an impact player. His experience and knowledge just had to catch up with his natural ability. Before any of that could happen, the Browns signed him to their roster in October. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy wasn't too pleased with the transaction. He felt that the player was stolen from his team. If the Packers really wanted to keep and develop Johnson, they should have placed him on injured reserve. Unknown to anyone outside of Green Bay, especially the Browns, was that Johnson had a torn ACL. The Browns discovered that injury in a physical. The Browns offensive coordinator last season was current Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Even if Johnson couldn't play in Turner's system last season due to his injury he was learning that system. That probably gave him a little bit of an edge over other players that the Vikings might have been considering. Johnson may not have any regular season game experience but he does have a lot of intriguing natural ability. The Packers have a terrific record of developing receivers over recent years and they were appeared to be intrigued by Johnson. Now, the Vikings have him. They also have a Charles Johnson and a Charlie Johnson. One weighs about 100 lbs more than the other so there shouldn't be much confusion.

There are some terrific games today and tomorrow night. The highlight for most is likely the Super Bowl rematch. The Denver Broncos face the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. I expect this game to be much closer than the game last February.

Other terrific games:

San Diego at Buffalo
Washington at Philadelphia
San Francisco at Arizona
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Chicago at New York Jets

I like the visiting teams in all but the last one.

Some college thoughts:

For the third year, I'm left to the radio for Cal games. Since the debut of the Pac-12 Network I've had Cal television silence for many of the games. Including the Big Game! Directv refuses to accept the terms of Pac-12 conference. Terms most cable and satellite providers find perfectly acceptable. Directv can suck it!

The game that I couldn't see. Cal visiting Arizona. Both teams entered the game undefeated. Cal at 2-0. Arizona at 3-0. Arizona left the game with a win on a Hail Mary 47-yard touchdown to end the game. 49-45. Arizona's only lead was with no time on the clock.

Arizona scored 19 points in the last 3:30.

Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon attempted 73 passes. I'd never listened to a game in which a quarterback has thrown 73 passes. I haven't seen one either.

Cal has scored on their first possession in each of their three games. They start the games great. They really have to learn how to finish them. They had a big lead against Northwestern in the first game of the season and hung on to win. They had a big lead against Arizona last night and couldn't hold that lead. Cal's most time consuming scoring drive of the game was 75 yards in 2:48. Most teams can easily chew up 6-7 minutes on a drive of that distance.

Cal's first two possessions last night ended in touchdowns. Quickly ended in touchdowns. The first possession consisted of three plays for 75 yards. It took 43 seconds. Their second drive was one play for 80 yards. 13 seconds. I have nothing against big plays but Cal's offense, and any hurry-up offense, does their defense no favors. They are on the field a lot. Cal's defense has played well early in games. They held Arizona to only 6 points in first half. The defense looked helpless most of the second half.
Cal has to learn how to shift gears and slow down and control the game. They ran for 193 yards and couldn't chew up the clock. That doesn't even seem possible.

The two teams combined for 1200 yards. Rough night for the defenses.

Cal safety Griffin Piatt has three interceptions in each of their three games this season. He arrived at Cal as a receiver. He's now making an impact on the other side of the ball.

Next week, Cal hosts Colorado.

Current Philadelphia Eagles starter Nick Foles is the only Arizona quarterback to start a game in the NFL.

Alabama's run of running backs since Nick Saban has been the coach is remarkable. The great high school backs just head there. Mark Ingram starred with Trent Richardson backing him up. Richardson starred with T.J. Yeldon backing him up. Yeldon stars now with Derrick Henry backing him up. Since I first saw him two years ago, I've thought that Yeldon was the most impressive up to this point. Even more impressive than Ingram in his Heisman year. I was very impressed with what I saw of Henry yesterday. All that I really knew about Henry was that he broke legendary Ken Hall's high school career rushing record. A record that stood for about 60 years. Henry is a bull. Big too. Which certainly helps in being a bull. At 6'3", he's a very tall back. At 238 lbs there's some size to that frame. There's some Marshawn Lynch to his running in that it takes a few guys to bring him down. He can step out of tackles with ease in addition to running through them. Alabama's run of terrific running backs isn't ending any time soon.

Alabama receiver Amari Cooper showed that his team isn't just a collection of terrific backs. Cooper had 10 catches for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the Tide's 42-21 defeat of Florida. Julio Jones is a tough Alabama act to follow but Cooper isn't shying from the challenge.

Last week East Carolina got some attention by beating a Virginia Tech team that was coming off a win over Ohio St. Yesterday, East Carolina destroyed #25 North Carolina 70-41. 70! The Pirates only loss is a 33-23 loss to a very good South Carolina team.

East Carolina wasn't the only school that sent the scoreboard spinning.

Michigan St.  73
Eastern Michigan  14

Wisconsin  68
Bowling Green  17

Georgia  66
Troy  0

Texas A&M  58
SMU  6

Texas A&M hasn't missed the offensive excitement of Johnny Manziel. Kenny Hill has done a fine job at quarterback. The Aggies have scored 52, 73, 38, and 58 in their five games. Lamar, Rice, and SMU were the opponents in the last three. Their first win is the one really impressive win. That one was a 52-28 win over South Carolina.

Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk has one of the best names in college football. Maty Mauk! The name is just fun to say. Yesterday wasn't fun for Missouri. The #18 Tigers were shocked by Indiana. I guess Indiana, and the rest of the Big Ten, were getting tired of hearing how shitty their conference is. Well, the Hoosiers upset one of the better schools in the SEC.

Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon gained 253 yards on only 13 carries. He had five touchdowns on runs of 2, 50, 3, 21, and 69 yards. 145 yards on those five touchdown runs. Most impressive.

Good game in Death Valley. Mississippi St. shocked #8 LSU 34-29. The Bulldogs were leading 34-10 in the fourth quarter. A furious comeback brought the Tigers back and a Hail Mary pass away from a win. Didn't happen.

Prior to this weekend's games, Arkansas was the only team in the SEC West with a loss. That one loss was to Auburn, an SEC West team. After this weekend, Arkansas and LSU are the only SEC West teams with a loss. And, yes, both losses are to SEC West teams. Incredible.

#1 Florida State dodged a bullet from #22 Clemson. Winning 23-17 in overtime. The Seminoles were playing without quarterback Jameis Winston due to stupidity. Make only one of their missed field goals and Clemson wins this game. Good teams find ways to win games. Winston needs to clean up his mind-numbing stunts if the Seminoles hope to do anything close to what they did last year.

There's no doubting the talent of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. He's a terrific football player but so many of his passes are to wide open receivers. Not just open but blown coverage open. Not a defender within five yards open. That sort of open. He's not going to see gaping windows like that in the NFL.

Speaking of #2 Oregon, they held on to beat Washington State 38-31. Mariota completed 21 of 25 wide open passes for 329 yards and 5 touchdowns. Not bad.

Go Vikings!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I'm so tired of all of this off-the-field crap. The media is loving it. I'm hating it. The time between the games feels like months. So tired of it. In an effort to pull it all back to the games, here are a few of my favorite things.

Patrick Willis tackling

Larry Fitzgerald catching

Von Miller coming off the edge

Jordy Nelson running slants

Lavonte David playing sideline to sideline

Darrelle Revis in coverage

Peyton Manning's pre-snap reads

LeSean McCoy cutting

Earl Thomas roaming

Kyle Williams

Jason Verrett covering the slot

Harrison Smith blitzing

Aaron Rodgers throwing back shoulder

J.J. Watt being J.J. Watt

Cameron Wake rushing

Julio Jones

Cordarrelle Patterson returning kicks

Andrew Luck throwing

Rhett Ellison doing all of the little things that never show in a boxscore

Matt Forte running

Marshawn Lynch bulling

A.J. Green. So smooth.

Mike Zimmer as a head coach. Finally.

Troy Polamalu. Still.

Percy Harvin with the ball

Jamaal Charles running

Anthony Barr learning

Russell Wilson leading

Haloti Ngata taking on blockers

Geno Atkins in the middle

Adrian Peterson on a football field.

Feeding Frenzy

Oh my, I think fondly of the days when the great game of football was the main talking point in and around the NFL. For over a week now, the games have been secondary at best. The games are so far down the priority list for the media right now that they might as well not even play them at all. And the media is loving it. Their self-righteous view of just about everything is carrying the day. It's a feeding frenzy.

I seriously believe that the sporting media would rather report bad news or sad news than anything nice. The media would rather thrash and judge a player than report any of the positive things that he or she does every day. On Wednesday the Minnesota Vikings moved running back Adrian Peterson from "active" status to an "exempt list." This move will keep him away from the football field for a while as he sorts through his legal tangles. This news was reported about a half dozen times on the local morning newscast of my sleepy little town. A sleepy little town that is about 1600 miles from Minneapolis. The vast majority of the people in this sleepy little town likely hadn't even heard of Peterson this time last week. Everyone knows him now. Peterson is attracting all of this attention because his manner of disciplining his children is considered by many to be abuse. He took a switch to his 4-year old son. Something that would have been applauded as recently as a couple of decades ago. Some probably applaud it still. Peterson knows that his discipline in question went too far. He admitted it immediately to the boy's mother. He let the authorities know the moment it became a legal issue. The fact that he realizes that his punishment went too far is pretty clear proof that he doesn't see disciplining a child as anything other than disciplining a child. He's using the method of discipline that he knew as a child. A method that his father knew as a child. And so on. That doesn't make any of this right. It also doesn't make all of it wrong. I'd consider no discipline at all to be a greater form of abuse. Discipline to one person will always be seen as abuse to another. Some might consider a slap on the wrist abuse. Some might even consider a "timeout" abuse. I consider having to listen to the media honk on about all that is wrong with the NFL to be abuse. Hell, Yahoo has a picture on the front of it's news feed of a family placing a baby on the edge of a cliff in Norway so that they can snap a picture. The horror of it all is the absence of a railing. Are you kidding me? The horror is the thought that a family, with forethought, placed their baby at the edge of a cliff. In my opinion, this is a whole lot closer to abuse, certainly child endangerment, than taking a switch to a kid for fighting with another kid over a video game.

The media likely screams victory in the move by the Vikings to deactivate Peterson. The running back was deactivated for last week's game. He was activated on Monday and it was announced that he would remain active as he worked through his legal issues. This move was met with criticism from politicians, fans, team sponsors, and of course the media. Late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, the Vikings reversed that decision and placed Peterson on the "exempt list." Now, the media is saying that the Vikings bungled the entire process. The Vikings tried to do the right thing every step of the way. They did the right thing last Friday when they deactivated Peterson for Sunday's game on the heels of the arrest warrant. They tried to do the right thing for the team and Peterson by reactivating him on Monday. Peterson has been a tremendous player and community figure in Minnesota for seven years. He's not a criminal. He's never given anyone any reason to doubt his intentions. The Vikings decided that there was no harm in allowing him to return to the team. A large gang of people thought otherwise. The media, in a feeding frenzy, chief among them. So, the Vikings reversed their decision. The Vikings did what their critics thought was right. Instead of being applauded for landing on what their most vocal critics feel is the right decision, the Vikings are considered fools for not coming to the decision soon enough. Throughout it all the Vikings were simply doing what they felt was best for the team. Which is exactly what is expected of those employed to make decisions for the team.

The same self-righteous criticism is being thrown at the NFL. Since when is the NFL supposed to be the judge, jury, and executioner of the legal system in this country. The league is under media fire for the handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case. First they were criticized for suspending Rice for only two games for knocking out his fiancee in an elevator. If the two-game suspension was seen as a mere slap on the wrist then the punishment handed out by the court of law was far less than that. It wasn't much more than a stern gaze. And the NFL is under fire? That's pretty selective criticism. The NFL finally landed on the appropriate punishment for Rice. The legal punishment remains extremely lenient but they don't have the media watch dogs after them.

I really do believe that the media wants people to fail, especially celebrities, so that they can all gather around and point at the fallen. So that they can sit around, with self-righteous glee, and judge those that stumble. The media doesn't really answer to anyone. If they can't find some drama to exploit, they simply create some drama. There was zero reason for some in the media to release photos of the injuries to a four-year old child. There was zero reason for the TMZ idiots to release the video of Rice knocking out his fiancee. Everyone knew what had happened in that elevator. The victim of the incident definitely didn't need to see the video circulating the globe. I've heard and seen interviews and press conferences of coaches and players and the media reports covering those interviews and press conferences are closer to fiction than fact. How do they get away with it? They sure as shit don't ever apologize for going with fiction over fact. Unfortunately, the last few weeks the media hacks have had far more source material than even they could ever have imagined. Hopefully, that comes to an end soon. I really do miss the football games.

Throwback Thursday: That First Game.

53 years ago yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings played their first regular season game. They were an expansion team filled with youngsters and castoffs and their coach had never before coached a football game. Norm Van Brocklin had just come off an MVP season and Hall of Fame career when he was hired as the Vikings first head coach. They also had the grand fortune of facing the George Halas-led Chicago Bears. A team that had been around since the very beginning of the league. The Bears were coming off a rough 5-6-1 season in 1960 but they were the Chicago Bears. The first game in Minnesota Vikings franchise history was supposed to be a laugher. Actually, it was. But, not in the way that anyone expected. The Vikings thrashed the big, bad Bears 37-13.

Van Brocklin had tapped veteran George Shaw as his starting quarterback. Leaving rookie Fran Tarkenton on the bench to watch and learn. Former San Francisco 49ers star halfback Hugh McElhenny was the biggest name in the Vikings offense and probably on the entire team. End Bob Schnelker was a respected player that had come over from the New York Giants. Tarkenton, and fellow rookies HB Tommy Mason, LB Rip Hawkins, and DB Ed Sharockman would one day be franchise cornerstones but on this they were only youngsters with some talent for the game. The 1961 Bears were trying to claw back to contender status. They were certainly on the right track as they would win an NFL title two years later. Much of the talent on that 1963 Championship team was on the 1961 team.

There were 32,236 in attendance for the regular season debut of the Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. Shaw didn't last long as he completed two of three passes for 22 yards. The rookie Tarkenton replaced him. The Vikings scored the only points of the first quarter. Mike Mercer scored the first points in Vikings with a 12-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. In the second quarter, Tarkenton connected with Schnelker on 14-yard scoring pass. There's the first touchdown in Vikings franchise history. The Bears responded with a three-yard Rick Casares touchdown run. The missed extra point made it 10-6 at the half. In the second half, Tarkenton and his merry band of youngsters, has-beens, and never-weres started having some fun. Touchdown passes to Jerry Reichow, McElhenny, and Dave Middleton were sandwiched around a Tarkenton one-yard touchdown run. The Vikings rattled off 27 unanswered points. The Bears finished up the scoring with a late 10-yard Bill Wade to Willie Gallimore touchdown pass. The expansion Vikings beat the 41-year old Bears 37-13 on September 17, 1961.

The Vikings went through the rest of their 1961 regular schedule much like an expansion teams, finishing the season at 3-11. The Bears played better as the year went on as they ended the season with an 8-6 record. They were clearly a team on the rise. On September 17, 1961, nothing seemed as it should. The Vikings thumped the Bears in perhaps the best debut game in league history for an expansion team.

Fun College Stats

You can find some scintillating football stuff at NFL.com. Some of the most fun stuff can be found on their CFB 24/7. Yep, NFL.com keeps an eye on college football. In this past offseason they ran a series of countdown lists titled 14 for'14. They had a bunch of terrific lists from best rivalries to smallest players. Great stuff. Currently, CFB 24/7 writer Bryan Fischer included some pretty incredible stats in his "Inside the Pocket" column. Here are those stats:

Stat of the Week
The Big Ten fell to 1-10 against Power Five opponents and is just 14-13 against FBS non-conference competition. Conference teams have seven more losses against FBS teams than the next closest Power Five league.

Stats to chew on
Oregon's Marcus Mariota passed Billy Volek as the NCAA's career leader in interception percentage with just 10 picks in 793 attempts.

Former Michigan State quarterbacks went 3-0 on NFL Sunday with Brian Hoyer, Kirk Cousins, and Drew Stanton all earning victories.

Washington State posted just the sixth game of 600-plus yards passing by an FBS team in the past 10 years. Mike Leach has been the coach of four of the six teams to accomplish the feat.

Auburn will be just the second ranked non-conference opponent Bill Snyder has played at home in 23 years at Kansas State (USC in 2002 was the other).

Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel set an American Athletic Conference single-game record with six touchdown passes in his collegiate debut against Toledo.

Nebraska's victory on Saturday ended Fresno State's 13-game win streak at Bulldog Stadium, ending the nation's longest home winning streak. It was the third straight week in which the nation's longest home winning steak was broken (South Carolina and Stanford prior to Fresno State). Northern Illinois and Baylor now hold the active streak at 12, but neither play at home in week 4.

Bowling Green ran 113 plays against Indiana, the most this season and only two shy of BYU's 115 against Houston last season.

Washington's Danny Shelton leads the nation with six sacks. Not far behind him is fellow Huskies defensive lineman Hau'oli Kikaha, who's tied for third with five.

Stanford has allowed fewer than 30 points in 26 straight games and is working on an 11-game streak of allowing fewer than 20.

Texas Tech lost to a non-conference opponent (Arkansas) at home for the first time since 2002.

J.T. Barrett's six touchdown passes against Kent State tied Kenny Guiton's Ohio State record and his 312 yards were officially the most since Troy Smith in 2006.

USC dropped 48 spots in the NCAA rushing defense rankings after playing Boston College. Tyler Murphy had the second must rushing yards (191) by an ACC quarterback in league history.

Fun stats!

While it shouldn't have been a surprise, I was surprised by the Mike Leach and 600-yard passers stat.

2012 Draft Revisted

The Minnesota Vikings 2012 NFL Draft was the first draft that general manager Rick Spielman could call his own. Before that, he was part of an often clunky decision-making process. In 2012, he was promoted to general manager and final personnel decisions were his. The Vikings 2012 Draft intially looked great. Having two first round picks helped. Going into the third season since the players were selected, the draft looks even better.

Minnesota Vikings 2012 NFL Draft
1a. Matt Kalil  T  USC
1b. Harrison Smith  S  Notre Dame
3.   Josh Robinson  CB  Central Florida
4a. Jarius Wright  WR  Arkansas
4b. Rhett Ellison  TE  USC
4c. Greg Childs  WR  Arkansas
5.   Robert Blanton  S  Notre Dame
6.   Blair Walsh  K  Georgia
7a. Audie Cole  LB  North Carolina St.
7b, Trevor Guyton  DE  California

Ten players drafted. 8 players still on the team. Guyton was the only player drafted in 2012 to be released in the cut-down to the 53-man roster. Childs had one of the more unusual and brutal injuries in his first training camp. In the first team scrimmage of that 2012 training camp, Childs went up for a pass reception and came down with a torn patellar tendon in each knee. He severely injured both knees by simply jumping up and coming down awkwardly. He has busted his ass over the past two seasons in an effort to come back. Last March, the Vikings decided that his return to the field was probably never going to happen and released him. The Jaguars gave him a tryout but wasn't offered a contract. He's now in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts still trying to get back to the player that he was in college. Childs' story is a sad story in that he was simply a victim of horrible luck. The talent and effort to make it in the NFL was there. His knees simply didn't hold up.

The eight players that remain have all made an impact. Some have made significant impacts. Matt Kalil and Blair Walsh both made the Pro Bowl following their rookie seasons. Kalil had some difficulties last season, perhaps due to injuries, but he has the talent to be one of the best tackles in the game. Harrison Smith will soon be a Pro Bowl regular. Josh Robinson had a solid rookie season but followed that with a rough sophomore season. If head coach Mike Zimmer and secondary coach Jerry Gray keep doing what they're doing, Robinson could be an impact corner. His interception just before the half in week one against the St. Louis Rams turned the game. Wright has had some great moments. Whenever the ball has gone his way he's made plays. Rhett Ellison is a key offensive performer in all of the ways that don't show up in the box score. A tremendous blocker. He can make an offense go without touching the ball. Robert Blanton earned the starting safety spot opposite Smith this year. Audie Cole lost the battle for the middle linebacker spot to Jasper Brinkley. He's still a key contributor on special teams and a solid back-up.

Years from now, the Vikings 2012 Draft could be looked upon as the start of something pretty great. The overly optimistic may already look at this draft as the start of the best years of Vikings football. Especially when one considers the possibility that the 2013 and 2014 Drafts might end up being even stronger drafts. Pretty much everything that Rick Spielman has done since he was elevated to general manager in 2012 has been looking pretty positive. No one can say that any of the decisions are truly successful until some Lombardi trophies are brought back to Minnesota. One thing that is known is that, on paper, Spielman had an 80% success rate in the 2012 NFL Draft. That's rare.

Week 2 Thoughts

Well, the Minnesota Vikings first scheduled outdoor home game in 34 years didn't go as hoped. The New England Patriots took care of the Vikings by the score of 30-7. Everything started great for the home team. They opened with a nice, crisp 80-yard drive for an early 7-0 lead. That would be the end of their scoring. The Patriots scored the next 30 point. Most of the gifted variety.

The Vikings offense was clearly impacted by the loss of running back Adrian Peterson. He was deactivated for the game. The team made the decision on Friday when an arrest warrant was issued for Peterson for using a switch to discipline his 4-year old son. The news must have rocked the team and his absence yesterday certainly didn't help on the field.

This game was decided by Vikings mistakes. Four interceptions. Three of those led to 17 Patriots points. Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones blocked a Blair Walsh field goal attempt and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown. 24 Patriot points were the direct result of Vikings miscues. That's not a good way to stay competitive in a football game.

The Vikings went through four preseason games and their first regular season game without turning the ball over. It was a nice trend to see. It was terrible to see the trend end. Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel didn't play great. Up 7-0 and feeling pretty good, Cassel threw deep to Jarius Wright. Wright had a step on the defender and Cassel was on target with the ball. It could have been a big play. Unfortunately, Cassel didn't see safety Devin McCourty drifting over. McCourty intercepted the pass and nearly brought it all the way back. He was pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line. Two plays later, the score was 7-7 and the Vikings were scrambling the rest of the game. They couldn't get any sort of running threat going and Cassel was a little off on a lot of passes. His receivers didn't help on a few throws. Tight end Kyle Rudolph usually shows sound hands. He had a couple of drops.

The Vikings were feeling pretty good about themselves after a terrific opening win over the St. Louis Rams last week. The Peterson news was jarring and this game brought them back to earth. There is a lot of talent on this team and they are clearly heading in the right direction. They aren't yet good enough to survive giving golden opportunities to their opponents.

The Patriots ran the ball 37 times. The Patriots have probably gone several games without running the ball 37 times. Tom Brady has been filling the air with passes for years. He threw only 22 passes yesterday. Completing 15 for 142 yards. Very, very modest stats for Brady. The Vikings defense did a nice job against the run for most of the game. The Patriots kept at it and started getting nice gains toward the end of the game. Finishing with 150 yards on the ground. Stevan Ridley gained 101 yards on 25 carries.

Patriots receiver Julian Edelman did most of the damage against the Vikings defense. 6 catches for 81 yards isn't a lot but each of those 81 yards seemed to make a significant impact. 44 of them came on a single play. 9 of them came on a touchdown-scoring play. He also threw in some nice punt returns. He was basically a pain-in-the-Vikings-ass the entire game.

Vikings corner Xavier Rhodes was covering Edelman much of the game. He'll probably get a decent amount of criticism but he didn't play poorly. His coverage was sound much of the time. He was inches from making a big play on the pass that turned into the 44-yard catch and run by Edelman. In only his second year and only a handful as a starter, Rhodes is still learning. He's going to be a good one and this was just a step on the way.

At the start of the 3rd quarter, Rhodes was called for pass interference. The official said that he wasn't playing the ball. He knocked the ball away from the receiver. He saw the ball and swatted it away. For the life of me, I don't know how a player can do that sort of thing without playing the ball.

Edelman was the offensive player of the game for the Patriots.

Chandler Jones was the defensive player of the game and probably the player of the game. He blocked the field goal and picked up the loose ball and took it back for a touchdown. He also had two sacks and eight total tackles. The Vikings really had no answer for him.

Vikings left tackle Matt Kalil had a terrific rookie season in 2012. He took a step or two back last year. Some of those issues might have been due to health issues. He faced Rams defensive end Robert Quinn last week. No sacks but he had his hands full (not literally) with one of the best pass rushers in the league. Jones had a greater impact on the game yesterday. Kalil has to settle down. He has the natural talent to be one of the best in the league. He's going to face challenges every week. He has to keep his quarterback clean.

The Vikings might not have been as good as their 34-6 win last week but they also aren't as bad as their 30-7 loss this week. They simply can't hand the ball to opponents and expect to win games. It doesn't get any easier next when they face a pissed-off 0-2 New Orleans Saints.

As for some of the other games.

I don't know how the officials miss Percy Harvin stepping out of bounds on his supposed 51-yard touchdown run. It still didn't keep the San Diego Chargers from defeating the Seattle Seahawks. The Super Bowl champs really have to figure out how to play their road games more like their home games. They are supposed to be so great.

The New York Jets may have lost to the Green Bay Packers yesterday but it's impossible not to come away impressed by them. The Jets have mostly floundered the past few years but they are playing some sound football right now. If offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg doesn't call timeout, and he really shouldn't have been allowed to call a timeout, the Jets tie up that game late. Head coach Rex Ryan can always be counted on to get the defense playing well. The offense has been the surprise. Quarterback Geno Smith was supposed to be a disaster but he's been making plays.

The Detroit Lions looked like a juggernaut against the New York Giants last Monday. They only managed a single touchdown in a 24-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The Ohio teams shocked the top teams from the NFC South. The Atlanta Falcons looked great in beating the Saints last week in overtime. They followed that big win with a lackluster 24-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. While that game took place, the Cleveland Browns stunned the Saints to 0-2 with last second field goal and a 26-24 win.

I can't get used to seeing Jared Allen playing for the Chicago Bears. Probably never will.

The Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals are 2-0. The Philadelphia Eagles could join them if the defeat the Indainapolis Colts tonight. Only the Broncos, maybe the Bengals, were probably expected to be sitting so pretty. But, it's early.

Flea Flicker Fearful Forecast

Well, Cal had a bye yesterday. It seems a bit early to have a weekend off but they did start their season in August. And, they played Sacramento State last weekend. Cal has a shitty schedule this year. Athletic Directors should lose their jobs over a schedule like this. Oh yea, Sandy Barbour resigned/was dismissed as Cal's AD this summer. She's at Penn St. now and Cal is left with a shitty schedule. It never feels right when Cal ends the regular season against a team other than Stanford. This year Cal plays BYU on Thanksgiving weekend. The weekend after the Big Game. Maybe the BYU game was supposed to be the game that should have been played yesterday. Anyway, here's Cal's shitty 2014 schedule.

8/30   at Northwestern - W, 31-24
9/6     Sacramento St.- W, 55-14
9/20   at Arizona
9/27   Colorado
10/4   at Washington St.
10/11 Washington
10/18 UCLA
10/24 Oregon-at Santa Clara
11/1   at Oregon St.
11/13 at USC
11/22 Stanford
11/29 BYU

So, we have a very early bye week. A second bye week on the weekend of Nov. 8. A home game against Oregon that is actually played at the San Francisco 49ers new stadium in Santa Clara on a Friday night. It's always fun for students to travel to a home game on a Friday night. That's not a recipe for disaster. The USC game is played on a Thursday night. It has been a tradition for decades for Cal fraternities to jump into big ol Winnebagos for a road trip down to the game against one of the L.A. schools. A Thursday night game this time. Excellent? Then we have the regular season-ending game against BYU. Shitty, shitty schedule.

The 2015 schedule is much better. All three non-conference games open the season so the Big Game is probably the regular season finale as it always should be. The non-conference games are interesting. Grambling, San Diego St., and Texas. That's a real nice change from the shitty 2014 schedule.

Since Cal had no game yesterday, the Flea Flicker will boldly predict the outcomes of today's NFL games.

Miami over Buffalo
Detroit over Carolina
Atlanta over Cincinnati
New Orleans over Cleveland
Minnesota over New England-of course
New York Giants over Arizona
Dallas over Tennessee
Washington over Jacksonville
Seattle over San Diego
Tampa Bay over St. Louis
Denver over Kansas City
Green Bay over New York Jets
Oakland over Houston
San Francisco over Chicago

Monday Night
Indianapolis over Philadelphia

I will close today with a quote from New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson.

"When I see myself on film, I pat myself on the back."

Too Far

So, one of the greatest football players to ever throw on the football uniform of the Minnesota Vikings is guilty of the very same act that my loving parents felt was the proper discipline for me. My parents, and most if not all of my peer's parents, walked about town as if nothing was wrong. Is it wrong to discipline a child? Is it wrong to strip a "switch" of it's leaves so that it can be used to redden the the skin of a misbehaving child? Is it wrong to give a child a "whooping"? Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is has been charged with one count of injury to a child with reckless or criminal negligence. He "whooped" his kid for pushing his brother off of a bike. I first heard that it was a video game. It's kinda funny how these things change as we move along but it was kid's stuff. Kid's stuff that couldn't remain as simply kid's stuff. The kid is 4 years old. At what age is it ok to "whoop" a child? Is it ever ok to "whoop" a child? When I was a child it was certainly ok. As far as I could tell it was even encouraged. Talks of the tools of the trade were heard by the kids questioning their next offense. A switch? A belt? A wooden spoon? An open hand? It didn't really matter. They all hurt the same. I always felt that I deserved every "whooping." I felt that then. I feel that now. If I had a kid, I wouldn't "whoop" him or her. I'd like to think that I wouldn't have to. But, I don't have a kid. It's far too easy to say what I would or would not do because I don't have to make that decision. Adrian Peterson disciplined his son in the manner that he knew. He felt that it worked for him so he's doing the same. Is that wrong? Today, it is. And most days.

This isn't about football. I've tried to avoid non-football topics about football because it takes away from the sheer blast that is football. The game of football. The cloud that always seems to hover around the game isn't such a blast. From 1920, til now, there's always something. Adrian Peterson is one of the greatest football players that I've ever seen. In honoring the football player I have to accept the man. Last year Peterson lost a son to child abuse. An asshole went too far and that son is no longer with us. Disciplining a child with a "whooping" may be what Adrian Peterson knows. It may be the manner in which he was raised. But, he should know better than most how quickly this "normal" situation can get very, very wrong. Too many bad things can happen to a child when a parent didn't mean to.

Made It!?

A few years ago, then Cal head coach Jeff Tedford struck recruiting gold in North Carolina. It started with and centered around the signed commitment of receiver Keenan Allen. A bunch of players, talented players, followed Allen to Berkeley. Quarterback, and Allen's brother, Zach Maynard, receiver, and Allen's cousin, Maurice Harris, defensive linemen Gabe King and Chris McCain. This North Carolina connection woke up Cal's recruiting status as well as Cal's hopes. Allen was the key. Alabama thought that they had him but Alabama thinks that they have every player that interests them. Tide coach Nick Saban wanted Allen to play defensive back. Allen preferred playing receiver at Cal over playing secondary for Alabama. Plus, he'd be catching passes from his brother. A perk that played a significant part. Keenan Allen was a star on the field for three years at Cal despite having to chase wayward passes from his brother for two of those years.

But this isn't about Keenan Allen. This is about Chris McCain. As a freshman, McCain was about 6'6" and 215 lbs. He looked like a spider moving around the football field. Despite the slender frame, he was as strong as needed to be, He could rush the passer. He could move sideline to sideline. He was an impact player on Cal's defense as soon as he stepped on campus. He was also something of a loose cannon. He was energetic and emotional and he could lose his cool. Word around the campfire at Cal was that Tedford had lost control of his football team. Whether that rumor was true or not, Tedford's last few Cal teams did play with little control and discipline. It may have been the main reason that the coach was fired after the 2012 season. Sonny Dykes was hired to replace Tedford. Several players left after Dykes took over the program. That can happen with a coaching change. That doesn't mean that Dykes was cleaning house but some of the departed players were some of the loose cannons. McCain made it through spring pracices. He made it through training camp. He didn't make it through the 2013 football season. Chris McCain was kicked off of the Cal football team for conduct detrimental to the team. With a year of eligibility remaining but his Cal career over he had really no other option but to declare for the NFL Draft. And hope. He wasn't selected in the draft but the Miami Dolphins signed him as an undrafted free agent. His football career had life and his future in the league was all up to him. McCain is a unique football player with NFL talent. His quickness and length allows him to do things on the football field that few players can do. He's also filled out some since those spider-like days as a freshman at Cal. He's now listed at 6'6" 250 lbs. Excellent size. The Dolphins were smart to sign him. The reward could be high and the risk is slight. Any red flags due to his being kicked off of the Cal football team were marginal at best. He never seemed to be a true trouble-maker. He just seemed a bit energetic. Sometimes, a little too energetic. Fellow Dolphins defensive players Randy Starks and Cameron Wake should be tremendous influences. Just keep him away from Cortland Finnegan.

Chris McCain played in his first NFL game last Sunday. He faced the New England Patriots and his idol in Tom Brady. He sacked Brady in the game to help key a second half comeback. He also blocked a punt that led to a Dolphins touchdown. He's listed third on the depth chart but making game-changing plays like a sack and a blocked punt will only increase his playing time. It may be a little early to say that McCain has made it in the NFL but he's well on his way.

Throwback Thursday: Flea Flicker All-Time Team

Unlike a typical All-Time Team, let alone a Flea Flicker All-Time Team, this one is an All-Time Team taken from the pool of players that I have actually seen in person. I wish that the sampling size was larger but that's how it goes. The size of the sampling isn't large but the quality is pretty great.

QB
*Joe Montana  San Francisco 49ers

RB
Adrian Peterson  Minnesota Vikings
*Emmitt Smith  Dallas Cowboys

FB
Darryl Johnston  Dallas Cowboys

WR
*Jerry Rice  San Francisco 49ers
*Cris Carter  Minnesota Vikings

TE
*Dave Casper  Oakland Raiders

T
*Art Shell  Oakland Raiders
*Ron Yary  Minnesota Vikings

G
*Randall McDaniel  Minnesota Vikings
*Larry Allen  Dallas Cowboys

C
Mick Tingelhoff  Minnesota Vikings

DE
*Carl Eller  Minnesota Vikings
*Chris Doleman  Minnesota Vikings

DT
*John Randle  Minnesota Vikings
Kevin Williams  Minnesota Vikings

LB  
*Ted Hendricks  Oakland Raiders
Randy Gradishar Denver Broncos
Matt Blair  Minnesota Vikings

CB
*Mike Haynes  Oakland Raiders
*Deion Sanders  Dallas Cowboys

S
*Paul Krause  Minnesota Vikings
*Ronnie Lott  San Francisco 49ers

K
Ray Wersching  San Francisco 49ers

P
*Ray Guy  Oakland Raiders

Coach: *Bill Walsh/*Bud Grant/*John Madden

*-member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

18 Hall of Fame players are part of this team. All three coaches. I couldn't decide on one coach but really it should go to Walsh as he has the most Lombardis. Adrian Peterson will join the rest in Canton one day. Mick Tingelhoff could join them this year as the Senior Committee nominee in the February voting. I missed seeing Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle Alan Page by about two months. One of the great tragedies of my life. Linebacker is probably the weak link of this team if decided by Hall of Fame recognition. It's a valid argument that Gradishar should already be in the Hall of Fame. Blair might be just on the outside of Canton-recognition.

This team could win some games.

The Making of a Schedule

The Minnesota Vikings are sharing TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota with the school's Golden Gophers football team. The Vikings will be sharing that stadium for this season and next while their immaculate new stadium is being built. It's a beautiful, joint venture. The University will be getting a nice pile of cash and a few stadium upgrades. The most significant upgrade being a heating system for their playing surface. As appearances go, it seems like a fairly smooth union but there are a lot of moving parts, concessions, and conditions. The most significant is probably the schedule. There are a lot of things that factor into the creation of each NFL schedule. The Vikings-Gophers situation is one of those things. Looking at the Gophers schedule and the Vikings schedule shows that the former impacted the latter.

Aug 28th
Minnesota vs E. Illinois

Sept 6th and 7th
Minnesota vs Middle Tennessee
Vikings at Rams

Sept 13th and 14th
Minnesota at TCU
Vikings vs Patiots

Sept 20th and 21st
Minnesota vs San Jose St.
Vikings at Saints

Sept 27th and 28th
Minnesota at Michigan
Vikings vs Falcons

Oct 2nd(Thursday night)
Minnesota Bye Week
Vikings at Packers

Oct 11th and 12th
Minnesota vs Northwestern
Vikings vs Lions

Oct 18th and 19th
Minnesota vs Purdue
Vikings at Bills

Oct 25th and 26th
Minnesota at Illinois
Vikings at Buccaneers

Nov 2nd
Minnesota Bye Week
Vikings vs Redskins

Nov 8th
Minnesota vs Iowa
Vikings Bye Week

Nov 15th and 16th
Minnesota vs Ohio St.
Vikings at Bears

Nov 22nd and 23rd
Minnesota at Nebraska
Vikings vs Packers

Nov 29th and 30th
Minnesota at Wisconsin
Vikings vs Panthers

The Gophers season ends with Wisconsin game on Nov. 29th. The Vikings close their final four games of the regular season with two games on the now heated field of TCF Bank Stadium.

Looking at the schedule, it's clear that home Vikings games on weekends with home Gophers games were avoided as much as possible. It does happen once. On the weekend of Oct. 11th and 12th, the Gophers host Northwestern on Saturday and the Vikings host the Lions on Sunday. The start time for the Gopher game has yet to be set. The start time for the Vikings game is noon local time. The grounds crew will most certainly have less than 24 hours to change from Gopher maroon and gold to Vikings purple and gold. I imagine that this is quite the undertaking. One that was hoped to be avoided but ended up being unavoidable for one weekend.

This might be a topic that interests only me and perhaps the crew that has to transition a certain football field in Minnesota. Ever since I saw a picture of former NFL Commissioner Bert Bell seated in his kitchen plotting the league schedule with dominoes, I've been intrigued by the schedule-making process. Computers now do what Bell once did with dominoes. Bell had 12 teams to plot. The computers have 32. For two seasons, those computers also have to contend with the Vikings playing their home games at an occupied college stadium.

Still Waiting

Toby Gerhart nearly won the Heisman Trophy after an excellent senior season at Stanford. He finished second to Alabama running back Mark Ingram. With 1,871 and 28 touchdowns, Gerhart drove Stanford back to relevancy that season. His presence made things easy for freshman quarterback Andrew Luck. That great college career got Gerhart selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He had the running talents to be the "bell-cow" back for several teams in the NFL. Instead, he's drafted by the team with a running back that rarely leaves the field. Adrian Peterson. Gerhart was never going to see sustained carries as long as Peterson was healthy. Gerhart thought that he'd have a shot in 2012 after Peterson suffered a severe knee injury at the end of the 2011 season. Instead, Peterson made a miraculous recovery and was ready for the start of the season. A season in which he rushed for 2,097 and was named the NFL MVP. Toby Gerhart was never going to have a chance in Minnesota.

Gerhart hit free agency last March. The Jacksonville Jaguars quickly signed him to be the "bell-cow" back that he was supposed to be for some NFL team four years ago. After a string of down years, the Jaguars feel like a team on the rise. They have a new direction, a potential franchise-changing quarterback in Blake Bortles, and a rising, young coach in Gus Bradley. Now they had their running back. Gerhart was listed on many lists of players ready for a breakout year. In limited carries over four years in Minnesota, Gerhart always looked like a back that could carry the load. It may have come later than he had expected but Gerhart's NFL career was finally getting started.

Instead, Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox hauls down Toby Gerhart with a horse-collar tackle in the first half of his first game as the Jaguars top running back. The Jaguars were leading 17-0 at the time and were looking to control the game with time-consuming Gerhart runs. After sitting out a couple of series, he returned but did little as the Jaguars saw their big lead slip away. The nature of the tackle and the awkwardness with which he went down on the play prompted great concern. Fortunately, it doesn't look like Gerhart will miss any games. He'll be limited in practices this week but he should be fine against the Washington Redskins next week.

It must be disappointing to sit for four years, finally get a chance to shine, and then have those high hopes fizzle in the first game. Fortunately, Gerhart wasn't seriously hurt on the play. It could have been a lot worse. He's waited for four years. One more week shouldn't be too tough.