The Vikings Passing Attack Comes Alive

With the Vikings offense playing as well as it has in years, I thought it would be interesting to compare how the passing game has fared through five games the last five seasons (or, essentially, the five years since Daunte Culpepper's last good season, 2004). With help from Pro-Football-Reference, I put together the following:

In 2005, Culpepper had an awful first five (which turned into seven) games before eventually blowing out his knee against Carolina in Week 8. After five games, Minnesota was 1-4, with losses of 37-8 to the Bengals, 30-10 to the Falcons, and 28-3 at the hands of the Bears (the week of the 'Love Boat' scandal). Culpepper was the main culprit in this dismal start. His 12 interceptions and three lost fumbles amounted to an average of three turnovers a game. But, since the Vikings were down and passing a lot, the receptions were high.

2005	G	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
Culpepper	5	181	113	62.7	1256	4	12	62.8
	G	REC	YARDS	AVG	TD
Wiggins	5	26	203	7.8	0
Taylor	5	20	252	12.6	2
Moore	5	14	125	8.9	0
Williamson	5	13	201	15.5	2
Robinson	5	12	200	16.7	0

Brad Johnson took over for Culpepper after his 2005 injury and almost led the Vikings to the playoffs. He won the job in 2006 without a challenge, and Johnson and rookie coach Brad Childress led the Vikings to a 3-2 record. Again, the Vikings couldn't manage to score touchdowns, and Johnson had more interceptions than scores. Travis Taylor and Troy Williamson led the team with a modest 18 catches each, but Jermaine Wiggins and Chester Taylor had 17 each, keeping the passing game on about the same pace as in 2005.

2006	G	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
Johnson	5	170	107	62.9	1128	3	4	78.3
	G	REC	YARDS	AVG	TD
T. Taylor	5	18	243	13.5	1
Williamson	5	18	256	14.2	0
C. Taylor	5	17	118	609	0
Wiggins	5	17	143	8.4	0
Moore	5	13	90	6.9	0

The 2006 season ended miserably, with rookie Tarvaris Jackson having to playing all four December games (starting two). Jackson was the Vikings starter on opening day in 2007, but only made it two games before being knocked out with an injury. Kelly Holcomb started in games against the Chiefs and Packers, both losses, before Jackson returned in Week 6 and 'led' the team to a 34-31 victory over the Bears at Soldier Field (actually, Adrian Peterson had touchdown runs of 67, 73, and 35 yards; Jackson was 9 of 23 for 136 yards and one touchdown).

The 2-3 Vikings had completed only 77 passes (Brooks Bollinger was 3 out of 4), and Bobby Wade was the only player with more than 11 catches. Again, the Vikings had thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes (3 to 6).

2007	G	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
Jackson	3	79	39	49.4	465	2	5	49.8
Holcomb	2	67	35	52.2	427	1	1	70.9
	G	REC	YARDS	AVG	TD
Wade	5	18	203	11.3	0
Rice	5	11	119	10.8	1
Peterson	5	10	175	17.5	1
Shiancoe	5	9	107	11.9	0
Williamson	4	8	134	16.8	1

Again in 2008 the Vikings made a quarterback change within the first month of the season. This time, it was not due to injury, but instead, Jackson's dismal play in the Vikings Week 1 and 2 losses. Gus Frerotte started in Week 3, holding the team team steady through a 20-10 victory over Carolina. After three Frerotte starts, Minnesota was 2-3 (with a third win on the way against Detriot), and, for the first time since Daunte Culpepper's historic 2004 season, they hadn't thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes: Jackson and Frerotte had combined for three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Meanwhile, Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian were off to quick starts, despite missing one game each, and Visanthe Shiancoe, with two touchdown catches, looked like he was overcoming a 2007 season full of drops.

2008	G	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
Frerotte	3	107	60	56.1	316	2	2	74.2
Jackson	3	60	31	51.7	692	1	1	65.7
	G	REC	YARDS	AVG	TD
Wade	4	21	216	10.3	0
Berrian	4	17	305	17.9	1
Shiancoe	5	12	145	12.1	2
Peterson	5	10	61	6.1	0
Taylor	5	9	55	6.1	0

Of course, the below 2009 stats should speak for themselves, especially the touchdowns. The receptions column actually is roughly the same, but the way Favre is spreading the ball around is impressive, and has been a huge factor in the Vikings 5-0 start. Though difficult to quantify, the effect of keeping Adrian Peterson out of the top five receivers on the team should be noted. If the Vikings can continue to have this much success throwing the ball without having to increase Peterson's touches, that should bode well for the rest of the season. (I am among those who thinks Taylor should be getting more carries, but it is hard to argue against giving the ball to the best player in the NFL.)

Favre's passer rating is 26 points higher than the second best five-game mark in the last five years (Johnson in 2006), and his two interceptions are the lowest for the Vikings during the last five years. And hey, just for good measure, Tarvaris Jackson is 4 for 5 for 82 yards, maybe the best five-pass stretch of his career.

2009	G	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
Favre	5	149	103	69.1	1069	9	2	104.1
	G	REC	YARDS	AVG	TD
Taylor	5	21	187	8.9	0
Berrian	4	19	216	11.4	1
Harvin	5	18	233	12.9	2
Rice	5	17	233	13.7	2
Shiancoe	5	13	116	8.9	3

Lastly, I thought it would be interesting to see how Brent has done in his first five games each of the last five seasons. Favre has attempted far fewer passes in his last two seasons through five games than he did in the previous three seasons as a Packer. Notice that as a Jet and Viking, Favre's passer rating is over 100 through five games, which he didn't do from 2005-07 with Green Bay.

	G	W-L	ATT	COMP	%	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
2005	5	1-4	186	120	64.5	1256	12	8	87.6
2006	5	1-4	203	115	56.7	1275	7	5	76.7
2007	5	4-1	210	141	67.1	1527	9	4	94.7
2008	5	3-2	157	112	71.3	1124	13	6	103
2009	5	5-0	149	103	69.1	1069	9	2	104.1

I freak out after reading the Strib

Dear Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune Floating Head:

Do you believe the things you write? Do you ever go through your columns and laugh at yourself?

Your logic is simply not on point. Listen, if Tarvaris Jackson is not a viable option at quarterback because we lost to the Eagles, he wasn't a viable option the week before or the week before that. If you watch every play, and you know anything about football (and I know enough about journalism to know that you have this job because you worked your ass off as a reporter and writer for years, NOT because you are an expert on football), you would understand a few things: Tarvaris Jackson gave the Vikings a better chance to win that game than Gus Frerotte. Check your buddy Kevin Seifert out. He threw out some interesting stats about the two quarterbacks' success against the blitz. Frerotte was a lot worse than Jackson. Also, there is not a single quarterback in the NFL who "beats" effective blitz or effective pressure. For reference, go watch Tom Brady in last year's Super Bowl, or for something more local, Peyton Manning in the first half against the Vikings this year. Actually, that is a great example. You know why Manning picked us apart in the second half? We stopped getting to him. Simple. There were Eagles running free on most passing plays, and Philadelphia didn't even blitz as much as expected. No, I repeat, NO, quarterback would have succeed against the pressure.

That said, Jackson was inaccurate all day. You know his only problem? He is too willing to try to throw passes when he is being hit. Almost every bad play he has ever made has come when he isn't able to step into a throw.

"You can only do what the quarterback can handle, and once he was blitzed, sacked and fumbled to end the opening possession of the second half, Jackson couldn't handle the basics."

You can also only do what the coaches give you a chance to do. Brad Childress, in Weeks 1 and 2 and in the second half against Philadelphia, clammed up. His play calling gave away the fact that he had no confidence in Jackson. Don't blame Jackson for Childress not giving him a chance to fail or succeed. Next time you talk to ol' Brad, ask him what happened to the seam routes to Shiancoe and the deep ins to Wade. If you can only do what the quarterback can handle, and he is struggling, why do you keep calling the same plays?

The only smart thing Childress did? Accept that holding penalty. Remember when the Giants converted a 3rd and 21 in Vikings territory? Or when David Akers made a 51-yarder about 15 minutes after that first field goal? Oops. Go watch any football game on any Sunday. On 3rd and 15 or more, teams gain yards. Almost always. The likelihood of that ending up being a 53-yard isn't even worth talking about. And the argument that maybe the defense would have come up with a huge play? They could come up with a huge play every single down, in theory. Why not just leave them on the field for 60 minutes?

And the last line, about Detroit? What a crock of shit. Seriously? How could you possibly manage that? How did you even come up with that comparison? If you aren't OK with 10-6 and the playoffs, go buy a fucking Yankees hat.

Yours always,

Brad Tucker

Vikings 34 Bears 14

Disclaimer: This post is coming straight from the Minnesota Vikings fan in me.

Last night's victory over the Chicago Bears at the Metrodome was quite possibly one of my favorite Vikings games ever.  That is notable for a couple reasons: One, this year's team has been one of the most frustrating to watch, ever. Two, I don't think I can say that about any other game in during the Brad Childress-era. The Vikings, for the last years, have won ugly, and lost uglier. They are that team that should be winning, but can't seem to hold things together for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Sure, there have been some good ones with Childress. His one win over the Packers, this year, 28-27, was a nice win. Last year we saw a rash of blow-outs: The Vikings won 35-17 over San Diego, 41-17 over the Giants, 42-10 over the Lions, and 27-7 over the 49ers. In 2006, some wacky special teams plays helped us go 2-0 to start the season with wins against Washington and Carolina.

2002-2005, the Mike Tice years, had a slightly different feel. We were more of an underdog then, with much lower expectations. Simply put, everybody knew we were bad. The defense was awful. The 2002 season saw the team drop to 3-10 before winning the last three games in super exciting fashion: A last-second, 53-yard field goal from dinosaur kicker Gary Anderson, a make-or-break two-point conversation by Daunte Culpepper that lifted us over the Saints, and then a two-point conversion stop for our defense against Detroit in Week 17. 2003 was a disappointing year, but full of big wins on the way to 9-7. 2004 saw the vikings beat Green Bay in the Wildcard round. Enough said. 2005 saw a six-game winning streak.

Last night, the Vikings defied everything I have believed about them for years. They over came an early deficit. They pressure the quarterback for the entire game. They scored a 99-yard touchdown. They picked off Kyle Orton three times. They did all of that in one game. If that doesn't sound like much, then you haven't been paying attention to the Vikings for the past six or seven years.

If you get a chance to watch the highlights of that game, watch the end zone view of Bernard Berrian's 99-yard touchdown. I have rarely felt such pure, wild joy while watching football as I have been feeling watching the crowd realize how open he is with the ball in the air. The camera then follows his path to the end zone, and the Vikings bench is absolutely going nuts.I felt that way on the field twice in my playing career.

My senior year, we were the top dogs in our conference, and expected to go undefeated. We lost the first game. Our first home game, the following week, was against Stoughton. We were up by maybe 10 points in the fourth quarter, when our huge fullback suddenly burst through the line and ran alone 60 yards for the game-sealing touchdown. Zac Pettit was one of those guys who was bred for football, short, wide, and always looking to hit something. We were in a jumbo package, so I was on the sideline. When he got through the line and there was nobody in front of him, our entire team went nuts, and I felt a little choked up as I sprinted to meet him and everybody else in celebration. It was the start of a 10-game winning streak.

When I played club-football at Marquette University, we were the definition of rag-tag. We had about 20 guys on the team, some who hadn't ever played football. One of the guys was named Jason Harding. He was 27 or 28, and hadn't been enrolled at the University for at least five years, but played anyway. He started at wide receiver opposite of me, and played in the nickel package. 

We generally got beat up. Our small, unorganized team was going against 60-man junior varsity squads from schools around Wisconsin. The athleticism of those guys alone was enough to make it nearly impossible to win, especially since we hardly even practiced. On one long, demoralizing drive, some 19-year-old quarterback threw a pass into the end zone, and Harding picked it off. He was not that fast anymore at 27, but he somehow managed to rumble 101 yards into the end zone, probably our only score of the game. I remember going completely insane as he ran, for what felt like 15 seconds, down the opposite sideline. I lost my voice just from that play, screaming at him to score.

And that is the feeling the Vikings game me last night. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Jared Allen was incredible, and Adrian Peterson continues to prove that he is the best running back in the game. Gus Frerotte really only made one or two bad throws, and the secondary was great, other than the long touchdown they gave up in the first quarter. And a huge goalline stand.

In summary: An awesome game, one that might ease the sting of our eventual collapse. Without Kevin and Pat Williams, the Vikings might win only one more game this year. Tough, but at least we had this moment.