With their last pick of the sixth round, 193 overall, the Vikings took Jackson State receiver Jaymar Johnson. This was the pick the Vikes got from the Troy Williamson trade. At 6'0", 176 lbs., he's a little small for a pro receiver but he runs a 4.41 40 and has return abilities.
High quality video:
The Vikings used the first of their two sixth round picks to select Notre Dame center John Sullivan. The 6"4", 301 lbs. Sullivan is said to be smart, gets out of his stance quickly, has power at the point of attack but has short arms.
The Vikings took Florida State defensive tackle Letroy Guion with their second fifth round pick, number 152 overall. The 6"4" 303 lbs. Guion is quick off the ball and strong but he's inconsistent and raw. In other words, he's the perfect candidate to apprentice to the Williamses.
The Vikings traded their first fifth round pick and their seventh round pick to the Green Bay Packers to move up to the Packer's fifth round pick at 137 overall to select USC quarterback John David Booty. Booty stands 6'3" and weighs 213 lbs and is considered a solid West Coast quarterback.
The Vikings traded their fourth-round pick to the Eagles for their fifth round pick and swapped second round positions with Philly in order to move up and take Arkansas State free safety Tyrell Johnson:
Here's another highlight reel. What, by the way, is it with the Mozart-esque opera music for these football clips?!?
I know I should be very excited about the Vikings prospects for this upcoming season. The trade for Jared Allen, despite the high cost of a first- and two third-round picks, has made the Vikings the favorites to win their division and the team should be considered Super Bowl contenders.
The Vikings pass defense was so bad last season only because of our woeful pass rush. The addition of last year's NFL sacks leader to the right end position turned the number one weakness on defense into the best defensive line in the league.
Allen has improved steadily since his first season, earning nine sacks as a rookie in 2004, 11 sacks the next year, slipped to 7.5 sacks in 2006, but rebounded in 2007 to lead the league with 15.5 sacks. He achieved these numbers while playing for a Kansas City Chiefs line that included defensive tackles Alfonso Boon (25 tackles, 1 sack) and Ron Edwards (23 tackles, 3 sacks), and second-year defensive end Tamba Hali (58.5 tackles, 7.5 sacks). Not a bad line but those tackles are no Pat and Kevin Williams.
If Allen continues the progress he's made in his career thus far--and there's no reason to think he won't--the Vikes should have their best front four since the 1989 line of Al Noga, Keith Millard, Henry Thomas, Chris Doleman line, and perhaps the best line since the 70s-era Purple People Eaters of Jim Marshall, Alan Page, Gary Larsen, and Carl Eller.
With a line of Ray Edwards/Brian Robison, The Williams Wall, and Allen, teams will no longer have the luxury of focusing their double-teams on one of the Williamses. Edwards and Robison are good pass rushers who now have a bit of experience under their belt and who combined for 9.5 sacks last year. With opponents focused on Pat and Kevin Williams and Jared Allen, look for Edwards and Robison to have a very good year.
The pocket pressure we should be able bring with the front four will free up the linebackers to cover the underneath routes which, in turn, will provide more time for the front four to get to the quarterback. And that will allow the secondary to become ball hawks rather than having to shut down the passing game all on their own.
This defense should, in the immortal words of Brad Childress, "kick ass."
So why do I still have reservations about the Vikings Super Bowl aspiration this season?
Tarvaris Jackson. It really depends on Jackson's ability to keep defenses honest by being able to hit receivers and defeat the eight-in-the-box defenses we saw all last year. If it kicks in for Jackson in his third season, we'll do fine. If not, while I'm a fan of Gus Frerotte, the question is whether or not he's durable enough at his age to start for most of the season.
We'll see.
Um, be afraid Visanthe Shiancoe, be very afraid:
The Minnesota Wild won another wild one last night, taking the game deep into overtime before finishing off the Colorado Avalanche. The Wild overcame horrible officiating and many lost scoring opportunities to come out with a win in another extremely good game. Colorado fans are getting panic-y.
Here are the highlights, courtesy of the NHL. The shorthanded goal by Rolston is a thing to behold (about 3:30 in):
I confess I did not really follow the Wild this season. But I am now and man am I impressed. The last time I really watched the team was during the playoffs when they were manhandled by the Anaheim...ugh...Ducks. But this looks like an entirely different Minnesota Wild team. The one I remember from last year were very sloppy passers and got out-muscled much of the time. This Wild team's passing is crisp and they're are throwing their weight around.
Both games thus far of this playoff series have been extremely good and exciting.
The first Western Conference quarterfinal match-up between the Wild and the Colorado Avalanche should have been a Wild win. The home team absolutely outplayed the Avalanche but got no breaks and seemed to tire at the end.
Last night, on the other hand, they did not seem as crisp and didn't get after the Avalanche nearly as much as in game one, but they came out with the win nevertheless.
My college writing professor used to say that the novel is dead. I didn't really agree with him then and I don't know that I agree with him now, but it is true that film and, now, video games, are the preferred media for enjoying long-form fiction.
Film has clearly proved to be a superb medium for telling stories; the jury, however, is still out on video games. Role playing games such as World of Warcraft and Oblivion are the genre most suited to storytelling but I'd like to see a literary genre emerge that allows the player to explore much deeper issues and themes that have thus far escaped the video game industry.
In short, I want to play Hemingway stories.
A primary obstacle to the development of such a genre is the video game's absolute need for action. The player has to do something and the action always has to be compelling or entertaining if the video game is to be successful. That's a big challenge. I think it will become easier as video games get more immersive, as the graphics become more photo realistic and once someone figures out how to apply virtual reality technology to video games.
I love first person shooters but more often than not, the story line, such as it is, is merely a pretense to kill. Halo's story was deep and well conceived but it was mere surface science fiction, it did not deal with any social, political, or psychological issues. And it's story was told entirely through cut scenes.
The Call of Duty franchise's story succeeds in large part on our understanding of World War II history and, in the case of Call of Duty 4, our understanding of current events.
The best most recent example of storytelling within a first person shooter that I can think of is Bioshock, with its dystopian themes and its remarkable sense of place:
Even so, video games in general and first person shooters in particular have a long way to go before they reach the level of literature. I've been thinking about this for some time, but a recent visit from a writer friend of mine got me thinking about it again and the result is a brilliant idea for a first person shooter that would allow you to explore any number of literary themes.
My working title is The Short, Miserable Lives Of Fran McNeal.
So here's my idea:
You begin the game being pursued by some shadowy government agency that is out to get you. A long, elaborate adventure ensues during which you need to evade your persecutors while engaging other characters you meet along they way, evaluating their trustworthiness, and obtaining help from them in your efforts to escape.
Eventually, however, you will be cornered and required to kill or be killed. By killing your antagonist, you obtain the ability to become other characters in the game. With that ability you are able to see your character from the perspective of other characters and it begins to dawn on you that your character is a paranoid schizophrenic. With multiple personalities.
A power struggle ensues between your personalities; you get to play as each personality. That power struggle maintains the paranoia of the game and becomes the rationale for the game. The object is to conquer each personality by killing it.
Upon killing that personality, you absorb the characteristics of that personality and therefore obtain or become stronger for the characteristics that were unique to that personality. So, for example, if one of the personalities could speak French, was extremely witty and charming, and was an expert driver, by killing that personality, you would gain those characteristics: You would be able to speak and understand French, your charm would make you more persuasive and give you the ability to make friends with ease, and your driving skills would improve significantly.
The game then would also have a strategic aspect to it. If, for example, you wanted to take down personality X, you may first need to kill personalities Y and Z in order to obtain the skills and/or characteristics you would need to kill X.
Through each personality, you can explore a separate literary theme and the game would conclude in any variety of ways, depending upon which character you ended up becoming.
Now I just need to learn how to write video game scripts!
Let me first say that I love Randy Moss, I knew those who were writing his football obituary were wrong, I knew he was going to blow up the league this year, and I'm glad he had a record year, broke Jerry Rice's record, and will get to play in the Super Bowl.
That said, with the exception of Moss, I cannot stand the New England Patriots. The Sporting News had an article some months back that quoted Joe Montana's wife, as the 49ers approached their third Super Bowl title, complaining that everyone now hated San Francisco. Everyone used to love the 49ers but now that they were going for, and likely to win, a three-peat everyone was against them. It was in this context that the article tried to explain the animosity many now feel against the Patriots.
Dynasty fatigue certainly explains part of my loathing for the Pats but it's much more than that. I haven't felt this way about the Patriots until this year but now I think they are a bunch of punks. Here's why:
First and most obviously, the Patriots are cheaters. They are documented cheaters. They got caught red-handed cheating. And now there are reports that they cheated before their first Super Bowl victory by taping a St. Louis Rams walk through before the game. If you know what your opponent plans to do beforehand, it is clearly a huge advantage.
Patriots apologists--mostly the NFL talking heads and broadcasters who are supposed to be impartial as they call games--dismiss the cheating by saying that now that they've been fined and their documents have been turned into the league, they are no longer cheating and besides, they are superior team anyway, which their undefeated season proves and can't we put this behind us finally and forever and declare Tom Brady God?
Well, I don't know that the Patriots haven't continued to cheat. How can I? Roger Goodell destroyed all the evidence? There is only one reason you destroy evidence; because it is damning. So I'm not buying that the Patriots are that good and that they no longer benefit from their years, it turns out, of cheating.
A less talented and less athletic team can vastly outplay a superior team if they know what their opponent is going to do. I know this first-hand from playing football myself by peaking into the opponents' huddle and watching the quarterback diagram a play. When it works, it works beautifully because I know exactly what the team is going to do and can put myself in position to defeat the play.
Because the evidence has been destroyed, I don't know how good Tom Brady. I don't know that he hasn't simply benefited from the Patriots' cheating.
From Head Cheater Bill Belichick on down, the Patriots are breathtakingly arrogant. And it's Belichick who sets the tone. LaDainian Tomlinson expressed his disdain for the classlessness of the Patriots in general and Belichick in particular last year after the Patriots rubbed the Chargers' nose in the dirt following their playoff victory:
That classless behavior was also on display last year when Belichick dissed his former assistant Eric Mangini after beating the Jets:
Then, of course, there's the time Belichick tried to bully Vikings head coach Brad Childress over a waiver wire player.
After Mangini exposed the Patriots cheating ways, the Patriots made a point of running up the score on their opponents. Bush league. And I mean that in both the traditional and presidential sense (or, perhaps they're one and the same).
Perhaps the biggest joke of the year was Tom Brady being named Sportsman of the Year.
There is a team in my touch football league that is extremely talented and they play very smart football. They nearly always wain the championship. Winning is so important to them that they pay people to play with them so they have the best talent. Pretty lame in my book for a touch football league, but there you go. They are fun to play with and friendly and good sports...when they are winning. When they are losing, they turn into a bunch of whiny pricks who try and knock you over and complain to the refs about every play. They turn into ***holes.
The Patriots behaved exactly like them toward the end of the year when they had been in close games and were losing.
The only good thing to come out of the Patriots this season is that we will finally shut the 1972 Dolphins the hell up:
So that's my indictment against the Patriots. I my mind, they will forever be associated with Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and they're accomplishments will thus be followed by the qualifying asterisk.
On nearly every issue, I think Mike Huckabee is dead wrong. For a whole host of reasons, I think a Huckabee presidency would be a disaster for our country. I will say this for him: he is the sole Republican running for president who is not absolutely clueless about how the economy is effecting most people.
While George Bush and the rest of the Republicans talk about "a fundamentally strong economy," normal people think WTF. They've watched gas prices rise and along with them the cost of pretty much everything else but their paychecks are not rising along with the cost of living. Here's Huckabee during the most recent Republican debate:
I couldn't find many of them, but here are a few video highlights of the Minnesota Twins new slugger, Delmon Young. Young is the second of three players highlighted. WORK WARNING: The following video uses a soundtrack replete with profanity:
This clip shows the infamous incident where Young threw a bat at an umpire, and he definitely threw it:
Today, Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman called the 1987 Minnesota Vikings victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs, the Vikes greatest upset. He's right. The Vikings absolutely blew away the 49ers. Watch some of the highlights:
The Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship game and came within a fourth and four play and overtime with momentum on their side to advancing to the Super Bowl that year:
The Shock & Awe level of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
See also:
Death From Above is one of the coolest levels from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
I just finished Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The most realistic next-gen game I'd played thus far was Gears of War but Call of Duty 4 looks much realer. Maybe the technology has improved that much between the release of the two games or maybe it's because Call of Duty 4 is set in the real world, but in Modern Warfare it's like you're right there in the thick of it. The only thing that breaks the realism in seeing closeups of people's faces. Faces must be the hardest thing to replicate in video games.
Anyway, here's some gameplay footage of a mission I failed because I didn't know you had to find a console to upload code to stop a launch of nuclear missiles.
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a level restart:
Call me a masochist, but I was watching a show about the 1973 Miami Dolphins on the NFL Network's America's Game program the other day. The 1973 Dolphins, of course, was the team that beat the Minnesota Vikings, my team, in Super Bowl VIII.
I was nine. It was the year during which I became a football fan and the Super Bowl loss was heartbreaking. There's a short segment in the show where Paul Warfield, the Dolphins Hall of Fame wide receiver is discussed. This is Warfield as a Cleveland Brown:
They were talking about a reception he had against the Oakland Raiders, in which he caught the ball on a post route, made a guy miss, crossed the field, and while approaching the Raiders' safety, ever so lightly and gracefully, did a pirouette that caused the defender to simply melt into the ground. It looked so easy and so beautiful. I've never seen a move like it and I'm absolutely surprised I hadn't seen it until now.
The idiotic NFL doesn't allow embedding of their videos, so I can't show it to you here, but you can see the clip at Warfield's page at NFL.com. The play is about a minute and thirty seconds into the video.
This week's matchup pits the Vikings against a Detroit Lions team that has a competent quarterback in Jon Kitna, this year's number one pick Calvin Johnson, a proven big-play wide receiver in Roy Williams, and no-slouches-themselves receivers Mike Furrey and Shaun McDonald, and pass-first offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
Vikings Defense vs. Lions Offense
The Lions like to employ four- and five-receiver sets.
We're are going to find out how just much the Vikings' pass defense has improved, particularly our pass rush.
Cornerbacks Marcus McCauley and Charles Gorden look to see a lot of action and will probably be targeted by Kita and company because of their inexperience.
The Lions rushing attack will feature Tatum Bell because both Kevin Jones and T.J. Duckett are injured. And though Bell ran for 87 yards against the Raiders last week, don't expect a repeat performance against the Vikings. The Vikings run defense is better and Martz will prefer to pass against the Vikings anyway.
For the Vikings to be successful against the Lions' offense they'll need to shut down the run, done, and then, ideally, bring enough pressure with the front four that they make Kitna uncomfortable in the pocket.
The nice thing about four- and five-receiver sets is that there are fewer people to pass block on the line. That means no double-teaming the Williamses, leaving Udeze, Edwards, Scott and Robison to bring pressure off the edge. I'd expect to see a lot of rookie Brian Robison at left end if Udeze can't bring sufficient pressure. Look for Spencer Johnson to get a lot of work, as well.
The cornerbacks will have to be physical at the line by jamming and rerouting their receivers to disrupt the quick passes and allow the D-line enough time to get to Kitna. Ideally, this would allow Leslie Fraizer the freedom to use the linebackers primarily in coverage rather than blitzing.
Kitna is definitely rattleable. Last week he threw two picks and last year he had 22 interceptions against 21 touchdowns. If the Vikes can get to Kitna, there might be some scoring opportunities on picks. If Kitna goes down, the Lions are in serious trouble because, with backup QB Dan Orlovsky injured, they'd have to rely on third string quarterback, former Viking, J.T. O'Sullivan.
Vikings Offense vs. Lions Defense
The Vikings will want to play ball control offense by running the ball as much as they can and creating long, time-consuming drives to keep the Lions offense off the field. In a game they should have won, they Raiders had success running against Detroit, with LaMont Jordon gaining 70 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries for a 4.6 yard average.
It will help the Vikings cause a great deal if Chester Taylor is healthy enough to play to keep the Lions guessing as to who will get the rock. If Taylor's healthy, I'd expect to see a lot of him and Adrian Peterson in the backfield at the same time.
If the Lions are successful against the run, then obviously we'll need Tarvaris Jackson to make them pay with the passing game. He will have an additional weapon at his disposal this week, with receiver Robert Ferguson expected to be active this week.
I hate to say it, but keeping the Lions honest might depend on Jackson connecting deep with Troy Williamson.
Regardless, the Lions have a horrible record against us so they've got to prove to me that this group is different from any other Lions team we've face. I expect the Vikings to win a close one.
These are links to audio, video and photos of the Minnesota Vikings season-opening win over the Atlanta Falcons:
The Vikings signed former Green Bay Packers receiver Robert Ferguson to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $1.3 million, according to the Star Tribune's blog Access Vikings.
The seven year veteran stands 6'1" and weighs 219 lbs. From what I remember of him, he's a tough receiver unafraid of going across the middle but he's taken some heavy punishment as a result. He's been injured much of his career; last year he played only four games, catching five tosses for 31 yards and a touchdown.
His best year was 2003, his second, during which he had 38 receptions for 520 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 13.7 yards per reception that year. He's never scored more than four touchdowns in a season.
We can only hope he can stay healthy. From what I've seen, he's got good hands, and, as I said, he's tough so why not give him a try? We've already got a slot receiver, but you know what they say about beggars. At the very least, he's another veteran presence among a very young receiving corps.
The only Robert Ferguson video I could find was at his profile on the NFL.com site. Check it.
Football season couldn't have come at a better time. With the Twins being such frustrating teases all season long, hovering around six games back with a chance to get back in the pennant race but not being quite good enough to win the games they should win, it's nice that they aren't the only game in town anymore.
Vikings Free Agency
This off season was a particularly painful one for Vikings fans. In a weak market for receivers, the team went after one high profile guy in Kevin Curtis and settled on Bobby Wade, a guy who had a well-deserved reputation for dropping passes. The team signed a tight end no one had ever heard of in Visanthe Shiancoe, a special teams ace in linebacker Vinny Ciurciu, injured safety Mike Doss, receiver Cortez Hankton and another "wide receiver" Todd Lowber, a guy who has never played football.
So you're thinking, great, the rebuilding continues...with average players. I do not remember a more dispiriting Vikings off season.
The Vikings Draft
But then the 2007 Vikings draft rolls around and the picks give you reason to hope. Adrian Peterson is clearly a talented and explosive back but who has durability issues. We stocked up on receivers with Sidney Rice, Aundrae Allison, and Chandler Williams; took a cornerback who was project to be a first round pick last year in Marcus McCauley; got depth at linebacker with Rufus Alexander; took a pass rushing defensive end in Brian Robison; and got another young gun in quarterback Tyler Thigpen.
The draft gave me a bit of hope. If he stays healthy Adrian Peterson could be an amazing running back; Sidney Rice, at 6' 4" is a nice tall target and Allison and Chandler Williams have got speed. Then there's Marcus McCauley, the first-round grade cornerback.
Hope springs eternal during the preseason and I'm perfectly happy to oblige.
The Vikings Preseason
The Vikings are heading into the 2007 season with essentially three number one draft picks. There's Adrian Peterson, of course, but If you also count Marcus McCauley, who, as I said, most people consider a first round talent, and last year's first round pick Chad Greenway, who didn't play last year because of injury, we've got three first rounders this year.
You have to figure the offensive line will be better--hopefully much improved--after a year together in the zone blocking scheme. So the only questions on offense are 1) playcalling, 2) Tarvaris Jackson, and the wide receiving corps.
The defense looks to have gotten stronger with a healthy Greenway, a healthy Dovonte Edwards and Tank Williams, and the addition of McCauley and Mike Doss. I think we've got four starters at the corners, intense competition at safety, more speed at linebacker, and the only question is at the defensive end positions.
I was very impressed with Ray Edwards last season and now he's got a year's experience under his belt. But it remains to be seen how Erasmus James will bounce back from his injury and Kenechi Udeze has done nothing to warrant anyone's confidence.
I don't know if special teams can get much worse than last year, so we'll see what happens there.
Preseason Games
So what do we know after two preseason games? So far, so good.
The Offense
The offense looks to be better for having been liberated from Childress' playcalling script.
Thus far, Tarvaris Jackson hasn't done anything to make you groan but he hasn't had many chances to make mistakes yet, either. He has lead a few impressive drives, he looks decisive, and he hasn't had any center/quarterback exchange problems, so his concentration is good.
But if Jackson isn't the real deal, then we're in real trouble.
Against St. Louis, the Vikings got the ball to Troy Williamson early and frequently and the receiver caught all the catches you expect him to make. On the one he didn't haul in, it was a difficult catch because the ball was thrown high and Williamson had a receiver draped all over him. He probably should've caught it, but at this point, who are we to quibble? It's progress.
Against the Jets, Williamson got a long bomb down the right sideline and he fought for position with the defender, got the position, looked to have a bead on the ball with his hands in position for the catch but the safety came in to swat the ball away before Williamson could have a chance at it.
It is notable that they haven't yet thrown to him down the left sideline. Williamson has historically had the ball slip through his arms on deep passes where he's had to look over his right shoulder. That's something to watch for in the remaining preseason games.
Bobby Wade is as advertised. He's a catch and run slot guy who has caught nearly everything thrown to him. So far he's proved me wrong about him being stone-handed. He did not make a tough third down pass that would have given the Vikes a fresh set of downs but he did have a defender all over him. Still, he should've caught the ball. He's shown several times that he's got the ability to make people miss and make a lot of yards after the catch, so that's very good.
Wad is also an excellent blocker, a talent he showed off on Peterson's 43 yard run against the Jets by sealing one defender to allow Peterson to get out on the edge, then moving on to another which freed Peterson up for a long run.
What little we've seen of Sidney Rice thus far has been good. He's a big guy who's not afraid to catch the ball in a crowd. Aundrae Allison and Chandler Williams have yet to make an impression, but Martin Nance has had a few nice nabs.
New tight end Visanthe Shiancoe has not yet shown up as a receiver, so we'll watch for him to make some plays.
We didn't get to see much of what Adrian Peterson can do against the Rams but man did we in his performance against the Jets. The shake and bake, the spin, the acceleration; we haven't seen that in a running back since Robert Smith. You could see his power when he hit congestion at the line and moved the pile. For all his toughness, we didn't see a lot of that from Chester Taylor last season. Peterson looked like he was hitting the holes a little too quickly at times but the patience should come. If he learns to pick up blitzes effectively, we could be in for a lot of entertaining football. Here are Peterson's highlights from the Jets game:
The offensive line looks good enough but depth is still an issue; against the Jets, Marcus Johnson demonstrated yet again his trouble picking up the outside rush.
The Defense
Well, it looks like the defense will still be the strength of the team and very possibly much better than last year.
The defense has been fantastic thus far. Against the Rams, linebacker Dontarrious Thomas took his pick 82 yards to the house for the Vikings' only touchdown and safety Dwight Smith picked Marc Bulger to end another Rams' drive. Against the Jets, both Darren Sharper and Chad Greenway returned interceptions for touchdowns and rookie Brian Robison recovered a fumble for a score.
I think the secondary is stronger than last year. A healthy Tank Williams and newcomer Mike Doss provide competition and depth at the safety spots. If they both make the team, we'll have experienced starters as backups regardless of what the depth chart looks like.
At the corners we've got Winfield and Cedric Griffin, who I liked a lot last year. He's got a year under his belt and should only improve. Marcus McCauley has looked solid so far and Dovonte Edwards is healthy and had a pick against the Jets. Those two will battle for the nickel spot and regardless who wins the spot, we'll have an upgrade in both speed and talent at both the nickel and the dime positions.
At linebacker we lost Napoleon Harris and so E.J. Henderson will move to the middle linebacking position. He didn't fare so well at that position early in his career but he had a fantastic season last year and let's hope that experience and maturity will help him excel at the Mike position.
Ben Leber returns after a solid season last year and Greenway is healthy. Chad Greenway didn't do much against the Rams but he was outstanding against the Jets. In addition to scoring on an interception return, he lead the team in tackles and sniffed out a screen and tackled the Jets' back for a loss. He's very fast, so our drop coverage in the Tampa 2 will probably improve. Dontarrious Thomas provides depth as a roaming backer but with rookie Rufus Alexander lost for the year (what is it with linebackers and season-ending injuries?) with an ACL injury and Jason Glenn retiring, we're a little thin at the position.
Ray Edwards has been a rock star at defensive end so far this preseason; in both games he's put consistent pressure on the quarterback and his rush of Chad Pennington caused the ill-advised pass that Greenway picked off for a score.
It has been rookie Brian Robison who has had the most eye-opening performance this preseason. He had one sack against the Rams and was absolutely unstoppable, putting constant pressure on the passer. But I withheld judgment until I got to see him play against a first-team line. Against the Jet, Robison had four tackles, one sack, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
I was wrong about Robison. When the Vikings picked him, it looked like a reach to me. I was really wrong. The guy is lightning-quick. He made D'Brickshaw Ferguson look like he was playing in water and put some pretty good moves on the tackle on his way to the quarterback.
On one play he motored in around the tackle and though he didn't have a chance for a sack, he batted the ball out of Kellen Clemens' hands for a forced fumble that the Jets recovered. On the very next play, the Jets center snapped an errant ball that Clemens couldn't reach from the shotgun position.
Robison, of course, was there in the backfield and as Clemens reached down for the ball, he smartly pushed the quarterback out of the way, and all in one motion scooped up the ball, and dove into the end zone for the score. A lot of players would have either tried to tackle the quarterback or dove for the ball but Robison realized he'd have a clearer path to the ball by simply pushing the QB out of the way.
If Erasmus James returns to his former self and we can get either Edwards or Robison to play the opposite side, we won't have to worry about whether or not Udeze fulfills his promise.
Leslie Frazier's defense looks very much like Mike Tomlin's of last year, except with more blitzing. It's been effective. We may even see some 46 defense.
Special Teams
Vinny Ciurciu doesn't seem to have improved the coverage units measurably, so that remains a weakness. Alex Reyes, however, may just beat out Chris Kluwe for the punter position on the strength of his kickoff power and his directional punting ability. Reyes' kickoffs haven't been particularly consistent but at least he's hit some to the one and three yard lines. Neither Kluwe nor Reyes has displayed much power on their punts, but Reyes can do the coffin corner.
It was impressive to see the field goal unit quickly assemble on field as time ticked away before the half of the Jets game and nail a 54 yard field goal as time expired.
And, by the way, it was a 54 yard field goal. Outside. In wet weather. Last year, Ryan Longwell was solid inside the forty but had trouble with the longer field goals.
Next Saturday: Seattle Seahawks
We should get to see some extended play of Tarvaris Jackson on Saturday and I expect he'll throw a lot. Expect the ball to be thrown primarily to Troy Williamson, Sidney Rice, Aundrae Allison and Visanthe Shiancoe.
The defensive spotlight will shine on Erasmus James to see how his recovery has progressed.
