FOF2K1 – One Last Harrah – 2010

[SplitPersonality1]

All of this talk of a new FOF and TPF has put me in the mood to play another football sim dynasty. As it is likely that I will be purchasing both new games shortly after they come out, this will probably be my final dynasty in FOF2001.

My house rules are fairly standard for FOF2001:
- no renegotiating contracts; no franchise tag
- all contracts must be played out in full, barring a trade demand
- no real players allowed; although in 2010, this is not much of an issue
- no signing free agents until week 11, with the exception of my own players or those from rival Green Bay
- cannot fire coach or scout while still in contract unless they have a record that is sub-500 and at least two games wore than the previous year
- there are probably others that I use regularly, but the general rule is: if there is an AI flaw, I will not exploit it.

The background premise of this dynasty is simple. Turn the Minnesota Vikings from a sub-mediocre team into a winner – in a very short period of time.

I let the computer control the team completely, allowing the AI to make all draft, gameplan and depth chart decisions for 10 years. It is now 2010 and the powers that be in the Viking organization are a bit upset about the results of the last decade. No playoff appearance, no winning seasons; just year after year of getting spanked by the likes of Green Bay, Tampa Bay & Detroit.

In this fictional universe the NFC Central has been very strong year after year, with Green Bay capturing three Championship titles. They seem to have our number as we have beaten them only three times in the past ten years, including several embarrassing blowouts (54-7, 41-0 & 42-13 are a few examples – ugh.)

Another strong team in the league is the Dallas Cowboys. They nearly made history in 2008 by starting the season 15-0, only to stumble against the rival Redskins 41-0 in the last week of the season. After that embarrassment, they went on to win their first of two back-to-back crowns and are the reigning Superbowl champs.

The past season, 2009, showed that the NFC North has gotten considerably weaker; Detroit and Chicago made the playoffs with a 9-7 record, and the remaining teams all finished at 7-9.

I now take control of this struggling franchise. The initial goal; have a winning record. Here goes.

[SplitPersonality1]

Feb 1, 2010

I moved into my new office today, happy about joining the Viking organization. After all, I grew up in Minneapolis in the 70s during their heyday with Tarkenton, Eller, Alan Paige and all the rest. I remember the four Superbowl losses and I am still not over my hatred of the Steelers because of that bad call in Superbowl IX. Then I open a letter on my desk:

“The owner of your franchise is absolutely livid
about the performance of your team.

If you're not able to put together a much more
successful season this coming year, you will definitely
be out of a job this time next year.”

So begins my reign as the GM of the Minnesota Vikings.

Over the past ten seasons, my predecessor has completely mismanaged the team by picking up a minimal amount of free agents, letting good veterans go and pissing off fans by never obtaining a .500 season. The idiot left me in salary cap hell – 27 active players, no starting QB, two players under contract in the secondary and just $42M in cap room. I repeat, my predecessor was an idiot.

A bit of history
2000 (7-9) – three teams scored 40 or more on us including the Packers
2001 (5-11) – scored just 244 points all season. Shutout twice including 41-0 by the Pack
2002 (4-12) – horrible year. Includes an embarrassing loss to expansion Provo and another 41-0 thumping by the Pack.
2003 (7-9) – no offense to speak of. Lost 9-6 and 6-3 in successive weeks
2004 (6-10) – started 0-5 including a 54-7 loss to Green Bay. Culpepper’s last season with us. His best, but we did not resign him in the offseason
2005 (6-10) – new QB McQueen, same old story
2006 (6-10) – never scored more than 30 the entire season
2007 (7-9) – Green Bay has new QB, same results. We lose 33-25 & 35-14
2008 (6-10) – opened season with a 30-0 shutout loss at Tampa. MN never recovered
2009 (7-9) - started 1-4 and actually improved as the season wore on.

And here we are in 2010.

First things first, let’s look at the coaching and scouting situation.

Head Coach: currently Neal Bout, record of 61-99 – 10 years an the MN coach. His contract is up and he is asking for $5.3M per year. I’ve made a few phone calls and the word on the street is that he is a very good coach in nearly all areas, but excels at nothing. Sounds a lot like this team. After meeting with Coach Bout, I decide that his personality doesn’t fit with my vision of this team. I need to make a change. I will go after Atlanta’s long time headman Juan Griffith (85-81, 4po app) and offer him $7m for 5 years. He is relatively old (60) and this is more than double what he requested.

Lead Scout: currently Keith Barrett, record of 61-99 – 10 years as MN lead scout. I have very little faith in this guy. He hasn’t shown much promise and even though he is under contract, I will go after the Jets, Darrell Shell, a 43 yo phenom (73-86-1). My contacts throughout the league see good things in this guy. He is good with QBs, but excellent with running backs and better all around that Barrett. I offer a 5 yr deal at 800k per. Then bump it to 900k. I really like this guy.

Feb 8, 2003

After one week – Griffith has three offers with a high from ATL at $8.49m. I bite the bullet and offer a cool $11m. Scary thing is that Coach Bout just signed with BAL for $11.38m making him the second highest paid coach in the league. What the heck are they thinking? On the scouting front, we are still in the lead with one other team competing. To attempt to seal the deal, I bump his offer to $1m.

Feb 15, 2003

Another week and we are still the high offer for both of these guys. I reluctantly open up the pocket book and move Griffith to $12m for 3yr – highest in the league, and Shell to $1.1m –second highest in league. We need results. If we have a poor season, I am gone anyway. Griffith accepts immediately; as does Shell.

Excellent. Our management team is set.

Now I can concentrate on building up this team.

[SplitPersonality1]

Feb 22, 2003

Before Lead scout Barrett cleaned out his office, I had him drop off his evaluation of the current players on the team. His results are below.

From the desk of Keith Barrett of the Minnesota Vikings

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Sherman McQueen 14 14 7 UFA
QB Heath Jammer 7 10 5 UFA
QB Herman Brand 7 10 6 UFA
QB Todd Amaral 6 7 9 2010
RB Desmond Shull 7 9 5 2010
RB Walter Corsilles 7 7 4 2011
RB Rickey Sutter 7 7 9 2010
RB Mickey Pourdanesh 4 5 7 2010
FB Ian Wekwert 10 14 2 2011
FB Neil Atkins 7 9 4 ----
TE Brett Giles 13 14 5 2010
TE Glen Keefe 10 12 3 2011
TE Brant Forguson 5 8 2 ----
WR Byron Jackson 16 16 4 2012
WR Edwin King 13 13 7 UFA
WR Neal Fox 8 10 5 2011
WR Sam Hines 7 8 4 2011
WR C.J. Woodard 7 8 5 UFA
C Quentin Dickenson 4 10 2 ----
C Bo Sailer 4 4 4 ----
G Richie Stephens 8 10 7 UFA
G Dave Bierce 4 8 4 ----
G Jumbo Gayle 5 7 4 2011
G Deion Cash 4 4 4 2010
T Cornell Amadro 3 9 2 2011
T Heath Hayes 7 8 3 2011
T Nicky Gerhardt 5 7 5 2011
T Rich Wooden 1 7 2 2010
P Emmitt Silver 9 10 6 2010
K Tommy Harney 8 8 5 UFA
DE Ross Wylie 5 10 4 ----
DE Aaron Quackenbush 5 7 4 ----
DE Seth Galvan 2 4 2 2010
DE Bernie Distel 2 4 3 ----
DT C.J. Bryant 12 15 3 2013
DT Donovan Reagor 14 15 6 2010
DT Mitch Buhner 5 8 2 ----
DT Trevor Hoffman 3 8 2 2014
LB Perry Sutton 11 13 5 2010
LB Blake Diron 9 12 4 2010
LB Tim Wilber 4 9 3 ----
LB Bobby Medeiros 6 9 5 2010
LB Patrick Hawkins 4 7 2 ----
LB Thurman Zamora 4 6 3 ----
LB Monty Owens 4 5 2 ----
CB Harold McCarney 4 7 2 2011
CB Jake Lively 6 6 3 ----
CB Sam Webster 5 6 4 ----
CB Gene Manning 5 5 4 ----
CB Andre Giangrave 3 4 2 2010
S Mark Patterson 6 8 6 UFA
S Norm Williams 6 8 6 UFA
S Tim Doyle 5 7 6 UFA
S Albert Fletcher 5 6 6 UFA

Not too great, I fear. Sigh.

Quarterback McQueen is one of the promising young stars in the league. He has put up consistent numbers over the past six seasons and until hurt in week 11 last year, look poised to move to the next level. He has 82 carrer td’s against just 58 carrer interceptions. This with an iffy supporting cast. Not bad. He is not currently under contract, but I thing we need to resign him at all costs.

Fullback Ian Wekert looks very, very good. He had 139 yards on 40 carries last season. He will be used quite a bit more this season I think.

We have two top-flight tight ends on this team in Brett Giles and Glen Keefe, although Keefe has a problem with playing time. He will get over it or find himself working elsewhere.

WR Byron Jackson was OROY in 2007 with 88 catches for over 1260 yards. Not bad for the 10th pick overall. His production has tailed off a bit since, but I think he is the real deal. Give him a decent RB for the opposing defense to worry about and he will be able to stretch the field for us, kind of like Moss did a few years back.

The only bright spots on defense are former probowlers DT Bryant, DT Reagor and LB Sutton & Diron. All were first round draft picks. Hmm. Maybe Barrett wasn’t so bad after all. Too late to worry about that now.

Every other player on the defense is expendable.

Onward to free agency.

[CraigSca]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1
Includes an embarrassing loss to expansion Provo and another 41-0 thumping by the Pack.


Mmmmmm....expansion. I miss that :(.

[SplitPersonality1]

Feb 18,2010

A couple of financial items to take care of before the free agent period,.

The salary cap has risen $9,200,000 to $140,900,000 and the league's minimum salary has risen $30,000 to $450,000.

The Vikings had an average attendance of just 40,300 out of 64,000. Fairly pathetic. I do what every GM has done in my situation in the last 25 years; I propose a new stadium to fix our financial ills. We have absolutely no public support for a new stadium, but I propose one anyway. 80,000 regular seats, 10,000 club seats and 300 boxes – cost $396M, and I offer to pay $196M. There is no way this will get approved, but I go for it anyway. This will give me the option to move the team if attendance gets any worse here in Minnesota.

Feb 20, 2010

Free agents we will try to keep: QB Sherman McQueen & G Richie Stephens.
Free agents that we will unfortunately lose: WR Edwin King
There are no Packers worth going after this year.

March 13, 2010

As I feared, we lost WR King. He went to the Redskins for $32.02M/3 years. We also lost backup QBs Jammer to Denver and Brand to the Cowboys. No great loss unless we don’t land McQueen.

The Tennessee Titans are after our star QB. They offer $51.79M/3. I counter with a 7 year deal worth $128.96M. I want McQueen! I also place a three year offer for G Stephens worth $18.02M

May 8, 2010

McQueen made us sweat for a couple of weeks, but he finally came around. Stephens on the other hand is still holding out. I’m not sure why. He is good, but not a great guard. To hedge my bets, I put an offer out for Buffalo’s Dave Lockett (8.84M/2). In an ideal world, I’d get both guards.

Two more players I go after: all-pro kicker Cory Heilprin, a ten year vet from Buffalo & six-year man LB Jackie Stuart. He has skills and I think he can develop into an exceptional player in the right system.

July 10, 2010

End of free agency and we picked up both guards as well as the LB Stuart. We lost several players to other teams, but no one of consequence. On an odd note, three of the four free agent safeties all signed one year deals with San Diego. Too bad we don’t play then this year.

July 15, 2010

The draft is imminent and I am still trying to decide which way to go. We desperately need decent players in the secondary. Unfortunately, there aren’t any in the draft worthy of a second round pick, much less a first.

The most promising players that we could use that are coming out this year:
G C.J. Tanner (6.9/8.2)
DE Darrin Stokes (6.9/7.4)
LB Bobby Basken (6.8/7.9)
RB Chris Lenz (6.7/7.5)
C Adrian McKinley (5.9/6.5)
RB Kent Cash (5.7/6.5)
DT Daniel Alcott (5.9/8.0)

We have the seventh pick and I am sure that a number of these guys will go before we pick. DT Alcott looks like a monster player, but I already have two high quality guys at that position. He still may be by first choice if he makes it down to #7. We will see.

July 20, 2010

pick #1 – Hartford – RB Chris Lenz
pick #3 – Provo – DT Daniel Alcott – guess I won’t have to worry about him
pick #4 – NY Giants – DE Darren Stokes
pick #5 – the Giants trade up to get another DE named Pierce

Hmmm. Although G Tanner looks good, I just picked up an adequate guard in free agency. Same goes for LB. Since the RB Cash “might” make it to the second round, I’ve got to go with the center McKinley. He looks ready to start immediately and has the potential to be an all-pro.

The rest of the draft goes uneventfully for us. Our picks are listed below along with the scouts pre-camp evaluation numbers.

Rnd 1 - Adrian McKinley, C, Weber State – 6/18
Rnd 2 - Terry King, S, Alfred – 7/16
Rnd 3 - Oscar Liliedahl, CB, Tennessee – 6/14
Rnd 4 - Clay Trujillo, CB, Florida State – 6/6
Rnd 5 - Emmanuel Selby, RB, Kansas State – 7/14
Rnd 6 - Joel Clinton, T, Indiana Univ., Pa. – 3/10
Rnd 7 - Horace Walton, K, Gardner-Webb – 6/10

Not a bad draft. Clay Trujillo may have been a reach as a 4th rounder, but he was the best available CB at the time and will start this season. He is a stopgap. In fact, all of the draftees should start this year.

July 21, 2010
"Your proposal for new stadium construction was submitted to the voters of your county for a decision.

The issue failed. We hope that you do not view this as a referendum on the viability of football in Minnesota, but we understand that you are now free to seek a new stadium elsewhere. Please try again next year, however. You may find the voters more amenable.

Here's the final vote tally:

Rejected: 674,925 - 67.1%
In Favor: 330,167 - 32.8%"

Ouch. I am not surprised that the issue failed, but the margin is a bit scary.

July 22, 2010

Now comes the fun part. Just 8.5M and 15 players to sign. And less than one week before camp opens.

Two important signees:

QB Lewis Andruzzi will be my 7yr RFA this year. He is a decent backup and will compliment McQueen. FB Burt Walter is a very good FB. I am surprised he slipped through the draft.

August 7, 2010

It’s the day before our preseason opener and things look good. Rookie RB Selby looks like the real deal. He should contend for OROY. C McKinley also looks very good for a first year man (9/18). DT & LB are fairly solid this year, but CB & DE are downright scary-bad

RB Selby & FB Wekwert are wanted in trades, but I do not even give the teams (Buffalo & Seattle) the time of day.

The Vikings sold 28,300 season tickets for the season out of a capacity of 64,000. Ugh.

Sept 4, 2010

Exhibition Season:
Game 1 - MIN 24 ATL 19
Game 2 - MIN 13 OAK 10
Game 3 - MIN 14 HAR 6
Game 4 - MIN 15 PIT 13

Somehow, we won every game. We still cannot score, but the defense seems to be playing very well. Also, we went through all of exhibition and sustains just one injury, DT Donovan Reagor with a concussion. He can play and should be at full strength in 0-2 Weeks. This is great news.

Rookie kicker Walton has been perfect in field goals, but missed an extra point in the game against the Steelers. Backup QB Amaral made a his case to be the starter, but I just cannot pull the trigger on McQueen yet. Not with that fat contract he just signed. He better shape up quickly or he and we are in trouble.

Now for the bad news:
Several guys are very unhappy with their playing time. Most of it is carryover from last year, but backup QB Amaral is demanding a trade. I will not let him go just yet, but I am pretty sure that this is his last year in a Viking uniform.

Todd Amaral, QB - Demanding Trade
Rickey Sutter, RB - Unhappy
Walter Corsilles, RB - Disgruntled
Glen Keefe, TE - Livid
Seth Galvan, DE - Unhappy

Starting Positions Assessment:
Fairly concerned about starting offensive left tackle
Fairly concerned about starting offensive right guard
Very concerned about starting offensive right tackle
Extremely concerned about starting defensive left end
Extremely concerned about starting defensive right end
Fairly concerned about starting first cornerback
Fairly concerned about starting second cornerback
Extremely concerned about starting free safety
Extremely concerned about starting strong safety
Fairly concerned about starting kicker

Week 1 preview – at Tampa Bay
Over the past few seasons, the Bucs have been a lot like us, not good, not bad, just very mediocre. Jon Kitna has been the QB since 2004 and has really improved in the last two years posting 20+ tds and a 85+ QBR. They are favored to win by 10.

[SplitPersonality1]

Here are your 2010 Minesota Vikings as seen through the eyes of our lead scout.


From the desk of Darnell Shell of the Minnesota Vikings

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Sherman McQueen 13 13 7 2016
QB Todd Amaral 6 7 9 2010
QB Lewis Andruzzi 2 9 1 2016
RB Emmanuel Selby 9 12 1 2011
RB Rickey Sutter 7 7 9 2010
RB Desmond Shull 7 7 5 2010
RB Walter Corsilles 6 6 4 2011
RB Mickey Pourdanesh 4 4 7 2010
FB Ian Wekwert 13 13 2 2011
FB Burt Walter 3 8 1 2010
TE Brett Giles 13 13 5 2010
TE Glen Keefe 10 11 3 2011
WR Byron Jackson 16 16 4 2012
WR Neal Fox 8 8 5 2011
WR Sam Hines 7 8 4 2011
WR Tyrell Gardner 6 6 1 2010
WR Jeremy Coffey 5 5 1 2010
WR Gene Rodgers 5 5 1 2010
C Adrian McKinley 9 18 1 2015
C Norbert Benson 1 10 1 2010
G Richie Stephens 8 8 7 2012
G Dave Lockett 7 8 6 2011
G Bart Edwards 6 6 1 2010
G Jumbo Gayle 5 5 4 2011
G Deion Cash 4 4 4 2010
T Heath Hayes 8 8 3 2011
T Nicky Gerhardt 6 6 5 2011
T Cornell Amadro 6 6 2 2011
T Rich Wooden 3 3 2 2010
T Joel Clinton 3 9 1 2011
P Emmitt Silver 10 10 6 2010
K Horace Walton 5 11 1 2012
DE Seth Galvan 3 4 2 2010
DE Claude Keane 2 7 1 2010
DE Reuben Perry 1 7 1 2010
DE Stephen Carpenter 1 7 1 2010
DT Donovan Reagor 14 14 6 2010
DT C.J. Bryant 14 14 3 2013
DT Trevor Hoffman 5 7 2 2014
DT Chad Canty 4 6 1 2010
LB Jackie Stuart 13 13 6 2013
LB Perry Sutton 12 12 5 2010
LB Blake Diron 11 11 4 2010
LB Bobby Medeiros 6 6 5 2010
LB Clyde Erickson 3 5 1 2010
CB Oscar Liliedahl 6 14 1 2013
CB Clay Trujillo 6 6 1 2013
CB Harold McCarney 5 5 2 2011
CB Andre Giangrave 4 4 2 2010
S J.C. Sutter 5 5 1 2010
S Rickey Carlisle 4 4 1 2010
S Terry King 2 9 1 2014
S Fernando Allen 2 7 1 2010

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 5, 2010 – Week 1 - @ Tampa Bay (0-0)

Tampa’s first drive ends in five plays. On Minnesota’s first drive, McQueen is flawless and we get to seven quickly on a nice 11 yard run from Selby. We may have an offense after all. Tampa goes three and out. On the second drive, more of the same although it ends in a fg. We get several more opportunities in the 2nd quarter, but the Bucceneer D holds firm. Its’ 10-0 at the break.

We open the second half and march down the field at will. Two costly penalties hold us to another field goal kick. The Tampa offense finally gets going, but the Viking D holds them at the goalline. It’s 13-3 after 3.

TB finally gets in the endzone in the middle of the fourth quarter. 7 minutes left and I am getting nervous. It is now 13-10. Don’t let this one slip away boys…Three and out, three and out, three and out and they get the ball on our 44. Crap. Tampa drives and on 3rd and 2, Kitna’s pass is incomplete and he is injured on the play. The Tampa kicker goes for a 53 yarder to tie…and misses short of the crossbar.

Offical time out for the two-minute warning.

Whew. We get the ball back, get the first down and run out the clock to get the win.

Game MVP: MIN 54 Jackie Stuart - 13 tackles, 0 assists, 1.0 sacks, 0 interceptions.

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 17 TB 16
Rushing Yds MIN 114 TB 101
Passing Yds MIN 195 TB 168
Sacks Allowed MIN 0 TB 1
QB Ints MIN 0 TB 1
Fumbles/Lost MIN 0/0 TB 0/0
Third Downs MIN 2/12 TB 2/12
Time of Poss. MIN 27:43 TB 32:17
Red Zone Stats MIN 2-1-1 TB 2-1-1

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 5 for 56 yards, 1td
RB Shull – 10 for 39 yards, 0td
FB Wekwert – 9 for 17 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 20 for 35, 195 yards, 0td & 0int
WR Fox – 6 for 72 yards, 0td
WR Jackson – 4 for 42 yards, 0td
K Walton – 2 for 3 field goals
LB Stuart – 13 tackles & 1 sack
C McKinley – 3 for 8 KRB

NFC Central Standings
CHI, DET & MN (1-0), GB & TB (0-1)

Injury Report
Donovan Reagor, DT - Concussion, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Heath Hayes, T - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Bart Edwards, G - Hyperextended Elbow, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

Week 2 preview – at Chicago
QB Tee Martin has been a spot starter for several teams over the years, but has finally found a home in the Windy City. He looked great in week one by hitting 19 of 26 and throwing a td. Martin and the Bears whomped the Titans in the opener 23-3. They are favored over the Vikings by 10.5

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 8, 2010

The Minnesota fans are happy. The Viking leadership is happy. The players are happy, but I am very concerned about this team. Despite the fact that they have never lost during my reign, four of those wins don’t count. The offense is rather anemic and we are so thin on defense, that we have no margin for error when it comes to injuries.

This upcoming game with the Bears scares the hell out of me.

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 12,2010 - Week 2 - @ Chicago (1-0)

We open by getting a first down, but stall. CHI goes 3 and out. The Vikes come alive on the second drive and McQueen looks brilliant. We go up 7-0. Next play from scrimmage is a Tee Martin interception by S Terry King. Eight plays later, we add a field goal. A missed fg seems to slow our momentum and Da Bears counter with a td to cut the lead to 3. Just under a minute to go, the defense collapses and Martin redeemed his previous miscue with a 42 yard strike for the go-ahead td. CHI up 14-10 at the break.

The third quarter is a real battle in the trenches. The Vikes finally get a decent drive and get down to the 10 yard line. Then McQueen throws an interception in the endzone. Damn! Our defense is looking tired and we let the Bears march down the field, Fortunately, they miss an easy field goal. 13 and a half minutes to go. We go three and out and cannot stop the Bears on the next drive.

As Chicago kicks the extra point, DT C.J.Bryant is not getting up from the field. What the?...They show the play on the Jumbotron but all I see is a mass of bodies. What a sec. There it is. It looks like one of the Bears landed elbow first right into the back of Bryant. He is in agony and they call for a stretcher. This doesn’t look good. CHI up 21-10 with just over 5 to go.

Things still look bleak with three minutes to go, but Martin throws another pic, this time to free agent signee Jackie Stuart who returns it back 42 yards to the 7yl. It looks like it was a smart move to add him to the team. However, the Bears hold and we just get three with a field goal. MIN down 21-13. Onside kick….failed. Chicago ball but they fail to get a first down.

The Vikes cannot move the ball forward and have their backs to the wall with a 4th and 18. Excellent. Three plays later, Selby goes down and…ugh…his finger is going the wrong direction. Good grief, how many times are they going to show that on the Jumbotron? Anyway, next play McQueen converts and we get a touchdown with just 46 seconds left.

McQueen back to pass on the conversion….and throws incomplete. CHI 21-19. Onside kick fails again and Chicago lays on the ball. Game over. What a heartbreaker.

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 16 CHI 20
Rushing Yds MIN 55 CHI 116
Passing Yds MIN 263 CHI 211
Sacks Allowed MIN 1 CHI 1
QB Ints MIN 1 CHI 2
Fumbles/Lost MIN 1/0 CHI 1/0
Third Downs MIN 6/15 CHI 7/13
Time of Poss. MIN 28:39 CHI 31:21
Red Zone Stats MIN 3-1-1 CHI 1-1-0

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 8 for 12 yards, 0td - yikes
FB Wekwert – 4for 15 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 22 for 42, 263 yards, 2td & 1int
WR Fox – 7 for 91 yards, 1td
WR Jackson – 4 for 67 yards, 1td
K Walton – 2 for 3 field goals
LB Stuart – 5 tackles, 3 assists & 1 int
LB Diron – 9 tackles
C McKinley – 1 for 5 KRB

NFC Central Standings
CHI & DET (2-0), MIN & GB (1-1), TB (0-2)

Injury Report
Donovan Reagor, DT - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Heath Hayes, T - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Emmanuel Selby, RB - Broken Finger, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Bart Edwards, G - Hyperextended Elbow, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 14, 2010 - Week 3 preview – @Green Bay

Although the Vikings have been the Packers whipping boys for most of a decade, this game might be different. Starting QB Akili Smith is out; backup rookie QB Baumgartner is also out. This leaves third stringer Matt Hasselbach behind center. Although he is a 12 year vet, he has been a primarily a backup and this is only his tenth career start.

The Pack will also be without the services of Toby Bronson & Bryan Poole, their top 2 receivers. They are also missing a starting fullback and two key defensive players. This game may be exactly what the doctor ordered for the Vikes. we have a chance to open the season with a 2-1 record on three road games. If this happens, I will be very, very pleased.

Unfortunately for us, I believe C.J. Bryant’s career is done. He has a broken back and may never walk again, much less play football again. We put him on injured reserve and look for a replacement. Unfortunately, we have just $1.01M in cap room and all of the good free agents have four or more years of experience and cost $1.06M. Damn.

We pick up a rookie DT scrub named Wayne Lyon. He is not very good. DT Reagor is not recovering from his concussion quickly and he has to sit another game out. The backups Hofman and Canty are going to have to do it for us this week. (We are so screwed). Also, starting running back Selby will be missing this game as well.

After contemplating all the injuries on both sides, the oddsmakers have decided that the Pack is the better team. Green Bay is favored by 4.5.

Edited for numerous speling, grammer and logic mistakes.
*note to self: do not write dynasty reports at 3am

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 19,2010 - Week 3 - @ Green Bay (1-1)

The Vikings have the ball first and don’t do much with it. Hasselbach starts out hot hitting first four passes, but thankfully cools off and the Pack is held to three. On our second drive, McQuuen and company look good until a tipped pass went right into the arms of Green Bay linebacker Jude Waddy. He ran it back 67 yards for the quick td. Crap. MIN down by 10. Viking offense stalls and the Pack march in for another quick seven. This is getting old. Fast.

The offense is ice cold, but the defense improves a bit and the score holds at 17-0. Just over one minute to go and McQueen throws another pic. Grrrrr. Packer ball on our 17. One play and Hasselbach has another td pass. This is embarrassing. Instead of klimping off the field, Coach Griffith throws three consecutive passes ??? and the Pack gets good field position. They tack on three more and we are in a deep hole, down 27-0.

The second half. Hmmm. We did not get shutout, but only because of an easy field goal with three minutes to go in the game. Merifully this game ends and we are on the wrong side of another Green Bay blowout. GB 37, MIN 3.

I hate Green Bay!

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 14 GB 17
Rushing Yds MIN 52 GB 93
Passing Yds MIN 223 GB 207
Sacks Allowed MIN 4 GB 3
QB Ints MIN 2 GB 0
Fumbles/Lost MIN 2/0 GB 0/0
Third Downs MIN 3/15 GB 3/13
Time of Poss. MIN 33:32 GB 26:28
Red Zone Stats MIN 0-0-0 GB 4-2-2

Individual Stats
FB Wekwert – 12 for 33 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 23 for 36, 223 yards, 0td & 2int
WR Fox – 9 for 92 yards, 1td
WR Jackson – 4 for 38 yards, 1td
LB Stuart – 12 tackles & 1 assists
DE Perry – 2 sacks
C McKinley – 1 for 8 KRB – come on kid. Do better than that.

NFC Central Standings
DET (3-0), CHI & GB (2-1), MIN & TB (1-2)

Injury Report
Donovan Reagor, DT - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Heath Hayes, T - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Emmanuel Selby, RB - Broken Finger, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Clay Trujillo, CB - Broken Nose, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

[cody8200]

Good dynasty report man. I started playing fof2001 because of this :) Please continue.

[SplitPersonality1]

cody8200 and other readers of this dynasty.

I just assumed with the impending release of FOF2K4, no one would want to read this. I guess I shouldn't assume. I should have an update out sometime tonight.

Thanks for being patient.

[SplitPersonality1]

Week 4 preview – vs Tampa
After dropping the first two games of the season by a combined score of 33-20, the Anrhydeddus, I mean the Buccaneers took out their frustrations on the hapless Washington Redskins by beating them 49-6. The Bucs are not as good as they have been in the past, and despite last weeks anomaly, the struggle on offense as much as the Vikings do. (Unfortunately, we are the only NFC Central team that will not play the 0-3 Redskins…figures) Based on reputation alone, Tampa is favored by 5.5

[SplitPersonality1]

Sept 26, 2010 - Week 4 – Minnesota (1-2) vs Tampa Bay (1-2)

A decent crowd of 45,000+ come to the Dome to see the Viking home opener. The Buc have had our number in the past, but they are not as good as they once were.

The game starts off badly as we go three and out and star receiver Jackson is injured. Oh crap, he is out for the game! A horrible punt followed by a nice return gives the Bucs the ball on the MIN39. Six plays later, the Vikes are down by seven. (sigh)

Three and out again for Minnesota and McQueen has yet to complete a pass. He is 0 for 5. Tampa gets the ball and we hold them. McQueen and the Vikes come alive and cap a nice drive with a td pass to WR Fox. Walton missed the extra point so we are down 7-6. On Tampa’s next drive, they drive down, but S Terry King picked off an errant pass by the QB Wiggins and returned it back 89 yards to paydirt. Conversion is good and we lead by 7. Excellent recovery guys.

Must calm down, It is early in the second quarter.

Ugh. Three minutes later, after a nice defensive stop, the Vikes fumble on their own 18. Fortunately, the defense comes up strong again and Tampa only gets three. But then the defense becomes sieve-like and we give up a field goal, a safety and another field goal. Minnesota down 18-14 at the break.

Penalties on both teams killed scoring chances until Tampa picked up another td early in the fourth. Vikes down by 11. McQueen and company get a nice drive going until a sack and penalties pushed them back to the edge of Walton’s range. And he missed the 41 yarder. Crap. Just under 7 minutes to go.

Our decimated defense cannot stop the Tampa juggernaut and McQueen throws a pic in garbage time right at the end of the game. Final score: TB 32 MIN 14.

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 13 TB 22
Rushing Yds MIN 60 TB 90
Passing Yds MIN 179 TB 311
Sacks Allowed MIN 3 TB 3
QB Ints MIN 2 TB 1
Fumbles/Lost MIN 3/1 TB 3/0
Third Downs MIN 4/13 TB 6/15
Time of Poss. MIN 25:21 TB 34:39
Red Zone Stats MIN 2-1-0 TB 4-3-1

Individual Stats
RB Sutter – 6 for 35 yards, 0td
FB Wekwert – 4 for 12 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 18 for 38, 179 yards, 1td & 2int
WR Fox – 8 for 86 yards, 1td – he is quickly becoming the #1 WR
LB Sutton – 13 tackles & 2 assists
LB Diron – 10 tackles & 4 assists
LB Stuart – 9 tackles & 1 assist
DE Galvan – 1.5 sacks
C McKinley – 1 for 5 KRB – hmmm.

NFC Central Standings
CHI, GB & DET (3-1), TB (2-2), MIN (1-3)

Injury Report
Richie Stephens, G - Broken Foot, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Desmond Shull, RB - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Heath Hayes, T - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Clay Trujillo, CB - Broken Nose, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

At least #1 DT Reagor and #1 RB Selby are back.

NFL Notes
Arizona, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle are all undefeated at 4-0. Washington, Burlington and St. Louis are all 0-4. Miami is winless as well, but had a tie in week one with Baltimore.

[SplitPersonality1]

Week 5 preview – vs Detroit
The NFC Central doesn’t seem to have a team that can put points on the board. The Lions have yet to score more than 21 points and yet have a 3-1 record. They received their first loss of the season last week at Chicago. They have a marginal QN in Quinn Cote, and a mediocre RB in Brock Teeter. In fact the only thing they have going for them in the ageless Randy Moss, who is coming off a fine season in 2009. (94 catches & 1159 yards). The Vikings have trouble with these guys every time we play them and have notched victory just 3 times in the past 7 years. Because of this, the oddsmakers favor Detroit by 11.

[SplitPersonality1]

Oct 3, 2010 - Week 5 – Minnesota (1-3) vs Detroit (3-1)

We open 3 and out, big surprise, and DET has a very nice drive that includes five first downs and eats up seven minutes off the clock. Fortunately, they miss a 48 yard field goal and the game remains scoreless.

This remained a very boring game as neither side could get anything done. Then suddenly with three minutes to go in the half, Detroit threw two interceptions to safety Terry King that led to quick touchdowns and the Vikings were up 14-0 at the break. Huh?

An 80 yard pass play by DET shut the home crowd up in the middle of the third. Safety Terry King picks up his third interception of the game (wow!), but the Vikes could not cash in. A Detroit field goal early in the fourth made it a four point game and this one looks like it is slowly slipping away.

Then RB Selby and QB McQueen caught fire and get a quick touchdown. Nice job. Eight minutes to play. A fumble in MIN territory gave the Lions a nice scoring chance, but Lion QB Cote threw his fourth pic of the day. MIN up by 11 with 3 and half to go.

Detroit makes it interesting by getting a td with just under 2 minutes to go, but miss the conversion attempt.

The onside kick is…wait, they don’t do one. ??? What? Stupid move on their part. A first down by us wins this game…And we cannot do it. Crap. After the punt, 39 seconds on the clock and Detroit is on their own 37, Four pass attempts, four incompletes. Whew. McQueen kneels and we finally get another win. MIN 21 DET 16.

MVP Terry King

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 13 DET 16
Rushing Yds MIN 150 DET 79
Passing Yds MIN 193 DET 283
Sacks Allowed MIN 1 DET 1
QB Ints MIN 0 DET 5
Fumbles/Lost MIN 2/0 DET 1/0
Third Downs MIN 2/15 DET 3/16
Time of Poss. MIN 30:26 DET 29:24
Red Zone Stats MIN 1-1-0 DET 0-0-0

Both teams were heavily penalized: DET (11 for 88 yards) & MIN (13 for 93 yards)

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 8 for 52 yards, 1td
FB Wekwert – 5 for 60 yards, 1td
QB McQueen – 18 for 27, 193 yards, 1td & 0int
TE Giles – 7 for 78 yards, 0td
WR Jackson 4 for 45 yards, 0td
WR Fox – 1 for 8 yards, 0td – he was hurt early in the game
S King – 8 tackles, 2 assists & 3 interceptions
C McKinley – 1 for 5 KRB – kid. I’m disappointed in you..

NFC Central Standings
CHI (3-1), GB, DET & TB (3-2), MIN (2-3)

Injury Report
Richie Stephens, G - Broken Foot, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Desmond Shull, RB - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Heath Hayes, T - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

NFL Notes
Two great games by quarterbacks this week:
Rod Strong, PRO, QB - 38 for 55, 478 yards, 4 TDs.
Mark Brunell, JAX, QB - 25 for 45, 474 yards, 5 TDs.

On the defensive side of the ball:
Terry King, MIN, S - 8 tackles, 2 assists, 0.0 sacks, 3 interceptions.
Charles Woodson, NYJ, CB - 4 tackles, 2 assists, 0.0 sacks, 3 interceptions.

Defensive Player of the Week: Charles Woodson, CB, New York Jets
Damn East Coats bias

CIN at 5-0 and idle PIT at 4-0 are the only remaining unbeatens. Washington & Burlington are the only winless teams left.

[SplitPersonality1]

Week 6 preview – at Cleveland
The Browns opened up the season with three losses by a combined score of 58-27. They won a thriller against the Ravens 29-21 and are now coming off an open date. I hope they are rusty. The Vikings really need this win if they hope to remain in the playoff chase (and keep my job). Browns favored by 8.

[SplitPersonality1]

Oct 10, 2010 - Week 6 – Minnesota (2-3) at Cleveland (1-3)

In the early games, CHI, GB & TB all lost. We have an opportunity here against 1-3 CLV.

MIN with the ball first…and we march down and score. Wow, what do you know! McQueen looked good, hitting four different receivers in that opening drive.

Unfortunately, we can’t seem to stop the Browns completely, but hold them to two field goals. Then we give up our second safety of the season, grrr, and are down by one. We get a fortunate field goal and lead by 2 at the break. Ugly game so far.

The Viking defense in pathetic in the third quarter. The Browns try a field goal…and make it. They try another field goal…and miss it, thankfully. We are still down by 1 to open the fourth quarter.

Our defense looks tired and the Browns look like playoff contenders against us. We can’t stop the rush and give up 10 more points late in the game. We get a gimme touchdown with under a minute to play, but it is much little, too late. MIN loses to CLV 21-18. One lost opportunity (sigh)

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 18 CLV 19
Rushing Yds MIN 86 CLV 194
Passing Yds MIN 206 CLV 158
Sacks Allowed MIN 1 CLV 2
QB Ints MIN 0 CLV 0
Fumbles/Lost MIN 1/1 CLV 0/0
Third Downs MIN 4/10 CLV 4/15
Time of Poss. MIN 25:42 CLV 34:18
Red Zone Stats MIN 3-2-1 CLV 5-1-3

Penalties kill us again - 10 for 76 yards)

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 9 for 26 yards, 0td
RB Sutter – 7 for 35 yards, 1td
FB Wekwert – 9 for 25 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 18 for 26, 206 yards, 1td & 0int
WR Jackson 6 for 115 yards, 0td
LB Stuart – 10 tackles & 2 assists
C McKinley – 3 for 6 KRB – finally

NFC Central Standings
DET (4-2), CHI (3-2), GB & TB (3-3), MIN (2-4)

Injury Report
Richie Stephens, G - Broken Foot, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Desmond Shull, RB - Sprained Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Perry Sutton, LB - Broken Foot, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Sam Hines, WR - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Clay Trujillo, CB - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

NFL Notes
Pittsburgh wins again. They are now 5-0 along with co-leader Cincinnati. The big showdown will come in week 9 and both teams have soft schedules until then. These two are definitely Superbowl favorites this year.

[SplitPersonality1]

Oct 17, 2010 - Week 7 – open week

Pittsburgh beats up on Baltimore 27-3, and Cincinnati over Tennessee 35-6. These are two very, tough teams. QB Toby Bullock of Cincy was amazing going 22 for 27, 306 yards & 5 TDs. Over in the NFC Central, Chicago squeaks past Washington 23-20, the Packers get the Lions and Tampa Bay gets past Atlanta.

NFC Central Standings
CHI (4-2), DET, GB & TB (4-3), MIN (2-4)

Hopefully, this break helps us as we start the post-“open date” part of the season with three consecutive home games.

Week 8 preview – vs. New Orleans
New Orleans starting QB Scott Sisson is a good player. So far this season: (93 for 168, 1272 yards, 9 TDs & 4 interceptions). The rest of the team, however, is average at best. We need this game. I need this game. I’m starting to get attaced to some of these guys and want to stick around to find out how their careers go.

Saints favored by 3.

[SplitPersonality1]

Oct 24, 2010 - Week 8 – Minnesota (2-4) vs. New Orleans (4-2)

Injury Report
Richie Stephens, G - Broken Foot, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Perry Sutton, LB - Broken Foot, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Sam Hines, WR - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Clay Trujillo, CB - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

Minnesota gets the ball first and the Vikings drive down to the Saints 2 yard line. Then the defense stiffens up and we bring in Walton for the chip shot 23 yarder. He missed! @$%##. 7 and half minutes of beautiful football wasted. (sigh) New Orleans doesn’t do much on their first drive. We continue to churn out yards on offense but cannot turn it into points.

In the midst of the second quarter, during another Viking long drive, McQueen throws an interception. However, just three plays later, the Saints fumble and safety Terry King recovered and runs it back 16 yards to the NO18. This rookie is having an amazing year. We finally get a touchdown as McQueen hits TE Giles. Minnesota is winning the first down war 11-2, and the yardage war 146 to 37 and we are just up by one td. We should be clobbering these guys.

The Saints march down the field unopposed, narrow the first down gap by getting 5 of them and score a tying touchdown. Crap. We do nothing and the game is all tied up at the half.

New Orleans goes three and out and gives us good field position. The Vikes move the ball somewhat, but Walton is forced to kick a 50-yarder…And hits! I can’t figure this kid out. We get to the end of the third still up 10-7.

The Saints cannot do anything on offense and the Viikings get a couple of first downs and stall….until 8 minutes to play. New Orleans QB Sisson turns into Dan Marino and hits his receiver with a perfect strike for a 64 yard td. The home fans are in shock. So are the players. They never recover giving uo another td under two minutes to play. Game over. NO 21 MIN 10. What the heck happened? Another lost opportunity. Crap.

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 19 NO 12
Rushing Yds MIN 94 NO 78
Passing Yds MIN 194 NO 181
Sacks Allowed MIN 8 NO 3
QB Ints MIN 1 NO 0
Fumbles/Lost MIN 0/0 NO 4/1
Third Downs MIN 7/18 NO 2/10
Time of Poss. MIN 37:18 NO 22:42
Red Zone Stats MIN 2-1-0 NO 2-2-0

How did we lose this game?

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 12 for 8 yards, 0td – ugh - pathetic
FB Wekwert – 11 for 73 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 18 for 34, 194 yards, 1td & 1int
WR Jackson – 5 for 70 yards, 0td
TE Giles – 7 for 71 yards, 1td
DT Reagor – 2 sacks
C McKinley – 3 for 7 KRB – back on track

NFC Central Standings
CHI (5-2), TB (4-3), GB & DET (4-4), MIN (2-5)

Injury Report
Richie Stephens, G - Broken Foot, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Perry Sutton, LB - Broken Foot, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Byron Jackson, WR - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Jeremy Coffey, WR - Tobacco Withdrawal Syndrome, full strength in 2011

NFL Notes
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati win again. The big showdown with these 7-0 teams is next week in Pittsburgh.

[SplitPersonality1]

Week 9 preview – vs. Hartford
With WR Coffey out for the year and Jackson hurt yet again, we put Coffey on IR and pick up rookie Jamie Del Greco. He stinks but is the only guy we could afford.

Whaler starting quarterback John Huntley is very, very bad. He has 8 TDs against 13 interceptions this season. Not that it seems to matter for the poor Vikings. He will probably transform into Brett Favre and throw 5 td’s against them. Hartford, like Minnesota, does not score much and gives up lots of points. This could be a very ugly poorly played game. The Vegas experts pick Whalers by 4.

[SplitPersonality1]

Oct 31, 2010 - Week 9 – Minnesota (2-5) vs. Hartford (2-5)

It’s Halloween and this game has the potential to be very scary.

The first few drives were pathetic for both teams, but Hartford blinked first as McQueen hit TE Hines for a 22 yard td late in the first quarter. Nice play. Whalers QB has yet to complete a pass and the Vikes capitalize by taking a nice long drive down the field and add a field goal. Whalers nothing, then RB Selby breaks one for a 91 yard touchdown. Vikes up 17-0.

The Whalers QB Huntley connects for his first pass on the day with 6:25 left in the half. The Viking fans applaud him. Come on guys; that was kind of tacky. Didn’t matter much as Hartford punted two plays later. Blocked! Minnesota ball at the HAR09. Amazingly, the Whalers send us back a yard and we end up with just 3. Halftime MIN20 HAR 0.

Hartford comes alive in the third and actually gets a nice drive. They attempt to get on the board with a field goal, but their kicker blows the 46 yard try. This is not the Whalers day. McQueen tacks on another touchdown and this game is just about over. Right? Wrong.

The Vikings do their best to try and lose this thing as kicker Walton missed two field goals and McQueen threw an interception in the fourth. The Whalers crawl to within 3 on Huntley's three td passes and the score is 27-24 with under two minutes to go. Then they successful pull off the onside kick.

Fortunately, the Viking defense picks a good time to wake up and stops the Whalers cold. McQueen takes a knee and we have another win on the books. Whew.

Game MVP: MIN 10 Sherman McQueen

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 24 HAR 14
Rushing Yds MIN 194 HAR 119
Passing Yds MIN 271 HAR 286
Sacks Allowed MIN 1 HAR 2
QB Ints MIN 1 HAR 0
Fumbles/Lost MIN 0/0 HAR 0/0
Third Downs MIN 7/14 HAR 2/12
Time of Poss. MIN 35:30 HAR 24:30
Red Zone Stats MIN 4-1-2 HAR 0-0-0

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 16 for 111yards, 1td
FB Wekwert – 10 for 32 yards, 0td
QB McQueen – 24 for 34, 271 yards, 2td & 1int
WR Fox – 8 for 87 yards, 0td
WR Hines – 7 for 80 yards, 2td
C McKinley – 4 for 8 KRB – excellent

NFC Central Standings
CHI (5-2), TB (4-3), GB & DET (4-4), MIN (3-5)

Injury Report
Byron Jackson, WR - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Blake Diron, LB - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Glen Keefe, TE - Broken Finger, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Jeremy Coffey, WR - Tobacco Withdrawal Syndrome, full strength in 2011

NFL Notes
Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati. The game went down to the wire and the visiting Bengals came away with the victory on a last second field goal.

[SplitPersonality1]

Midseason Report


2010 Regular Season Standings

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
New England 6 3 0 .667 208 186 4-1-0 6-2-0
Indianapolis 5 3 0 .625 207 145 3-1-0 4-2-0
New York J 4 4 0 .500 177 183 3-3-0 3-3-0
Buffalo 4 4 0 .500 168 208 2-3-0 3-4-0
Burlington (VT) 2 7 0 .222 163 202 1-3-0 1-6-0
Miami 1 6 1 .188 158 168 1-3-0 1-4-1

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Cincinnati 8 0 0 1.000 171 97 5-0-0 6-0-0
Pittsburgh 7 1 0 .875 171 88 4-1-0 6-1-0
Baltimore 3 5 1 .389 136 143 2-5-0 3-5-1
Cleveland 3 5 0 .375 122 150 2-2-0 2-3-0
Jacksonville 3 5 0 .375 128 200 1-4-0 3-4-0
Tennessee 2 7 0 .222 115 239 2-4-0 2-5-0

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Provo (UT) 6 3 0 .667 202 201 4-2-0 6-2-0
Seattle 5 3 0 .625 148 126 4-2-0 4-3-0
San Diego 4 4 0 .500 168 160 2-2-0 3-3-0
Denver 4 4 0 .500 156 170 2-4-0 2-4-0
Kansas City 4 5 0 .444 156 154 3-3-0 3-4-0
Oakland 2 7 0 .222 144 206 2-4-0 2-5-0

NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Arizona 8 1 0 .889 198 124 3-1-0 5-1-0
Dallas 5 3 0 .625 185 136 4-1-0 4-1-0
Philadelphia 5 4 0 .556 157 180 3-3-0 4-3-0
New York G 2 7 0 .222 139 183 1-3-0 2-5-0
Washington 1 7 0 .125 82 170 1-4-0 1-7-0

NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Chicago 6 2 0 .750 170 118 2-0-0 4-2-0
Tampa Bay 5 3 0 .625 205 139 1-3-0 4-3-0
Detroit 4 4 0 .500 141 132 2-3-0 3-3-0
Green Bay 4 5 0 .444 198 147 3-1-0 3-3-0
**Minnesota 3 5 0 .375 125 182 2-3-0 3-4-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Carolina 5 3 0 .625 189 122 3-1-0 4-1-0
San Francisco 5 3 0 .625 234 195 4-2-0 4-3-0
New Orleans 5 3 0 .625 179 168 2-2-0 4-2-0
Atlanta 5 4 0 .556 180 187 3-2-0 4-3-0
St. Louis 3 5 0 .375 173 170 2-3-0 2-5-0
Hartford 2 6 0 .250 136 210 1-5-0 1-6-0


In the AFC, the two teams to beat seem to be Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. But the biggest surprise this year has been Arizona with a 8-1 record. They are led by star QB Ricardo Breedlove, a 10 year vet that had a Pro-Bowl last year. So far this year he has completed a blistering 65.7% of his passes for 1908 yards and a QBR of 97.4.

Other great offensive performances so far:
QB Morris Hirshberg of SF – 1973 yards, 19td, 6 int & QBR of 100.7
RB Jorge Glendenning of ATL – 1008 yards & 8td
RB Antoine Dedds of SF – 959 yards & 8td
WR Josepgh Cooley of DAL – 63 catches and 960 yards
WR Lance Wynn of NYG – 64 catches and 906 yards

On defense:
DE Craig Hutchins of KC & DE Kenneth Fletcher of SD have 10 sacks each
LB Wali Rainer of MIA has 77 tackles – on pace to destroy Ray Lewis 6 yr old record of 138
Minnesota rookie S Terry King is one of three players with 5 interceptions – DROY?

Minnesota doesn’t really have many other bright spots. Rookie center McKinley has 17 KRBs, but really hasn’t performed up to expectations. LB Jackie Stuart is among the leaders in tackles with 63, but has just 1 sack. The leading receiver is Fox at just 470 yards and the leading rusher is FB Ian Wekwert with 267 yards. Not great guys.

QB Sherman “Tank” McQueen is just average. 1724 yards, 8td & 7int. Not great. He doesn’t suck. He really needs to improve greatly to right the ship and get us back to .500.

Distractions have been a problem this season as backup QB Todd Amaral & backup TE Glen Keefe are demanding to be traded. There are also rumblings from five other players.


Week 10 preview – vs. Philadelphia

The Eagles started the year hot, winning 5 of their first six games. They have since cooled off considerably, losing an embarrassing game last week to the previously winless Redskins. They are now 5-4, just a half game out of playoff contention. They need a win here to stay in the hunt. The oddsmakers sense their hunger and favor them by 8.5.

[SplitPersonality1]

Nov 7, 2010 - Week 10 – Minnesota (3-5) vs. Philadelphia (5-4)

After a quick thre and out by the Vikings, McNabb opens up with a 47 yard pass play to get to the MN11. Threes plays later, the Eagles lead by a touchdown. Minnesota gets it ground game going wit Wekwert and Selby moving the ball…until Selby’s fumble was returned for another td. Philly up by 14. The Vikes finally get moving on offense, without a turnover, and get on the board with a field goal. 14-3 after one.

Philly’s first drive in the second quarter is interesting only because they decided to go for it on 4th and 1 on the MIN11. And missed. Maybe this will jumpstart the Vikings.

Maybe so. McQueen and company work hard to get it down inside the red zone…then Queenie throws a ^%$&&$ interception, ruining the drive. (arrgh)

McNabb gets a decent drive of his own, stalls at the MIN 45, and goes for it on 4th and 5 at the MIN45 ?!?. And the basterds succeed. Two minute warning. I’m not sure if that was ballsy or stupid. Either way, it worked. The Minnesota defense holds up however, and Philly comes away with a field goal. PHI 17 MIN 3 at the break.

The third quarter was fairly uneventful, The Eagles added 3 more. Things didn’t get interesting until the fourth when McNabb fumbled the ball on his own 21. Unfortunately, the Vikings couldnot move the ball and settle for a field goal…attempt. Another chip shot miss from Walton. (%^&%$&)

Got to hand it McQueen , the guy does not give up. The Vikings march down the field in a desperate attempt to get more points on the board. They have played toe to toe with these guys and should not be losing by 17! They get to the redzone again...and McQueen throws a pic…again.

Next play, McNabb returns the favor. Viking ball on the PHI20. Nine minutes to go. We have to get a td here, or it’s pretty much over. McQueen gets saked on third down and we settle for 3. Just under 8 left. Two plays later. FUMBLE! Our ball on the 34.

Next play…another stinkin’ ^%%&*^% interception. I hate this game!

With three plus minutes to go, Philly seals the win with a 67 yard td run off left tackle. Vikes get a td late, get the onside kick, but Philly rubs salt in the wound by getting another td on yet another McQueen interception. He would throw one more pic before it was all over. PHI 34 MIN 13.

Game Stats
First Downs MIN 18 PHI 18
Rushing Yds MIN 57 PHI 161
Passing Yds MIN 317 PHI 164
Sacks Allowed MIN 2 PHI 1
QB Ints MIN 5 PHI 1
Fumbles/Lost MIN 0/11 PHI 8/17
Third Downs MIN 7/14 PHI 2/12
Time of Poss. MIN 24:44 PHI 35:16
Red Zone Stats MIN 4-1-2 PHI 3-1-1

0 for 11 in 3rd downs?

Individual Stats
RB Selby – 8 for 25, 0td
QB McQueen – 22 for 46, 317 yards, 1td & 5int
WR Gardner – 6 for 126 yards, 0td
WR Hines – 5 for 73 yards, 0td

NFC Central Standings
CHI (7-2), TB (6-3), GB & DET (4-5), MIN (3-6)

Injury Report
C.J. Bryant, DT - Back Surgery, full strength in Late 2011
Jeremy Coffey, WR - Tobacco Withdrawal Syndrome, full strength in 2011

NFL Notes
Chicago beat previously undefeated Cincinnati. They are starting to play very well.

[SplitPersonality1]

The fans in Minnesota are screaming for blood. They want mine. In a last ditch effort to save my wretched job, I will bench McQueen in favor of the backup Amaral. He can’t do any worse. Right?!?

[SplitPersonality1]

Week 11 – at Detroit
Well, we travel to Detroit to face a team we actually beat this season. The only positive to say is that they have a QB that has played worse that McQueen. They have dropped their last three. Despite that, they are favored by 4.5. Figures.

[SplitPersonality1]

Let’s face it. With the release of FOF2K4, no one is going to give a rip about how this 2010 season with the Minnesota Vikings turns out. However, in the interest of being complete, here is what occurred in the remainder of the season.

In week 11, we go on the road to face a poor Lions squad. We fall behind early, crawl back in it and eventually lose in OT, 34-27.

In week 12, we travel to New York to face the Giants. We lose a seesaw track-meet style game in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. Final 34-33. Our record is 3-8 and I have just about given up hope of keeping my job. I begin sneaking home Viking cups, pens, letter openers and anything else I can get my hands on. It is only a matter of time before the axe is placed on my neck.

The Pack comes to Minneapolis in week 13 and we redeem a horrific week 3 loss at the hands of Green Bay. We squeak past the Pack, 23-20.

The season officially becomes a losing one in week 14 as we get spanks by the Cardinals 41-26. This game was never close.

We gets wins at Jacksonville and at home against Da Bears and wrap the season up with our tenth loss when we travel to Baltimore. Final record: 6-10. Yikes.

[SplitPersonality1]

A Year in Review

QB Sherman McQueen never emerged as the star quarterback of the future. His 3561 yards was 8th in the league, but with 20 interceptions against just 18 touchdowns and a QBR of 74.2; we can safely say that he is an average QB at best.

RB Emmanuel Selby missed a few games due to injury, but here is another case of a star just not getting the job done. 613 yards is just not enough to take a team to the next level.

WR Byron Jackson performed the best of the offensive players. He was 10 yards shy of 1000 through 14 games played. Injuries plagued him all season as well.

Defense was a big problem. The leading sacker only had 6.5. The only bright spot was defensive Rookie of the Year Terry King who led the lead in interceptions through most of the season and finished up with 7, just two behind the NFL leader.

The oly other player with end of the year honors was Ian Wekwert. He was named First Team fullback.

2010 Regular Season Standings

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Indianapolis 10 6 0 .625 431 313 7-3-0 9-4-0
New England 9 7 0 .563 333 364 7-3-0 9-4-0
New York J 8 8 0 .500 342 322 5-5-0 7-6-0
Buffalo 7 9 0 .438 362 437 4-6-0 6-7-0
Miami 5 10 1 .344 330 356 4-6-0 5-7-1
Burlington (VT) 4 12 0 .250 262 335 3-7-0 3-10-0

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Cincinnati 12 4 0 .750 318 203 8-2-0 10-3-0
Pittsburgh 10 5 1 .656 299 230 6-3-1 9-3-1
Tennessee 8 8 0 .500 285 322 5-5-0 7-6-0
Cleveland 7 9 0 .438 237 297 6-4-0 6-7-0
Baltimore 6 9 1 .406 286 280 3-7-0 4-8-1
Jacksonville 4 11 1 .281 206 358 1-8-1 4-8-1

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Denver 9 7 0 .563 339 298 6-4-0 6-7-0
San Diego 9 7 0 .563 344 304 5-5-0 7-6-0
Provo (UT) 9 7 0 .563 323 360 5-5-0 7-6-0
Seattle 7 9 0 .438 260 310 6-4-0 6-7-0
Kansas City 6 10 0 .375 253 280 4-6-0 5-8-0
Oakland 6 10 0 .375 297 361 4-6-0 5-8-0

NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Arizona 14 2 0 .875 386 238 7-1-0 10-2-0
Dallas 8 8 0 .500 345 326 5-3-0 7-5-0
Philadelphia 8 8 0 .500 298 311 3-5-0 7-6-0
New York G 5 11 0 .313 251 320 3-5-0 5-8-0
Washington 4 12 0 .250 212 350 2-6-0 2-10-0

NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Tampa Bay 10 6 0 .625 381 301 4-4-0 7-6-0
Chicago 9 7 0 .563 320 329 4-4-0 6-6-0
Detroit 8 8 0 .500 304 299 4-4-0 6-6-0
Green Bay 8 8 0 .500 380 273 4-4-0 6-6-0
**Minnesota 6 10 0 .375 305 391 4-4-0 5-8-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Carolina 13 3 0 .813 376 260 9-1-0 12-1-0
New Orleans 10 6 0 .625 365 319 5-5-0 8-5-0
Atlanta 9 7 0 .563 335 333 5-5-0 7-6-0
San Francisco 8 8 0 .500 406 366 4-6-0 5-8-0
St. Louis 7 9 0 .438 345 338 4-6-0 4-9-0
Hartford 7 9 0 .438 309 341 3-7-0 4-9-0

[SplitPersonality1]

Just got an e-mail from the Viking ownership and it is now official. I have been fired for the very first time in all my seasons playing Front Office Football. And that is how I will leave the game of FOF 2001.

It is time to say goodbye to my Virginia Stars, Melbourne Dragons and LA Diablos. Goodbye Greenville Palmettos, Arkansas Rock Hogs & Carolina Firewheels. And of course goodbye to the only non-expansion dynasty I ever played; the Minnesota Vikings.

It’s time to move on to bigger and better things. Looking forward to test driving FOF 2K4.