Minnesota Vikings-- The Barbaric Age

[Lonweld]

Week #1 @ Packers

A cold and dreary day, Northeastern wind at 20mph. A hard-fought game of luck over skill. Neither team could move the ball with any consistency. Big plays were all that kept either team in the contest.

Down 20-14 late in the fourth quarter, less then 7 minutes left. The Pack just scored on a pick-six. They kickoff left, Chester received it at the kick at the seven. And he kept going. And going. and going! Broken tackles, nice stiffarms, and a SUWEET juke that totally faked their kicker out of his cleats, and he goes the distance! 93 yd kickoff return for a td, with the PAT we go ahead 21-20. Two key defensive stands later, and we win!

Player of the Game:
C. Taylor
8 rush, 9 yds, 1 TD
1 catch, 24 yds
3 KR, 140 yds, 1TD(93)
4 PR, 21 yds

As i said offense was pretty poor. I had less then 100 total rushing yards, and under 270 yards total. I went 0/12 on 3rd down, but 3/3 on fourth.

[Lonweld]

Week #2 vs Colts

Payton is a beast. For all my efforts, I could not get to him, and couldnt stop him. The Colts are looking pretty good to make it to the show.

They got the opening kickoff, and I was able to hold them to a 3 and out. I immediately drove down, stalling at the 14, settling for a 31 yd field goal. And that would be the end of scoring for me.

Jackson got a minor injury (bruised hand) which put him out for 7-10 plays. I put in Woodson and he had a little success passing, so I left him in for the rest of the game. (I may change my QB philosophy to field general and see if that improves his potential ect.)

I managed only 45yds rushing, while holding payton to a measly 299 yds passing. Only one sack and one interception against him. This one was pretty painful.

L, 28-3

Player of the Game
D. Ryans
10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles

(btw I only use MY players for POG LOL)

Season Record: 1-1

[Lonweld]

Week 3 vs Panthers

Started out the Panthers drove the opening kickoff down and got a field goal. On my first possession, they intercepted and ran it back for a td. In the first 7 minutes, i'm down 10-0

My next drive stalled, so I punted. We pinned them inside the 5. 3rd & 7, defining moment.... Blitz or Zone. Of course I went with the Blitz.... Delhome passes into the flat where Winfield is sitting tight with open arms... Pick-- SIX! now we're down 10-7.

Down 20-7 at the half, we recieved the kick.. Wade returns it 93 yards for the td! 20-14.

It's 27-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. It's 4th and goal for me at the 2 yd line. Defining moment. I go for it... and get stopped at the one inch line On their first play, we tackled their HB for a safety! 27-16

On the ensuing safety punt, I was able to drive down and score with AP. 27-23

They drive and score again, 34-23.

On our next drive, Woodson hits Rice for a 43 yd td, a beautiful deep pass in the end zone, one on one coverage, just over the corner's shoulder. AP got the 2pt conversion, bringing it to 34-31

Their next drive, Ogunleye intercepts Delhome at the carolina 36. 2 plays later, AP scoots in from 22 yards out to give us our first lead of the game, 38-34

We are able to hold them to 3/out on their next possession, and they punt? wtf? oh well lol. AP scampers in for his 3rd score of the day from 49 yds out. I swear this boy gets better and better as the game goes on! 1:53 4Q, 45-34 good guys :P

On their next possession, Winfield catches their pass for them, and scampers 43 yds for ANOTHER pick-six! 52-34

Very next possession, D. Sharper gets a pick six from 69 yrds out! What the H$LL? Where was all this defense last week against Indy??

59-34 with 28 seconds left. Stopped them with little effort to end the game.

Playing only woodson this game, he managed it very well. 13/23, 205 yds, 1 td 1 int. Not spectacular, but he did everything he was asked of and more. I'm convinced he's my qb of the future..... Changed my qb philosophy to field general, and he's now 78 ovr, with 92 pot...

Picking the player of the game was pretty tough this time around.
Peterson went 19 rush, 176 yds, 3 td and a 2pt conversion, averaging 9.2 per carry. Then there's Wade returning the kickoff to the house. But in the end, I went with....

Player of the Game
Winfield 2 tackles, 2tfl, 2 int, 2td. thrown at 7 times, one completion for 10 yds, 2 knockdowns....

Yes this was a pretty surprising ending to what started as a crappy game.

Season record: 2-1

[Skarecrow]

Nice game. Sometimes the momentum of the game does seem to swing hard in the second half. I've seen several times that you can't judge Quarter #4 by Quarter #1 or #2.

Until you changed to field general, I was wondering if andre was the QB for you if you had a speed philosophy, his one weakness (well, comparatively speaking) is running. He doesn't do it as well as a lot of other QBs. As long as you don't often ask that of him though, he'll do you well.

Don't worry about the colts for now. The first few seasons they're nearly unstopable. They have all the talent in the world, great playbooks on both O and D, and arguably the best overall coaching staff in the league. My current Steelers franchise went 14-2 their first year, and lost to the colts twice, once in regular season, once in the AFC championship. Mind you this was a very strong Steelers team. We beat the chiefs something like 68-7, but lost to the Colts the very next week. As I told my wife after the regular season loss to the Colts (She really will watch me play the game sometimes), "We play like a team bound for the playoffs. They play like a team bound for superbowl rings."

[Lonweld]

Yes I did have speed philosoPhy because my original intent was to run with T. Jackson. But Woodson got a chance, and he made the most of it. Really all I'm losing out on is a few option plays, so the QB speed probably won't be much of a factor.

[Lonweld]

Week #4 @ Titans

This was an up and down game for my team. They became stupid later in the game.

Tennessee got the kickoff. On their second play, Greenwood picked them off at my 37. On their first play of their second possession, Greenwood sacks him to force a punt.

My possession. On 3rd and inches from the Titans 49 yd line, AP goes the distance for the first score of the game. 7-0

In the 2nd Q my defense forgot how to tackle on consecutive 3rd and long plays, consequently letting them drive down and score. 7-7.

D. Sharper, in all his faded glory, had a 45yd pick-six near the end of the 2nd Q. 17-7

3Q, AP can't run all of a sudden. He becomes ******** and runs left/right instead of forward. No scoring for either team.

4Q, tennessee sustained a long, clock eating drive to bring us even 17 all. There was nothing spectacular about the rest of the game, which I ended up losing 27-24.

POG
Greenwood
5 tak, 1 tfl, 1 sack, 1 int, 1 fum rec.

Season Record: 2-2 (failed my quickstart goal)

[Lonweld]

Week #5 @ Saints

The first play of this game told me exactly what to expect for the rest of it. I went 4-3 OLB fire, which is pretty common for me because the AI almost always runs after a kickoff. Well, this time they didnt, and Colston beat man coverage for a 73 yd td. 0-7

My next possession I was able to keep pace, Woodson hitting Erickson for an 11 yd TD. 7-7

My next possession, Bullocks pick-sixed me (40yds) 7-14

Nearing the end of the second quarter, it's 4th and goal at their two. My previous 3 plays were AP up the middle and off guard, resulting in basically +1 yard. Defining moment. I choose to go for it, and having faith in AP I choose inside run for the 4th time in a row. And he pulls it out! tied 14-14

After the kickoff, I got them in 3rd and long. Sitting in my newly created 2 rush/9 cover zone, Greenway (Boy sure seems im saying his name a lot lately) gets a 33yd pick-six! 21-17 going into the half

First drive of the 3rd Q, I have driven down consistently with inside runs. 1st and 10 at their 29, Woodson hits Burton in the endzone.. He had a beautiful one-handed catch for the TD! 28-17

On the very next play, McKelvin returns the kick 90 yds for a TD. 28-24

On the very next play, Wade returns our kick for an 88 yd td. 35-24

Things went downhill from there, enough so that I didnt bother writing anything down. We ended up losing 38-35 though.

POG
Greenwood (again)
6 tackle, 1 tfl, 1 sack, 1 int, 1 TD, 3 hurries

Season Record: 2-3

[Lonweld]

Week 6 vs Lions

As you can about imagine, on paper I should win this game. Here's how it played out.

Opening kickoff, C. Taylor returns 94 yds for a td. 7-0

A drive or two later, AP scores from 15 yds out. 14-0

AP then scores from 2yds. 21-7 (they scored in there but I didnt write it down)

AP scored on a 3 yd run. 28-7

Taylor 14 yd td. 35-7

Final was 35-14 good guys

POG
Taylor
20-122, 1 TD
2 KR 121 yds, 1 TD
1 PR 13 yds

M. Hart goes down in this game but I can't remember what from. He's out for 3-6weeks

Season Record: 3-3

My TOP 35:37
I held them to 179 total offense.