Purp&Yellow {Official Vikings Team Page}

[d11king]

Playoff Report

The Vikings have clinched their 3rd straight NFC North Division title, and have the 2nd seed in the NFC for the 2nd straight year. Last season the Vikings fell in their lone playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals 20-16, when asked about the possibility of facing their rival Arizona Cardinals again, Coach d11king responded,

"It's not a rivalry first of all. You can't be down 1-3 in a career series and expect to call it a rivalry. First we have to defeat them, and most importantly, defeat them when it matters, but as of right now, it's a one-sided affair.

"We still have a lot of work to do, we were in this same position last season, and we didn't execute. The playoffs are a completely different season, and this season we have to understand, we're not going to be playing sub .500 teams, we're not going to be playing teams down on themselves because they are without a coach, we're not going to be playing teams that turn the ball over. We're going to be playing against Super Bowl contending teams, so we have to bring our A game because our opponent is going to bring theirs," Coach d11king said.

The team is also facing an opponent they've not faced in the playoffs since Coach d11king joined... Injuries. The VIkings have been injury-plagued this season as a lot of key players went down (pause) and will not make an appearance on the field these playoffs. Among those players,

WR Percy Harvin, FS Husain Abdullah, and RT Cooper Scott. MLB EJ Henderson should be healthy for the Divisional Round. TE Kyle Rudolph returned from his injury Week 17 against the Lions.

Adrian Peterson said, "We'll be ready. This is what we worked for all season, and now it's time to put up or shut up."



Note

Congratulations to all the teams who made the playoffs, including the newcomer teams, Denver Broncos (mLe206), Houston Texans (weezy da boss22), and Carolina Panthers (allday13). Good luck to you all.

[d11king]

Draft

The Vikings came into this draft uncertain with what they would do with their 1st round pick. With the trade bringing CB Patrick Robinson from the Saints to the Vikings being vetoed, sources believed they would use their pick to acquire CB Jorell Reed or CB Bryant Edwards if available. They were taken off the board within the first 15 picks, and with their OL needs being thin, team officials expected management to use the pick on either LG Keylo Andrews or DT Jarret Spencer. Both players were taken off the board before the Vikings could pick...

But with the 1st Round 30th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected TE Jason Fobbs out of THEE
University of Southern California (FIGHT ON!)

"Quite frankly, we were suprised he was still on the board," Head Coach d11king said. "He was the best player available at the time, but it makes it even better that it was one of our position desires to fill (pause) later in the draft, but with his skill set and the tandem of he and TE Kyle Rudolph, we feel as if, all of our offensive skill set positions for any situation, are filled. We will be a great efficient offensive team for many years to come hopefully."

TE Jason Fobbs (A-pot) 6'4 270 lbs.

Key Attributes
(83 SPD, 84 CTCH, 79 RTERN, 82 CIT, 84 SPTCCTCH, 83 RLS, 83 RNBLCK, 78 RNBLCKFT)
The best Tight End in this year's draft, very good receiver, decent run blocker, and with up-and-coming star TE Kyle Rudolph (A-pot) alongside, look for the Vikings to go to a lot of 2 TE sets to force mismatches.

And with their 3rd round pick, the Vikings selected DT Kenarious Reeves of Fresno St.

DT Kenarious Reeves (C-pot) 6'4 286 lbs.

Key Attributes
(91 STR, 88 PWRMV, 83 FNSMV, 82 BLCKSHD, 81 ACC, 79 TCK, 76 HTPWR)
A decent player at best, but has the tools you need to be an effective DT, his awareness and play recogonition are what he needs to work on.

"NFL experts had said there were better defensive tackles out there, but our scouts didn't see enough from them in key attributes... the ability to shed a block, or how great their power move was to get through the offensive lineman (pause) and this kid had the best attributes at those specific attributes, and we feel because of that, he'll be a great addition to our heavily rotated defensive line," Head Coach d11king said.

[d11king]

Star Power
Vikings Lose To 'Boys In Season Opener 27-26

Adrian Peterson rushes for 109 yards, but Vikes fall short.

The roof was open, it was Sunday Night Football, and the game came down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Purp&Yellow squad, they left Dallas under .500 for the first time since Head Coach d11king took over.

"It's unfortunate to lose the way we did but give all the credit to Dallas, they played a helluva game," Adrian Peterson said.

All 3 of the Cowboys touchdowns were of plays 40+ yards or more, including the game changer, an 83 yard Hail Mary to WR T.Perkins just before halftime to send his team into halftime trailing 20-14.

QB Ryan Mallet threw for 323 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT to take Player of the Game honors. The 'Boys had 6 QB tackles, including 3 from FA signing Red Bryant. Adrian Peterson rushed for 109 yards and his FA signing backup James Starks rushed for 57 yards on 9 carries with a TD.

"We never want to take positives from a losing game, but offensively, I think this is the best core of players. Defensively we have to get our pass defense back in our favor. But our biggest problem this season will be the offensive line. We will not win many games this year if Ponder doesn't have time to throw the ball," Head Coach d11king said.

THe Vikings next opponent is on the road against the Carolina Panthers.

NOTES

FS Husain Abdullah was injured again for a duration of time, suffering a Partial PCL Tear. He will be out for 11 weeks.

[d11king]

Prime Suspect
Vikings Can't Hold On To 17-Point Lead, Lose In Overtime

QB Cam Newton scrambles and avoids a Vikings defender.

"We just didn't execute the way we normally do out there, and now we're 0-2, and looking for answers," TE Kyle Rudolph said. With such high expectations coming into the season, a disappointing start is only a percentage of saying for how the Vikings feel in the locker room.

HB Adrian Peterson said, "It's only 2 games, and we still have 14 to play, so I'm not really worried about it. We should be fine, we've played really good teams, and lost really good games."

The Vikings opened the game with a 17-0 lead halfway through the 2nd, and from that point on struggled offensively to get points, and defensively to make stops. It appeared the gameplan was to stop star HB Antavio Bolton who only rushed for 49 yards, to force Cam Newton into passing into the self-proclaimed good secondary of the Vikings.... he did just that, throwing for 437 yards and 3 TDs and 3 INTs, including a 76 yard scamper to WR Miles Austin with less that 20 seconds remaining in regulation. The Vikings were winning 24-17 with less than a minute to go, and the Panthers having to go 80 yards.

"It's the 2nd straight week where we continuously are giving up constant big plays to receivers in the secondary," CB Denzel Tate said. "I'm not happy about it, and I don't think the other guys are happy about it either."

The offense of the Vikings, which is probably the best it's been under Coach d11king can't find much of a rhythm, outside of the 1-2 punch of HB Adrian Peterson and HB James Starks. The Vikings went away from the run game, and continued with the passing attack although QB Christian Ponder threw 3 INTs, including the game ending pick in OT.

The Vikings next game is Week 4 against the Washington Redskins. They will serve their Bye Week, next week.

"It is what it is. We lost another game in the 4th, a game we should have won, and it just shows we're not wearing our Clutch jeans, we don't have our clutch genes, and we're not executing. It's going to be a loooonnnngggg season, especially given the schedule we have, but I believe in my guys, and I think we'll be right there at the end of the day," Head Coach d11king said.

"At the end of the day though, you want to finish the game with more points than the other team."

Notes
WR Ikeem Hardway was lost for 8 weeks with a Herniated Disk.

The Vikings have lost both games this season by 3 points or less, after leading in the 4th quarter with less than 2 minutes remaining.