For the exciting conclusion to this story, you'll have to check out The Daily Norseman, SBNation's home of the Minnesota Vikings.
Jul 30, 2010 - Recently, I was afforded the opportunity to present some questions to the good folks over at Football Outsiders. Football Outsiders is, quite frankly, the best statistical site on the internet for my money, and the 2010 version of their football almanac is now available on their website or, if you insist on having a print copy, you can check out Amazon.com.
The folks from Football Outsiders were kind enough to answer ten questions about the Vikings for me, and I'm sharing the first five of those questions here with you. The other five will be located over at The Daily Norseman, SBNation's Minnesota Vikings haven. Thanks to Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders for taking the time out of his schedule to answer these questions for me.
That sort of correlation isn't normal, but it's hard to pinpoint a definitive reason why that happened to the Vikings. I think you have to look for anecdotal reasons -- the coverage wasn't as good as it was the year before, probably owing to the absence of Antoine Winfield and Darren Sharper. Or maybe it was a total fluke. I'm guessing it's a combination of those two factors.
The interception rate is going to rise. He was historically low for a fair amount of the season for any quarterback, let alone Favre. Everything else about his performance is sustainable.
I don't see Harvin playing a serious role in the running game. I think he ends up as too breakable to play any sort of consistent role as a back, even if it's just 2-4 carries a game. As for Gerhart, it depends on AD's health and Gerhart's development rate. If he's handling pass protection well in camp and in the preseason, I think he sees a fair amount of time as a third down back and change of pack for Peterson. Otherwise, it could be a lot of Peterson early on.
I think you have to expect them to improve. I don't think Bryant McKinnie is as bad as he looked a year ago, and certainly, while you might expect Steve Hutchinson to play a little worse each year as he gets old, Sullivan and Loadholt should be getting better as they mature.
It's only a four-game regular season sample, and one of the games was basically meaningless, so I don't think you can really make any broad statements. With that being said, the defense had a -0.1% DVOA with Henderson as the starter, and were at 7.2% with Brinkley in there. (On defense, a negative DVOA is a good thing, so this suggests they were better with Henderson than with Brinkley.) Correlation here isn't necessarily causation.
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Harsh semi-accurate washed down review . IMO
Q1. Our very slow start while adjusting to Brett had us behind in nearly all of or first five games . They were the easy ones . The short drives along with. As you clearly pointed out . The two veterians were sorely missed .
Q2. With the slow start last year . And the types of run not pass Defenses that we will face . It doesn’t suprize me that the Run game will advance in 2010 . New Orleans showed that the QB can still have big #‘s . Berrian came on strong in the playoffs . Gerhart will factor in those away games . How can one ask for less than seven INT’s ? TD’s and total yards can go higher .
Q3. Harvin coming out of the backfield in motion can draw men out of the box . One on one during draw plays will be hard to defend . Small backs are hard to account for . Don’t believe for a minute small guys can’t play . Ask Chris Johnson ?
Toby will have a completely different role than that of Chester . Betwen the tackles . Solid blocker . Smart player . He will factor in with several games . How easly will Brad do it . That’s the real question ?
Q4. The assessment is in left field on this one . Reverse order . The second year of these two . Along with the surgical recovery of Herrera and Hutch will contribute . Brad claims to have had Brett take what the Defense gave him last year . This year a mor aggressive playbook is in order . Along with a more aggressive prevent cover 2 for that matter !
Q5. Left field again ! The team . Not the stat’s admitted that the loss of EJ was a huge factor . The LB’s were much less aggressive . They seemed to be preventing big plays rather than attacking . This is a dynamic Defense and I can’t stand when they are compared to Average . The Triangle gave us a vet , top pick and resigned players in the DB area to help . EJ is a monster and his LB’s (though I felt that Curran was lost as a third rd pick at OLB) will be ready to go . Half the special team comes from the backups here . And the Big boys up front . Well, Brad said it best . Pat’s so big that he could eat hay and poop in the street !
I don’t mind a rough assessment by these guys . We are far from perfect . The Coaches conservative playcalling early last year was a curse and a blessing . A more aggressive style of using these dynamic players may boost the stats above and beyond last year . Go back and look at the #‘s to the first five games and you will see why I’m so optomistic ???
by gothicpurple on Aug 1, 2010 1:33 PM CDT reply actions
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