Yesterday, for the first time, I was wondering if he's a complete player at his position or just a sack guy. I'm watching the Colts run a successful reverse to Allen's side of the field because they know he's going to sell out to get the sack. And I'm watching Allen go so crazy for the sack when Luck is scrambling toward the sidelines that Allen nails him three yards out of bounds. That 15 yard penalty may have cost us the game, if I recall correctly, and I'm not sure Allen makes that stupid penalty if he is playing under control rather than smelling sacks like a bloodhound smells blood.
Clearly, Allen is a very good player, I'm not trying to debate that. And yes, I did notice him bat down a ball yesterday at the line of scrimmage when he knew that a sack wasn't available. But the issue here isn't whether the Vikes want Allen on their team, but whether he belongs in the same category as Randle, Doleman and the other Canton pass rushers. Gastineau was a great sacker too, and he's not in the Hall. The difference for me is that the Canton guys are complete players who get their sacks but don't hurt their team when the sacks aren't coming. And yesterday, Allen was exposed on multiple occasions as a notch below them. Maybe it was just a bad game for him, but I'm starting to wonder about it. I'd like him to talk a little less about his stupid sack stats and a little more about the team winning. And by the way, that sack they took away from him in week one was a good call -- he did jump offsides. If he wants to get off the ball within a nanosecond of the snap, he needs to line up further back of the line and cut himself a little margin of error, because that time he was early.
Changing topics from Jared, I had to say that as much as I have loved Andrew Luck since I first saw him at Stanford and noticed how much he was changing the fate of my college's program (heck of a win on Saturday night!), it made me sick to see him and his team of nobodies beat the Vikes yesterday. They had a patchwork offensive line, no running game, and they still won -- and deserved to win. Take away that fluke of a TD on the double deflection and perhaps we don't even get close yesterday. How depressing.
And speaking of depressing, I cracked up listening to Billick make excuses for Ponder and the Vikes. "Game manager"? Please. Ponder may be a fine second string QB. And he may even be a minimally adequate starter if you've got, say, the 85 Bears defense or the defense that Billick's Ravens had the year they won the Super Bowl. But the Vikes D isn't even in the same league as those guys and nor is Ponder in the same league as the QBs who affirmatively help to win Super Bowls. The "much improved" Ponder -- and I would agree that he is much improved still was thoroughly outplayed by a guy in his second game. The Vikes offensive coordinator lacks confidence in Ponder to throw the ball downfield. And from what I've seen, I can't totally blame the coordinator. The guy doesn't stand up in the pocket and make good decisions. And he's not God's gift to accuracy or arm strength either. (But other than that, Ms. Lincoln, how did you like the play ...) Ponder also ran the world's worst hurry up offense during the middle of the fourth quarter, but this time I'm not sure it's his fault -- we did, after all, see him rally the team with urgency at the end of the Jacksonville game. Still, whoever was at fault, I agree with the other announcer who kept repeating over and over again that the Vikes were taking too much time with a 14 point deficit. It just didn't look like a Big League team.
Also, I realize that AD isn't 100%, but it still was odd to see him so ineffective against a D that was supposed to stink. In part, I blame the offensive coordinator for the failure to throw the ball to him out of the backfield until there was less than two minutes in the game. Watching the Vikes O always seems like a triple A team these days except for that one year when Favre was around. Now THERE was a QB.
But all is not lost, Vikings fans. Because we do have a kicker with a big leg. A BIG leg. Also, I like the tight end we drafted out of Notre Dame. And #12 is a freak of nature ... just like #28. In the end though, this is a team that lacks talent throughout most of the defense and at the QB position. Add in a mediocre OL (Johnson alone will prevent this line from being called good) and a tough division, and times figure to be tough for a while.
But hey, there's always the Twins, right?
I don't want to end this rant on such a sad note. At least we're getting a new stadium. And this is a league where fortunes can change quicker than people think. Plus, we all know that 11 years from our debacle in New Orleans, we'll be back in the NFC Championship Game with a legitimate chance to win it. We still have to suffer for a few more years first, apparently, but it's just a matter of time. Who knows -- maybe when we're really, really, really old, and all our old friends have long since died, people will ask us what motivates us to keep fighting and we'll tell them: "We're waiting for that first Vikings Super Bowl win!" See, every cloud has a silver lining.
I'm not sure who the really bad teams will be this season, although the Chiefs are looking more and more like a safe bet. The Colts are probably a safe bet too but they're a very different team than they were last year so who knows? The Vikes definitely self-destructed yesterday. Penalties and mental mistakes absolutely killed them.
