Sunday, October 14, 2007

NFC NORRIS: DELAYED REACTION, KIND OF LIKE ADAM ARCHULETA IN PASS COVERAGE

Remember, it's all for a giggle...

  • It's almost intellectually dishonest for a Vikings fan to enjoy the 34-31 win over the Chicago Bears.

    Seriously, this game was a total afterthought on the sports weekend, approached with resignation, which says something about the state of the Vikings, even in comparison to the bumbling Bears. So there was no basis for how to absorb the news the Vikings won, thanks largely to Purple Jesus, AKA Adrian Peterson, totalling a ridiculous 361 all-purpose yards.

    The only other NFL rookie to rush for more than 200 yards in a game on 20 carries or less was Bo Jackson in 1987, that Monday nighter when he flattened Brian Bosworth. Bo was much more physically mature at that point, a few weeks shy of 25. Purple Jesus is 22. He's just an excitable boy.

    Speaking of linebackers named Brian, let the record show that there isn't a single one in the NFL who could run himself out of the play faster than Brian Urlacher did on Purple Jesus' second touchdown run (the 73-yarder).

    Chicago's defence was so leaky that the Vikings didn't even run a play inside the 20-yard line once all day; their touchdowns all came from 35 yards out or more. That was huge, given what we know about Brad Childress' red-zone playcalling.

    Since Chicago-based WGN now carries Corner Gas reruns, it's fitting to close with a quote from the episode where Brent Leroy led the Dog River hockey team to an unlikely tie: "You suck just as bad as us!"

    (Or as the Chicago Tribune's Steve Rosenbloom put it: "Till further notice, there’s no reason to take the Bears seriously." That will have to wait until they have some defensive backs again.)
  • Green Bay's 17-14 win over Washington was also very enjoyable from a player-hating POV. Brett Favre set the career interception record -- he's just having fun, you know -- but got bailed out since the defence returned a fumble for a touchdown.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess the drafting of Adrian Peterson is some measure of proof that Zygi Wilf isn't trying to pull a "Major League" and deliberately tank the season in order to move. The fact that Tavaris Jackson is still listed as the starting QB, though, is making me wonder a bit.

Oh, and how are you liking Vinny Testaverde's numbers? Dude will be 44 next month, and a week ago was sitting on his couch at home, watching the games on TV. This week he goes to a new team, learns a new system in about three days, and goes 20 of 33 for over 200 yards, plus one TD. I guess it just took him a while to get used to the NFL game coming out of college. :-)

Anonymous said...

Peterson is the NFL offensive rookie of the year ALREADY.
That kid is awesome.

And yes, the Bears are a complete and total mess right now, lol. Hopefully it will serve as a wake-up call for Angelo, who's philosophy is to never upgrade the team after a good season.

sager said...

So that's where John Ferguson Jr., learned that from.

By the way, Cool Standings is worth a look when it comes to who's odds on to finish last in the NFC Norris.

In the AFC East, the Jets average out to 5.5 wins, the Bills to 4.7, which means the Pats have already clinched.