5. Al Davis Starting Discussion on Other Head Coaching Options

The Raiders are 1-3, but according to an AP report have held leads of 12, 13, and nine points over the last three games. I’d be looking for a new coach as well.

4. The Hit on Anquan Boldin

In a game highlighted by Favre’s gun-slinging, this moment was easily the most frightening. Late in the Jet’s blowout victory over the Cardinals Kurt Warner found his team nearing the end zone. With 27 seconds to play he fired a throw into the end zone, where Boldin would be. Boldin was hit behind by safety Kerry Rhodes during his route, who propelled him into the flying Eric Smith. He then hit the ground, where he stayed for several minutes. 

Both teams were on the field, nervously chatting with teammates and opponents. Boldin was immobilized and carted off the field via stretcher.

Smith was later suspended for one game and fined $50,000 for the hit.

3. The St. Louis Rams Fire Coach Scott Linehan

Someone had to pay for the 0-4 start. The Rams weren’t losing heartbreakers, either. They have a negative 143 point differencial. The have scored only 43 points – the lowest in the league, and have given up 147 points – the highest in the league. Enough said.

2. Brett Favre is Still a Football God

I am in a state of despair this Tuesday morning. The fantasy football week is over, and I lost bitterly. My opposition had a great team, but I would have beaten them if I had started Brett Favre. No, I had to go with Tony Romo against the Redskins. It only cost me nine points, but I am still in anguish.

Favre threw 289 yards and six touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals, proving that he can still be an elite quarterback when need be.

1. Richard Collier Paralyzed Below the Waist

Football is a fun sport to both watch and play. In some cases, however, there are stories that bring a sour taste to our mouth. This would be one of them. Collier, a Jaguar tackle, was sitting in a car in front of his apartment complex when he was shot at least 14 times. He was hit in the left legs, left groin, back, and right buttock.

One of the many bullets lodged itself in the spinal cord of Collier, causing paralysis. He has no memory of the shooting, but will always have a reminder; his left leg was amputated. He will never walk again and friends say he is devastated.

This is just another example that football isn’t always simply entertainment. These guys are real people and are as suseptible to a bullet as you.

Three things, actually. 

1. These losses are coming with painful resignation.

I hate to say it, but it is hard for me to consider the Vikings anywhere near the top of the AL Central come November and December. I went into Sunday’s game expecting the defense to do great, but the Achille’s heel flared up again and refused to let a victory fall into Minnesota. The offense was horrendous today, with the huge exception of Peterson. He was great, as always. 

2. Peterson is a great running back.

Yes, I have known this all along. I never understood his complete “awesomeness” until it hit me in the head on Sunday. In spite of the offensive struggles, and overlooking the other ugly aspects to this loss, Peterson shone through. He scored twice and simply dominated. If you haven’t read the latest edition of ESPN the Magazine, I highly suggest doing so. Here is the a link to the online edition, with the article on Peterson. He takes all the blame for a loss, as I’m sure he did on Sunday, even though he was the best part of this horrible offense.

3. The blame is off Childress, at least this once.

This week, I have almost nothing negative to say about Childress. There were no glaring errors or obvious mistakes he made, except for when he chose to kneel the ball in the final two minutes. I am totally opposed to that, but I’ll let Gonzo from the Daily Norseman explain it a bit better. Wouldn’t want to steal his thunder!

All blame goes to the offense.

• SI’s Peter King has his Week 4 picks out, and he has selected the Titans over our Vikings by a final score of 20-15. Here is his reasoning:

I like so many fundamental things the Titans are doing, aside from the obvious 29 points allowed in three games. They have rushed for 157 yards per game, allowed 11 third-down conversions, and, now that Kerry Collinsis the man, should be a little less turnover-prone.

• Although in my opinion he is in the decline of his career, ESPN funnyman Bill Simmons threw together his Pwer rankings for Week 4. He donated a full third of a sentance to the Purple People.

…and the Vikings are headed for 1-3 after Tennessee spanks them this weekend (although they get Bryant McKinnie back for Week 5, right as their schedule gets easier).

• If you haven’t heard, one of the best quarterbacks of all time is committing the ultimate sin. John Elway is engaged to former Oakland Raider cheerleader, Paige Green. I don’t even want to think about what the football gods will do to the Broncos this week. I should have waited before submitting my weekly picks…
   
• Speaking of NFL picks, I have been picking games for the Twins blog SethSpeaks.net all season long. I haven’t done awful, but am right below the middle of the pack. Here are the standings through Week 3, and here are my Week 4 picks.
   
• SI also ranked every game this coming Sunday in terms of “watchibility” – or, excitement and lack of boringness. The Vikins-Titans game is ranked 3rd of 13, under the category, “Superglue Yourself to the TV.” Here is what they say:

We’ve admittedly been offense-heavy in these rankings for the first few weeks, so we thought it was time to throw defensive play a bone. No one’s been better on that side of the ball than the Titans, especially against the run. Seeing how they gameplan for Adrian Peterson and company makes for must-see TV.

• I always knew texting was not a smart thing to do. Steeler rookie Mendenhall apparently just found out. He texted his Week 4 running opponent, Ray Rice of the Ravens, saying that he was going to have a big game. Harmless, right? It was before Rice showed it off to the Raven defense. Now they’re ticked and ready to come out swinging. Says Ravens linebacker Bart Scott, “Thanks for the bulletin-board material, rookie.” 

• Be sure to drop by the Daily Norseman and wish head writer Gonzo a happy belated birthday!
   
• And finally, every Minnesota sports fan should know the status of the Twins. After a magical sweep of the White Sox, and two ugly losses on Friday, Minnesota is ahead of Chicago by half a game with two regular season games remaining. There is, of course, the matter of that game Chicago hasn’t made up yet against the Tigers. If the division is still within a half a game two games from now, they will make that game up. If they manage to tie the division after that game, a head-to-head game against the White Sox and Twins will take place at U.S. Cellular the next day. It’s very complicated, so I’ll just let SethSpeaks.net explain it:

With that, have a good Saturday morning everyone!

The first rule of warfare is to know your enemy. I have exchanged emails with Jimmy Morris of Music City Miracles, a Tennessee Titans blog. Here are his opinions of this weeks’ game.

MCM: Haynesworth wins the match-up because he is pretty much unblockable.  The Vikings will end up having to use help with Fat Albert in the middle and that will open up things for Kyle Vanden Bosch and Jevon Kearse.  

It means that the Vikings will not have as much success running the ball between the tackles as they usually do.  I am not saying they are going to shut the running game down, but I don’t see AP and company getting 5 yards a carry.

MCM: Johnson and White have fared quite well so far.  White has scored 4 touchdowns already this season, and Johnson is averaging 92 yards a game, while splitting carries, and averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

The Vikings have a very good run defense, but the Titans have one of the best offensive lines in the league.  I don’t see the Titans rushing for 200 yards against the Vikings, but I see White and CJ ending up right around what they have averaged per game this season ( CJ 92 ypg, White 49.3).  

CJ is also very good at catching the ball out of the backfield, and that could be where he makes the most impact this week.

MCM: The Jaguars have one of the best, if not the best, running back tandems in the league, and the Titans held them to 31 yards rushing.

All I have read from Vikings fans all week is how overrated the Titans defense is.  It is most of the same defense that ranked 5th against the run last season.  I am sure Peterson will get some yards, he is too good to be shut down, but don’t expect to see him running free all day.

MCM: Crumpler isn’t washed up.  Collins started to find him a lot last week.  The Titans rely on their tight ends a lot.  I don’t expect this week to be any different.  Crumpler and Bo Scaife should both be in for a pretty good day. 

MCM: Collins has managed the game well, and that is all the Titans expect for him to do.  You should check the stats, Collins had 3 carries for 30 yards last week.

 

Kerry Collins

When the 3-0 Titans come marching in on Sunday, everyone will experience a collective case of déjà vu. These two teams may be different in record, but some things are exactly the same.

The first and most obvious comparision is at quarterback. The starters going into the season for these two teams were Tarvaris Jackson and Vince Young. The former was removed via coaching decision, and the latter was replaced because of injury. Either way, it still pits two backups against each other; Gus Frerotte and Kerry Collins. The differences arise when you compare Frerotte and Collins, however. They are both very experienced, but Frerotte has better strength, accuracy, and composure in the pocket. It’s also known that Collins is a worse scrambler than his counterpart, Frerotte.

Collins has only been sacked once in two games this year, thanks in large part to his extremely solid offensive line. Remind you of anyone? That’s right, the Vikings seem to have one of the best offensive lines in the league as well. The absence of McKinnie will be huge this week, as both Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch will be on that crucial right side of the defensive line. On the other hand, Michael Roos will have to deal with Jared Allen.

The defensive lines on these two teams are also remarkably similar . Haynesworth is certainly near the same level as Kevin Williams. The thing that is most similar, though, is the defensive end position. Both the Vikings and the Titans made big acquisitions this off-season, bringing in top-tier ends to solidify their already-strong defensive line. The Vikings, of course, traded for Allen, while the Titans brought back Javon Kearse.

Bernard Berrian

Neither teams have a great receiving corps. The Titans have Justin Gage and Justin McCareins to go along with Lavelle Hawkins and Brandon Jones. Not exactly big names in the receiver market. The Vikings have done all they can to improve their receiving game, but Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice have not lived up to expectations this year.

The ground game will anchor both of these teams’ offenses. LenDale White is named the starter in Tennessee, but is getting the same amount of carries as rookie Chris Johnson. Johnson is gaining double the yards, but White has assumed his role as goal-line back. The Vikings will likewise rely on their running game to get the offense going, and Adrian Peterson appears to be completely healthy and should have a big part in any success the Vikings have on Sunday.

Both the Titans and the Vikings have veteran tight ends. Visanthe Shiancoe and Alge Crumper will have an effect on this game, primarily due to the lack of receiving game both these teams suffer from. Crumpler has seen better years but has been ravaged by the injury bug. Shiancoe has taken leaps and bounds from his abilities when entering the league, but still isn’t a top tight end.

EJ Henderson

The Vikings and Titans both have very underrated linebacking corps as well. E.J. Henderson is one of the best middle linebackers in the game, and Titan outside linebacker Keith Bullock is also one of the best at his position. None of the Tennessee linebackers are very good at stopping the run, but they all can cover the pass effectively. Minnesota linebackers, meanwhile, are excellent against the run but leave something to be desired in pass coverage.

This upcoming game against the Titans could be the most exciting for the Vikings yet, and there will be more than usual to look for when watching the game. A low-scoring affair is certainly plausible, but a shoot-out is also very possible. Anything can happen, so I’m expecting a very thrilling game coming down the wire.

Early prediction: Tennessee 17, Minnesota 14