Norv Turner has not impressed me as the Vikings offensive coordinator. At all. Sure, he's has had glimmers of greatness, yes; but he is stuck in the Childress mentality. The Childress Syndrome, I like to call it. Bill Musgrave had it, too. And yet, all basic watchers of the game think it’s the only way for the Vikings to work on offense: GIVE THE BALL TO PETERSON.
(Getty Images: Matthew Stockman)
I’m here to break it to you: it makes our offense worse. Much worse. I
can’t tell you how many times as a fan watching on Sundays saying, “here we go
on first down, the same 3 tight end set with 5th string wide receiver, Adam Thielen, out there to block.
It’s a going to be a run," and it would be a run, "…and no gain.” WEEEEEEIRD! I’m an
above average viewer of the NFL (I’ve deemed myself as such and repeated it often) and if I can tell what they are going to do a majority of the time on a
majority of the plays, so does the other team. The Vikings have been so vanilla
on offense over the time we’ve had Peterson it’s hard to watch. Keep that play book wide open, and not so VANILLA!
Yes, I get it, Peterson could be one of the best running
backs in NFL history, but I will say, “at what cost?” When Peterson came to the
Vikings in 2007, he busted into the scene as one of the best rushers in the
league. He was dazzling on almost every touch and had the ability to break away on any given play for a home run (baseball meaning for a
big score, football slang for big play, and awkwardly said backwards in the
movie Hook to confuse Peter Pan’s kid).
And, I mean it was like every 1-4 plays he would go for over 15 yards.
Want to know why? He wasn’t yet the focus of our offense and teams didn't know how amazing he was. The Vikings still had
Chester Taylor, and a line that was built for running. It doesn’t matter that Tarvaris Jackson was
the quarterback, Peterson wasn’t getting touched till the second level of
defenders and no one knew about his fumbling problem yet. We had Matt Birk, Steve Hutchinson, and a
whole slew of blockers to lead the way for Peterson and Taylor. It was easy to be a run first team because we
were set up for it. We are not that team
anymore nor do we have that line. We used to run Peterson with 2-4 wide receiver sets and he could pound
through the middle or take it to the outside against corners who aren’t equip enough to take down a player like Peterson.
Then, something changed.
We showed what we were doing before the snap almost 95% of
the time. The thought that “more
blockers equal more holes” was put into place. This was the demise of the
Vikings offense. More blockers equaled
more tells to the defense what the Vikings were doing and we got stuffed all the time. And when a big run
would happen we would say, “see, it’s famine, famine feast!” That’s so wrong. Peterson didn’t do that his
first couple years because we didn’t stock pile the line. You can’t put 9 in the box when you have 3-4
wide outs in the game. News Flash:
Peterson can still run without a tight end or full back in the game. However, we continued to get stuffed with that
mentality.
Then, something changed (again).
(Reuters: Eric Miller)
#4
Favre came in and took over the play calling in 2009 (I say
that because he would care less what Brad Childress wanted us to do and could audible like a component quarterback). The
offense was glorious! It could take apart defenses any way they wanted to, not
only because Favre played great, but because we put forth calls that players
could succeed in. That was the key.
Players like Sidney Rice were able to bloom after being an
afterthought on the team that only wanted to hand off. Because of one reason: Favre removed the
label of run-first offense. He called
audibles to put us in a better chance to score points and win games. And surprising to everyone and not to me,
Peterson didn’t need to run every play to do so.
And Favre wasn't in his best years, after having 22 touchdowns to 22 interceptions the year before with the Jets. God, I almost forgot he played for them. I bet Jenn Sterger remembers though.
Side tracked, sorry! Peterson had 400 less rushing yards but 8 more touchdowns
and 300 more receiving yards that year. I repeat, he had 400 less rushing yards but 8 more touchdowns along with 300 more receiving yards that year. 49 less carries. I’d say that’s a win. If you think we need to run Peterson all the
time, this year is the proof you are incredibly wrong. (Also, if you think that the ending of LOST was bad, you are also incredibly wrong.)
So back to this year, because we have to go back.
Peterson doesn’t have Favre anymore. However, the Vikings have the great “offensive mind” that is Norv Turner. So why are they sitting in the middle of the
pack of the 32 teams in points per game and 30th in total yards per
game? I’ll tell you right now: it’s because of Adrian Peterson and NOT Teddy
Bridgewater. Suck on that statement. Suck on it long and hard. It's because of the Childress Syndrome.
When Peterson is in the game, Norv feels like he must run it
with him. And he’s become amazingly
predicable about it. This is ruining any
chance we have of tricking the defense into thinking we are going to do
anything other than run it with Peterson.
(Even if we do pass on the 5% chance, you have 3 Tight Ends and a 5th string
Wide Receiver going out for a pass. Not
very effective.) Obviously, he's not great at pass protection. I don't know, just drop him in the flats every time if it's a passing play? I'm just shooting out ideas here.
This has hindered Teddy’s ability to develop as a legit
passer in this league. Musgrave was a OC
that seemed horrible when he was here, too. Now he has a Raiders offense that puts up more
yards than the Vikings, score more points than the Vikings, and relies on a
young quarterback that still makes mistakes because it happens! If you put Peterson on that offense, Derek
Carr would take a huge step backwards because for some reason having Peterson on the
team makes you a one dimensional team. And being one dimensional is...what was
that class? A bad thing! Right, good. Good.
PS, for all the Teddy doubters out there, did you watch the game where he was the focus of the offense and Peterson didn't play? Oh, you did, but want a reminder? Cool, here you go!
We need to understand in this league, you can't just depend on a top flight defense anymore. And allowing teams to play our offense set up to stop the run, you are going to get stuffed. 30th in total yards a game, people. With your Hall of Fame Peterson and mastermind, Norv Turner. This doesn't cut it, and I wont accept that it's because of our offensive line. I mean, how well can you block when teams are plugging your holes? Hehe.
Let's set this ship straight and make for a better year by making Peterson a weapon on the offense and not the focus.
Skol!
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