Quick thoughts

Was going to post a few thoughts on last night's game, but Brent O, Denver's biggest Vikings fan beat me to the punch, since he pretty much sums it up for me, I'll just re-post his comment:

Overall thoughts:



I hate the Saints, I hate the City of NO. Now, it is not the teams fault or even the people of the city's fault. No, it is the fault of the media. I believe they are going a tish overboard with the how resilient and courageous the city and the team are. [use of the word tish there is like "Paris Hilton is a tish skanky" or "Greg Oden is a tish injury prone"] They got wet, there was some wind, now they are dry and the team won a super bowl....I get it SHUT UP. I would wish another rain storm on them if only it wouldn't mean I would have to hear about it for another 20 years.


The game itself was not fun.  There were not more than about 10 minutes of the night where I was actually entertained. Now, it may be possible I am not in game shape yet, or my naturally short patience fuse has burned down to the nub, or maybe it was because it was the first game of the year so they did more, but in any case, the network went a tish (see above) overboard with how many commercials they ran! I could not stand having one play, commercial, play, commercial. They need to make a rule that there needs to be at least 6 plays from scrimmage before cutting to a crippled female cop chasing a leprechaun for the new upcoming series the network tries to shove down your throat.
And then the game itself when it was on made me wish I was watching commercials. I spent half the game day dreaming about how much fun I would be having doing other things. It is going to be a real challenge for me to watch every game like I have every year since I was born. At one point I was hoping for Farve to get hurt because at least laughing at T-Joke is entertaining.





Good:

EJ looked good
Camarillo looked solid for his 2 play
You have to be impressed with the way the DB's played vs the saints with only 3 CB's. Solid effort all the way around
AP looked like the typical early season AP
Shank looked great
Kick coverage was solid



Bad:

Sullivan was F**KING B R U T A L. He would have been better off snapping the ball and running to the sideline. That was one of the worst performances I have ever seen out of an NFL O-lineman

Berrian looked like throwing a ball to a 5 year old and watching him concentrate as hard as he can to catch it. Sometimes he holds on, but usually the throw ends up with the ball bouncing off his head.
Albert Young....for the love of god, you can not tell me you can't find someone walking the street that has more business being an NFL rb than this guy
Coaching (not going to explain this one, same thing for the last 4 years, no need to pile on yet again)

All WR's are freaking bad. Percy is not a WR, they put him out wide and that will never work. He can't do it. There is nothing else to throw to outside of Shank.

Longwell's kickoffs were shorter than a Cowboys playoff run and having an XP blocked in inexcusable


There is more Bads but this is as much time as I can put in to that turd of a game.

Thanks Brent, like I said, have to agree with most of your points, particularly on the network presentation.  If you were actually interested in watching Dave Matthews sing a song last night, raise your hand and prepare for deportation off NFL fan island.  Vikings got stuck with opening night this year, I wasn't happy about it for several reasons, primarily because I think it's a better played game if it happens two weeks from now.  But it is what it is, and now it's over, so we can move on.

As far as the actual game went, I'm trying not to read too much into it.  Liked the defense, hated the offense, and that's about it.  The silver lining on things is that even in a loss, there's high comedy to be witnessed among the fanbase.  Interesting moment last night at the bar when Vilma intercepted Favre after a questionable push of Shiancoe, one of the patrons chose to introduce the phrase "Katrina Call" into the Minnesota football fan lexicon, heard it a few more times as the game went on.  Apparently 5 years and one Super Bowl is the official statute of limitations for hurricane-related sympathy.  Doesn't offend me at all, just made me chuckle, we consider ourselves fairly highly evolved in this state, but NFL football reduces otherwise normal people into a howling mob, and I love it.

And don't even get me started on Vikings Fanline, on my worst day I am not that reactionary, makes me wonder how so many mental patients have access to a phone.

Other odds 'n ends:

Twins up 6 games with 21 to play, things are looking good.  However, seems appropriate to remind everyone that they were sitting 6 1/2 back on this date last year, then lost 4 of their next 5, and STILL came back to win the division.  This brings to mind a certain Harvey Keitel line from Pulp Fiction, and if you don't know which one, I'd be ashamed to call you a friend.

NFL picks for Week 1 (Home team in CAPS):

NEW ORLEANS -5.5 over Minnesota - Lost this one last night, these Vegas types apparently know what they're doing

Cincinnati +4.5 over NEW ENGLAND - Bengals cover, but lose by a FG

Oakland +6.5 over TENNESSEE - Another road team covering, but home team winning, can't give Vince Young this much credit just yet

JACKSONVILLE -3 over Denver - Defaulting to the home team

Cleveland +3 over TAMPA - 0-0 tie potentially in play

CHICAGO -6.5 over Detroit - Show me something Lions

Carolina +7 over NEW YORK GIANTS - Zero TDs in the preseason for the Panthers, so of course I have to expect them to score a bunch, that's how things work, not winning outright though

Atlanta -2 over PITTSBURGH - I like Dennis Dixon, but two points?  Apparently there are a lot of Steelers fans who like to wager out there

Miami -3 over BUFFALO - Wrong team at the wrong time for the Bills, get a passing offense in town on a cold day and I'm back in their corner

Indianapolis -2.5 over HOUSTON - So far the 3-team parlay is shaping up Falcons, Colts, who will be third?

Packers -3 over Eagles - I know offenses might not be clicking week one, but a chance for an epic fantasy matchup here

Arizona -4 over ST. LOUIS - Wish you could by insurance on Derek Anderson going INT-crazy, like a blackjack bet

San Francisco -3 over SEATTLE - Ding!  Third leg of the parlay appears.  Three road dogs covering is probably a terrible sign, but the hell with it, I believe in the Seahawks stinkability

Dallas -3.5 over WASHINGTON - Tempting, but I need to see a wide receiver make a play for the Skins before I pick them to upset a good team

NEW YORK JETS -2.5 over Baltimore - Toughest internal debate of the week

KANSAS CITY +5 over San Diego - Upset special with Chiefs winning outright