dd80forever
15 years ago

Up and over
Vikings have outperformed Packers in off-season, too

By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Nov. 2, 2009

Eight weeks into the National Football League season there is one thing you can say with certainty:

The Minnesota Vikings are a better football team than the Green Bay Packers.

The 38-26 loss the Packers suffered at the hands of the Vikings Sunday at Lambeau Field closed the argument. It also may force the Packers to accept that the Vikings have more talent and have done a better job building their team for a Super Bowl run.

Most people who witnessed the game would find that hard to dispute.

"I'm not going to compare us to the Vikings other than to say that they beat us yesterday and a few weeks ago," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Monday. "We have to do some things to improve a little bit. The whole point of the NFL season is your growth and your improvement during the course of the season and we hope to do that and get better."

Thompson conceded that the Vikings (7-1) are a better team than the Packers (4-3) right now, but he was not willing to hand them the NFC North title yet. Reminded that only two of the Packers' 10 victories since 2008 have been against teams that had a winning record at the time (Indianapolis and Chicago in '08), Thompson said the process of getting to be a great team isn't easy.

"A season is like a game and a game is broken down into plays," Thompson said. "Sometimes you get knocked down and you have to get back up. The whole point in the NFL is that you have to get back up. We lost a game, and now we have to get back up and get ready for the next one.

"I have faith in these players and faith in these coaches and faith in this organization. I think we have a good group of guys and I think we're going to do better."

But will they be better than the Vikings? No one would be willing to bet his house on that today.

The team that beat up the Packers both home and away arguably has also been outperforming the Packers during the past couple of off-seasons. The Vikings have added at least one big-time player each of the last four years and are to the point now where they may have as many as 11 players selected to the Pro Bowl this year.

Here's a year-by-year comparison:

2006: The Vikings added perennial Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson and reliable kicker Ryan Longwell in free agency. The Packers added Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett in free agency and drafted wide receiver Greg Jennings.

2007: The Vikings drafted all-pro running back Adrian Peterson and budding star receiver Sidney Rice and signed starting tight end Visanthe Shiancoe in free agency. The Packers didn't draft a single player who has made an impact as great as Rice (Justin Harrell was the first pick) and acquired running back Ryan Grant in a trade.

2008: The Vikings traded for Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen and signed receiver Bernard Berrian in free agency. The Packers signed backup linebacker Brandon Chillar in free agency and drafted one player with special talent, tight end Jermichael Finley, who is a backup.

2009: The Vikings signed future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre and drafted Percy Harvin, who has proved to be a dynamic returner and receiver, and right tackle Phil Loadholt, who has started seven of eight games. The Packers signed free agent offensive lineman Duke Preston (cut in training camp) and drafted nose tackle B.J. Raji, who has had no impact, and linebacker Clay Matthews, who has star potential.

It doesn't take a football genius to figure out who has been doing the better job acquiring talent. When asked Monday if he thought the Vikings were more talented, Packers coach Mike McCarthy admitted he was impressed with their lineup.

"Everybody has got talent," McCarthy said. "I think they've got a lot of really good players. I respect the ability of their players over there. I think it's very obvious. Their quarterback has made a big impact. That's something, that quarterback productivity, they haven't had in the last three years that we have played them.

"I think Percy Harvin, from a field-position standpoint, has made an impact, and their defense has been a staple over there for the last couple of years. They are a different team than they have been the last couple of years, there is no denying that."

The Packers, it seems, are a different team with the same old problems.

The transition to the 3-4 defense has been relatively smooth, but it has not produced the results promised. Yes, the Packers rank tied for fourth in total defense (283.4 yards per game allowed), but if you took away performances against the horrible Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, the Packers would rank 21st (338 per game).

The offense, meanwhile, ranks ninth in total yards, but is on pace for 71 sacks, which would shatter the club record for a single season (62) and would put quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the top three all-time among individuals.

The loss to the Vikings Sunday exposed problems that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday) or Detroit Lions (Nov. 26) might not be able to exploit, but the Dallas Cowboys (Nov. 15), San Francisco 49ers (Nov. 22), Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 7) and Pittsburgh Steelers (Dec. 20) definitely will.

"We're 4-3 for good reason," McCarthy said. "I think we have not handled two prime-time games very well. I'm confident that we'll learn from these experiences. I thought we would have learned more from the first game up there to this one. We had some repeated mistakes; that's frustrating and something that we take with full accountability as coaches.

"We have to look at our preparation because it did not get from the practice field to the game field for whatever reason. But I think these are definitely experiences, these two games against the Vikings, I think these are experiences that we can draw from."

One of those experiences is playing a game against a better team.


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Fan Shout
dfosterf (4h) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
dfosterf (4h) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
beast (4h) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (8h) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (8h) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (9h) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (9h) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (10h) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (10h) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (10h) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (11h) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (11h) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (12h) : umm... what?
wpr (12h) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (12h) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (12h) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (12h) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (12h) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (19h) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Per Bill Huber, the Packers will not be bringing back Taylor Elgersma or Sean Clifford on the practice squad, so a new third quarterback
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Schefter must have deleted his tweet
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Hopefully Jerry reaches under the seat cushions and ashtrays of his jet and scrapes up the 45 million apr and spares us further nonsense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Have to admit the PO'd Cowboy fan videos would be fun to watch. Problem with draft picks is half their fanbase barely knows what that is
beast (27-Aug) : I think Cowboys fans are ready to get their pitch forks and burning sticks if Jerry were to trade Micah
dfosterf (27-Aug) : If Jerry traded Micah to GB, here in northern Va. they would have to quick build yet another data center to handle the internet hate traffic
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : its signing and trades that you don't hear about, other then announced
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : If you hear rumors about Packers sign or trade, won't happen. Not how they work
dfosterf (27-Aug) : 19 players in a contract year. Jones called loss to us worst loss in Cowboy history. Forget Parsons trade. Not happenin' Cap'n
packerfanoutwest (27-Aug) : The Packers, meanwhile, are the youngest team in the league for the third consecutive year.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : That it was darkest before the dawn in Bengals and Commanders before they got deals done
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : what is Schefter saying?
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He was getting Dorito infusion therapy
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He's outta shape. Why, just the other day I saw him splayed out on the trainers table
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Parsons has followed Rasheed Walker on Twitter. Quite the choice
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Kuhn is a former player who works for the team, if somethings going down, he would be close to it
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : @kuhnj30 Micah Freaking Parsons
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