Vikings' coach Frazier, GM Spielman lousy judges of talent - Minnesota cuts bum Jefferson

Well the Vikings dumped another bum in cornerback A.J. Jefferson this afternoon. Even though they only shipped a 6th or 7th round pick to the Cardinals for him last year, you would have thought the Vikings had landed a future All-Pro after hearing head coach Leslie Frazier heap praise on Jefferson after the acquisition.

Frazier was the one who wanted to sign washed-up has-been Donovan McNabb to play quarterback two years ago, and Spielman has swung and missed on a number of draft picks in the last few years (Josh Robinson, Tyrell Johnson, Christian Ponder, Mistral Raymond, Marcus McCauley, among others) so it's not surprising that they wasted a draft pick on a player like Jefferson. Jefferson contributed nothing during his time with the team.

Frazier might be a good coach, and Spielman might be the type of that write up a great scouting report, but when it comes time to select a talented player, neither has shown that they have much of a knack for it.

If they did the Vikings record would be a lot better than 2-8-1.

Minnesota Vikings are a lost cause

Only the Chicago Cubs can come close to the agony that the Minnesota Vikings put their fans through.

I doubt if we'll ever know the truth behind the recent signing of quarterback Josh Freeman.

Was it ordered by owner Zygi Wilf, because Wilf was disgusted with the team's quarterback play, namely Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel? Did Wilf instruct head coach Leslie Frazier to start Freeman, even though he wasn't ready to play even at the minimum level required for a professional quarterback?

Did Frazier want Freeman on the team because he's a black quarterback? Did Frazier start Freeman because he's a black quarterback?

Did general manager Rick Spielman and the scouting staff push to sign Freeman because of his impressive physical tools?  Scouts tend to get excited about athletic players - even if they have lousy on-field statistics.  He's got a cannon for an arm - so what if he only completed 40% of his passes in a season.

Freeman overthrew his receivers so many time in Monday Night's loss to the Giants he must have thought they were all eight feet tall.

At the start of the season I was optimistic and thought the Vikings would go 11-5 and reach the playoffs, although probably not get past the first round. Now I'm not so optimistic. I'm afraid Viking fans might be looking at another 3-13 season.

Minnesota has talented players who are not playing up to their potential (see cornerbacks Josh Robinson and Chris Cook), were over-rated by the coaches and scouts (see quarterback Christian Ponder and guard Brandon Fusco), or just aren't that good in the first place (see offensive tackle Phil Loadholt and guard Charlie Johnson).

It's time for the  coaches to scrap the Tampa-2 defense, which clearly isn't working anymore, either due to the scheme itself or because the team doesn't have the right players to operate it effectively.

The offense has no creativity at all. The play calling was conservative and boring even before Freeman's start on Monday.

Maybe this team needs new ownership (again) to go along with a new GM, scouts and coaches. For now Viking fans can only dream about the day when their team will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Vikings out-coached in loss to Browns

For the second week in a row the Minnesota Vikings defense made a number of big plays, yet the team still lost the game. While the Browns played well, the Vikings coaching staff was outsmarted by their Cleveland counterparts on a few occasions.

The most glaring example would be the fake field goal attempt that resulted in a Browns touchdown. Minnesota has 23 assistant coaches, and not one of them saw Cleveland's Jordan Cameron standing alone near the sideline?  Come on. Coaches spend hours in their offices drawing X's and O's, and then during a game they miss something like that? Pathetic. On the other hand, the Browns coaches deserve some credit for coming up with the idea and for having the guts to try to it.

Even though Christian Ponder doesn't have a cannon for an arm, and still again made some costly mistakes, this is a game the Vikings could have easily won. Hopefully Minnesota will play at a higher level when they meet some of the tougher teams on their schedule later this season.

Vikings QB Ponder Shows Poise of a Veteran

The Vikings Would Not Have Won Their Season Opener Had Ponder Not Made the Plays

On Sunday Christian Ponder made the Vikings scouts and coaches look smart for selecting him in the first round of last year's NFL draft. The quarterback started the game slowly but ended with a passer rating of 105.5. Even better, he shined at the right moments.

He was cool in the game's final seconds, taking only two plays to get into field goal range for rookie kicker Blair Walsh. He rifled an accurate pass to wide receiver Devin Aromashodu for 26 yards, and then another safer, shorter pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph. Then in overtime he didn't do anything stupid. He just moved the offense, getting into field goal range again.

The offensive line blocked well for most of the game, and Adrian Peterson seemed to be close to his old form. Some of the coaches' play calling was strange during the first half, but the Vikings did seem to play better as the game went on. Viking fans are hoping Ponder will build on his success and keep the team competitive for the long NFL season.