So, Monday Night Football this week will feature two teams with a combined 1-10 record, but if you listen to Jon Gruden all night, you'll still think they have the best talent in the league. After their colossal defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, there's not much hope left for the Vikings this season. It appeared that they might have momentum coming out of the bye week and facing a pretty favorable schedule of opponents, but losing in spectacular fashion Sunday squashed any remaining dreams this team might have had. The future is now in Minnesota, and the rest of that season will be used to determine whether that future will include two individuals: Josh Freeman and Leslie Fraizer. Freeman will get his first start as the Vikings' cornerback against the Giants Monday night, and it's up to him to prove to the organization that they don't need to go looking in the draft for quarterbacks this May. Fraizer has to prove he can keep this team together despite the mounting odds against them and a lack of talent at key positions. Monday night is very much the beginning of another season for the Vikings, as in a way, 2014 has just about already started. Per usual, here's the big questions facing this team on both sides of the ball, as they try to squeak out their second win of the season.
Offense
You can take Josh Freeman out of Tampa, but can you take the Tampa out of Josh Freeman?
This will be the big question every Vikings official will be trying to answer for the rest of this season: was Josh Freeman struggling because of his situation in Tampa, or is he simply just a talented quarterback who has regressed beyond the point of no return? Before leaving the Buccaneers this year, Freeman was completing only 45% of his passes and his quarterback rating was 59.3, which would be last in the NFL among starting quarterbacks right now. No doubt Freeman is going to be a lot happier without Coach Greg Schiano hovering over him and with Adrian Peterson in the backfield, but he will have to prove that he's still got plenty of talent in his right arm, and his great 2010 campaign (25 touchdowns, six interceptions) was not a fluke.
Will someone give Cordarrelle Patterson the freaking ball?
This is not the first time a question like this has been posed in a game preview, and it's very annoying to think that it probably won't be the last time. The Vikings traded away multiple picks this April to draft Cordarrelle Patterson, completely taking themselves out of rounds two and three so that they had a chance to land the talented Tennessee wideout. However, now it's been almost six months since Patterson first put on a purple hat, and he's currently seeing the field less than Joe Webb. That's right, the former quarterback turned receiver saw more playing time against the Panthers than their prized first round pick. Even more perplexing is that the Vikings let this happen when they were getting blown out, an easy time to insert younger players on the field in order to get them some experience. Even if you weren't ready to give up on anything yet, when you're down you need some big plays, and isn't that the reason you fought so hard for this kid in the first place?
Can this offensive line make life easy for Josh Freeman?
This offensive line should have a pretty easy game Monday night, and it's their job to be a rock solid prescence for Josh Freeman in his first start while he gets comfortable starting for a new team in a new offense. This line is going to need to open up some holes for Adrian Peterson to take the pressure off Freeman, which should not be a difficult task, as the Giants rank 26th in rushing yards allowed per game. The line also needs to make sure Freeman is comfortable directing this new offense, and they should be able to give him plenty of clean pockets because the Giants have about zero pass rush right now. The team has only sacked opposing quarterbacks five times the entire season, and this offensive line is too talented to let that team increase its low total on their new quarterback.
Defense
Can this secondary get an interception without Harrison Smith?
Safety Harrison Smith has officially been ruled out for this game with a turf toe injury, leaving this team devoid of its only playmaker in the secondary. Without Smith, the unit has no interceptions on the season, allowing opposing quarterbacks to fire at will. Eli Manning comes into the night with 15 picks already on the season, but even he can't be that afraid of this secondary, especially when he's working with talented wideouts like Victor Cruz. The Vikings are going to need to jump on any mistakes Eli makes, even without Harrison Smith, as they can't let the two-time Super Bowl MVP get back in stride, because this passing game can still cover plenty of ground. Can the secondary step it up and not be a scapegoat in a loss for once?
Is Shariff Floyd ready to start taking over?
While this question does not have to be asked as loudly as the one concerning Cordarrelle Patterson, rookie Shariff Floyd has also not been seeing the field as much as expected, and Leslie Fraizer might find it would serve this team well to both get a young player some experience, and rest an older starter in Kevin Williams who may be better in shorter bursts now. Before the season started, Leslie Fraizer told the media that he expected Williams' snap count to be around 30-40 per game, but he's well exceeded that because of Christian Ballard's decision to leave the team and a knee injury that set Floyd back in the preseason. Floyd is actually rated better on the website Pro Football Focus right now though, and his pass rushing skills seem to have developed nicely under Williams' tutelage. Floyd could really do some damage against a weak Giants' offensive line that struggles to run the ball, and Fraizer might want to show the organization that he's got their back by putting the players they're highly invested in on the field.
Can this defensive line repeat their exploits in Pittsburgh?
The Vikings' defensive line should be salivating at the match-up they get this week, as the Giants' offensive line has allowed a total of 16 sacks so far this year on Eli Manning. After a great week in Pittsburgh where the line was responsible for four sacks, the line failed to pressure Cam Newton often in their blowout loss to Carolina. giving him plenty of time to decide where to go with the football. The line needs to step it up this week against a week opponent, especially to help cover for their secondary, who will be missing Harrison Smith dearly. Jared Allen looks like he's lost a step this year, but the Vikings need him to dig deep this game so they can force Eli Manning into making bad decisions and give Josh Freeman a chance to win this game.
Coaching
Can this staff get these guys prepared and motivated anymore?
The Vikings just came out absolutely flat after their bye week last Sunday, and that's just not typically seen in the NFL, particularly when you're at home against an opponent that isn't exactly considered formidable. Most disheartening in the big loss to Carolina was just a clear lack of effort from the players late in the game, as it seemed the team quit early on Leslie Fraizer. Now, it's fair to wonder, can he ever get this team back? The team just hasn't looked prepared for its opponents so far this year and now they're already all but out of the playoffs. Can Leslie Fraizer get this team to fight for him, or are most of the players already looking forward to the offseason? We'll see how hard the Vikings come out Monday, because how they do will be a deciding factor in Fraizer's job security moving forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment