Thoughts on the 2014 Vikes schedule

Football fans the time and day is finally here as 7:00 Central Standard time NFL Network is having a release the schedule program for 3 hours. The only trouble is twitter and other media outlets were leaking the schedules early really leaving no surprises uncovered.

I saw the Vikings schedule and will say I absolutely love it. We knew the home and road opponents quite a while ago and now we have the formality of times and dates.

The end result shows 8 home games with 7 at noon and 1 at 3:25 while the road games also have 7 noon games and one Thursday night tilt with the Packers at Lambeau. Wow, 14 noon games is awesome with no having to wait all day for the Purple to play.

The month of September is an awfully tough task as the team starts on the road in St. Louis. The next week is the home opener vs the New England Patriots. I was hoping maybe a Packers game to open TCF Stadium but since not I can’t think of a better opponent than the Patriots. We get to see Bill Belicheck, Tom Brady and the rest of the cast early in the season.

The team then goes to New Orleans to revisit the scene of the crime of 2010. The month concludes with Atlanta coming to town. A Falcon team that struggled in 2013 I do not believe will be that bad again.

The summary of September has 2 home and 2 road games and the defense will see Sam Bradford, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. If the Vikings defense is going to ever get a challenge to see if they have improved it will be this month.

October starts out great with a Thursday night tilt at Lambeau followed by a home game vs the Lions then 2 road games in Buffalo and Tampa Bay.

Summary: 1 home game and 3 road games  I am excited to watch the Tampa Bay game and see how Lovie Smith is doing In Tampa.

November brings us closer to winter and with that the coldness we all love. This month is very intriguing to me due to the fact that the Vikes have struggled generally in cold weather. Our new home is outside as we know.

The first game of the month is home vs Washington then the next week which is week 10 is the bye week. I really look forward to the game coming out of the bye as the team travels to Chicago and get a look at Jared Allen in a Bears uniform. The last 2 games of the month are at home as the Packers and Panthers come to TCF Bank Stadium.

Summary of November we see 3 home games and 1 road game. The Vikes face the Bears and Packers in back to back weeks.  The 3 home games most likely in cold weather so how will the Vikes fair?

December starts out with a home game against the New York Jets so the end of November and beginning December the Vikes get a3 game home stand. The Vikes then travel to Detroit and  Miami. I like the Miami game in this month because hopefully the weather is decent and the worst case scenario will be rain. The Vikes then close up the 2014 campaign with a home game vs the Bears. It’s obvious right now we don’t know the records then and see who is in playoff contention. The real sight and sounds in just how will Minnesota fans treat Jared?

It’s strange to say but the 16 games we will only see 2 dome games with one in New Orleans and one in Detroit. I can’t wait to hear the TCF Bank fans and see just how loud we can get it.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

An Eagle has landed

 Kurt Coleman

The Vikings showed on Monday that they are not through trying to make the team better even before the draft.

Kurt Coleman signed a one year deal with the Vikings. Coleman was a 2010 7^th round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles. He has had 221 tackles and 7 interceptions with the Eagles.

Coleman did end up playing mostly special teams last season which I like getting a guy who has special teams experience.

I love the fact the Coach Zimmer and the organization keep bringing in guys with NFL experience to give each until better competition.

I have done so much reading and it all stems around Zimmer and his ability to get the most of his guys.

I think instead of speculating if guys coming in are washed up or not let’s see how they perform in the offseason before we cast our doubts if any.

I am becoming every day a bigger and bigger supporter of Zimmer and am anxious to see how he gets the team to be a team.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Draft Day movie- A must see

The mock drafts are rolling each day with so much speculation and seemingly football stories that are never ending. I decided to take a break from reading and take in football in a different capacity. I went to opening night of the movie “Draft Day” starring Kevin Costner.

I am by no means a movie critic but I felt this movie I owe all fellow football fans something to think about and hope you see it.

The day of a draft we can read about but to watch it in the movie and see a little bit of what it is like in the “war room” and be given a glimpse at some of the disagreements amongst the panel was awesome.

The story attempts to show the stress that a general manager goes through. The calls, the offers, the pressure that Costner went through in making sure his team got the best player that could make an immediate impact. The fans, the media, the owner all give their opinions adding to Costner’s stress was well done as well.

The movie took us to stadiums in Buffalo, Kansas City, Seattle and Jacksonville as well as Cleveland as these teams were in talks to make trades with the Cleveland Browns.

The movie also did a great job in New York City with the draft itself. I loved how the movie had Chris Berman, Rich Eisen and John Gruden involved as though the 2014 draft really was going on. Gruden gave his 2 cents about players that were to be drafted in the first round even though the names of these players were not actually in the real draft next month. It was just cool to see how the movie makers made this happen.

Commissioner Roger Goodell played a part in introducing the players that were taken just like he does in the real draft. Deion Sanders and Ray Lewis were in the movie as well as they were in the backstage.

I did not want the movie to end as I really felt this production gave football fans a small glimpse of the stress of what goes on behind the scenes.

The movie also gave us some feel into a draft party as we were part of the Cleveland Browns party. The first round picks were brought on stage to meet the fans.

I know May 8th is the real draft and I will be at the Vikes at the Convention Center so to see this in the movie gets me pumped to be part of the event.

I recommend this movie big time to all football fans. It is a keeper and when it becomes available it will be part of my football collection.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Preseason schedule released

The next step in football is here as the preseason schedule was released but no dates given as of yet.

Preseason has been a touchy subject for years with ticket holders because the price is the same for those games as regular season. The amount we see the normal starters is very little making it tough on fans at times not knowing who the players are out there without looking at the rosters given to them.

This problem I can definitely see so my days in Training Camp are beneficial as I watch the daily practices and get familiar with the different jersey numbers and how they practice. I enjoy asking myself are these players transforming their practice skills to game time.

The schedule as you may know by now has the first two games at home:

Oakland (Week of Aug 7-9)

Arizona (Week of Aug 14-16)

Oakland has been a major player in free agency brining in a new quarterback by way of trade when they acquired Matt Schaub from Houston. We also will see in Silver and Black: Maurice Jones-Drew, Justin Tuck, James Jones and former Viking, Donald Penn who was in Vikings Training Camp in 2006.

The Raiders I believe are one of the top of the NFL fan following teams around the NFL so I will expect to see many black and silver clad fans.

Arizona has Larry Fitzgerald; do I need to say more?

On to the Road

Kansas City (Week of Aug 21-23)

Tennessee (Week of Aug 28-29)

The team then travels to the much improved Kansas City Chiefs. It is always tough to win at Arrowhead whether a preseason game or not.

The Tennessee Titans without Chris Johnson and not been a playoff team for a while, so how Tennessee look?

I know it only preseason but football fans, IT’S FOOTBALL!!!

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Vikings odds and ends info continue

The NFL season is a 24-7 a week and 365 days a year event which never gets old. Today’s date which is April 8^th means one thing and that is 1 month until the draft on May 8^th. The never ending mock drafts will finally come to an end.

It is fun to speculate but I find myself getting more into factual information. We start with a new rule as part of the new collective bargaining agreement which affects the Vikings and 6 other teams. A team with a new coach gets a nice advantage which goes as follows:

Offseason Program
Clubs With New Coaches: Can begin April 7
All Other Clubs: Can begin April 21

The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) mandates that each year offseason workout programs cannot begin prior to the first Monday in April for Clubs that have hired a new head coach after the end of the prior regular season, and cannot begin prior to the third Monday in April for all other Clubs.

Aside from the starting date of the offseason program, rules for new head coaches impact the entire span of time in which the offseason program may exist.

Clubs With New Coaches:  Can conduct a 9-week offseason workout program over a 12-week span with 8 of the weeks required to be consecutive and subject to Article 22, Section 3 of the CBA (Minicamps).
All Other Clubs: Can conduct a 9-week offseason workout program over a 10-week span with 8 of the weeks required to be consecutive and subject to Article 22, Section 3 of the CBA (Minicamps).

NOTE: While Clubs with new head coaches can begin their offseason programs two weeks before Clubs with returning head coaches, scheduling requirements are such that the actual length of the offseason program is one week longer (not two). Essentially, the new rules for new coaches is less about there being extra work and more about the teams with head coaches being able to get to work sooner so the new staff and players can become better acclimated.

 

The next fact to look at has to do with the playing home games at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikes and the U have an agreement when it comes to night games and it goes as follows:

 

*The Vikings can only use the stadium for one weeknight game each season when class is not in session. That game must be coordinated and approved by the school in its sole discretion, according to the agreement.

The school semester ends on Dec. 18. Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) would be the only possibility of a weeknight home game during the school year that would work. The Vikings hosted every Thursday night game (Tampa Bay and Washington) since the NFL forced every team to play at least one Thursday night game two years ago.

Without a university off day on Monday during the fall semester, it’s very difficult to see the Vikings host a Monday Night Football game given their only opportunity will be in Week 16 on Dec. 22.  That doesn’t exactly sound appealing when Monday Night Football games can’t be flexed and the team went 5-10-1

*The Vikings can host a Saturday home game when there isn’t a scheduled Gophers football game. The NFL brought back Saturday games this season after a one-year hiatus and will have a two-game Saturday doubleheader in Week 16 on Dec. 20.

In staying with the theme of TCF Stadium my wife and I got called from the Vikings asking if we wanted to move our seats down in the same section for the same price. My answer was an emphatic yes. We went from row 17 to row 13. I know it only 4 rows but to me that is a big difference in seeing the game a little closer.

The Vikings on April 8^th also signed a 4 year pro formerly of the Houston Texans. Lestar Jean

Jean has appeared in 27 games, making 1 start, over the past 2 seasons after spending his rookie season in 2011 on injured reserve. Jean has caught 10 passes for 186 yards and 1 touchdown in his career. He caught his lone touchdown on a 54-yard reception at Tennessee (12/2/12). A product of Florida Atlantic, Jean entered the NFL with Houston as a rookie free agent in 2011

The one fact I do like of the signing is seeing he is a big receiver at 6’2” and 203 pounds. I like these big guys but now it will be up to Jean to see if he can make the 53 man roster. I am all for depth coming into training camp.

That all for now

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Source: Vikings.com

Vikes info continues to roll out

The Vikes had a year to forget in 2013 but this 2014 campaign thus far has beyond anything I could have imagined.

If it is not news about a player coming and going then it is stadium updates and if that is not enough then important dates this week have been released. Can things get any more exciting and to think the draft is a little over 30 days away?

The Vikes logo has been on a mad march through NFL Networks NFL Madness tourney which I wrote about earlier this week. The logo had gone in as the 13^th seed making it to the Super Bowl vs. the Raiders logo which is also 13^th seed from the AFC.

The new Vikings Stadium website has released some details about the new scoreboard going in the new stadium

New Stadium’s Video Boards will Dwarf Metrodome Versions

Wondering just how big the state-of-the-art, high-definition video boards will be inside the new stadium? Currently the design calls for the west video board to come in at 8,160 square feet (68×120), while the east board will measure in at 4,400 square feet (50×88). Those figures, however, do not include vertical programmable LED boards that will be on either side of each video board and will add another 1,290 square feet to the west board and 750 square feet to the east board.

Now for context, think about this – each of the Metrodome’s two video boards totaled 646 square feet (19×34). That means you could fit nearly 13 of the old boards inside the new stadium’s west video board. And if seeing it writing isn’t good enough, maybe this image will paint a clearer picture.

There has also been a construction update released this week:

If you are fortunate to drive past the new stadium construction site on a consistent basis, you’ve likely noticed the drastic changes that are taking shape week-by-week. With each passing day, what little rubble remains from the Metrodome continues to shrink while more of the new structure is assembled on the site’s east side. According to Mortenson Construction, more than 600,000 cubic yards of soil had been removed through March 31, or 71% of the expected 850,000 total cubic yards of soil that will be excavated. The earth retention walls surrounding the excavation continue to be installed, working westward across the north and south sides of the project, and on Monday, elevated concrete floor activities began. As always, you can watch the construction 24/7 on the team’s live stream camera.

On Monday April 1^st the organization submitted to the NFL the state’s preliminary bid to host the 2018 Super Bowl.

The team later in the week released some important dates regarding the team’s offseason program:


Voluntary Veteran Minicamp: April 28-May1
NFL Draft: May 8-10
Vikings Rookie Minicamp: May 16-18
Organized Team Activities (OTAs): May 28-30; June 3-5; June 9-12
Mandatory Minicamp: June 17-19 

As you can see after reading this that there is so much to read about.



Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Source: Vikings new stadium website



 

 

Viking's logo- America's favorite?

The NFL Network is currently running a contest called Logo madness in which fans determine which NFL team has the best logo. The seedings were determined my how the teams finished in the 2013 season. Seattle and Denver are the # 1 seeds in each of their respective conferences for this logo tourney.

NFC seedings were as follows:

1-Seatle 2-Carolina 3-Philadelphia 4-Green Bay 5-San Francisco 6-New Orleans 7-Arizona 8-Chicago 9-Dalas 10-NY Giants 11-Detroit 12-St.Louis 13-MINNESOTA 14-Atlanta 15-Tampa Bay and 16 Washington

The tourney was set up similar to that of the NCAA tourney where 1 meets 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14 4 vs. 13, 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, and 8 vs.9.

Minnesota (13) drew Green Bay (4) in the first round and the fans voted for Minnesota to move on. The Vikes then met the 49ers (5) and again fans voted for Minnesota’s logo. The Vikes next opponent in the Elite 8 was the number one, Seattle Seahawks. The personalities from the NFL Network felt Seattle’s logo would beat Minnesota’s. The results came in on Thursday and we have another upset as Minnesota moves into the NFC Championship match vs. the Philadelphia Eagles (3).

The AFC had Pittsburgh vs. San Diego and Denver vs. Oakland in their elite 8 matchups with the Chargers and Raiders moving on in the AFC Championship.

The Final Four team logos are: Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders.  The Vikings fans now share with the rest of America on just how cool we think our logo is.

GO VIKES

Thanks for reading

Purplestick     

Can Jennings and Patterson become a dangerous duo?

I believe the NFC is the better of the 2 conferences for many reasons with the biggest having the Minnesota Vikings in it.

The NFC also has a major advantage and that is the quality of receivers in it. We saw the big signing of DeSean Jackson with the Washington Redskins. I can’t help but feel this move just put Washington as the early favorite in the NFC East.

Lets’ look at the best receiving combos in the NFC starting in the Vikes Division:

Green Bay: Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb

Detroit- Calvin “Megatron” Johnson and Golden Tate

Chicago Bears: Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall

These 6 guys are top notch receivers but now I submit to you the best potential receiving combo and that is the Vikings’ Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson. Jennings is a sure handed and great possession type receiver and now add in the speed from “Flash” Patterson.” I believe as the season goes on these 2 will get media hype with the success of the Vikings passing game.

The adding of new offensive coordinator, Norv Turner helps me solidify my sureness that #15 and # 84 will rise to the top of their individual game and help the Vikes be more than just a great running team.

The other combos that are hard not to overlook:

San Francisco: Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree

Atlanta: Roddy White and Julio Jones

Washington: DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon

The NFC lost Steve Smith (Panthers) to the AFC’s Ravens and the Giants lost Hakeem Nicks to the AFC’s Colts.

How can you not love this awesome conference?

Thanks for reading

Purplestick