#broggers

[andyandjoe-blog]

Early-season Evaluation: Minnesota Vikings

  The BROggers favorite NFL team is the Minnesota Vikings. The following is their evaluation of the Vikes early season success. 

JOE:

The Vikings are tied with the Bears for first in their division. The Vikings have played very well. Against the Colts, they lost because the Colts' offensive tackle held Jared Allen  for the whole ENTIRE game. I wish the normal refs were there, not the REPLACEMENTS. 

Offense: Christian Ponder has thrown the ball much better than last year. The offensive coordinator has made great calls. The receivers are catching the balls that Ponder throws. Peterson and Gerhart are like bulldozers! But Gerhart needs to work on not fumbling the ball. Grade: A-

Defense: The defensive is doing PRETTY good. The defense is good at pass rushing. Everson Griffin is like BOOM BOOM POW, getting sack after sack. The defense needs to work on better pass defense. Grade: A-

Special Teams: The kicking is going GREAT. One field goal missed, but zero extra points missed!  Grade: A

Favorite Players: #1 Marcus Sherels, the best punt returner ever! He averages 15 yards a punt return. I'd like a Sherels jersey, because at recess I do pretty good returning myself.

#2 Percy Harvin. Wide Receiver and sometimes Running Back and ALWAYS kick-off returner. Again, I like him because I am a good returner too. He doesn't always fake people out sometimes he just runs and no one can catch him because he is so fast. 

Outlook for the rest of the season: The Vikings need to keep doing what they're doing. Ponder is doing super good. I predict that the vikings will make the playoffs and win the superbowl. Their record is 4-1 right now, they need to be at least 9-7 to make the playoffs. So they just need to win 5 of their next 11 games. But i predict that they will be 14-2. SKOL VIKINGS LETS WIN THIS GAME! etc. 

-J

ANDY:

So far the Vikings have been a pleasant surprise. I really did not expect them to be terribly good this year. I was optimistic that they would be better than last year, but they have certainly exceeded my expectations. I really hope that they continue to play well, but even if they tank down the stretch I'm glad we poor Vikings fans have had the chance to enjoy at least some success, not to mention the added bonus of the Packers' misfortunes. HAHA. (Note: I, of course, do not think that the refs should ever decide the outcome of a game, but it always seems that when something weird like that goes wrong, it always happens to the Vikes, it was kinda nice that it didn't happen to them for once.. even better that it was the Packers :D ) It is important to point out that the Vikes still have a lot of areas to improve upon and the first half of their schedule is significantly less difficult than the second, but they have definitely taken care of business and if they had play a little better against the Colts they'd be undefeated.

Offense: Christian Ponder looks like a good game manager. He has done well and only just this week threw his first interceptions. I'm still a little skeptical of his skill set. He doesn't appear to have the strongest arm. He doesn't often throw the long ball, nor does he through the bullet strikes that you might see Aaron Rogers throw. He still misses receivers from time to time and will sometimes force the ball to covered receivers and fail to notice open ones. His speed and agility have been a nice surprise and despite his shortcomings he routinely has completion percentages in the 60-70% range. It's hard to argue with success! I do think the offense in general needs to play better though. 20-25 points a game isnt going to cut it in the long run. The need a little more firepower, a few more touchdowns and a few less field goals. Hopefully, a healthy Jerome Simpson will provide a spark. Also, can somebody tell me why the Vikes continue to waste Joe Webb's obvious athletic ability on the bench?? I doubt he'll ever be our quarterback, so why don't we trade him or play him? Grade: B

Defense: The defense has really carried the team this year, allowing a mere 15 pts a game. Without the solid effort from the defense the Vikings offense would not be producing enough points to win. I am most surprised by the improved defensive backfield. For as long as I can remember the Vikings have been vulnerable to opposing passers, but they have really stepped up. A good pass rush helps, which the Vikes have, but the d-backs have really held their own. That said, I still think they can improve, especially on third down. They play so well on first and second downs only to give up a big play on third down. If they can eliminate the big plays and get off the field on third down, they will be in great shape. Grade: A-

Special Teams: Kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns; 3 50+ yard field goals; Solid kick and punt coverage.. The special teams are having an exceptional year. Rookie kicker Blair Walsh has been nearly perfect. He's missed only once in 13 tries, but he's made all three of his kicks from beyond 50 yards. Walsh has proven to have both strength and accuracy. He's been huge for a team that has struggled to come away with touchdowns.  Grade: A+

Favorite Players: 1# Adrian Peterson. He's a monster. So tough and he's like a lizard or something. He destroys his knee and basically just chops it off and grows a new one. He is a freak. He works hard and he seems like a decent guy too, which is refreshing for someone so talented. I do think he has a ways to go yet to get back to where he was before, he doesn't seem quite as elusive or dominant as he was.

#2 Percy Harvin. He is so tough. Compared to his fellow players he seems 'small' by comparison, yet he is consistently one of the most difficult players to tackle. He rarely goes down on the first hit and he is just as effective running over a defender as he is faking them out. He absorbs a lot of big hits, but he always seems to get back up. He even manages to overcome his debilitating migraines to play on Sundays. So tough. 

Outlook: I think the Vikes have played well, but really benefitted from a weaker schedule. However, if they play well, I think they can compete with just about anybody, I don't think they will win quite as many games going forward, but I don't see any reason why they can't make the playoffs. I think they need 10 wins to make the playoffs. I think they finish one better: 11-5. 

[andyandjoe-blog]

From left to right the Broggers Joe and Andy and their sister Maggie. Olympic Gymnastics. Clearly Joe takes the Gold. 

[andyandjoe-blog]

JOE! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR THUMB? 

We were on vacation in the twin cities for our family reunion. So we got there.. we got out of the car... and we were waiting for our brother alex and a guy in a car pulled up and told us to go across the street and I quick closed the door so I could go across the street and I slammed the door on my thumb. It hurt verrrrrrrrry much.. observe my photo. Now every time we go on the blog i want to show updates on how my thumb is doing until my nail comes off. Do you see that bump in that picture from the side? Welllll that’s the back of my nail and it’s coming off. I think the nail is gonna pop off because of the swelling from my bruise under my nail. i’m going to let it fall off. Im not really nervous. It still hurts but only when you touch it. When you touch it it hurts verrrrrrrrry much. 

What colors can you see in your bruise?

Right now it has purple, a little bit of red.. wait is that scarlet? i dont think so. and maybe a little bit of blue, oh wait a little green but no yellow. 

-Joe

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ANDY, WHAT HAPPENED TO JOE'S THUMB?

This past weekend we drove up to the Twin Cities for a big family reunion on my Mom's side of the family. Joe and Alex and I all rode in the same car with Joe's dad. Joe was pumped for the reunion and a little squirrelly after having spent 4 hours cooped up in the car. When we started getting out of the car he was practically jumping up and down. Alex was slow (as usual) getting out of the car and we were waiting for him before we crossed the street to the house. The street was crowded with all the cars parked on the street for the reunion. A non-relative had the unfortunate task of maneuvering his pickup down the street as all this was happening. He could see my fellow BROgger jumping and squirming next to our car, and, not wishing to get charged with vehicular manslaughter that day, he politely motioned us across the street and slowed down. That was all the encouragement Joe needed. He slammed the door and started galloping across the street. As the door closed I heard him say "Ow". But it was not the "OWWWWWWW!!!" I am accustomed to hearing from my occasionally over-dramatic BROgger, so I didn't think much of it at first and even chuckled a little. As Joe continued across the street I saw him hunch over and heard the first of many sobs escape from his mouth "OWWWWWW". Needless to say Joe was out of action for the first half hour of the reunion. He is a tough little bugger tho, and it wasn't long before he was back outside wrestling on the ground with his cousins. He also made it to the quarter finals of the bean-bag tournament. Had he not been hampered by the injury, who knows how far he would have made it. It was difficult for him to learn that he will lose the thumbnail eventually. He now seems to accept this loss and is now equal parts terrified and interested to see how it will progress. We promise to keep you updated.

-A