The Josh Freeman era didn't begin that well, now did it?
Leslie Frazier cautioned Vikings fans last week not to view Josh Freeman as a savior in a season that has drifted horribly off course.Freeman had no shot -- you simply can't expect someone to come in off the street and take over a professional football team in two weeks. It just doesn't happen. I may be a Packers fan, but there's no joy in watching your rival stumble around like that.
“I don’t know if one guy can save your season,” Frazier said.
Anyone need more proof?
If anything, the Vikings looked even more discombobulated and dysfunctional with Freeman running the offense on a miserable Monday night at MetLife Stadium.
Any hope that Freeman’s arrival might spark a season revival quickly vanished as the Vikings bumbled through a 23-7 loss to the previously winless New York Giants in a game that won’t be replayed on those instant classic channels.
6 comments:
Josh Freeman made Christian Ponder look like Fran Tarkenton.
Freeman consistently missed receivers by huge margins. I don't think you can place that on unfamiliarity with Bill Musgrave's business-card sized playbook or solely on another poor performance by the offensive line. Simply put, D, I think most of your readership could make at least 35% of their passes in a NFL game.
The team might as well trade veterans in the final year of their contract (Allen & Williams), and amass draft picks. And they better hope that Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, or Johnny Manziel can actually play quarterback.
don't think you can place that on unfamiliarity with Bill Musgrave's business-card sized playbook or solely on another poor performance by the offensive line. Simply put, D, I think most of your readership could make at least 35% of their passes in a NFL game.
Well, my readership is known for having big arms. ;)
I'd like a larger sample size on Freeman before I'd abandon things; he looked a little too amped up to me. If he stinks it up this week, then I'd go for your plan.
Putting a QB - even an experienced one - into a new offense with only two weeks prep is similar to trying to rollout a comprehensive on-line healthcare exchange system with only one year of programming development. Sure, decisions could have been made much sooner by those in authority to ensure smoother transitions in both cases, but as they say, "Rush a miracle man and you get rotten miracles."
I actually have more faith that Freeman can overcome his glitches with more familiarity; he has basic skills that exceed the toolboxes of the other in-house QBs. There's a chance he will stop shooting himself in the foot. The healthcare system is intrinsically flawed; it is gut-shot.
D,
Frankly, it doesn't matter whether Freeman can perform better or not, the question is the long-term plans of the Minnesota Vikings.
If the team wanted to keep veterans like Jared Allen and Kevin Williams aboard, they would have signed them to extensions during the off-season. They would not have waited for them to test the free agent market or run the risk that one or both would have the traditional "contract year" type of performance. They kept both on the team because they didn't have full confident in their likely replacements (Brian Robison and Shariff Floyd).
More to the point, would winning 4 or 5 more games really do anything for the team? This team has many holes even if they did resign Allen & Williams, who've underwhelmed for the most part this year - Allen's one-handed sack notwithstanding. This team needs cap space and draft picks - and the only way to do that is to trade what value you have now.
FR,
I doubt you'd get much of anything for Williams; probably a 7th rounder is about it. Allen might fetch a 3rd rounder, but it might not be much more than that, since he'd be a rent-a-player at best. I certainly agree that had they shopped Williams and Allen earlier, they'd have found a better market for their services. Maybe the Vikes could ship Jennings back to Green Bay; the Packers could use him.
What's become evident as this season has progressed is that the Vikings benefitted greatly from the 4th place schedule; no such luck this year. And the deterioration of the offensive line has been pretty shocking, actually. It's the same uniform numbers, but it seems like different guys are in those uniforms this year.
Time for Tebow!
(seriously, if the Giants indeed ruined their perfect season by stacking the deck against AP, why not?)
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