MNF Liveblog: Vikings vs. Redskins

By Brett | Permalink | 5 comments | September 12th, 2006 | Trackback

Welcome to NFL Logue. More on who we and what we’re all about later, but for now we’re starting out with a liveblog of the first game of MNF’s doubleheader. Kick off is in about 45 minutes. Here’s what we’re stoked about watching for in tonight’s game:

The Coaching Battle. It will be interesting to see if Brad Childress can get more out of this talented roster than Mike Tice could during his tenure as the Vikes’ coach. We’re guessing that he can, given the fact that Tice was probably the worst coach in the NFL over the last 2 seasons. On the Washington side, you’ve got the most highly touted –and expensive/hyped– coaching staff ever put together in the NFL. The Skins were a mess in the preseason, so we’re interested to see if Joe Gibbs and crew can pull themselves together a little bit.

Minnesota’s left side. With the addition of OG Steve Hutchinson and the return to health of C Matt Birk, along with the talented LT Mount McKinnie, Minnesota may have the best left side in the NFL this year. Washington’s solid front 7 will be a good test for them, but they should be able to make an ordinary RB like Chester Taylor look pretty darn good and keep old man Brad Johnson upright for most of the game.

Southeast Jerome. Joe Gibbs is saying that Clinton Portis is going to play, possibly even start. We admittedly have a man-crush on Portis, so we’re looking forward to seeing him return to action.

Kornheiser. We didn’t catch any preseason MNF action, and have heard mixed reviews about how Kornheiser has done in the booth. We’re looking forward to checking it our for ourselves.

Alright, we’re looking forward to cranking this thing out live from the NFL Logue Mothership (which, if you’re guessing is our parents’ basement, you’re not that far off). See you at kickoff.

MNF Liveblog after the jump.

Score: MIN 19 - WAS 16

Pregame
Skins cheerleaders looking hot, Theisman representing the epic TV hair, Kornheiser’s combover would make Homer Simpson proud.

Tafoya and Kolber looking like they have the same wardrobe coordinator, and, disturbingly, kinda hot.

Kolber playing up Brunell’s “belief in the system.” Too bad belief in the system doesn’t make up for a limpdick arm.

We were hopeful that the move to ESPN would be end of the Hank Williams Jr intro, but, alas, no such luck. Seriously, is there a more tired, played out schtick in all of sports then the MNF intro?

First Quarter
15:00 Q1
Kickoff goes into the endzone. Skins have a man down. Vikes new gear looking just as bad as their old gear.

First play, play action, Johnson checks down. Vintage Brad Johnson.

Not so sure about the new introduction feature. How’d you like to be the guy that has to introduce everyone else? Personally, I’d be a little salty if I get stuck with that task.

14:00 Chester Taylor looks good on his first run off the left side. No so much on his 2nd.

3rd & 9 13:00 Johnson converts to Williamson. BJ looking as effecient as ever.

2nd &10 12:00 Nothing doing off the left side for Taylor again.

3rd and long Johnson goes deep to Williamson, who’s looking like a 1st round draft pick. Roasting Mike Rumph. Skins missing Shawn Springs right there.

3rd & Goal 9:30 Vikes go double TEs, run right up the gut for the TD. Ballsy play call from 5 yards out on 3rd down. We love it. Run the football, baby.

Botched snap on the PAT, holder Chris Klume looks like he’s packing a mattress trying to get to the right pylon. Gets stacked up by 3 Skins, but he gave it a good effort. 6-nil, Vikes.

1st & 10, 10:01 Portis not in the lineup, Skins go 5 wide, WR screen to Santana Moss. Nice pick up.

Jon Jansen vying for a TV gig with a well rehearsed intro of his offensive mates.

3rd & 7 8:00 Skins convert their 1st 3rd down w/ Brunnell finding Antwaan Randel El. Not a good pass by Brunell, though.

Tafoya talking about Dwight Smith’s ‘indecent conduct,’ which is apparently the new code word for getting a hummer in a stairwell.

Meanwhile, Ladell Betts showing why he’s a back up RB.

3rd & 5 4:45 Vikes bring the heat, don’t get there, and Brunell finds Moss for the 1st down at the 16.

2nd & 8Portis in the game, gets stacked up by a slew of Vikes on his first carry.

Timeout, and we’re treated to the weakest commercial of the season thus far, courtesy of Ebay. As a side note, I did hear recently that you can find a half eaten bag of cheetos up for bid on Ebay.

3rd & 5, 2:38 Completed pass, short of the first down. Somewhere, John Madden is asking rhetorically why you would EVER throw a 3rd down pass that doesn’t get you past the sticks.

Washington settles for a short FG…not much defense being played so far.

1st & 10 1:49 Vikes continue working that left side, breaks a tackle, goes for 5. They’re making Hutch earn his $49 mil so far.

Kornheiser highlighting all the schlub QBs that were drafted before Johnson, and makes sure to mention the fact that most of them are doing things with their lives that involve waste management or theological school. Nice, Tony. Way to pile on the former draft busts.

First Quarter comes to an end with the Vikes converting a 1st down. Not a bad quarter of football, especially given the fact that the two starting QBs have a combined age of almost 100.

2nd Quarter

1st &10 15:00 Jermaine Wiggins catches a short pass in the flat, hurdles a guy, and then gets his tits absolutely lit up by Sean Taylor.

3rd & 8 14:47 Vikes go deep again, Johnson puts it right in the money, and Williamson lets it slide through his hands. In classic form, Theisman jumps all over him. Vikes punt it away.

1st & 10 14:34 Q2 Skins ball after the Vikes punt, Portis in the game. Play action, Vikes bring pressure and force a bad throw.

3rd & 4, 14:23 Q2 Vikes blitz again, LB blows up Ladell Betts on the blitz pick up. Punt from the Skins, shanks it, and the Washingtong boobirds are out already.

1st & 10, 14:00 Shot of Dan Snyder and Tom Cruise in the owner’s box. I would LOVE to hear what those two nutcases are talking about. Vikes back to the ground, coming back on the holding call.

3rd & 18, 12: 40 Some great shots of the wasted skins fans. Johnson goes deep again, it’s overthrown. 4th down coming up. A couple of sick, sick blocks on the punt return. Snot bubbles, anyone?

1st &10, 12:10 Skins ball on their own 48. Toss left to Portis, gets smoked for no gain. Jamie Foxx in the booth, and the big zit on his neck is making us feel like we’re just like the stars. No one even paying attention to the game. Isn’t it a little early for the MNF crew to stop paying attention to the game? Don’t they usually stop paying attention in the 3rd Quarter?

1st & 10Portis gets smoked again. Not much running room for Janky Spanky so far.

And there’s the shot of Tomkat. Fucking whack jobs. Meanwhile, Skins convert a 24 yard gain on a swing pass.

1st & Goal on the 6 Toss left, Portis in for the score!!!! Nice. Our man-crush is in full force right now…excuse us for a monent.

Portis rockin’ the mohawk, with the stripes on the side. Looking a little bit like BA Baracus. And the Skins cheerleaders still looking very nice.

Reverend Gonna Change and SE Jerome get our vote for Portis’s best characters

1st & 10 Brad Johnson drops back, gets drilled. Amazingly, Foxx is STILL in the booth. Jesus, they’re really milking this, aren’t they?

3rd & 9 Williamson with his 2nd drop of the game. What a bitch. On the punt, Randle El spins in 2 circles, licks his balls, and lays down for a nap.

1st &10, 6:16, ball on 24 Portis off the left side for 7. Looks like the shoulder isn’t bothering him at all.

3rd &4 Brunell scrambles around, finds no one open, 3 and out for the Skins. Brunell 8 for 11 for 62 yards. Nice percentage, but a weak yards per completion. Mewelde Moore ankle tackled on the punt. A penalty is going to push the Vikes back. 4:40 left in the 2nd Quarter. Seems like it’s about time for a big turnover.

1st &10 Theismann and Kornheiser going off about ‘verbage.’ Whatever that means. Meanwhile, there’s a game going on, but not much is happening.

3rd & 12, 2:43 A penalty takes away a 1st for the Vikes, moves them back to around their own 15. Vikes 6 penalties for 42 yards already. Johnson with all kinds of time to throw, but Washington drops 7 guys back. Short pass, doesn’t convert the 1st. That penalty hurts, especially since Washington is going to get the ball back with good field position.

1st &10, 2:21 Ball on the Vikes 44. Vikes blitz, don’t get there. Brunell goes deep, and puts A TON of air under the ball. Hits Santana Moss, though. More a case of awful coverage than a good pass.

Kornheiser glorifies his fantasy squad once again.

1st & 10, 2:00, ball on Vikes 6 Brunell gets smacked handing off to Portis, causing a fumble. Very Tecmo-bowl right there. Skins recover.

3rd & goal Brunell with a nice throw to Moss in the back of the end zone, but Darren Sharper lays into him and knocks it loose. That’s good, clean fun right there. John Hall does his best to shank the FG attempt, but he manages to squeak it through.

Vikes have about a minute to make something happen before halftime. Williamson with a nice return out to around the 45 yard line.

1st &10 :56 Vikes run a draw that goes nowhere. Bad play call.

2nd & 8 BJ almost gets lit up, gets rid of the ball. Late flag comes in for defensive holding.

1st & 10, :45 Johnson to Wiggins for the 1st. No pass rush for the Skins.

1st & 10, :37 Johnson throws a jump ball, Sean Taylor and Mike Rumph both go up for it and knock the ball away from each other.

3rd & 10 :24After missing long on 2nd down, Vikes throw a WR screen to Williamson w/ no blocking, goes for about 6. Another terrible play call on this drive. Childress content to settle for a 45 yard FG. Doing his best Mike Tice impressions right now.

Longwell hits the FG, and we’re at the half. It’s beer thirty for me, we’ll be back at the start of the 2nd half.

1st Half Thoughts Clinton Portis is apparently healthy. He didn’t carry the ball that much, but he was pretty effective.

Brad Childress gets mixed reviews from us so far. We like the fact that the Vikes went deep a few times, which was good to see. The two minute play calling was awful though.

All in all, a fairly entertaining game so far.

3rd Quarter

1st & 10, 14:55 Skins ball on their own 30. Starts out with a penalty, then a throw away. Theisman is on Brunnel’s nutz for throwing it away and being a great game manager. Gimme a fuckin break. Theisman just can’t help but glorify the QB, even when they’re throwing the freaking ball away.

And the Skins go 3 and out, 50 yard punt. Mewelde Moore with a nice return, then gets taken down by the punter. Sucks to get to taken down by a kicker.

2nd & 9 13:10 Ball on their own 48, nothing doing on the ground. Vikes doing a nice job of sticking with the ground game. If they can keep the game close, that will pay off in the 4th quarter.

3rd and Long Skins nailed for defensive holding, give the Vikes a free 1st down. On 1st donw, Vikes go back to the left, still nothing there.

2nd and 9Johnson goes deep to Williamson again, intro triple coverage, ball underthrown.

3rd and 9 Johnson converts to Billy McMullen (who?) for the 1st. Vikes doing a nice job on 3rd down.

1st and 10, ball on the Skins 25 Tirico uses the words “sexy” and “offensive line” in the same sentence, then Kornheiser calls the O lineman pachyderms. That’s quality commentary right there, folks.

3rd & 5, ball on the Skins 20 Johnson to Marcus Robinson on the double move for the TD!!!!!! Great route, great throw, great play call. Theisman declares that Johnson ‘hasn’t made a mistake all night.’ With the exception of the the recent throw into triple coverage that was almost picked, and the awful throw in the 2nd Quarter that was almost, we’re willing to conced that point.

1st & 10, 9:30 Skins w/ the ball on their own 33. Portis up the gut for about 15. Nice play, big hole.

2nd & 7, 8:18 Skins go play action from their own side of the 50, pass complete to James Thrash for anoth 15. Skins rippin’ off chunks of yards right now. So far, this is looking like a vintage Al Saunders drive.

3rd & 3, 6:20 Skins ball on the Vikes 21, Brunell throws a nice pass to Brandon Lloyd who can’t hang on. Weak roughing the passer call on Erasmus James bails the skins out. How the hell is that a penalty but the hit yesterday on Trent Green was not? Terrible officiating.

2nd & Goal, 5:08 Portis off left tackle, down to the 3. Theisman predicts a pass to Cooley, he stays in to block. Brunell does a great job of managing the game and throws it away. FG is good, we got a tie game!!!

Good game so far, but neither of these look like real playoff contenders to me. Both QBs are going to cripple their teams a little bit, neither team has established much on the ground, and neither team’s defense is really making plays. Neither team is playing particularly poorly, but neither has been that impressive either.

1st and 10 Ball on the 25ish, Johnson to Kleinsasser. We love it when this guy gets the ball. It’s as close to a big fatty o lineman catching the pass as we can realistically hope to get.

2nd and 10, 2:55 Ball on their own 32, screen to Taylor. Hutch out there lead blocking. Nice play.

3rd and 3 Johnson out in the flat to Chester Taylor, who makes a nice juke move to pick up some extra yardage.

Washington DE Phil Daniels is down and out. Would be a blow to their D if he misses any amount of time.

1st & 10, 1:42 to go Taylor off the right side, gets hit hard. Vikes starting to move the ball on the ground, pick up of 8.

End of the 3rd Quarter, game tied up, 3rd down coming up. Good game between very mediocre teams.

4th Quarter
3rd & 10, 15:00 Vikes with the ball on the Skins 36, Johnson drops back to pass and gets drilled by Marcus Washington.

Vikes attempt the 54 yard FG, Longwell misses badly. Not sure about the decision to kick by Childress.

1st & 10, 14:51 Skins ball on their own 43. Brunell to Portis out of the backfield for 8, good tackle by Antoine Winfield.

1ST & 10 13:30 Portis right side again, not much doing, but they’re starting to work Portis a little bit more. Time to let the big dog eat a little bit.

2nd Down Throwback to Cooley, blown up by Fred Smoot. He sniffed that one out like it was sex boat poon.

3rd and long Brunell throws incomplete, Skins punt. Great punt, good bounce, downed at the Vikes 2. Time for Gregg Williams defense to bring the heat and force that bad turnover that we’re going to continue to predict.

1st & 10, 11:48 Vikes ball on their own 2. Taylor off right tackle for 5.

2nd & 6, 11:16 Vikes from the 7, Johnson with a man in his face. Throws deep. Sean Taylor gets nailed for unnecessary roughness. Awful, awful call. He hit the WR with his shoulder in the shoulder. Weak.

2nd & 8 Ball on the 25, Taylor left side. Goes down in the backfield. Skins front 7 has played a very good game.

3rd & 9 Johnson goes down the middle, finds Travis Taylor (!) for the first down.

1st & 10Taylor off left tackle again, huge fuggin hole, goes for 7 yards. Commitment to the run starting to pay off.

1st & 10, 8:10 Vikes get a 1st down on a penalty on Adam Archuleta. Ball on the Skins 43, play action. Weak pass by Johnson, Williamson can’t come up with it. Not a real good game for Williamson.

3rd & 2 Vikes can’t convert, have to punt. At least they gain some field position, but not a real impressive drive. Basically got handed a 1st down on a bad penalty, then picked up another one on a legit penalty. If they had a lead, we’re getting the sense that they could start milking the clock by running off left tackle. With the game, tied, though, it seems like they’re pressing a little bit.

Skins ball on their own 19, quick slant to Randle El for 12.

2nd & 8, 6:30 Skins throw short, sets up 3rd down.

3rd & 5, 5:42 Swing pass knocked down. Weak play calling. Lucky that one wasn’t picked off. Punt coming.

1st & 10, 5:34 Vikes ball on their own 34, Taylor off right tackle for 3. We must admit, we love what the Vikes are doing in terms of not abandoning the run. 2nd down, starting to gain some traction with Taylor up the gut for the 1st.

1st and 10 Short pass, no gain.

2nd and 10, 3:37 Taylor on the right side, for no gain. Skins up front still playing pretty well. Big play coming up.

3rd and 9, 2:45 Johnson to Williamson on the hitch for the 1st. Williamson shakes a tackle, then gets face masked for an additional 15. Now the Vikes are in great shape to win this one.

1st and 10, 2:40 Taylor off left tackle again, grinding it out for just about 10 yards. Vikes O line and Taylor are starting to take over.

Go for the throat right here.

2nd and 1, 2:26 Taylor with a nifty move in the hole to pick up the 1st. These announcers are killing the whole “you’d better be able to bloddy someone’s nose” thing. Give it a rest, fellas. Jesus.

Vikes looking like they’re going to win this one. From what we’ve seen out of Brunnel thus far, we’re thoroughly convinced that there’s no way he can engineer a late game comeback right now.

1st and 10, 2:00 Taylor gets stacked into the “waiting arms of Archuleta.” Tirico sounding like Nicholas
Sparks.

2nd & 10, 1:50 Taylor again, nothing doing off left tackle. Vikes clearly content to play for the FG right now. We don’t like it. It’s weak play calling. Dare we say, Schottenheimer-esque? Perhaps not that extreme, but cowardly nevertheless.

3rd & 12, 1:49 Taylor off left side. There’s a surprise.

4th Down Longwell looking pasty, white, and and a little scared. I guess he is from the upper Midwest. Sweet lord, Longwell is skinny. The game is in his hands. And he drills it. FG is good, 19-16 Vikes.

Suzy telling us how Brunnel doesn’t understand the Skins offense and sacrificed it all this offseason to learn the x’s and o’s. A bit melodramatic, Suzy?

Ladell Betts with a nice runback.

1st and 10, :54 They gotta get the ball to Moss. And they do! Bigtime throw, big hit, big catch by Santana.

2nd and 6 Clock is ticking, Brunnel manages the game well and bravely throws it away

3rd and 6 Completed pass, short of the first. 47 yard FG coming up, shanks if left. Ball game. Hall chokes and blows it. There’s no other way to put it. Go find Scott Norwood, those kickers from Florida State in the 90s, and have a beer. Nice kick, a-hole.

Final Score: MIN 19 - WAS 16. Good game, not many penalties or turnovers. Well played by both teams, but we get the sense that both of these teams could be on the outside looking in a few months. It’s a long season, but neither team was particularly impressive and neither QB was all that great. Steve Hutchinson looks like the a difference maker on the O Line and Chester Taylor looks like he can get the job done in Minnesota. Childress was a little conservative for our taste, but he got the W and that’s what counts. Overall, a good win for Minnesota. Washington’s offense looks very average. They’re going to need more than 16 points to win games in the tough NFC East. Could be a long season in Washington.

And we’re out. More to come later. Thanks for joining us, Bob.

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