Minnesota Sports

OK...no need to panic by any means, but the defense took quite a blow yesterday in the preseason opener.  Chad Greenway is out for the year, after tearing his ACL during a special teams play.

That one hurts...his rookie year is put off until next season, at a very bad time.  This year is E.J.'s contract year, meaning that the Vikes are in a bind at linebacker.  Any plans for Chad to take over for E.J. next season are gone.

But while it hurts future plans, there's no reason to be too concerned over Greenway's absence for this season.  Some people just have to step up now.  That's not to say this isn't terrible luck, though...I know hindsight is 20/20, but it would be nice to have Adul Hodge on the squad.

So that's that for Chad this year. Let's hope for the best as he rebounds from this injury, and continues on to what should be a solid NFL career.

Again, the sky isn't falling, and after the Vikings 16-13 loss to the Raiders, there's a bright-spot to focus on.  Tarvaris Jackson opened his NFL career yesterday, and he's looking very, very promising.

Tarvaris showed excellent mobility, and routinely made people miss as he was on the run.  Only thing he has to do in that regard, though, is remember to slide...Tarvaris took a hard shot to the head.  But all in all, his mobility will definitely be a big weapon.

His passing game was just as impressive as his running game.  The thing I noticed about Tarvaris was that he put a great touch on his throws, making it very easy for the receiver to catch. 

Yeah, Tarvaris has a long way to go.  But last night, he made the Vikes look very good for choosing him in the draft.

The promising parts of last night (besides Tarvaris): Chris Kluwe played great, the defense was solid, and Childress clearly has his head on straight, as shown by how he didn't go to overtime, even though a Longwell field goal would have tied the game in the fourth quarter.

Things to improve upon: Kicking coverage needs a lot of work, the running game was iffy, and QBs McMahon and O'Sullivan were not good at all.  Childress needs to cut O'Sullivan, and make Tarvaris the backup.

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