MPR: Uncharted Territory

Uncharted Territory
By Michael Khoo
September 20, 1999

It Helps to Talk About It
Visit the Monday Morning Quarterback section of the MPR Forum. And get it off your chest!

The Minnesota Vikings stumbled Sunday; losing their home opener to the Oakland Raiders 22-17. Players and coaches seemed to shrug off the loss, but many fans were clearly upset by the team's performance.

LAST YEAR, the Minnesota Vikings went 15-1 during their record-setting regular season. The team was destined for the Super Bowl, or so it seemed to observers, particularly the team's loyal fans. But ultimately, the season ended on a sour note with a three-point loss to the Atlanta Falcons during the NFC championship game. Many fans expected this year to be different. This year, the Vikings would go all the way. But Michelle and Jim Eggerichs say they're a little surprised by the team's lackluster performance.

Michelle: It's not quite as spunky as I expected it to be. I've been a little bit worried about our offense. I think we're just not aggressive enough on the offense, not like I thought they were going to be.
Jim: I can sit in the stands and almost predict the call that's going to be. And I shouldn't be able to do that. I mean, if I can do it, the defensive coordinator for the opposing team can do it.

The Vikings now stand at 1-1, having avenged themselves last weekend against last year's spoilers, the Atlanta Falcons. In both games to date, the Vikings scored 17 points; enough to beat Atlanta, too few to beat Oakland. But in either case, less than half last year's scoring average of nearly 35 points per game. Wide receiver Chris Carter says it's not from lack of effort.

Carter: I don't have to explain to the fans. You know, we're out there trying. You see guys; we had guys knocked around. We had guys out there trying. We're not, you know, we're not trying to score 17, 21 points a game. You know, we're out there trying. And it just does not work like you want it to sometime.

Quarterback Randall Cunningham says fans simply cannot expect this season to parallel last year exactly, even though the current Vikings line-up is nearly identical to last year's squad.

Cunningham: It's going to be different. Teams took the off-season to plan against us. And we're at a point right now where we're going to have to squeak games out. You know, these teams that we're playing this year are much better than some of the schedule that we had last year. Very, very tough schedule. But we don't really have any excuses. We're just going to go out and listen to what Coach Green is telling us to do. And we've got to be better players.

And what is coach Dennis Green telling his players to do? Forget last year's bitter ending, don't dwell on the first few games of the present season. Green says the most important issue now is next week, when the Vikings face arch-rival Green Bay.

Green: What we've got to do now is, obviously, get ourselves ready to go to Green Bay. We go to make up our mind that we can go up and play better and get a complete game. A dropped pass here and there will make a difference, blown coverage will make a difference. A penalty will make a difference. There are those type of things in a game - that's a close game - that can go either way. And that's what it did.

The Vikings defeated the Packers both times they met last year. They'll face off again this Sunday in Green Bay.

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