From: jag@unislc.uucp (John Ganske)
Subject: Minnesota Vikings News 11/20/92
Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 18:26:14 GMT


Ok, I guess I need to post at least one bit of Vikings news this week.
Today is my last chance, so I'll post this.  It is from the Minneapolis
StarTribune for Friday, November 20, 1992.  The article (copied without
permission by the way) is called "Vikings share blame for passing problems."
It was written by staff writer Jim Souhan.

  After their worst passing performance in five years, the Vikings began
  passing judgements this week.

  "I could have done more," offensive coordinator Jack Burns said.

  "I really stunk," receiver Anthony Carter said.

  "I was a big part of the problem," receiver Cris Carter said.

  One Viking who did not embrace blame for the team's poor performance
  against Houston was the one who receives most of it, because of his
  position, from the public.

  "There are people grumbling about whether I should have been yanked,"
  quarterback Rich Gannon said.  "If you look at the film it's real
  apparent that as an offense we didn't play well."

  Proper response: A chorus of Amens.  The Vikings managed 100 net passing
  yards - their lowest total since Nov. 8, 1987 - and no offensive 
  touchdowns in Sunday's 17-13 loss to the Oilers.

  They also set season lows for rushing yardage (74), first downs (10) and
  third-down conversion percentage (15).  Since blitzing Cincinnati with
  318 yards in Week 4, the Vikings had ranked ranked between fifth and 
  eigth in the NFL in passing offense; they now rank 13th.

  The Houston game continued a trend of sorts for the passing game.  The
  Vikings threw 13 touchdown passes in their first six games - 11 by
  Gannon, two by Sean Salisbury.  In the last four games, they have thrown
  only one.

  This is the first time in Gannon's career he has had that few touchdown
  passes in the many games.  In fact, in his first 30 career games (29 starts
  plus one game in which he threw two touchdown passes as a reliever), 
  Gannon had produced 42 touchdown passes or runs, making his recent 
  drought seem even more uncharacteristic.

  The Vikings respond to such statistics with two arguments:

    They do not regard them as an accurate reflection of Gannon's or
    the offense's capabilities.

    They do not regard them as an accurate reflection of Gannon's or
    the offense's performances preceding the Houston game.

  After all, one of the reasons the Vikings' passing statistics have not
  been impressive in the last month is that they beat Tampa Bay and Chicago
  by relying on their running game.

  But Vikings coach Dennis Green said the passing offense should work better
  than it has recently.  "We should be passing for about twice waht we run
  for," he said.  "If we run for 120, we should throw for about 240."

  Yet Gannon has not passed for 200 yards since Week 4.

  On Sunday, the offensive line played well against a talented Houston front
  four, and Gannon and the receivers struggled.

  "I played terribly and that reallyhurt the team,"  Anthony Carter said.
  "You're sitting back and not anticipating the ball coming to you because
  of what happened in the previous games, and then all of a sudden your 
  number gets called a lot and you don't perform.  That's frustrating."

  Cris Carter felt similarly.  "I just didn't play well," he said.  "It was
  a bad week and a bad game for me.  I didn't run my routes with usual 
  precision."

  The Vikings will need to find a way to pass effectively against good 
  defenses to win big games later this season.  They have played two games
  against teams that currently have winning records - the Redskins and 
  Oilers - and they have lost both.  Gannon's passing stats in those games:
  18-for-44 for 288 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

  Gannon has avoided committing turnovers, but he also has rarely made a 
  big play.

  "I know Rich feels bad about the way we played on Sunday," Burns said.
  "He's such a competitor, I know it's got to be rotting in his guts.
  Buts he's tough - he'll use that to motivate himself for this week.

  "Knowing this group, I think we'll come out and do a better job."

From Sid Hartman's column:

  "Tice says Vikings will be more focused"

     Vikings tight end Mike Tice said practice will indicate whether the
     Vikings can bounce back and beat Cleveland after losing 17-13 to 
     Houston.  "Yesterday I felt that we had a very fine focus on what
     we have to do to be successful," he said.  "That's what we've been
     able to do all year.  I think that last week our focus was out in 
     space somewhere.  It wasn't finely focused on what we had to do.
     This week I see us back to paying attention, back to being realistic
     about the fact, that, hey, we're not a great football team.  We're
     a good football team that works extremely hard and plays together."

That's all folks.
Go Vikings!

John Ganske

Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro