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| | | | | | | | Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Vikings answering all questions
Associated Press
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings' preseason
questions, once so pervasive, are all but buried beneath a growing
mound of evidence.
|  | | Daunte Culpepper throws in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. |
Was Daunte Culpepper ready to start at quarterback in his second
season? Could the offensive line lose two starters and still be
effective? Would the Vikings become more effective by switching
places among the three linebackers? Could they cover the NFL's top
receivers with a converted wide receiver and a player plucked off
the waiver wire?
After four victories, no losses, the answer to each is an
unequivocal yes.
"The main thing is, those question marks are from people who
don't matter to the people in the program, people who don't have to
put it on the line," offensive tackle Korey Stringer said. "We're
not doing anything we didn't expect to do. In fact, we expected
more."
There's more to be done next Monday night, when the Vikings can
put 2½ games between them and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a
victory over the NFC Central favorite.
"We still did not play well against the run," Vikings coach
Dennis Green said Monday following the Vikings' 31-24 victory at
Detroit. "We're playing better pass defense than run defense,
which has to stop quickly.
"The rest of the areas, we're making good progress. We just
have to make sure we play better against Tampa Bay than we did
against Detroit."
Pass coverage was considered a potential problem, but cornerback
Cris Dishman has proven himself still capable after being released
by Kansas City, and teams aren't even bothering to pick on
converted receiver Robert Tate.
The linebacking corps has also been solid, though Kailee Wong
was moved from the strong side to the middle, Dwayne Rudd from weak
side to strong side and Ed McDaniel was returned to the weak side
after playing middle linebacker.
Offensively, Culpepper continues to impress in new and different
ways. In previous games, his running ability stood out. Against the
Lions, he connected seven times with receiver Randy Moss for 168
yards and three touchdowns.
"The first touchdown that Randy had was a route adjustment,"
Green said. "It was made to look easy, but it was easy because
they both saw the exact same thing. That's the kind of smart player
that Daunte is.
"Potentially, we have a chance to be a good offense. We'd like
it to be the best offense we've had, but so far it's not."
The offense has a ways to go match the record-setting 1998
Vikings, Green said, but it's well ahead of expectations.
The offensive line, for example, was expected to struggle to
replace Pro Bowl center Jim Christy and left guard Randall
McDaniel, who left via free agency, but this group is bigger and is
particularly strong in run-blocking situations. The organization
had a better idea than the public, Stringer said, that center Matt
Birk and left guard Corbin Lacina could step in and succeed.
"It's not just an idea, it's a belief," Stringer said. "As
you prepare together, you see what people can do. We haven't even
tapped into what we can do."
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