Thread: Jim Souhan - Vikings miss a certain wide receiver

Jim Souhan: Ode to a departed Vikings receiver
Jim Souhan, Star Tribune
September 21, 2005

The Vikings are missing the contributions of a certain big-play receiver -- they've been losing since he left. And there's no chance of his return.

This is an admission. The Vikings do, indeed, miss their big-play wide receiver.

They miss the guy who produced all those touchdowns, who filled all those highlight reels, who shined during the greatest successes of the post-Purple People Eater era.

They miss the guy who overcame trouble early in his career to rise to greatness, who committed acts of silliness in the end zone, who made Daunte Culpepper a better quarterback, who was left heartbroken by the Vikings' 41-0 loss to the Giants in the 2000 NFC Championship Game.

To evoke his greatness, you need only intone his three-syllable name. The Vikings haven't been the same since he left, in 2002.

That's right, the receiver the Vikings have missed the most in the new millennium is not the most talented receiver in NFL history -- Randy Moss.

It's the best receiver in Vikings history -- Cris Carter.

Don't listen to the TV shills who tell you that two teams -- the Oakland Raiders and the Vikings -- will be defined by Moss this season.

That's the easy story from the booth. It's the wrong story in the real world, where sport can be inexplicable and more than talent counts.

For example, who knew back in 1991 that a waiver claim would land the Vikings a future Hall of Famer?

In 1992, Carter became the leading receiver on a playoff team. From that point until the drafting of Moss, the Vikings frequently changed quarterbacks, offensive coordinators, running backs and management teams. The constants were coach Denny Green and his good friend Cris Carter.

So you can divide recent Vikings history into two categories:

They went 56-40 (a .583 winning percentage) when Carter was their top receiver, from 1992 to 1997.

They went 41-23 (.641) from 1998 to 2001, when Carter and Moss played together.

They went 23-25 (.479) from 2002 to '04, after Carter left and Moss became the unquestioned star.

Now Moss is making spectacular catches and taking smoke breaks for a new team, and that team is 0-2, making his personal record 23-27 without Carter.

With Oakland, Moss has made those breathless TV announcers gasp with two 100-yard games, and then there is this:

On a key third down against New England, Moss dropped a pass, contributing to another loss.

On a key third-and-7 against Kansas City, Moss ran a 6-yard pattern, caught the ball and stepped out of bounds without bothering to stretch for the first down.

In both games, according to eyewitnesses, Moss continued his pattern of taking plays off.

This is not to say the Vikings couldn't use him. They need all the help they can get, and Moss' absence was one reason they couldn't run the ball against Tampa Bay.

And if Moss had performed spectacularly against Cincinnati, the Vikings might have lost only 38-21, and he might have walked off the field early, compounding his team's embarrassment.

Moss fans love to argue that he is a transcendent player, but he has proved to be a spectacular loser.

So, please, stop blaming the Vikings' woes on Moss' departure.

When the players are good enough -- and the current Vikings should be at least competent -- there is no choice but to blame the coaching.

Former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was Culpepper's security blanket. When Linehan took over quarterback coaching duties during the 2002 season, Culpepper was transformed into the man who set an NFL record for combined passing and rushing yards last year.

Now Linehan is gone, new offensive coordinator Steve Loney is trying to learn on the job and coach a depleted offensive line and call plays, and Tice is displaying the leadership skills that made New Orleans the tourist attraction it is today.

At this point in his career, Culpepper should be tutoring Loney and taking charge of the offense, not paying homage to Monty Python's 100-meter dash for people with no sense of direction.

Tice and Culpepper welcomed life without Randy.

Through two games, both have failed to take command of their team, and both seem to agree that Culpepper should shoulder the blame.

Interesting article...but the easy answer is intoned in the latter part of the article.

And that is the simple fact that we don't have an experienced offensive coordinator who can provide Culpepper with a solid base from which he can launch himself...

Remember what happened when Billick left...we sucked until Linehan got better...now we will suck until Loney gets better...or we replace him with someone who is already good.

I suggest that Wilf go out and find an "offensive consultant"...someone who can step in and make the necessary fixes on offense AND call the plays on Sunday...Loney is not ready and we can't afford to wait for him to get better. Loney is way overburdened with all he is responsible for and Tice can't put any more on his own plate, as he is still learning how to be a head coach. Maybe Rich Olson, the quarterback coach, can be the one to call the plays...it kinda makes sense that he do it only because he is the one who should be communicating with the QB anyway...but I don't know about his qualifications at that level. Smart business owners bring in people who are better than them at different tasks...that way they reap the benefits of the superior talent...Wilf needs to find an offensive genius and bring him in to fix the problems and also to lighten the load for the rest of the coaching staff...it's obvious that they can't handle everything that is on their plates right now!

I think I miss AC more than CC...........He was small, but he played big.

We can make all the excusses we want, they lost moss, they lost thier OC, the line's banged up, Daunte can't read a defense, they dont run the ball...........but the fact is that right now this is a team thats not playing anywhere near its potential.

And that is probably due to a combination of every factor not just one.

"hic-agvike77" wrote:

I think I miss AC more than CC...........He was small, but he played big.

We can make all the excusses we want, they lost moss, they lost thier OC, the line's banged up, Daunte can't read a defense, they dont run the ball...........but the fact is that right now this is a team thats not playing anywhere near its potential.

And that is probably due to a combination of every factor not just one.

R.Moss, AC, CC .... naaaaa, the one I miss the most : Sammy White.

"Two Martini" Tommy hung him out to dry every pass and Sammy almost always made the catch .... over the middle, in the corner, didn't matter ... Sammy got to the ball.

No doubt, the Vikes have had some awesome receivers over the years. Prepare yourselves for the new blood, Troy starts his reign this weekend.

maybe someday we can bring back CC as a coach.

"magicci" wrote:

maybe someday we can bring back CC as a coach.

Yeah I think Chris would be a good coach. Look what he did for Randy.

Amazing how no other paper in the country reports Moss is taking plays off...

And yes, we obviously miss Cris Carter.

Anyone else noticed the Raiders are 0-2? But of course, WE are hurting without Moss.

man I dont even care what these bums say. I've gotten to the point where its in one ear and out the other. We dont need to prove anything to them, just to ourselfs. We may be down, but we're not out.