Dean Dalton: Packer Game ‘Critical’ to Vikings
Dean
Dalton is a common sense former football coach who doesn’t sensationalize or
exaggerate. So when he talks about the Vikings,
including the early part of the schedule starting with Monday night’s
game in Green Bay, better listen up.
Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach
now in the media, is a passionate admirer of the Vikings’ defense but is
as curious as most everyone else in Purple Nation about the offense.
“As this defense goes, is how the team will go as long as
Tarvaris
Jackson manages the football well and doesn’t create turnovers,” he
told Sports Headliners.
Coming off a season as the No. 1 defense
against the run in the NFL, Dalton likes the pass rush, too, led by
new defensive end Jared Allen who led the league in
sacks last season. The unit’s ability to bring pressure on the
quarterback means Dalton isn’t that concerned about cornerback Cedric
Griffin, a player sometimes singled out as not being effective.
The offense entered training camp with at
least three major questions and added one or two more. Jackson,
beginning his third pro season, was supposed to receive more playing
time in preseason but injured his right knee in the second game and shorted
out that goal. Dalton describes Jackson as “quite raw” and “is coming
off a knee injury.” Not the way you want to prepare a young
quarterback.
Last week’s four game suspension of left
tackle Bryant McKinney by the NFL further clouds expectations for
the offensive line. Journeyman Artie Hicks replaces McKinney at
that vital pass protecting position. He doesn’t have McKinney’s ability
but then, too, the former No. 1 draft pick is considered an
underachiever.
Right tackle Ryan Cook, a third
year lineman, is considered a project player. Along with Jackson and
McKinney, his name had a question mark after it, going into training camp.
Hicks and Cook aren’t good one-on-one pass
protectors, Dalton said. “So there’s going to be a challenge there
against the relentlessness of the Packers’ defensive front,” he added.
Dalton said one worry the Vikings don’t need to have is wide receiver
Bernard Berrian. He was bothered by a sore right toe during training
camp, and also last year while playing for Chicago, but Dalton expects
him to be okay for Green Bay.
A receiver that does concern him, though,
is tight end Visanthe Shiancoe who joined the team last season.
Neither last year nor in preseason did Shiancoe play up to expectations,
according to Dalton.
Just like late last season, Dalton expects
the Packers to crowd the line of scrimmage with defenders, focusing on
stopping the Vikings’ runners until the offense can prove its
effectiveness in passing, including protection of the quarterback.
Dalton thinks a 10 win year is possible for the Vikings and describes
the Packer opener as “critical” to the season. “The first four games
are just giant tests, and the fact that now you’re going to take on
those tests without not all of your front line (on offense), lends you
to be concerned,” he said. “They (the Vikings) have the capability of
winning their division but...to do that, they’ve got to go
through Green Bay, and that’s the first test out of the box. …”
After the Packer game, the Vikings play
Indianapolis and Carolina at home, before a road game at Tennessee.
Sports Illustrated predicts all four teams will have winning
records with Indy advancing to the AFC Conference title game.
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