Sunday’s Viking home game against Philadelphia is likely to sell-out in time to prevent a local TV blackout, according to an e-mail received earlier today from Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing. As of this morning there were approximately 2,000 seats remaining, most of them in the $46 and $57 price categories, according to LaCroix.
Under NFL rules the Vikings must sell out the game by Thursday to prevent a local TV blackout. “While we have until Thursday mid-day to move these remaining tickets, we feel confident that we will continue our sell-out streak,” LaCroix wrote.
The Vikings have sold-out 98 consecutive home games. Tickets remain for all six 2007 home games.
In other Viking news today, coach Brad Childress said at his weekly news conference that quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has a splint on the second finger of his right hand. The finger is sore and swollen from a fracture, but no decision has been made regarding whether Jackson will start Sunday’s game. Despite disappointing play in the last two games, Childress said Jackson will be the starter against the Eagles if he’s “physically and mentally” ready.
Childress said he isn’t looking back at the team’s decision not to acquire a more NFL ready quarterback during the off-season. He said a commitment must be made to developing a young player if that’s the direction taken. “I believe we’ll know a lot more about Tarvaris at the end of this year than we do right now,” Childress said.
Will Jackson improve his play enough in the team’s final 10 regular season games to give the Vikings some hope of making the playoffs? After three starts this season and two last year, Jackson went to Dallas yesterday and looked like a quarterback who isn’t improving.
Jackson was 6-9 passing as the Vikings produced one offensive touchdown in the 24-14 loss. The week before he was 9-23 against the Bears and so in his last two games he has 15 completions. Fox TV analyst and former NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said during yesterday’s telecast that he considers “accuracy the most important thing” for an NFL quarterback.
Jackson’s struggles include other problems, too. Observers believe he holds the ball too long waiting to pass, doesn’t see open receivers and frequently throws hard passes when more touch is required.
It doesn’t help that the Vikings receivers appear average at best, but they’re playing at a higher level than Jackson. Plus, having a running game that’s making defenses crowd the line of scrimmage is an advantage and opportunity for Jackson.
With the Vikings at 2-4 and 10 regular season games remaining, Jackson needs to improve considerably if the Vikings are going to reach a .500 record or better. A winning team isn’t characterized by a defense that frequently scores with about the same frequency as the offense.