Minnesota Vikings Week 4 Report Card: Grading Every Unit

Certainly, this has not been the start head coach Leslie Frazier was hoping for when the season opened four weeks ago. With the season a quarter of the way through, the biggest disappointment has to be that while the Vikings are 0-4, they could easily be 3-1 if they could have made at least one play in the second half in each of the first three games.

Perhaps, it's better this way for Vikings fans—have the team start slow and show some improvement as the season progresses instead of starting out on a winning streak only to fade at the end and disappoint down the stretch. 

So far, Donovan McNabb has not been able to do what Brett Favre did in his first season with the Vikings in 2009 and has struggled to lead the Vikings to touchdowns.

Another benefit of a 0-4 start may be the increased chance of seeing whether or not first-round draft choice Christian Ponder is the long-term answer at quarterback. If not, then the Vikings should play for the chance to draft Andrew Luck.

For those diehard Vikings fans who have been sipping the Purple Kool-Aid there are still 12 games left for the team to turn it around and make the playoffs. Just keep telling yourself the Packers did it as the sixth, and final seed, in the playoffs last season.

If the Vikings are going to salvage the 2011 season, they will need to continue to show improvement against some very tough competition with two games against the Packers and Bears remaining.

Here are the grades for the Vikings after the first quarter of the season.

Offensive Line

So far, the offensive line has been good and bad and very bad.

Heading into the game against the Chiefs, they owned the best rushing average in the league at 5.8 yards per rushing attempt. 

On the flip side, they have also allowed more sacks than half the league. Granted, some of these are not the fault of the offensive line as Donovan McNabb is having a problem with finding an open receiver.

Grade: C minus.

Running Backs

The Vikings running game has the best average in the league.

Adrian Peterson is averaging 4.6 yards per attempt and leads the team with 81 carries. On the rare occasion when Donovan McNabb hands the ball to another player, the results tend to be even better.

Backup running back Toby Gerhart is averaging 7.25 yards per carry, and the Vikings most versatile player, Percy Harvin, is averaging 11.8 yards every time he is given the ball out of the backfield or on a reverse.

The problem is the running game has only produced three touchdowns in four games.

Grade: B

Wide Receviers and Tight Ends

It would seem that Bernard Berrian is once again playing the role of the Incredible Invisible Man.

Through four games Berrian, who's a free agent next season and should be playing for a contract, has only two receptions.

The Vikings signing of Michael Jenkins appears to be paying some dividends. Jenkins has established some rapport with quarterback Donovan McNabb and is currently second on the team with 16 receptions and leads the Vikings with two touchdowns.

Grade: C plus—certainly some of this hangs on McNabb.

Quarterback

Donovan McNabb has not quite delivered the type of performance the fans had hoped for when the Vikings traded for him.

With another disappointing finish against the Kansas City Chiefs, McNabb has lost the last seven games she has started—the longest losing streak in his 13-year career.

Through four games this season, McNabb has yet to throw for 300 yards and currently has an 80.9 passer rating—while not terrible it is still lower than his career average of 85.5.

McNabb has not provided the veteran leadership that this offense needs. The reason the team brought him in was because head coach Leslie Frazier felt the team could contend for the playoffs this season. With an 0-4 start that doesn't seem likely and McNabb's starts in Minnesota could be numbered.

Grade: D minus—while the Vikings' failures this season are not all his fault, he needs to bear the brunt of them.

Offense: Overall Grade

The Vikings offense, while showing some signs of life in the games against the Buccaneers and Lions—at least in the first half, still needs to pick it up and score more touchdowns.

Overall Grade: C

Defensive Line

Only Jared Allen remained as the starting defensive lineman to open the season.

The Vikings were without the services of Pat Williams, who the Vikings did not offer a contract, and Kevin Williams, who served his two-game suspension. Without the Williams wall to man the middle of the Vikings defensive line, there was some concern about the ability to stop the run.

Add to that the departure of starting left end Ray Edwards, and there were questions as to how effective the pass rush would be with Brian Robison taking over as the starter.

The defensive line has been the strength of the defense.

Grade: B plus

Linebackers

The Vikings used the franchise tag on Chad Greenway to ensure they would retain his services in 2011.

Along with the Henderson brothers Erin and E.J. the Vikings linebackers have been steady and nothing else.

With

Grade: C+; a passing grade, but they need one of the three to step up and make a game-changing play.

Defensive Backfield

The Vikings defensive backfield came into the 2011 season with a number of questions.

One question answered has been whether or not Antoine Winfield, in his 13th season, would still be effective. Winfield finished second in tackles for the Vikings last season and currently leads the team this year.

Cedric Griffin and Chris Cook need to step up and provide a game-changing play that puts the ball back in the hands of the offense.

So far this season, the Vikings defense only has three interceptions in four games, and one of those was by defensive tackle Jared Allen.

Part of the problem has been that the offense has keep them on the field far too much in the second half of games.

Grade: C-

Overall Defensive Grade

The Vikings defensive has played very well in the first half of each game.

With the offense unable to sustain second-half drives, they have played on their heels for in the second half of three of four games. 

The problem has been the lack of takeaways and game-changing plays, especially in the second half where the defense has allowed 80 points—compared to only 16 in the first half.

Grade: C

Kicking Game

The kicking game has been consistent this season. Punter Chris Kluwe in 20 punts has placed five inside the 20-yard line with just one touch back.

So far this season, field goal kicker Ryan Longwell has been perfect, making all seven of his field goal attempts and all eight extra points.

Grade: B

The Return Game

A threat to score from anywhere on the field, Percy Harvin started the season with a bang returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the Chargers.

Alternating with Alonzo Booker, the Vikings are averaging 32.3 yards per kickoff return.

Second-year cornerback, Marcus Sherels has done a solid job as the Vikings punt returner. Sherels has averaged 13.5 yards per punt return without any problems fielding the ball. 

Grade: B

Coaching Staff

The problem for head coach Leslie Frazier and the rest of the coaching staff has been the "Jekyll and Hyde" personality of the entire team.

In the first half this season, the Vikings have allowed a total of 16 points while scoring 51. The problem has been lost leads in the second half of every game as the team has been outscored 80-16 over the last 30 minutes of their games.

Whatever adjustments the team is making at halftime, they're not working.

Coaching Staff Grade: F; as bad as this team is, it should not be 0-4.