“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin, or “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses? The nation hasn’t been this divided since Bush/Kerry.

Andrew Saur, of Duluth, is on a mission to convince the Vikings to change their kickoff music from the latter to the former. He even created a website for the cause [click here].

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Check out the lyrics for Immigrant Song, and see why…

We come from the land of the ice and snow, where the midnight sun and the hot springs blow.
Hammer of the gods
will drive our ships to new land
to fight the horde
and singin’ and cryin’
Valhalla I am coming.
On we sweep,
with threshing oar
our only goal will be the western shore.

I thought this was stupid, a waste of time, and a non-story when I saw this posted at the Vikings AOL Fanhouse, but the switch is actually a pretty good idea.

Oh yeah, if they hold a “Kid’s Day” at the Dome for a Vikings game, they might want to swap out the opponent’s kickoff song of “Let’s Go,” by Trick Daddy.

Lets Gooooo! (Lets Gooooo!)
If you want it you can get it let me know (let me know),
I’m bout to…a…up, Lets Gooooo! (Lets Gooooo!)
If you want it you can get it let me know (let me know),
I’m bout to…a…up, Lets Gooooo! (Lets Gooooo!)

Because Rube Chat is the best invention since sliced bread, what better way is there to celebrate the bye week than with some bits of what the rubes are saying about the Purple?

It seem to me that this offense is still finding its identity. There is not a hallmark of this offense yet. Hopefully, it will be Chester Taylor, behind a dominant line. We’re not there yet. We’re really not even that close. But I think that is where we’re trying to go.

I think Johnson will be fine. I’m fine with him in there at least through this year, if not next, until Jackson is ready. Johnson will keep us in every game, which is what we want. I’m more concerned about penalties killing drives and receivers dropping balls. WRs are not helping out Brad. I’m confident this will all change around in the next couple of games.

We don’t have to run the ball better. All Taylor can do to improve is find the endzone, but that won’t happen if they don’t respect the pass. Johnson is a great game manager, but we need our QB to give a little spark, and he’s fizzling.

I have to admit that by the end of the game in week 5, I was calling for Johnson’s head. However, after looking back, I have to wonder if its not just as much the playcalling as it is Johnson’s play.

As far as the playcalling goes, for the most part it has been suspect. The Buffalo game was the most glaring. The total abandonment of the run game baffled me. The 4th and 2 call against the Bears was questionable as well. But I would never assume to know what the quarterback’s reads and options were on that play, and the Bears do have a pretty good defense, last I heard.

We have won close games. We have won outdoors on the road. We have won in come-from-behind fashion. We have not yet been blown out. These are things that Tice failed to do. I’d say Childress is an upgrade.

Also for tonight, the weekly power rankings. ESPN has the Vikes at 17, while Fox Sports has them at 19.

If the Lions hadn’t blocked one of Ryan Longwell’s PATs, I would have had the score predicted perfectly…crap!

I shouldn’t have spoken so soon about this defense. Yesterday, I said that the Vikings’ D was good, but perhaps not as good as we had hoped…today, they were completely dominant.

The defense scored more points than the offense did. EJ and Ben Leber both had a touchdown, while the offense only garnered a touchdown and a field goal. This stat perfectly reflects the way things are going for the Vikings.

Every game thus far, the D has given us a chance to win. The offense has been consistently below average.

Today, the offense showed signs of life on occasion, and Chester Taylor rebounded nicely from a rough game last week. But Brad Johnson is not clicking, whatsoever.

My problem with what Brad is doing is his unwillingness to throw downfield. Too often, Brad will throw the ball to someone coming out of the backfield for two or three yards…this has especially been the case on third down. It’s been so bizarre to see him throwing to people not even in the neighborhood of the first down market.

The run-defense has gotta be one of the top-5 in the league. Keven Jones was a total non-factor today.

So the Vikings go into the bye, and they’ve got some major issues to figure out on the offensive end of the ball. This week’s game gave me some more confidence in Chester Taylor, but the Vikings cannot keep making key penalties on offense. They have made countless penalties which have either forced a punt, or a field goal attempt. The passing game is a complete mess…partly Brad’s fault, partly the offensive line’s fault, partly the receiver’s fault. They’ve got two weeks to figure things out.

Happy anniversary…one year ago Friday, the Vikings held their boat party.

And hopefully one year from tomorrow, we’ll be celebrating the one year anniversary of the Vikings beating the Lions. What better team to come into the Dome than Detroit, when the Vikings are having a little two-game skid?

There’s no better team to be playing. Facing the worst-run franchise in sports, outside of the Baltimore Orioles, is a fantastic way to get back on track.

The Lions are one of the worst teams in the league in pass defense. If Brad can’t produce a productive game against this team, then the Vikings might as well pack it up for the rest of the year.

As bad as their pass defense is, though, the Lions do have a decent passing attack. This does worry me a bit…the Lions have put up 34 against St. Louis, and 24 vs. the Packers. All in all, they can score.

The key to the game is Brad Johnson…let’s take major advantage of the Lions’ weak secondary, and finally light up the scoreboard. The Lions are going to put up some points on this good…though not as good as we hoped…Vikings defense, but when it comes down to it, the Vikings D is going to play good enough to win. It’s the offense’s job to take advantage of this.

I see the Lions scoring in the neighborhood of 17…and the Vikings scoring in the 20s. Brad has taken a ton of heat for the last two games, but let’s not forget that he’s still a quality quarterback. He’ll have a big day, Sunday.

The passing game will finally start clicking, and the Vikings will go into the bye 3-2.

Vikings 27
Lions 17

Fox Sports ranked the Vikings 18th in the league. Their comment:

The clock ran out on the Vikings, down 17-12 on the Bills 16-yard line. Inexcusable. That whole “Chester Taylor will lead the league in rushing” bandwagon that was trucking along so powerfully after Week 2? Yeah, well it’s been derailed after a lifeless 23-yard effort.

Seems accurate…maybe that’s because Aaron Schatz didn’t write it.

The Vikes came in 20th in ESPN’s rankings…here’s what they said:

The Brads say the offense is this close to clicking. Um, OK. Here’s guessing once the Vikings stop dropping balls, making dumb penalties and actually score more than 20 points in a game, we’ll see what Brad Childress and Brad Johnson are talking about.

When JP Losman outplays Brad Johnson, you know it’s going to be a long day.

Nice decisions, Brad Johnson. No timeouts, and there’s under a minute left in the game…so throw it to the middle of the field repeatedly. That’s good clock management.

Chester Taylor really lit up the undersized Buffalo defense. 10 carries for 23 yards…yeah, 23 yards is going to get the job done as a starting running back in the NFL. Start Mewelde.

Troy Williamson…learn how to hang onto the ball.

How about this offensive line. Being paid $100 million, and they’re producing nothing but garbage.

Fred Smoot, you’re a terrible cornerback. Giving receivers a 15 yard cushion isn’t exactly the best strategy in pass coverage.

Defensive line, don’t be stupid. JP Josman had the defensive line in the palm of his hand…countless times, he drew them offsides.

Marcus Johnson, you picked a good time to have a false start penalty: on a two-point conversion. That may have cost us the game. The Vikings lost their chance to convert the two point attempt, and thus, needed a touchdown to win the game, rather than being able to settle for a field goal in the final drive.

What about Marcus Robinson? Dropped a pass that would have taken the Vikings down to the 20, while leaving them plenty of time to score a touchdown a