As Vikings fans we want to jump off the bandwagon as soon as we get behind in a game. Now after losing 2 out of 3 we're ready to drive the bandwagon off a cliff. I'm going to put an optimistic spin on things so not only will you stay on the bandwagon, but you'll buckle in and enjoy the ride.
First let's get the bad things out of the way. The number one problem is the offensive line. It has been overrated, and overlooked all year. When the Vikings were winning, the offensive line was getting a free pass. They have gotten progressively worse as the year has gone on. Until that gets fixed nothing will work. The coaching staff need to find a way to Adrian Peterson some room to run. Matt Birk anyone? Secondly this Favre and Chilly thing is way to overblown, as is everything that involves Brett Favre. But in typical Favre fashion he needed the attention and brought this up to the media. After the game Childress had his press conference and spoke nothing of it. It was a complete non issue, until old number 4 brought this to the media attention. What was Childress thinking? The media has been waiting for a juicy Favre story all year. Now it is being said that this is the 3rd time that Chilly wanted to pull Favre, funny how the first two times never ended up being a major issue. I have no idea, but I think this is a non issue What does worry me is that we've lost E.J. Henderson, and Percy Harvin suffers from Migraines with no real explanation why. Those are the worries, and they are legit and they are real.
But looking at the big picture and the NFC there is still plenty of reason for optimism. We are still 11-3. Start the season, and tell me that is our record after 14 games, and you'll here no complaint. Sure we've beaten a few cupcakes along the way, but who hasn't? We've beaten the Packers twice convincingly. And until a last second miracle they were the NFC's hottest team. We completely dominated the Cincinnati Bengals the AFC's likely #3 seed, who took the Chargers down to the wire. We beat Baltimore who could be a playoff team, and a team the beat the Chargers.
Every team has their highs and lows. Look at the Saints, if Washington doesn't miss a 22 yard field goal they would have lost 2 out of 3. Look at the Cardinals, they barely beat Detroit after getting drubbed by the 49ers. It's funny how everyone is high on the Cowboys now. Before they beat the Saints, all anyone talked about was December this and playoffs that. Everyone is all excited about the Giants because they beat the Redskins. Is that even an accomplishment? The team the worries me the most is the Eagles. But they have their own problems, the Eagles haven't beaten one team that would be in the playoffs if they started today. Their record against current playoff teams is 0-3. So find me a team, and I'll find you a giant question mark.
The NFL is over analyzed and broken down so much more than any other sport mainly because of the time between games. So do the Vikings have some issues yes. But my point is who doesn't. These NFL experts like Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk.com change their opinions weekly. They have to, who wants to go to a website that says the same thing each and every week. The Vikings control their own destiny, and should be the number 2 seed, with the only potential road game being inside the Superdome. I'm not as confident as I once was, but I don't see another NFC team that I would be overly worried about if they came to the dome. We absolutely can not play like we did against the Cardinals or Panthers. But our record against current playoff teams is 4-1.
So calm down Vikings fans, and enjoy the season.
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