NFL Preview: Minnesota Vikings

by Don, With Malice...

No other way around this, but it just might be a pretty damn long year for the Vikings.

Brad Childress is putting all his eggs into a basket held by Tarvaris Jackson, and there are more questions on him than on The Riddler's uniform. Luckily, Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor are there to take some of the pressure off him... but when that blitz comes - and it will, and often - Jackson tends to panic. Hears footsteps and sometimes throws too early, or perhaps with too much hope. Panics. Really rather amazed that the expectation is that he'll get it done at the NFL, when he struggled with tough situations in the college game. Beggars belief. With no veteran presence behind Jackson the pressure's going to only mount... I'm guessing it's not too far down the track that we see Brooks Bollinger take over.

Peterson might end up being the goods. He has all the tools to be an excellent back, even at this level. I won't be expecting anything too amazing tho' - he is a rookie, and not an unknown - he'll get a lot of attention from opposing defenses. In a few years time, he might end up being one of the backs everyone talks about.

On the offensive line - it has depth, and overall looks quite strong - but Childress has to stop playing with it & let the players get settled a little. He hasn't done this as yet, and the regular season is no time to start 'getting a feel for it' as a line. Make a decision already Brad.

On defense, Minnesota's a pretty solid unit. The return of Erasmus James from knee injury will provide spark, but they need to get more production from the defensive ends. The lack of impact there could well spell the difference between this group being elite, or being merely 'good'. And it's going to be a grind for them too. With no veteran presence at QB, the D is going to find itself out on the field quite often.

Despite all the attention that Brad Childress gave the special teams over the off-season, I've not seen or read anything that makes me believe that this outfit has anything 'special' about them. Rumour is that the tag 'not-so' will be stuck on as a prefix to this group. No punt-return specialist at this point, kick-off returns still loom as a problem, and both the kicker & the punter ... well... suffice to say they Hoover. Only positive about this group is that making an improvement on last year's efforts won't stretch them too much.

On a positive note, the Vikings cheerleaders are kinda HOT.

Vikings: The Defensive unit is willing and able, but the Offense is simply... offensive. You're in for a long, cold winter.

4 wins, last place in a cold, hard NFC North.

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