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September 7, 2007
:: Ready for Kickoff?
Now that the Twins have certainly buried any hopes of a MLB playoff berth this season, my sports focus can turn to the Purple-and-Gold. The 2007 Minnesota Vikings still seems to be an enigma to many however. Columnists Jim Souhan and Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune had only slightly differing views on the team this morning in the paper, but both of them had reservations about this being a winning season for the Vikes.
Then there is the blackout issue...fans can't sell out the dome. If they don't sell off 1700 tickets today for the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, they will black-out local television coverage of the game. The Vikings' front office blamed the ticket sale slump on road construction on I-35W, and the lack of a decent north entry with the said freeway's river crossing missing. I guess I am not surprised they would take such a line, trying to spin public apathy over a team that, as KFAN-AM's Dan Cole put succinctly yesterday, "Nobody is excited about."
All of this being said, I think the Vikes could pull off a winning record this year...but with some very certain conditions being met. It will be a challenge given the rookie nature of the team thus assembled:
Condition 1: Tevaris Jackson has to follow orders, and deliver those orders properly to prevent miscues. It seemed to be the highlight of Coach Chilrdress' frustration this pre-season when Jackson would burn timeouts to either question -- or completely misunderstand -- the coaching staff. When he didn't burn timeouts to clarify and/or question the play ordered, the offense was bound to (and did) misfire.
Condition 2: Although Adrian Peterson is the Vikings new #1 prospect for greatness, the team must utilize their passers as much -- if not more than -- their rushers. This condition defies Childress' offensive paradigm for the season. He has more than once, in more than one way, stated that the plan is to rely heavily on the running game. It was also his plan last year, but when frustrated by his ailing running back corps, he trusted Brad Johnson and a weak receiving squad to pick up the slack. That turned into more misery as Johnson's turnover rate increased, and completion factor tanked. This year, with the duo of Peterson and Chester Taylor, everyone expects Childress to run the ball on 3rd and long. Enter Bobby Wade and Sidney Rice -- possibly the dymamic duo of the season with enough talent to actually catch the long ball, as proven in several plays this pre-season.
Condition 3: Play your asses off in September! Pundits point to the October-November mid-season schedule as the formidable challenge for the Purple. Starting after the bye week, the Vikes face Chicago, Dallas, Philly, San Diego, and Green Bay. However, the beginning of the season cannot be ignored. Opening against the Vick-less Falcons, then moving on to a still-looking-for-some-organizational-skills Detroit squad, facing an equal-odds matchup with KC, and then the first swing at our cheesehead rivals at the end of the month sounds for a lack of a better term -- easy. However, it is this kind of slacker attitude that has killed the Vikes' early season in years past.
Should the Vikings fail to meet these three simple conditions this year, my prediction is for a yet again losing season record: 7-9
Should the Vikings meet my conditions, I predict 12-4. Quite the swing, eh? Here are the key schedule factors I forsee:
A. Vikings must end September 4-0, with that first game against Green Bay being paramount to fan support and confidence through the season.
B. Vikings must win the following games:
Green Bay in Week 4
Dallas in Week 7
Philly in Week 8
Green Bay again in Week 10
Oakland in Week 11 (see below)
C. The most pivotal game in the schedule will be against Oakland at home in Week 11. Hometown-born (and fellow alum of your's truly) coaching phenom Lane Kiffin will look to show-up the team he grew-up. There will be a lot of hype for Lane's homecoming, and the timing of the game will be perfect with post-season prospects getting more and more hype. Additionally, (and we will know for sure Sunday) Kiffin might name former Vike Daunte Culpepper as his starter. If Daunte works successfully for 10 weeks, the hype will increase even more if he starts Week 11 against Minnesota under Kiffin's call.
Go Vikings!
Posted by pierre at September 7, 2007 11:42 AM
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