Glory Of Pro Bowl Unfulfilling

Pro Bowl, Schmo Bowl

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In the many years I have been a Vikings fan, I’ve seen several Vikings teams in which deserving players have made the Pro Bowl. In fact, multiple Vikings, in consecutive years, would make the Pro Bowl and the purple would have excellent representation in Honolulu. It was sort of the consolation prize for purple faithful when the team wouldn’t advance far or at all in playoffs, but there was always the Pro Bowl to look forward to.

Go back as far as 1992 when the Vikes had at least 5 Pro Bowlers on an 11-5 squad that won the division that year – Doleman, McDaniel, Zimmerman, Audray McMillan and Henry Thomas – but then quickly bowed out to the Redskins in the first round of the playoffs. Or take the ’96 squad that finished 9-7 and got smoked 40-15 by the Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs, yet 3 Vikings go to the Pro Bowl – McDaniel, Randle and Cris Carter.

Sure, the Vikings have always had some great individual talent – McDaniel, Randle, Carter, Doleman and Zimmerman are all hall of famers – meaning they were always at their best for many years at their respective positions. However, much of the time earning a Pro Bowl also means that your team has had success because without great players teams usually don’t do well (Bud Grant will tell you as much).

So the fact that Adrian Peterson was the only Vikings to make it this year shouldn’t bother fans in the least. In fact, I would rather have a team like this year’s team – that has focused on winning or being extremely competitive in every game and having each other’s back week-in and week-out. I’ve seen too many years when the Vikings would play more so for the honor of playing in the Pro Bowl at the end of the season rather than making significant noise in the playoffs. Some big names, even hall of famers, come to mind.

Coach Zimmer has done a remarkable job getting this group of players to think team first and individual second. If a coach is ever going to turn around a team’s environment of what matters most – he or she has to put the team first in every instance. And that’s what Zimmer has done this year. If this core of Vikings continues with that sentiment going forward in future years – no only will the playoff noise be significant, but the end of the year awards will be plentiful as well – let’s just hope the Vikings only get named to future Pro Bowls and not have to actually play in them.

Teddy’s team now
I said it after the game in Arizona that something had changed regarding Teddy’s persona and his game-time environment – it literally became Teddy’s team after dad, Norv, finally gave all the keys to him. I said that loss actually was a win because it was a win for Teddy who followed that game up with one of his most stellar performances to date against the Bears.

I don’t see how the Vikings can move off of that strategy at this point of the season. They have to keep marching forward with the notion that the ball is in Teddy’s hands, and what they get from Adrian is simply icing on the cake. Now, the case can be made that Teddy is in no position to do this well consistently from here on out for lack of great talent at WR and at times an inept offensive line.

These are fair assessments from what fans have seen this year – but the point remains that Teddy needs to be the guy going forward. The Vikings need to continue building around him – not only during the end of this season and into the playoffs but also during the 2016 draft. Give him more time through the offensive line and put talent beyond Diggs around him at WR.

But for the moment, as former Mike Tice would say, I am going to enjoy the remainder of the season as the Vikes march toward the playoffs with a promising young team that is only a few players away from the ultimate goal of winning a world championship.