It Won’t Be Easy For the Vikings

Despite all of the injuries mounting at Winter Park, and despite the public commentary from its greatest player about the lack of good coaching and what-not, and despite the passing game being more about the trickle-down theory than unabashed capitalism and despite a horrendous outcome last Sunday, the Vikings still find themselves in a gem of a spot at this juncture of the season. Notice I didn’t say pickle of a spot as so many of the social media prognosticators would like everyone to believe.

They find themselves, if the season ended today, playing the Redskins in a wild card game and then advancing to play Carolina if they would win. That’s not such a bad draw because I believe they can beat both the Redskins and the Panthers, and if a team can win the first two, then anything can happen in the third and fourth games. Just ask the Packers and Giants when they won the Super Bowl as underdog wild card entrants.

Now this isn’t meant to sound facetious or anything – the Vikes have an honest chance to go all the way if the same draw holds true a month from now. Dallas went into DC and defeated Washington with less than a full deck. And I think Carolina is beatable if you concentrate entirely on a few of their offensive weapons – mainly Mr. Newton.

But we all know that it will take much more offensive output going forward to get those opportunities. And it won’t come easy, and here are three main reasons why:

1) I honestly thought this team was much more solid off the field and a main reason why it has had the success it has to this point. But, given the latest comments from AP, it is truly amazing that he can make the candid remarks he did about coaching and everyone basically swallows it without another thought. It’s either not a good sign about the locker room environment – or it’s a good sign and everyone is going to coach a lot better and play a lot harder. Can’t be anything in between at this point.

So far it’s been AP’s team. I do think the coaches have made a mistake with that seasonal game plan. It should have been Teddy’s team from the start with AP along for the ride. But trust factors played into this regarding Teddy’s ability to lead in all facets of the game.

2) It’s all about match-ups going forward. Some teams we match up well against, others we don’t. If we can contain the Cardinals wide receivers on the outside, I think we will do well. The guy I worry most about is John Brown – we don’t do well with speedy receivers like that because there is little doubt that Xavier Rhodes will probably shadow Larry Fitzgerald. Otherwise, Terrance Newman gets Fitzgerald and Rhodes gets Brown – which might be best. And Carson Palmer is slow within the pocket – advantage Vikings. But if it’s the Packers or Seahawks in the playoffs who the Vikings face, then I think it will be a very early exit.

3) If it’s been said once, it’s been said a million times. The offense needs to be better for the Vikings to reach its goal of a division title and also make a deep run in the playoffs. I doubt the passing game can ramp up in such a hurry. It really does feel like pre-season all over again. Rick Spielman has some adjustments to make in the off-season – mainly to get a big, athletic go-to wide receiver to complement Diggs and to get the offensive line in shape to protect Teddy. Now, many thought Teddy was in great shape with AP back in the fold this year. That has gone the other way instead. So, if and when we do surround Teddy with more weapons and better protection, then it will entirely be on Teddy if the offense doesn’t perform and we will know then who we have in a quarterback. I’m hoping he proves all of the naysayers wrong and kicks it into high gear the rest of the way.

To compound matters, you have to be healthy. Bud Grant always said it’s great to have great players, but it’s better to have great players who are also durable. Durability was a big thing for Grant as it always put his teams with the best players on the field in the biggest games. Losing Joseph, Barr and Smith is like a basketball team losing it’s best guard, forward and center. If depth was something the Vikes boasted in training camp, we will see if that is correct or not tomorrow night against Arizona and beyond.