After last night's loss to the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings have fallen to 11-4. They're now the number three seed in the NFC playoff picture. This is the same team that was 10-1 and challenging the New Orleans Saints for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Even after the Cowboys and Bucs gave the Vikings Christmas gifts by beating the Saints on back-to-back weeks, they still couldn't take advantage.
In the preseason I thought this team was the favorite to reach the Super Bowl from the NFC. Now they look like the most ripe out of the teams playing at home this postseason to lose their first game. Do I think there is a "schism" brewing? No I don not. I do believe they have a serious problem on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
Offensively, it's not because Favre is getting old, or because Adrian Peterson isn't finding the right hole to run through. It comes down to the offensive line not getting it done. In the beginning of the year they were blocking well which allowed Peterson to run like crazy. Peterson's production forced teams to stack eight men in the box. When that eighth guy came in the box Favre would check in to a passing game. For an NFL quarterback, facing eight men in the box makes it very easy to identify the coverage. It has to be either Cover 3, Cover 1 or Cover 0 because that strong safety has now come down to help stop the run. The Viking offense seemed unstoppable with defenses having to "pick their poison".
Now defensively, the loss of starting middle linebacker E.J. Henderson is HUGE. His replacement is Jasper Brinkley who seems lost in coverage. Brinkley hasn't been bad in the run game, but has been in the passing game. Last night, Pat Williams didn't play so that also hurt their run and pass defense. Jared Allen has got to get more pressure on the quarterback as well. The last two games, the Vikings have sacked the quarterback four times, but haven't gotten consistent pressure. That has to change if they want to beat elite teams.
My forecast is that if they fix these problems, they will march to the Super Bowl. They have the most balance of any team in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings are a very dangerous team come January. They have explosive players in all facets of the game. They could kill you offensively with Adrian Peterson, they could kill you on special teams with Percy Harvin, and Jared Allen could go for three sacks in any given day. I'm not ready to write these guys off yet, but they certainly have to get it together.
-Femi Abebefe
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Femi, I have to admit... I like this article, I think the Vikings will get back to running the ball to set up the pass rather than what they have been doing lately. I think when their defense comes to play they are a shut down type defense, but if they don't get pressure they won't win. Their pass defense is shaky when there isn't pressure and I know Brett Favre has played well this season, but I still don't know why the most prolific running back in the game today isn't the focal point of their offense right now. I still think if they have to go to New Orleans or Philly they will lose. They better hope the Eagles lose to your Cowboys and the Vikings beat the Giants!
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