Minnesota Vikings 2010

Well its a week away people! The last preseason game is being played tonight and the vikings still have a lot of questions to be answered. Will Favre be able to play at the same level as he did last year(I doubt it). How badly will the loss of CB Griffin and WR Rice hurt the vikes in the first few weeks(I say a little, especially now with promising rookie CB Chris Cook out for a couple weeks) Will the offensive line hold up the whole season?(I think so, though mckinnie and loadholt will need to do a better job with favre's toothpaste-like consistency of an ankle).

I think the vikings will have another successful season.  The defense is going to be very solid again.  Our run defense will look to reclaim its best in the league title as the NY Jets stole it from the vikes for the first time in three years.  I think the D-line will again be the best in the league..(Jared Allen is only 28 years old! K will is 30 and Edwards is 25, leaving only Fat-Pat as the 37 year old grandfather.)We are also getting MLB EJ Henderson back after breaking his femur late last season. He should do a lot to solidfy our pass defense over the middle.  Brinkley was serviceable but I never really trusted his ability to read quarterbacks and make presnap reads.

Hopefully Percy will remain healthy and wont be stricken by migraines throughout the season.  The additions of Camarillo and Walker will help as a bandaid in the interim before Rice gets back, but that still leaves the Vikes without a deepball and big play threat down the field.  Rice was that man last year and it really opened things up for Shiancoe and Harvin underneath. Vincent Jackson is holding out from the Chargers and he would be a perfect fit for Farve and the deep ball.  Jackson is 6'5" and a great vertical catcher. But if he is asking for as much as he is with the chargers it will be hard to sign him even in an uncapped year.  

I hope we use AP more in the passing game this year.  Peterson could catch a flaming boulder out the backfield his hands are so strong.  If only he could curtail the fumbling he might finally be a complete back! Gerhart will be interesting to watch. Not only because he is white(Zardoz!) but also because we need a solid back to replace Chester Taylor on third down situations. 

Another factor in the Vikings success this season will be the improvement of the NFC North.  While the Lions are still rebuilding they did show some promise last season improving to 2-14...But QB Stafford did show promise and the addition of Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch will greatly improve their pass rush.   The Defensive line play of the entire NFC North is one thing that concerns me.  This is a scary prospect for the Vikings and granpa Favres ankle.  Shear Beast, Julius Peppers is now a Bear, and with Urlacher coming off an season long injury their defense as a whole will be improved. But I have a feeling Cutler will take his apathetic chubby baby face and throw his team out of contention.  But the D line could spell trouble. And now for everyone's  trendy pick the Green Bay Packers.. theyre gonna be good people.  Rodgers passed for the most yards in Packer history last year.  Their offense is impressive and their defense was ranked first overall last year.  The bane of the packers season(O-Line play) has also seen improvement with first round draft pick Brian Bulaga out of Iowa.

All in all I think we should be hopeful of the Vikings chances this year.  While the Favre thing has lost some of its luster he is still our best chance to win and our team is strongly built around him with the Defense and running game.  I look forward to vengeance next thursday at the Dome in New Orleans.