HJ Sports Blog

There is that classic scene in the movie “Office Space” when Peter walks into a meeting with the Bobs. They make a comment to Peter about how he has been missing a lot of work lately, and then he says back “let’s just say, I haven’t been ‘missing’ it.”

That is going to be me this fall when it comes to the Vikings. With the impending blackout of several home games and struggles of the team, I imagine I will be missing several games, but I surely won’t be missing this team.

And I don’t think I am alone. I sat five rows up in the upper deck right on the 50-yard line Thursday night. When the Cowboys ran the punt 95-yards for a TD, the guy next to me got up in disgust and never came back. That wouldn’t be so bad if those seats weren’t worth $120, and it was less than five minutes into the game.

I have had the unfortunate luck of attending both preseason home games this year. But that is a rant for another day. I was hardly impressed by anything during those two games. Of course, preseason does not mean much in terms of regular season success, but it seems pretty clear to me that the Vikings will struggle.

In my opinion, the Vikings will win about 7 games, and here is why. The defense will be a little better than they were during the 6-10 season in 2006. Basically everybody is back (minus the coordinator Mike Tomlin) plus they have Chad Greenway and adding rookie cornerback Marcus McCauley to the mix can’t hurt either. The Vikings were the 8th-ranked defense in 2006, and that was without a pass rush. If they can get anything from those four up front, the defense could be scary good.

One thing that could raise that win total is if the defense forces a lot of turnovers. Some defenses have a knack for it, like the Vikings did just a few years ago. Good field position will help the offense by leaps and bounds. With Travaris Jackson leading the offense, the Vikings never put together any long drives the preaseason. I fear that may be the case starting Sept. 9. So anything the defense could do to help might make this team better.

And speaking of T-Jack, he look absolutely brutal Thursday night. He only completed 1 of 5 pass attempts and the defensive back almost picked off three of them. I don’t know how much to be concerned, but everybody in the whole stadium knew where he was throwing the ball. Good thing for the Vikings they have two very good running backs. I anticipate the offensive line will be much more solid than they were last year, and the Vikes will be riding them and the RBs for the entire season. I expect Adrian Peterson will have a great rookie year. But even if he and Chester Taylor lead the league in rushing, they will need something out of that passing game.

In the wide receiver position where the Vikings have a bunch of no-names, one has stood out to me. Rookie receiver Sidney Rice looked really good Thursday. He made a very difficult catch in the endzone and looks like he is fitting in well.

One final thing that impressed me was the return game of Aundrae Allison. It looks like the Vikings might have an above-average return man, something they have not had for a while.

In summary, the only way I invision this team being any good is if the defense causes a lot of turnovers and gives the offense the ball with good field position. I don’t believe there is enough playmakers of the offense to carry this team into the playoffs.