| Brian Carlton. 25th September, 2005 - 9:09 pm
 Here’s a math problem for you. Take one NFC team, subtract a Pro Bowl wide receiver and then add several players on defense. Mix that with a rookie receiver you picked up in the draft. Is the team better than before? If the team is the Minnesota Vikings, then the answer is yes…and no.
That’s the problem with the Vikings, for every one chance to jump on their bandwagon, there are usually three or four more reasons to groan and turn away. Throughout the offseason and even now in Week Three, people can’t stop talking about the Randy Moss trade. It was either the 2nd worst trade in sports history or the greatest. Honestly instead it’s just the greatest excuse. The Vikings aren’t going to make a run for the Super Bowl this season, that’s just fact. There are too many other teams who are better and deeper in the NFC alone. Which is why, in order to save the team, it had to be killed.
Last year was great to see, Culpepper hooking up with Moss and occasionally one of the other receivers. The team could and would score on anyone. But that defense was just horrible. Want proof? They gave up an average of 24 points a game. The NFC champion Eagles? They only coughed up an average of 16. A good team? Sure. A playoff team? Probably. A Super Bowl contender? Not a chance.
That’s why the team had to be rebuilt during the offseason. You give up Randy Moss for a linebacker and potential replacement Troy Williamson in the draft. Add Fred Smoot, a shutdown corner from Washington, linebacker Sam Cowart from the Jets and steal Darren Sharper from the Packers. You finish off by welcoming back Brad Johnson as a backup quarterback and take wide receiver Travis Taylor from the Ravens. Team officials are trying to build a complete team, instead of the Randy, Dante and (insert name here) groups from the past few years. Not sure they have the right parts to do it, but at least it’s a start.
As with any team being rebuilt from the group up, the first few games are going to be brutal since the players have never worked together before. Randy offers them an excuse. Didn’t make the playoffs? It’s because we didn’t have Randy. Failed to even hit six wins? All Randy’s fault.
Then watch as the mindset changes later in the season and on into next year. It goes from ‘we can’t do it because Randy’s gone’ to ‘nobody says we can do it, so watch us prove you wrong’. Regardless of if a new coach takes the reigns, it’ll become a personal thing, that the Vikings have to prove themselves. Right now they’re still stuck in that not quite ready for prime time mode. They can’t beat the contenders but are able to hold their own against other pretenders, like they did Sunday against New Orleans.
So Vikings fans, brace yourselves. The team might not be that great this season, as they adjust to new schemes and new responsibilities. But in the end, it’ll be for the best and who knows, in a year or two, you might even get over that hurdle and make it back to the big game. If not, sorry, but hey at least you have someone to blame. After all, it’s Randy’s fault. |
