How Are The Minnesota Vikings Going to Fair this Year?

We are less then 48 hours away from a brand new season of Minnesota Vikings football. Everyone across the state of Minnesota is wondering the same thing, and that is how is this season going to be? If EA sports newest video game Madden 13 has anything to say, it would say the Vikings are the worst team in the NFL, because the Vikings have the worst overall rating in the game; but video games can not predict the future..or can they?

How could this team go from just a few yards away from the Super Bowl two years ago, and now be the worst team out there? The answer is quite simple. We did not have a quarterback ready to go when Mr. Brett Favre was going to retire for the 10th time. Our best player tore every ligament in his knee last year, and our secondary couldn’t guard water even if they fell out of a boat.

But now it seems like we might be turning the corner. If one thing the NFL has going for it besides the replacement refs( sarcasm inserted), is that the NFL has parity in it. You can go from bottom dwellers to Super Bowl contenders within a year. The Vikings, how ever are in a critical year, a new stadium coming on the horizon, and second year coach, and second year quarterback that NEED to show they can handle their jobs or not they will be the newer versions of Brad Childress and next Tarvaris Jackson.

The Vikings have gone from a veteran filled team last year to a team that has a vast majority of it’s players that are closer to age 20 then 30. So what is a realistic record for this team? There is no way the Vikings will be the “surprise” team in the NFL this year. But on the other hand this team will show improvements, unless Christian Ponder regresses (I don’t know if Ponder could get any worse then last year), if Ponder stumbles then this whole team will stumble back. Even if Adrian Peterson is not 100% he is still a threat, and Peterson alone could help the Vikings win a few more games then last year.

With how the schedule lays out it wouldn’t be crazy to think the Vikings couldn’t finish 6-10 or 7-9, but this is the Vikings we are talking about, and it wouldn’t even surprise all of us if they finished 3-13 again. There are many factors we need to watch for. One-how will Adrian Peterson fair this season, two-what is the ceiling for Ponder, and three-how much better is our secondary going to be. Once again the Vikings will finish looking up at Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Super Bowl favorites Green Bay Packers in the division, but look for them to finish in the middle of the NFC this season.

This is a big year for the Vikings, if Ponder does not show improvements, then come next April we might be hearing the Vikings drafting Matt Kalil old teammate Matt Barkley, but if the Vikings are right about Ponder, then come next season we might be hearing the P-word float around downtown Minneapolis. This team needs to show improvements not just for themselves but for the fans who have stuck by this team for over 50 years, and have gone through everything from “love boat” to watching Favre throw away every one’s dreams.