So as you may know, the team has undergone a few significant changes over the offseason. Most fans that I'm aware of were happy with some, not so happy with others. The consensus of the Leslie Frazier hiring is that it was the right move to make. He's familiar with our team, players like him and he led us to have some of our best defensive years in recent memory. Bill Musgrave is another addition that I believe we should be happy with. He came into a completely broken situation in Atlanta and (with the help of some good personnel) turned them into one of the best offenses in the league, particularly in the rushing category. This should bode well with us having a pretty decent running back in that Peterson guy. Letting Sidney Rice go is a matter of contention, but with only one healthy season in 4 years, I'm just not convinced he was worth the money that the Seahawks were willing to throw at him. Combine that with the fact that he had some well-documented clashes with upper management and it was understood that we probably weren't the front runners for him anyway.
The McNabb pickup looks better and better for us as camp goes on, having traded only two 6th round picks for him and now paying him a modest five million for a year of his services. I am of the belief that anyone who goes to the Redskins and plays for Dan Snyder automatically declines in performance no matter how good they are, and if you look at some of the high-profile acquisitions the 'Skins have made in the past, oh I don't know, five years I think that belief is backed up quite strongly. He should serve as a great bridge to the Christian Ponder era and could potentially bring us into the playoffs. Perhaps I am an optimist, but I believe that with all the B.S. that was going on in the Vikings camp last year, it hampered a lot of our players' performances. With a few resurgent performances from players like Jared Allen, Phil Loadholt, Hutch, K-Will and Shiancoe along with our secondary simply choosing to show up every Sunday, I think we can challenge for a wild-card spot this year.
Looking at our schedule, we start out with the underachieving Chargers. Phil Rivers has the potential to pick us apart with our weak secondary, no doubt about it. But... if I remember correctly, the last time we played the Bolts a couple records were broken, most notably the single game rushing record. And no, it wasn't Darren Sproles breaking it. Next up are the Bucs, a near playoff team last year that made some very solid looking additions through the draft. But the NFC South is known for teams doing great one year and then pissing themselves the next, so I think starting out 2-0 is about equally likely as is starting out 0-2. Detroit at home might be tough if you listen to the talking heads everywhere, but we simply don't lose to the kitties at home. Then comes a KC team that by all accounts overachieved last year and played potentially in the 2nd worst division in the league, followed by the Cards at home. Again, the NFL is a fickle mistress and these teams in the first 5 games, while on paper appear better than the Vikings, (other than the Cards) have not been nearly consistent enough to merit handing them victories. A 3-2 start is more likely than anything else, but 5-0 and 1-4 wouldn't surprise anyone either. Well, who am I kidding. 5-0 would surprise EVERYONE.
SO that's all I have for now as this post is getting pretty lengthy.But I think this is the start of a beautiful thing. More to come someday soon. SKOL!
-J.P.
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