State of the Union: Minnesota Vikings

I may be comfortable in Wrangler but I still hate Brett Favre.

Now that number four is coming back for another year, I'm convinced that Brett Favre will literally have to die on the football field before he goes away. He can't break his legs or something. That wouldn't do it. He would get carted off with his thumbs up to the crowd and after a few press conferences he'd play the next week hopped up on pain killers like the good ol' days. No, they'll have to bring a hearse out onto the field and have a funeral for his decrepit old ass on Monday Night Football or I don't think he'll ever retire. He's practicing with the team again after, once again, announcing his retirement earlier this summer. Of course, he reconsidered the very next day when the Vikings offered him a $3.5 million bump in his base salary along with another $3.5 million in potential incentives (that's a potential extra $7 million for grandpa), but that's neither here nor there according to Brett. For all that cash though, it's unlikely that he comes close to having the same kind of season he had last year. He was statistically better than he was when he won his MVP awards, but does it seem likely that that will happen again? Only 7 interceptions? That's the fewest since his rookie year when he only threw 2 (on 4 attempts) but this is still Brett. The NFC Championship proved that he still has the big pick in him. Combine that with Adrian Peterson's love for fumbling and the Vikings are a couple of turnovers away from shooting themselves in the foot.

Luckily for the Vikings their offense isn't based solely on Brett. Adrian Peterson is the second best back in the league behind Chris Johnson and if their ariel offense falls apart they can lean heavily on their running game. However, losing Chester Taylor will hurt more than the Vikings realize. He was an excellent third down back that could get Peterson rest without giving up much production on the field. Toby Gerhart (cracker thunder) will have to step up big in his first season to solidify the offense and prove that my people can be successful in the league. Most people in the NFL could run behind Steve Hutchinson and their offensive line, but if the backs do falter, the Vikes have a good group of receivers to carry the load. Brett has a year of work under his belt with Bernard Berrian and Sydney Rice so he's comfortable with them and knows their tendencies. Hard to improve on his season last year, but the comfort with them should keep them playing consistently well barring injury. Percy Harvin is a threat on every play, but if his migraine issues keep cropping up and he loses game time it could be worrisome for Minnesota fans. You don't want your home run receiving/return threat sitting out a playoff game because he can't see straight. They need to give him his weed back. If it keeps him in Sportscenter's top ten the guy should have a purple bong in his locker right next to his spikes. Toss a Vikings logo on that and you've got a collector's item. Someone in their sales department needs to get on that.

When your defense is ranked 6th overall in the league it's hard to nitpick. However, 19th in the league against the pass won't cut it when the road to the Super Bowl goes through Drew Brees and New Orleans. To address this, they drafted cornerback Chris Cook out of Virginia with their first pick. He isn't going to be Revis, but this season he'll add depth behind Cedric Griffin and Antoine Winfield. For this defense it starts and ends with the defensive line. Pat and Kevin Williams won't have the legal issues that surrounded them last season, so is it possible that they could be better? Hard to imagine but they've got help on the ends. Jared Allen is the man. I'm pretty confident that he hunts coyotes with his bare hands. He looks for the sack on every play though so opposing offenses can take him out by pushing him outside when they run, but that doesn't stop him from being an incredible player. He makes life easier for Ray Edwards who plays on the opposite end. Edwards is in a contract year and had 4 sacks in the postseason, so quarterbacks will be leaving Minnesota banged up bad.

This team is too good at every position to underperform this year. While they may take a step back from 12 wins, this is a team built to play and win in the playoffs. That being said, Green Bay is looking good and if Jay Cutler gets himself together this will be a competitive division with three teams with playoff aspirations. In that situation, a few turnovers can be the difference between playoffs and bust. That's where Brett comes in. It seems as if his career is destined to end on a pick. When it happens, drunk Vikings fans will sob in the snow while all the Favre haters smile.