When a (real) Viking died, they would put his body on a boat and set it afire out on the ocean or a lake. Now, maybe it’s not a fair comparison because no one has died, but the Minnesota Vikings are in trouble and going down in flames.
Favre is old. Harvin has migraine problems which create game day decisions every week. Chester Taylor, a good third down back, is now a Bear. And now, Sidney Rice, wide receiver MVP and all around amazing addition to the team, and my fantasy football ace in the hole, is having hip surgery which will put him out of commission for at least half the regular season. This is death to my fantasy hopes. Rice was the guy who I picked up off a smart waiver wire move and I reaped the benefits all the way through my fantasy playoffs. His touchdown catch in the last week of the regular season for my fantasy league basically won me the league. I couldn’t have done it without him and now I have to.
I may have a problem now that my go-to guy is in recovery, but the Vikings are in bigger trouble. They act like, “life goes on”, but they now face the pressure of Favre coming back for his “last” year in the NFL, a harder schedule against tougher opponents, a weaker running game, and two wide receivers in less than perfect condition. They are going to have to rely heavily on Adrian Peterson for the run game, and the receivers who are left have to create opportunities for Favre quickly to limit the number of sacks he takes, and risk of injury to the QB. I guess we’ll see how it pans out, but I have to think that Favre will have a less than successful year and the Vikings won’t be the best in their division.
The Vikings aren’t the only ones who have problems….The Skins….ahhh the Skins. They are like a walking Murphy’s Law. McNabb hurt his ankle in the last game and will now sit out of the third preseason game. Trent Williams, our new rookie OT is also injured, not sure how seriously. Essentially, the only thing we got from the off-season is a bunch of now injured players. An already shaky Redskins club is going to be even more shaky without McNabb and without filling the gaps in our offensive line.
McNabb was supposed to be the silver bullet. I did not think that was the case, but people were really expecting him to be a panacea for all the problems ailing DC. It’s even less the case now. McNabb needs a panacea. He’s already taking heat from the media for getting hurt already since he’s aging and his injuries will take longer to bounce back from. None of this is good news.
So the Silver Bullet and the Ace in the Hole go down this week. I hate that the bad news had to happen to two real stand up guys and two guys who I wanted to see succeed this season, but I love the changing landscape of football season. One minute, you’re alive and wearing one of those awesome metal hats and the next thing you know, you’re up in flames. Both the Vikings and the Redskins have been hanging on to their franchises as if there was something to hold on to. The Vikings had a great season and they have amazing weapons, but they need to stay healthy and figure out how to win without Favre, because one of these days, he won’t come back. The Redskins need to understand that having aging WRs, RBs and QBs is not the answer. I’m not convinced that the Eagles and their barely legal crop of young players is the solution either, but the Skins need to realize that they might need a bit of a rebirth. If the McNabb trade blows up in their face, they might need to face the realization that REAL “rebuilding years” might be in their future (not just those years you fail to make the play-offs and write it off as a “rebuilding year”).
Either way, I’ll hope for the best and expect the unexpected. Here’s an (almost) welcome to regular season madness!
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