That time of the year again where I can vent on my favorite team and hope to finally get out of the shithouse that I’ve been in the last 2 years in sports. Last year the Vikings tied their franchise low by going 3-13. Donovan McNabb was a bust, Defense was horrible, and even when we won (against Redskins no doubt), Adrian Peterson tore his ACL. There was nothing fun about the Vikings last year but it’s cool because if you saw last years preview, I predicted that it was going to be bad. It’s a lot easier to be bad when you know it’s coming then thinking you’re going to do something good and that usually happens with this team. With that said, my initial feelings about the 2012 team are in pretty good spirits. We have some pieces in place that we got in the draft which I think will us finally start to turn the corner. Good news is that we have an easy 1st half of the schedule too. Bad news is that we play in the NFC North which has 2 playoff teams from last year and a Bears team that is going to good.
Players to watch for:
TE – Kyle Rudolph: This man is a stud with bear paws that can catch anything, gets separation, and is 6’7 which means he is a mismatch for a lot of defenses. He will have a break out year and Christian Ponder’s go to connect on 3rd and short + goaline.
LB – Audle Cole: Had a great preseason. The linebacking group is wide open this year and I look for him to work his way in the mix while also being a special teams stud.
WR -Percy Harvin: Figured I’d go with an obvious one here. With a light start to the schedule look for Christian Ponder to get him involved early and often keeping him happy which is good considering he was pissed off all offseason over god knows what.
So that’s pretty much it. I don’t have to many praises and not enough ranting going into this year because when you go 3-13, you pretty much check out around October/November so it’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to get emotionally involved in a football game.
Prediction: Look for the Vikings to start strong but come down a bit in the 2nd half. Their schedule is a meat grinder with divisional games. Look for improvement on the offensive side of the ball and I think the defense will improve as the year goes on. I think the competition is a bit to tough this year to make the playoffs but I don’t think a 8-8 record is out of the question. I also want send out special “Fuck You” to all the hillbilly’s in Wisconsin, the criminals in Detroit, and the jackoffs in Chicago. it’s that time of the year!!!!!
