Mid Term Evaluation

As a college student, this has to be one of my least favorite times of the year. Professors probably get together to plan this and wonder how they can destroy college students lives for a couple weeks. I would assume that the same can be said for NFL players. Think about it. Their bodies are just starting to get sore (if they aren't already) and the late season push begins. The Minnesota Vikings are at the midway point of their season, and there are several things that we can look at to determine how the Vikings have gotten to where they are.

The Vikings are currently 7-1 and leading the NFC North by 2 1/2 games. (Technically, this is a 3 1/2 game lead as the Vikings have now won the season series against the Green Bay Packers.)

NFC North

Minnesota 7-1

Chicago 4-3

Green Bay 4-3

Detroit 1-6

Another good thing about the Vikings fast start is that they are in position to avoid cold weather games, something that shut down Brett Favre with the Jets at the end of last season. Interestingly enough, the New Orleans Saints have helped the Vikings out. Of course, there's a lot of season left to play.

NFC Standings

New Orleans 6-0 (plays Atlanta tomorrow)

Minnesota 7-1

Philadelphia 5-2

Arizona 4-3*

Dallas 5-2

Atlanta 4-2 (plays New Orleans tomorrow)

-----------

New York Giants 5-3

Green Bay 4-3

Chicago 4-3

As it looks promising that the Vikings are on their way to the playoffs and possibly a first round bye, there have been several things that have gone right for the Vikings. The most obvious one has been the Brett Favre experiment. I don't know how this has happened, but Brett Favre is on fire. The craziest part about Favre is that he has progressed into a MVP candidate. If you thought that Brett Favre would be the Vikings MVP instead of Adrian Peterson, I would have asked you to have your head examined. Think about this.

Favre's current stats through 8 games:

102.2 QB rating (thru 7), 1925 yards, 16 TD, 2 INT, 68.9 % completion rate

Now remember how the Vikings played last season? Gus Frerrote proved that the Vikings just need a halfway decent quarterback to run the offense. I admit I was skeptical about Favre joining the Vikings at first, but he's given the Vikings their most effective quarterback since Daunte Culpepper in 2004. (39 TD and 4,500 yards don't lie.) Plus, Favre may be the one most important player in the Vikings offense. A counterpoint may say that Peterson is the most important player, but there's more to this.

Peterson is struggling right now (I use the term struggling loosely). Despite the presence of Favre, teams have still tried to stuff the box to stop Adrian Peterson. What if Peterson gets going in the second half? How good will this offense be?

You also have to take into effect the relationship that Favre has had with his wide receivers. Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin have become better with the arrival of Favre. (Harvin is a rookie, but I don't think that he would be as effective as he has been if Sage Rosenfels was the starter.) The receivers are spending time and learning things from him and getting a feel for his passes.

On the defensive side of the ball, the only concern is the secondary. Madieu Williams has fallen off a bit in his second year with the Vikings. Antoine Winfield is out for at least 2 more weeks. The bye week will help, but his presence still will be missed and it's a possibility that he could be out until mid-December.

So far, all is well for the Vikings. I'm not going to run around and start screaming Super Bowl yet, because I'll believe that when I see it. But take a look at the second half schedule after the bye next week.

11/15 vs. Detroit (1-7)

11/22 vs. Seattle (2-5)

11/29 vs. Chicago (4-3)*

12/6 @ Arizona (4-3)

12/13 vs. Cincinatti (5-2)

12/20 @ Carolina (3-4)

12/28 @ Chicago (4-3)*

1/3 vs. New York (5-3)

There is a distinct possibility that the Vikings at the absolute worst could finish 11-5. However, I think the chance is greater that they can finish better than that and the ceiling could be a 14-2 or 15-1 finish with the sub par competition the Vikings will face with the exception of Cinci and New York.