Lions and Tigers and Bears...oh my!

Lions and Tigers and Bears?  Oh my!  Ok, maybe Lions and Bengals and Bears...oh my!

When we were all little Vikings going out on our first hunt, our parents warned us about handling wounded animals, especially when they are in your division.  The second half of the 2009 Vikings hunting trip includes many wounded animals.

We have the Lions, which some people have compared to having a second bye week.  That's humor of course, but one musn't take the Lions lightly.  1) They're in our division and in division games you can chuck the records out of the window.  These are wounded Lions that have nothing left to lose and a lot to gain by beating the division leader. Don't let wounded animals stay in a game very long.  Put 'em down and out and remind them that they are who they were afraid they were.

The Seahawks.  Injured bird in flight.  Everyone knows that Seahawks are a dirty bird that will take and eat just about anything it can get it's grubby little bird beak on.  The Seahawks, who are well known carriers of the bird flu are currently undergoing an identity crisis, and let's face it, bird poop is slippery.  We better be careful for flying bird shat when they come to town.

Next we encounter what will undoubtedly be a bunch of angry and hurt Bears.  Again, I doubt by then the Bears will be playing for anything more than pride, finishing ahead of the Packers and beating the Vikings.  Again, a team without much to lose and a cannon armed madman at QB.  There's no telling what can happen in a division game.

Still, given that, there is no excuse for a more talented and superior Vikings team not to win all three of those.

After that, it's big game season.  The Vikings will have the chance to see if their dragon ship is playoff worthy.

In the last five games, the Vikes will play the always dangerous, always perplexing and probably playoff bound Arizona Cardinals. The Vikes also face (what could be a Superbowl preview) the Bengals.  The Bengals are playing as good of football as any team out there right now.  Facing the Bengals at home, the Vikings should win...I argue, must win.  Both of these games are confidence builders and measuring sticks for the Vikings. More importantly, a month from the playoffs these games will provide a gut check and a psychological edge to the victors.  The Bengals have been deadly on the road this year and are sporting a complete team.  They have a run game, a passing attack and defense that forgot they are playing for the Bengals.

We see the Bears again at frosty Soldier Field.  We can expect nothing but their best effort. It's the division, it's pride, it's a wounded animal. Carolina, wherever they may be in the standings when we face them will play hard. Everyone likes to punch a playoff-bound team in the face, especially if they're not going to the playoffs themselves.

Finally we will see a team that has been a nemesis to the Vikings countless times...the Giants.  I reckon by that point, they will be a team of frustrated and pissed off Giants, either playing for a wildcard spot or just playing to be a spoiler.  Of course there will be the added emphasis of individual players playing for their jobs and contracts next season.

Lions and "Tigers" (Panthers/Bengals) and Bears, oh my!

I do smell fear...but that's because the wind is blowing westerly, so I imagine that smell is blowing in from Green Bay.

Speaking of....

Schadenfreude.  I may have spelled that wrong because German isn't my first language.  But Schadenfreude is the German word for the feeling you have (the delightful good feeling) when you see your rivals, enemies, and friends...do bad.  You know... it was the way you felt when Green Bay had a creamsickle meltdown in Tampa Bay.    Which leads me to this statement...

"I love to hate and I hate to love...the Packers"   The first part of that comes from a Woody Guthrie song called "Mean Talkin' Blues", I threw in the bit about the Packers to personalize it for me and Viking nation.

Along those lines, I spent the bye week making fun of the Packers and thinking up a new nickname for Aaron Rodgers.  I'm already tired of ARod and besides, a baseball player is already using that one.  I was hoping to think of an equal number of names for Rodgers...equal to the number of sacks he had against the Vikings.  Coming up with a 14 word nickname isn't easy. So here it goes...

"Aaron that is not a monkey on your back, it is Jared Allen! Rodgers"   That's my new nickname or perhaps full name for Aaron.

I saw someone had taken to calling him "Sharon Rodgers".  I thought that was appropriate because he really does like to share.  He likes sharing sacks and safeties, fumbles and picks, and the blame for a team picked to dominate the NFC North.

I fully expect the Vikings to play up to their potential for the rest of the season barring serious injury to key parts.  If they actually put a whole game together, I'd expect the earth to shake.  They have been great at overcoming adversity on the field, but hopefully in the 2nd half of the season, we will see a team that can come together for 60 minutes.  It's not unbelievable or inconceivable to think the Vikes could win out or even split their remaining games.  I would probably put my money on 13-3 or 12-4, but beware of wounded animals and animals playing as fierce as tigers...um...Bengals.