Going into the Monday Night matchup against Green Bay, the Vikings needed to play a "perfect game" of sorts to even be competitive with the Pack in Lambeau Field.  The game was far from perfect, and the outcome (as such) was not competitive.

What struck me, however, was how far away we are in certain key areas from building a solid, winning team once again.

The offensive line is terrible...

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When Ponder had time (rarely), he made plays.  When he was pressured (often), he looked like a rookie.  Simple as that.

The o-line doesn't do Adrian Peterson any favors, either...

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How frustrating must it be to have all that athletic talent and have the above scenario happen on oh so many plays?!

The wide receivers are quite a crew as well...

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They don't get open most of the time, and there are no Sidney Rice's around to go up and fight for a ball.  Percy is a gamer, but his injuries and small stature limit him to a Wes Welker role.  For every Wes Welker to succeed, however, he needs a Randy Moss to give him space, and Lord knows the Vikings have no Moss right now.

Then, of course, there is our secondary...

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What does the above picture have to do with our d-backs?  Well, do you see a Viking uniform in the picture?  With the exception of Winfield (and now he's done for the year), the secondary cannot cover or tackle...two skills that are fairly important to playing the position.

The main positives from Monday Night?

Jared Allen is a beast...

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Christian Ponder (when given time to throw) looked good...

(sorry, no picture for this one...couldn't find one).

A game like this, then, just reminds me of how far the Vikings still have to go in order to build a solid team once again.

This Week: The Oakland Raiders come to town, and I have a really bad feeling that a TV blackout may be in this team's future (perhaps as early as this Sunday).  I hope I am wrong.