Yes, ladies and gentlemen. . .with the Vikings sitting at 3-4 going into their bye week and a game behind perennial powerhouses (he said sarcastically) Chicago and Green Bay, Peter King has come to the conclusion that the Vikings can already start packing up the tents and looking towards 2009.
2. I think I don't care if the Vikings are just a game out of first place in the NFC North. They're cooked. Any team that plays as poorly in all three phases as the Vikes did at Chicago -- allowing 48 Chicago points in the first 46 minutes of the game -- will be home for New Year's.
So, I read this, and I thought to myself, "You know. . .I'm sure that this isn't the first time that Mr. King has made such a declaration. I wonder if I could find an example of his keen prognostication skills."
Thankfully, the good folks at SI.com keep the vast majority of their stuff archived. So, I fished through a few things, and I found this gem.
a. This is not the negative New York media speaking. This is the impartial New Jersey media speaking. The more I see Eli Manning, the more I think he'll never be a championship quarterback.
b. I mean, taking a 26-yard sack in the fourth quarter? Ridiculous. And could he please get mad once? Punch the ground, kick the dog, cuss out his linemen, something. You know what the Minnesota game plan for playing Manning was in part? Hit him a couple of times on his first few dropbacks, and the book on him was he'd start throwing off his back foot. Which he did.
You know when that little tidbit was written? 26 November 2007. . .the day after the Vikings walked into Giants Stadium and destroyed New York to the tune of 41-17.
Guess what? That Eli Manning fellow took all of two months to prove Mr. King incorrect.
So many of the folks in the media, such as King, have had their lips glued to the asses of teams like Green Bay and Chicago for so long that they've mistaken them for dominant football teams. The 2008 versions of those teams are absolutely nothing of the sort. The Vikings still get to play both of those teams in Minnesota. The Vikings can beat both of those teams in Minnesota.
So, don't let people like Peter King convince you that this season is over. It's not.