The Minnesota Vikings Are Lucky

Say whaaaaa....????

Yes, I should dare say so. Why? Well, let's review. We have two important pieces of our offense- Adrian Peterson and Jerome Simpson- who are either not available our first three games, or may not be fully up to speed for them.

Let me stop here. I don't know if Adrian Peterson reads the Daily Norseman; he strikes me as a busy guy. However, if you are sir, please forgive my insolence and lack of faith in regards to your readiness for the first three games.

Ok, that said- yes, AP will hopefully be fully turbo-charged by game one, and it may not take all three even if he's not. That said, it basically sums up to this: our first three games will likely be a little rough on our offense.

I'm seeing everyone here panicking "OMG WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITHOUT GREG CHILDS IN THE FIRST THREE GAMES JEROME SIMPSON HE BE GONE FROM THEM AHWEAHADADASDFSFFHH IT'S THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!!!!". But papa here, he's sitting scratching his head, wondering what all the hubbub's about.

Now don't get me wrong- I'm seeing the loss of Childs overall as a significant blow for our team, as he was shaping up to become a potent offensive weapon. But in terms of the whole ‘BJS' and ‘AJS' (Before Jerome Simpson, After Jerome Simpson) period for our team, I'm thinking we've got it pretty lucky.

See, some seem to forget that our first two games are against... the Jacksonville Jaguars (they of the ‘Flying Gabberts And His Traveling Circus'), and the Indianapolis Colts (they of the ‘Yay We Gotz Luck... Oh Crap, We Forgot About The Rest Of This Gawdawful Team!'). Quite honestly, in my opinion, if we cannot win these two games without Simpson and with a perhaps still-not-all-there Peterson, this team is in big trouble. These are teams that even relatively mediocre teams should beat even without a few key pieces. If we actually need Simpson and a fully-charged Peterson to beat them... we done messed up somewhere.

Now yes, I hear you now. "What about that third game? You know, the San Francisco 49ers (they of the ‘Best Turnaround EVAH!')". That's a game wherein there's no shame in needing your team to be at their tip-top best to win. But let's not yank each other's chains here... with or without Simpson, with or without a 100% Peterson, that game is, at best, a toss-up for us. At best. This is a team that was this close to a Super Bowl berth, and have bulked up at their positions of weakness. It's also a team we meet in the preseason here pretty soon... which might or might not give us a preview, as it is again just a preseason game. Do I want to see Randy Moss sobbing on the sidelines after we kick him and his new team's butts? Yes, oh yes, I do- but I'm also a realist. We may not be fully ready for teams like that just yet.

So overall... I'm thinking we've lucked out here pretty good, at least scheduling wise. Since the first three games might feature a less than fully powered offense, we should thank our lucky stars that at the least, the first two really should be wins regardless- and that third might not have mattered that much anyways.