Why The Vikings Will Win The NFC North: A Packer Fan's Regret

In the end, it isn't the end but the middle.

The Minnesota Vikings have the best defensive line in the NFL. You might try to debate it but, in the end, you have to come to the conclusion the "Braids" have the front four to wreak havoc.

Despite the impending or speculated suspension of left tackle Bryant McKinnie, the Vikings also have one of the best offensive lines in the business, especially with Steve Hutchinson and center Matt Birk.

There is a reason running back Adrian Peterson broke the NFL single game rushing record: the Viking offensive line. Without a great line, no running back could do that.

As a Packer fan it makes me sick to say the Vikings have the most important pieces in place to win a Superbowl: the offensive and defensive line trench players

I don't give a holy hell who your quarterback or wide receiver or corner back or outside linebacker is--I don't give a sh*t. Winning NFL teams are built by five good to great offensive linemen and five good to great defensive linemen.

Football folks evaluating the Vikings first mention QB Tavaris Jackson as a concern. Excuse me???

As a Packer fan, I know that Jackson has a ton of talent that only needs to be coached up and nourished. This guy is scary to a Packer fan because he could be very, very, very good.

Then you've got Adrian Peterson. Hey, running behind that offensive line, just about any person with two legs could be good. The fact it is Adrian Peterson behind that offensive line is scary.

Viking weaknesses include the defensive backfield and wide receivers. Well, if you can score early and often, by pounding it on the ground and throwing occasional passes, and I'm talking 30 points a game, your corners and safeties shouldn't matter because your defensive front and linebackers aren't going to allow the game to be decided by your defensive backfield.

The Vikings are my choice to win the NFC North because they have defensive and offensive lines superior to the other NFC North teams. The only way the Vikings don't win the NFC North is if head coach Brad Childress, instead of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, calls the plays.

However, as a Packer fan, I also know there are measures being undertaken to entice defensive lineman Jared Allen into difficult choices. Be careful, Jared. It's like the Cold War out there: you never know who is a friendly and who is a spy.

The Vikings are the Packers West. In general, the Vikings, who are trying to convince Minnesota taxpayers to pay for a new stadium, are made up of coaches and players taken from the Green Bay Packers and/or Wisconsin Badgers. (The Vikings most successful coach ever, Bud Grant, was born and raised in Wisconsin.)

Apparently Minnesotans frequently eat, in church basements and backyard cookouts, First Communions, Graduations, Funerals, Weddings, etc.,  something referred to as "Jello Salad". Well, you can understand: they take lettuce and top it with "Jello". There is no protein there and there may be some dead horse cells in the "Jello". The lack of protein in their state dish leaves Minnesotans yearning for the protein-laden cheese of Wisconsin.

With their talent, I could coach the Vikings to the Superbowl. However, the lack of protein in jello, and certain undercover operations by some Packer fans, will leave the Vikings just short of the Superbowl.

That's okay. Viking fans will rally and vote for a new Viking stadium or a retrofitted (yechhhhhhh) Metrodome.

Viking fans are like all the rest of us. As fans we understand: if we were injured on the side of the road and there was a $100 bill on the other side of the road, the owners and the stars of the teams we root for would head over and pick up the $100 bill, and then text an ESPN reporter telling them there is an injured fan and they may want to get video.