State of the Vikings: All is Well in Minnesota

The title (as most are) can be deceiving.

"All" may not be well in Minnesota. After all, the Vikings are coming off of two ugly road losses in their past three games, in both of which their offense has failed to top 17 points, and has executed extremely poorly on third downs.

But aside from that, yes, everything is perfectly fine.

That "heated" conversation between quarterback Brett Favre and head coach Brad Childress? Simply a visual aid for what is happening to the Vikings as a whole right now.

They've gotten shutdown twice in the past two weeks against teams that have wanted it more than them, and their offensive line hasn't been able to handle aggressive pass rushes, nor have they been able to effectively run the ball.

But this has to be on Favre, right? Who or what else could it possibly be?

This guy fades at the end of every season since 2005, and since Week 11, the Vikes are 1-2, with the future Hall of Famer having thrown just three touchdowns but four interceptions.

After throwing 24 touchdowns to just three interceptions in his first 11 games, it's quite clear that Favre has once again hit his slide (and not stride), as he's regressed in his past three games, only to inevitably lead his third team in three years down the slippery slope that is, and forever will be, whatever remains of his career.

Or...

We could look at this logically, remove all biases, forget about the ESPN-induced Favre vs. Childress crap, and get to the bottom of what's happening to these Minnesota Vikings.

Yes, Favre isn't playing at an elite level right now. He's taking sacks, getting hit left and right, and while he hasn't been horribly inaccurate (actually quite the opposite), he has been missing throws he had been previously making all season.

Those things are on Favre.

But the lack of a consistent, reliable running game, a porous pass defense, and suddenly pathetic run defense are out of Favre's control. And so too, as it appears, are they out of Childress' control.

But wait, Favre-haters, there's more. Not so fast, Minnesota doubters, the list goes on.

The pass protection has been beyond pathetic in the past three weeks. Favre has been hit on more than Megan Fox at a gas station. He's been sacked nine times in the past three games, and considering that he's been sacked just 31 times on the season, that's kind of a big deal.

Favre's best friend in the offense, Adrian Peterson, the supposed MVP of this offense, has been less than spectacular in two of the last three games, as well. While he had an impressive run with great effort to get into the end zone this past Sunday, he was otherwise a non-factor, and did little to keep Carolina's 26th ranked rush defense away from focusing on Favre and the passing game.

Wait, we haven't checked the whole list. We haven't tagged all the bases. We can't circle back to Favre until we have come full circle. No shortcuts, Favre-bashers. Keep your cheese heads on, Packers fans. Worry about that pathetic loss to the Steelers and the 500-plus yards your defense allowed. Then, and only then, should you revert to your weekly Favre drubbing.

The receivers, the same ones who have been so good to Favre and the rest of the Minnesota offense, are abandoning him and the team at the worst possible moments. Percy Harvin, even after returning from injury, was non-existent on Sunday.

The tight end, Visanthe Shiancoe, upon getting open and getting a perfectly placed pass from Favre on 3rd-and-15, proceeded to drop the pass, killing a drive.

The same gut-blow happened when Sidney Rice took another big pass down the middle of the field, only to fumble it away, costing the Vikings another huge drive and taking away any momentum they were building.

And we could go on and on about the Minnesota defense.  About, you know, how they couldn't get any pressure on Matt Moore in the second half. Or how their great run defense gave up 109 yards rushing to Jonathan Stewart (and not DeAngelo Williams), surrendering a streak of holding opponents under 100 yards that dated back to 2007.

Streak gone. Defense mush. Coach mutinied. Rush attack stifled. Receivers extinct.

And Brett Favre to blame.

But aren't we jumping to conclusions here?

Isn't this the same thing we did to Eli Manning and the New York Giants in 2007? As we prematurely crowned the 16-0 New England Patriots (even before the playoffs), hadn't we basically written off Manning (who would eventually beat Favre and his Packers), simply because he looked a little shaky near the end of the season?

And wasn't it the same for the Arizona Cardinals, who looked horrible against the New England Patriots near the end of the season last year, but eventually got past these very Vikings, en route to an unlikely Super Bowl appearance?

Every team has its faults, flaws, mistakes, and holes.

And now, for better or worse, this Minnesota team has been exposed. While we have been made well aware of their ability to stop the run, rush the passer, and run and throw the ball with the best of them, the last three weeks have shown us very clearly that, as much as we may hate to admit it, all the good in these Vikings can quickly change.

But it's not all on Favre. It's not all on Childress. And it's not even all on a suddenly inconsistent defense.

Perhaps we need to give some credit to very hungry Arizona and Carolina teams, and give the Vikings credit for at least showing up at home and dismantling the Cincinnati Bengals.

Perhaps we admit what we've seen is for real, and that Minnesota still has two games to correct it.

After all we've seen in this season, maybe the title of this article doesn't tell us the truth for right now. Maybe all is not well in Minnesota, after all. But that doesn't mean it won't be.