2008 Minnesota Vikings Midseason Review

With the Vikings on a bye for Week 8, let’s review how the season has gone for the team to this point.

The Vikings were a popular preseason pick to make some noise in the wide open NFC. Currently, they have a record of 3-4 and have been somewhat disappointing based on the expectations they had.

They started off with a loss to the rival Green Bay Packers in Week 1 on Monday Night Football, and then lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 after blowing a 15-point lead. The team had a chance to win both games, but mistakes at key points in both games led to losses.

An 0-2 record and the lackluster play of QB Tarvaris Jackson led to a new starting QB for Week 3’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Gus Frerotte made his first start in quite a while and led the team to a 20-10 victory. CB Antoine Winfield scored a touchdown after sacking Carolina QB Jake Delhomme, forcing a fumble and returning the fumble for six points to propel team to victory after trailing 10-0 in the first half.

In Week 4, Minnesota traveled to Tennessee to take on the Titans. RB Adrian Peterson had two rushing touchdowns, but the Vikings still lost the game 30-17 as they turned the ball over four times. Also of note, LB E.J. Henderson injured his foot during the game. Henderson is now out for the season with dislocated toes on that foot.

Week 5 brought the Vikings second appearance of the season on Monday Night Football. This time, they took on the New Orleans Saints. Despite allowing Saints’ RB Reggie Bush to return two punts for touchdowns and QB Drew Brees to throw for over 300 yards, Minnesota scored on a blocked field goal by CB Antoine Winfield and WR Bernard Berrian topped 100 receiving yards to spark the Vikings to a 30-27 victory in what was to say the least a bizarre game.

Coming off the high of Week 5’s dramatic victory, the Vikings welcomed the winless Detroit Lions to the Metrodome. The offense struggled, prompting the home fans to start a chant of “Fire Childress” (a not so subtle verbal shot at head coach Brad Childress). But Minnesota escaped with a 12-10 victory to even their record at 3-3.

For Week 7, the Vikings traveled to Chicago to take on the division rival Bears. In what was an exciting game, Minnesota lost 48-41 to the Bears. The Vikings made two special teams mistakes that led to two Chicago touchdowns and QB Gus Frerotte was intercepted four times. They simply made too many mistakes to win the game.

> Buy Minnesota Vikings apparel & jerseys online through Pro Football Fans and check out the 2008 NFL scores!

With a 3-4 record coming into the bye week, some rumors have suggested that the team will go back to Tarvaris Jackson as the starting QB. Gus Frerotte has had a positive effect on the team’s passing game, as WRs Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade and TE Visanthe Shiancoe have been notably more productive with Frerotte under center. A move back to Jackson would seem to be a step back for the offense as a whole.

Other rumors, though without much merit, have suggested that head coach Brad Childress could be fired before the season is over. His offense has come under a lot of criticism, much of it deservedly so, for a lack of imagination in play calling. Now that the bye week is basically past as of this writing, it appears Childress will keep his job at least through the end of the season.

The Vikings’ defense has been good so far, despite the loss of rising star LB E.J. Henderson for the season. Offseason acquisition DE Jared Allen has been decent overall, and has five sacks so far this season. The Minnesota defense could improve forcing turnovers, though, and needs to improve it’s overall consistency as a unit. But considering they have been put in some tough situations when the offense turns the ball over in their own end of the field, the defense has been pretty good thus far.

Coming up in Week 9 is a home game against the 2-4 Houston Texans. That game could be a start to Vikings’ run to playoffs in the season’s second half, or could be the start of a fall that leads to a new coaching staff for 2009. Anything less than a playoff spot this season could, and quite possibly will, lead to the end of Brad Childress’ tenure.

By Brad Berreman
ProFootball-fans.com Minnesota Vikings Correspondent