Vikings Are Firing Live Rounds

By MikeBullock  |   Wednesday, September 02, 2009  |  Comments( 2 )

Minnesota Vikings
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With the best running back in the game, a hall of fame QB and a few great men, the Vikings are giving notice they’ll be unleashing an assault on the rest of the NFL.

Eighteen seconds into Monday Night Football, Adrian Peterson showed why Mike Mayock and many other experts refer to him as the best player in the league. What should have been a short gain turned into another pulse pounding play for Vikings fans everywhere and sent a collective shiver through the psyche of Texan fans as Peterson cut back to the right, blazed past the linebackers and was off to the races.

Seventy-five yards later and he was in for six.

The sound that accompanied it was the collective exhalation of the Houston crowd as their worst fears were realized. Adrian Peterson was in town and he was there on business. And worse still, Chester Taylor was on hand to cover for him when he stepped out for coffee.

While most people caught up in the whole Brett Favre retire/unretire saga have focused solely on what Brett brings to the Viking passing attack, his impact on the run will prove to be Minnesota’s biggest improvement this season. Peterson ran for 1760 yards last year against defense after defense that realized the Vikings passing game wasn’t going to beat them, so they could stack eight in the box every down. Now, any team that does that is sure to give up first down after first down to Brett Favre, Bernard Berrian, Visanthe Shiancoe and the rest of the Vikings receivers.

But, before someone like Dick Lebeau devises a scheme to confront the pass and run equally, you’ll need to factor in the Percy “Wildback” Harvin, newly anointed captain of the wildcat offense in Minnesota. Now, he won’t always be able to count on illegal blocks from the old guy wearing the number four jersey, but Harvin’s ability to confuse and confound defenses will certainly add yet another set of arrows to offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s quiver of plays.

The most interesting series of last night’s game was the first one of the second half. While it was extremely unproductive in the orthodox sense of football achievements (not to mention the festival of penalties that occurred), what it did do was give the offense some game speed looks at the dynamic range of plays Bevell can now unleash upon opponents.

Last year, Bevell’s critics (I’ll count myself among them) lambasted the OC for his vanilla play calling, poor decision making and inability to confuse a defense. However, it’s quite possible Bevell was unable to really open up the playbook with Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte under center. Tarvaris has yet to prove his intelligence is up to the task of commanding an NFL team, and while Frerotte is a proven veteran, he’s still the same guy who sent himself to the hospital after a Redskin’s game by head butting a wall in the back of the end zone.

Favre may not be the smartest QB ever, but his intelligence and wisdom are certainly an upgrade.

This brings us full circle to Adrian Peterson, the man who can single-handedly carry a team to the Superbowl. Only this time, he doesn’t need to do it himself. Factor in Favre’s effect on the running game, the improved receiving corps, Harvin’s impact on the overall offensive scheme and a newly opened up playbook and you can guarantee the Vikings will be firing live rounds all year long.
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