Deja vu: Vikes’ rushing attack reminiscent of ‘98 squad

By Krupka  |   Thursday, June 21, 2007  |  Comments( 26 )

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When the Minnesota Vikings selected Adrian Peterson with the No. 7 overall pick in April's draft, not only did they get whom many believe to be the best offensive player in the draft but also a franchise-type running back who should become a premier player in the NFL. The organization also set itself up to have one of its better backfield duos in recent memory.

As the Vikings try to rebuild an offense that was stagnant and predictable last season into a more potent unit, I'll take a look at Minnesota's last dynamic backfield tandem, which is made up of Peterson and Chester Taylor.

The 1998 Vikings had arguably the best offense in the history of the NFL -- setting a record at the time for the most points scored in a season -- featuring eight Pro Bowl selections. While nobody will confuse the 2007 Vikings with their counterparts of '98, one piece of the puzzle is and was having a solid running game.

The '98 team is often revered for its amazing aerial assault which featured a rookie wide receiver named Randy Moss (he went on to be pretty good -- when he felt like playing, that is), a potential future Hall of Fame wideout in Cris Carter, and the quiet but effective Jake Reed as the No. 3 WR. Then, of course, there was the rebirth of Randall Cunningham, the once-dynamic scrambling quarterback who had been out of football in 1996, who threw for over 3,700 yards, 34 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.

However, as jaw-dropping as the passing attack was, the Vikings had a running back tandem that at the time was very unheralded and still doesn't receive the recognition or credit it should have for the success it was a part of. That duo consisted of Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard.

Smith and Hoard combined for 2,155 total yards and 18 touchdowns. They averaged 5.21 yards per touch (4.58 yards per carry average. Not too shabby considering they were overshadowed by the other stars on the team.

ESPN.com's Page 2 previously had a poll where readers could vote for the greatest offense of all-time. The '98 Vikings' offense finished fourth, receiving 14.5 percent of the vote, but was ranked third among snail mail votes.

Jordon Voss of Annapolis, Md., is a Cowboys fan who believes that Minnesota's offense was undoubtedly the greatest of all-time. "There is no way a team could go 15-1 with that defense unless their offense was just disgusting. I'm no Vikings fan, but I do realize greatness. My team is the Cowboys so I have seen some "decent" units -- still nothing like the one the Vikes had when they came in and tore up the league in '98."

There really isn't a better way to describe what that unit did than "tore up the league." While the current offense is nowhere near being mentioned in the same breath as the '98 edition, Taylor and Peterson could be the next version of Smith and Hoard (maybe better).

And for the Vikings, that's a good start. Now they just need some receivers to pan out.

You can reach Eric Krupka at ekrupka@realfootball365.com

Get weekly Minnesota Vikings insights at RealFootball365.com.
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CommentsComments: 26  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Tom		02:11 AM
06/21/2007
Thats all great but the problem on offense last year was everything except the running game. No matter how good Peterson is I...
No.2
Rich Friday		03:43 AM
06/21/2007
There are two good things about articles indicating that the Vikings potentially will be great in 2007. First, there is a...
No.3
Viking Mike		11:24 AM
06/21/2007
Tom, The running game was good last year despite only having 1 true workhorse/star (Taylor). When he was in the backfield, it...
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