It’s not really my style to dissect people’s predictions and pepper them with insults, o wait that IS my style. The victim this time is Sports Illustrated football expert, Dr. Z. He believes that the Minnesota Vikings are going to win the Superbowl in February.
Not sure where to start with this one. I suppose it is best to start with the Vikings. They finished last season with a dismal 8-8 record, which apparently when you play in the NFC North is good enough for second place. Dr. Z believes with the addition of Jared Allen the Vikings are going to wreak havoc defensively. While the Vikings are tough on the run, they are dead last in total yards allowed. That leads us to the secondary. Starting cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin combined for 1 interception last season. And considering all those highlight reel plays where the lineman intercepts the ball and stumbles in for a touchdown, you would assume a cornerback could maybe scrape together three or four. This defensive unit will pile up the sacks and prevent the run, however, any team with a solid passing game will torch the aging secondary. As for the offense, they added wide receiver Bernard Berrian who is a solid number two receiver and a deep threat. The problem is Berrian joins a cast of underachieving wide receivers and will need to step up as the number one go-to guy. Even if Berrian beats his man and runs a perfect route, Tavaris Jackson still has to get him the ball. O poor Tavaris, he was among the worst quarterbacks in the league last year. He threw just 9 touchdowns and 12 picks in 12 games. He doesn’t have the best arm and struggles with his accuracy; in other words, he is not going to lead an average team to the playoffs, much less the Superbowl. The Doc may have gotten carried away with Adrian Peterson’s breakout rookie campaign (which was impressive) and decided that Minnesota was capable of winning the Lombardi trophy.
Dr. Z had a long list of contenders to choose from around the NFL. Cowboys, Patriots, Giants, Colts, Chargers, and Jaguars all have a shot to play in Tampa Bay next February. However he landed on the Vikings is beyond me. It’s almost like he stole the “Jump to Conclusions” rug from Office Space and made his own NFL edition. The Pats have a cupcake schedule that is almost guaranteeing 13 wins. The Cowboys went out and acquired Zach Thomas and Pacman Jones to an already star-studded defensive unit. The Colts are in the thick of things every season and God forbid anything happen to the Patriots, they are the shoe-in to represent the AFC. Repeating is difficult to do in this era (unless you’re New England) for any major sport. The Giants have had a rough off-season, first Michae Strahan quits/retires (same thing), Plaxico Burress has been whining about his contract and will continue to do so until it is resolved. And there is a big question mark surrounding Jeremy Shockey. Let’s not forget the Giants didn’t start playing well until Jshock broke his leg. So let’s dismiss the Giants’ chances of repeating right here and now. In my opinion there is one team to beat out there.
Prediction: Patriots win Superbowl XLIII
-Brian B
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