Under Review: Week 9

Passing of the torch? Maybe... NFL questions...

With Adrian Peterson’s recent outburst where he can single handily carry a team; are the Vikings in the playoff race? Or are they too far in the hole?


Q- Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Are you for real? We win one game because the God of All Running Backs sets a single game rushing record (and throws in 3 TD's just for fun) and you're going to put us in the playoffs (I think I just heard Jim Mora screaming....)? I know we've been in all of our games, and you could make the case that a few of those losses should be wins. That's like saying that you were talking to the hot chick all night at the bar and should have gone home with her but you didn't. The reality is that you went home by yourself...again. And the Vikes are still 3-5 and a long ways away from being in any playoff talk.

Fuzz- First off, I want to take a minute and talk about AP’s record setting day. Enough has already been written about what it means and he’s received a ton of accolades this week. All deservedly so. But to hammer home a point I made earlier this week, his superstar status in the state of MN took a gigantic leap. To use a Minnesota reference, it took a Paul Bunyan leap. So it pretty much added another lake to our thousands we already have. It’s an AP lake so I’m cool with it. Anyways, with multiple nationally known athletes gone or on the way out (Think: KG, Moss, & Hunter), AP’s emergence as a super duper stud has gained him the face of the Minnesota professional sports scene. And he did it in three months! This can’t be understated. He’s #1 in this state right now, even over homegrown boy Joe Mauer. As for the Vikings making the playoffs, I don’t see it. Unless the NFC really crashes, I don’t see an 8-8 team making the playoffs. That means we have to go 6-2 the last eight games to get to nine wins to have a shot at the #6 seed. Sorry Viking faithful but I don’t see that happening. I do see us just missing with an 8-8 record but giving us mega optimism going into next year because of this second half surge.


Dogg- If "AP" can't carry this team to the playoffs on his back then nobody can. Our QB situation is one of the worst in the league right now and with a defense that can stop the run but not the pass, it looks like the purple's postseason hopes are all but closed. Baltimore did it with Trent Dilfer but they also had one of the best all around defenses in NFL history. He's a stud and I can honestly say he's the best RB I've ever seen already but he still won't carry this putrid squad to the playoffs.

Who is the worst team in the NFL?

Dogg- Miami Dolphins. I heard Don Shula say that if New England stays unbeaten that there will have to be an asterisk by it because of the recent illegal filming. Is he that worried about being the only NFL team to go unbeaten for an entire season? Just for that, I really hope NE stays unbeaten and Miami goes winless.


Fuzz- Miami. They’re challenging the 1976 Buccaneers winless season. They needed a QB this off-season and passed on Brady Quinn to take a one trick pony wide receiver in Teddy Ginn Jr. It was very reminisce of the Vikings when we took speedster with no hands Troy Williamson with a high draft pick a couple years ago. Did one of our draft strategists move to the Dolphins organization?

Q- The Miami Dolphins and it's not even close in my mind. I know that the Rams are 0-8 too, but they've had injuries to key guys like Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger. Plus, at least they've got enough talent where you might think that they actually have a chance to win. Miami on the other hand is ridiculously terrible. Cleo Lemon? Jesse Chatman? Marty Booker? Those three clowns are their top "weapons" on offense. They make the Vikes look like Super Bowl Contenders by comparison. This team is unbelievably terrible and I would be shocked if they win a game. The odds have to be very high that they go 0-16. Very high.

The Patriots go undefeated now? Are they your Superbowl champs?


Fuzz- I keep saying no to the undefeated season and I don’t know why. I really don’t. They are an awesome time that just survived a road game vs. the Superbowl champs. They are for real, for real. But…I’m playing the odds. There has only been one undefeated team in the history of the league and they have to play Pittsburgh and the New York Giants. I hope they do though because I’m sick of those old Dolphin farts down in Florida cracking champagne over a heated game of shuffleboard when the last undefeated goes down.

I’m sick of that story. For the second part, they could be your Superbowl champs. I’m not ready to crown them like Denny Green says. They are on a very short list, but no way it’s a guarantee.

Dogg- The Pats do go undefeated in the regular season but lose to the Colts at home in the playoffs. It's just too good of a story if they go unbeaten all the way through. I think the Colts looked like the better team this past weekend but gave the game away in the 4th quarter. If it isn't the Colts, it will be the Steelers who will love playing in that cold weather come postseason time.

Q- I still say they don't go undefeated. I don't know why, it's just a gut feeling. They will have a hiccup somewhere along the line when no one is expecting it. I might be the only person in America that feels this way too (PS--I still stand by my call that they lose to Baltimore. Even as I am currently watching the Ravens get absolutely thwapped by the Steelers on Monday night. They're getting beat 35-rip just before half and they look PISSED. There are a lot of cheap shots taking place all over the field. If Baltimore isn't able to beat New England, they will be the team that takes some big time cheap shots at Brady & Co. when they are trying to run up the score. Watch it happen.). And I'm also not sold on the Patriots winning the Super Bowl either. The Colts had that game all but won yesterday until a bomb to Moss and a big punt return by Wes Welker changed everything. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull off the shocker, at Gillette Stadium, and win the AFC title game and then the title.

A guy who is flying way under the radar is Marshawn Lynch. AP is stealing all the rookie running back headlines. Yet, Lynch is the 4th best running back right now. Are AP and Lynch in the top five for running backs already? Or am I jumping the gun on both of them?


Dogg- I think you might be jumping the gun a little bit on Lynch even though I think he's very good. The best part about both of them is that they can carry the load for an entire game and stay healthy thus far which a lot of NFL RB's struggle to achieve. There are guys like Marion Barber whose stats don't always reveal what he's doing on the field. I believe he's one of the top 3 RB's in this league. Every time he runs the ball, something good happens like make somebody miss, outrun all 3 LB's or run 3 guys over before scoring a TD. AP is that good and will be the best RB we will ever see. Imagine him with an offense that can throw the ball effectively or even just enough to get the LB's and Safeties are their tiptoes. He's special and believe Lynch as well but top 5 for him is debatable.

Q- You might be on to something here. Let's break it down. There's LDT, who's still number one even after a poor outing against the Purple. Then Larry Johns...no, not him. What about Steven Jacks...nope, not him either. Oh, there's Frank Go...no, no, no. Maybe Thomas Jon...absolutely not. I guess the only guys in the conversation other than the two rooks and LDT would be Willie Parker, Clinton Portis, and Joseph Addai. So I'd put them in the top 6 right now for sure. Of course, if a few of these guys (Johnson, Jackson, Ronnie Brown, etc.) come back from injuries next year, placing Lynch and Peterson in the top 10 might be more realistic...maybe.

Fuzz- If they both end up in the top five as rookies, I think they are. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any running back having a stellar first season and floundering in the years to follow. Maybe I’m too young to think of one or I’m drawing a complete blank (both very possible), but they are both aggressive good-looking runners. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes, I would put them both in the top five as best backs in the league right now.

What happened to the Bengals?

Fuzz- The law.

Q- Half of their team was arrested in the off-season and their defense blows. Those are the two reasons they suck, plain and simple.

Dogg- It's like running a first team high school offense against the scout team defense. Their D cannot stop anybody.