Pessimism abounds, in spite of the team’s 6-0 record.  There are injuries, most notably Antoine Winfield‘s foot and Adrian Peterson‘s ankle.  There are major league question marks on the defense, particularly the secondary.  My own confidence is low going into Sunday’s game.  In fact, I fully expect the Steelers to destroy the Vikings.

I very much want to be wrong.

I want the Vikings to beat the Steelers, to dispel my own doubts about the team, and because I think a win over Pittsburgh at their place would legitimize the Vikings in a big-time way.  They would no longer be possible contenders – they would be contenders.

I want it, but I don’t think it will happen.

I think the Steelers have turned over a new leaf as an offense, converting from a run-first squad to a pass-first squad, and that makes them dangerous for us, especially with Ben Roethlisberger running the offense.  If one wants a feel for what Big Ben might do against our crippled D, just look over the passing stats for the last few games:

Joe Flacco, 385 yards.  Kyle Boller/Marc Bulger, 297 yards (and would’ve been more had Bulger started).  Aaron Rodgers, 384 yards.

And Roethlisberger is surely the best quarterback the Vikings have faced this year.  Chances of the Vikings slowing down the Steelers’ offense?  Slim.

Conclusion:  Brett Favre will have to bring his whole bag of tricks, and maybe find a few new ones.

The good news for Favre and the Vikings is that they’ve discovered a legit deep threat in Sidney Rice, to complement a nice array of underneath threats including Visanthe Shiancoe, Chester Taylor (if they’d ever freaking use him), Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin if his bad shoulder will allow him to go.

Couple all those receivers with Adrian Peterson and you have yourself a real honest-to-goodness well-rounded offense.  Something I never thought the Vikings would have under Brad Childress.

All it took to achieve offensive prowess was a quarterback who can actually deliver the ball on-time and with sufficient accuracy.  And who can occasionally pull off the miraculous.

But, great as The Favre may be, even he has his limits.  Even he can’t single-handedly deliver victory week-after-week.  At some point, he will need AD to break off one of his signature huge games.  And he will need the defense to start living up to its preseason reputation as one of the stoutest in the league.

I have no doubt that Favre will give it his all.  And who knows, maybe he’ll even make enough plays to keep it close.

But I don’t think the Vikings have a hope in hell of winning this game, and in fact, I feel like we’re in for an ass-whupping.  There are ebbs and flows to a season, currents you can feel developing under the surface of things.  Yes the Vikings have won 6 straight, but the defense has gotten progressively worse, and this is the week that all comes to a head.

So, my advice to Vikings fans is to prepare for disappointment.  As a matter of fact, I fully expect us to lose this game and the next, and limp into the bye at 6-2.  Our only hope against the Packers is that their offensive line is so bad, Jared Allen decapitates Aaron Rodgers.

That hope doesn’t exist today against the Steelers.  Big Ben will keep his head on.  And he will throw it all over the place against our clueless secondary.  And Brett Favre, in a mad scramble to keep up, will throw at least 2 picks, maybe more.

But who knows.  Maybe the Steelers aren’t as good as I’m giving them credit for.  Maybe AD will finally find some holes and have a huge game.  Maybe Favre’s magic bag is deeper than even I suspect.

It would be sweet to be wrong.  But I’m fully prepared to spend the afternoon pissed off.

Join me and the rest of Viking Nation for more commentary/commiseration all day on Twitter.

As I remember it, Williams came flying through the line, and his flailing hand happened to hook inside Boller’s helmet and pull it.  Williams was penalized 15 yards for the play, as he should’ve been, but it was obvious that the whole thing was unintentional.

Obvious to everyone except the NFL don’t-touch-the-quarterback police who clearly read malicious intent into Williams’ actions, hence the fine.

If Rodney Harrison were here, he would tell the NFL gestapo to take off their skirts.  And get their eyes checked.

“We have a great team, we have a lot to be proud of this year and there’s something to build on for next year,” Wilf said. “But it’s obviously very disappointing, and we’ll move on.”

Asked whether Childress and his staff will be back, Wilf, the younger brother of owner and chairman Zygi Wilf, replied, “Absolutely.”

It would be pretty hard to justify firing a coach after he led the team to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth.  I still think changes could be made on the staff however – maybe a new offensive coordinator to bring some fresh ideas to the mix, instead of Darrell Bevell who seems in absolute mindless lock-step with the Childress version of reality.

Tarvaris Jackson is a little different matter.  He may have played well down the stretch, but there’s plenty of reason to justify looking for a different quarterback to take over in 2009.  Unfortunately for those who wish T-Jack would just go away, he appears to have the full support of his teammates who were not shy in offering their endorsements (via the Pioneer-Press):

Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and receivers Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade emphatically backed Jackson for the ’09 campaign.

Said Shiancoe: “I’m not thinking about any other quarterback in the offseason, at all. I feel like he’s the man. He’s proved that he can make plays.”

Said Berrian: “You see all the intangibles. He’s got the physical tools. It’s a matter of us helping him out and not leaving him out there on his own.”

Said Wade: “There’s no doubt (he should start). He is what we need.”

Those are meaningful words of support for Jackson, coming from people whose own numbers depend on his play.  Others outside the team disagree that Jackson is the man however.  Here’s what venerable Star-Trib columnist Patrick Reusse had to say:

There was a single conclusion to be drawn from Sunday’s drama for the Purple zealots who chose to be rational rather than rage-filled over this sound 26-14 defeat:

The Vikings have regained contending status after a bleak decade, and that means the priority for this offseason is more clearly than ever to find a starting quarterback.

He can’t be too old, since the Vikings already have one of those in Gus Frerotte, and he must bring talent and confidence, both qualities that Jackson appears to be lacking.

A little harsh from Reusse.  I personally don’t think Jackson is “lacking talent” and there are times where he appears to have plenty of confidence.  What I think he lacks is the instinct to be a real playmaker like Donovan McNabb, a guy who can take a busted play and make something out of it.  The most damning evidence against T-Jack yesterday, to me, was not his bad throwing but his lack of running.  What the team needed more than anything was for T-Jack to make a few plays with his feet and get the Eagles off-balance, but Jackson preferred to plant himself in the pocket and, when he got into trouble, throw the ball away rather than run.

I do agree with Reusse that, if the Vikings go looking for a quarterback this off-season, even just to be a back-up or perhaps compete with Jackson in camp, they need to go a lot younger than Gus Frerotte (whose Viking career should now be over).  The free agent list doesn’t offer a whole lot of possibilities unless you have a thing for J.P. Losman or Kyle Boller.  There’s also the trade route which once looked like it might lead to Donovan McNabb – until Donovan got into the playoffs and won a playoff game, likely saving his job in Philly for at least one more year.  Perhaps the Vikes could revisit Sage Rosenfels.  If anyone says Brett Favre I’ll sock them.