According to NFL.com, Harvin showed up on Sunday with the rest of the 256 draft picks who were scheduled to attend, but soon notified the medical staff of his problem and was dismissed.  This will all sound familiar to Vikings fans, who remember that Harvin, while in the airport ready to leave for Minnesota for rookie minicamp in May, came down with a virus and ended up in the hospital taking intravenous fluids.

There have thus far been no further details on what is ailing Percy this time, but really, does it matter?  All we need to know as football fans is that Percy Harvin is either incredibly susceptible to every bug going around or just doesn’t like showing up for stuff.  I can relate to that latter possibility, having missed many a boring day of fifth grade by coming down with a stomach ache that was, funny, all better by nine o’clock.

Let’s hope that, when it comes time to strap it on, Percy is able to keep his lunch down, otherwise someone will have to lay in a supply of puke-drying sawdust.  There might be some left around the Metrodome from when Robert Smith was on the team.

The Vikings scored early and often:  Bernard Berrian via punt return; Tarvaris Jackson to Bernard Berrian on a sweet sideline pattern (Berrian was tightly covered but what does it matter when you have TD-Jack tossing the ball?); Sidney Rice on a laser-beam six-yarder from T-Jack.  21-0 before the end of the first quarter.  Cardinals shell-shocked.  Vikings fans not only out-screaming Cardinals fans but possibly out-numbering them.  What would prove the image that best summed-up this beat down?  How about Jared Allen waving his arms to fire the crowd up?  Just call U of Phoenix Stadium Metrodome West from now on.

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The quarterback match-up would seem the most intriguing.  On one side you have former MVP and Super Bowl champ Kurt Warner, who is having another MVP-type season despite his advanced age.  And on the Vikings side you have Tarvaris Jackson making his first start since being benched after Week 2.  Jackson impressed some people by playing well in relief of Gus Frerotte last week against Detroit, but overall, he has been a disappointment.  His shot at redemption comes against a Cardinals defense that ranks just 19th against the pass.  The Vikings, meanwhile, will pit their 20th-ranked pass defense against the #2-rated aerial attack in the league.  It may mean nothing, but the Vikings won their games against the #1 pass offense, the Saints, and the #4 pass offense, the Texans.  Those teams were able to put up big yards against the Vikes but turnovers made the difference – the Vikes picked off Drew Brees twice and the Sage Rosenfels/Matt Schaub combo twice.  The Vikes also faced the #6 passing team, the Colts, and lost – but intercepted Peyton Manning twice, and had a chance to win.

The formula for beating Kurt Warner is pretty obvious – pressure him.  Warner has a 99.1 QB rating overall, but he’s had two games where he was under 80:  against the Eagles and Giants, two teams noted for getting pressure on the QB (one by blitz, one by dominant front-four play).  The Vikings have a front four that is capable of being dominating for stretches, and if they have one of their stand-out games today, then the team will have a better-than-even shot at winning.  Unfortunately, our pass-rush has been notably less-fearsome on the road than at home.  It helps that they’ll be chasing a stationary target and not Jeff Garcia.

Stat Watch:

Adrian Peterson has a chance to surpass Robert Smith‘s team record for most rushing yards today.  AD has 1413 yards on the season so far, 108 shy of Smith’s mark.  Of course, Peterson has no chance at breaking Smith’s long-standing record as the most pompous ass ever to wear a Vikings uniform.