Sept. 9, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice (18) drops the ball after being tackled in by an Arizona Cardinal defender in the first quarter against Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-US PRESSWIRE

Two seasons ago the Seattle Seahawks acquired two former Viking players, Tavaris Jackson and Sidney Rice. At the time, Rice was a top ten receiver with loads of potential. Jackson was a backup to that favore guy and other than being body slammed against the eagles after throwing a pick-6 to Asante Samuel in the wild card card game in 08′, I don’t really have any other memory of his Viking days. Enough about him. As i mentioned Favre was apart of the Vikings in 09′ and that was the year Favre took advantage of Rice’s 6’4 stature and really got teams off balance. This allowed for the run game to open and what do you know the Vikings were in the NFC Championship. After that year, Rice was out for most of the next season with injuries and was dealt to the Seahawks after he learned his good pal, Tavaris was going there as well. Its safe to say it hasn’t worked for Jackson in Seattle (now a Buffalo Bill) but Rice has come along with rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. This Sunday the Vikings will visit the Seahawks and i don’t know about other Viking fans, but i have a gripe with Rice. The Vikings are missing what Rice gave them and its showing. I was surprised Rice went with Seattle because at that time they really were headed nowhere, but he did and I want nothing more than to see him come across the middle and…sorry…you guys get me right? I just think with Rice the Vikings would have the best young offense in the league. Think about Ponder’s options: Rudolph, AP, Harvin, and Rice? I know it will never happen, but with the problems we have right now in the passing game I couldn’t help but think about it. Of course I do not wish harm on any player in the league and i think I’m not alone when i say I just really do not want him getting anything on our defense.

With Chris Cook out, it will be up to A.J. Jefferson and Josh Robinson to cover the outsides. It will be a tough matchup for the Vikings especially with Marshawn Lynch running the ball the way he is, however, if the Vikings can make them one dimensional it will help take stress off the defense.

JAN 1, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (7) back to pass in the first quarter against Chicago Bears at Mall of America Field. The Bears defeated the Vikings 17-13. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-US PRESSWIRE

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave is looking forward to having Jerome Simpson in the fold because he thinks Simpson can beat single coverage and allow the Vikings to exploit defenses that are stacking up to stop the run. “We need to be able to count on somebody from our split end position winning consistently versus man coverage,” Musgrave said. “With the way I think we can run the football, defenses are going to try to take away the run. And we want to make them pay for that through the air.”

Gosh what an original and brilliant offensive approach. I see only two problems with it. One, we don’t know if we have a quarterback who can consistently deliver the ball even if the receiver beats man coverage. Two, we don’t know if our running back will ever be the same again, so we don’t know if defenses will even try to stack the box thereby creating those vital one-on-one situations outside.

It’s funny how simple that “let them try to stop our run and we’ll burn them deep” plan sounds coming out of people’s mouths. And it’s even funnier how seldom it has actually worked out the way it was supposed to. The only time in recent years I remember that plan consistently resulting in offensive yardage and points was when we had a dude named Brett Favre on one end and a dude named Sidney Rice on the other end.

Now we’ve got Christian Ponder and, when his suspension is over, Jerome Simpson. I’m sure that combo will make us forget all about Favre-to-Rice. Hell, I’ll be happy if it becomes Frerotte-to-Berrian. At least that would be some improvement.

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The way I understand it, losing Ray Edwards and Sidney Rice was what put the Vikings in the net loss category. So now they’ve got those extra fourth rounders to play with. Two more draft picks is nothing to sneeze at for a team with as many needs as the Vikings. In fact those two additional picks could be huge. They could find another Ciatrick Fason or Nat Dorsey or Shawn Worthen with one of those picks.

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