All’s quiet in Vikings land. The only news lately has been speculation as to Leslie Frazier‘s actual chances of landing the Miami Dolphins head coaching job. Most agree Frazier was only interviewed to keep Miami in line with the Rooney Rule, but then again you never know. Selfishly, I want Frazier to remain with the Vikes – it was lucky of us to find a second good defensive coordinator after losing Mike Tomlin; I wouldn’t want to toss that particular set of dice another time.
And of course there are the playoffs. They get cranked back up again today with the Packers hosting former coach Mike Holmgren and his scrappy Seattle crew. Then we get the big boys, New England, hosting Mike Tice and the also-scrappy Jacksonville Jaguars.
Conventional wisdom seems to have turned slightly against Green Bay in their match-up with Seattle, but I personally don’t see it. Okay, so Brett Favre had a bad game in the cold against Chicago…but does that negate all the other cold-weather success he’s had in his career? And anyway it isn’t going to be that bad in Green Bay today – low thirties with a little snow and light and variable wind. Favre won’t be bothered by those conditions at all (it was the wind that bugged him in Chicago anyway, not the cold). Yes, Seattle has a good defense, and their pass rushers really get after it. But the Packers have a run game now, which is something Seattle doesn’t have at all. And this notion that Mike Holmgren somehow has a leg up because he used to coach Favre – that was a million years ago now. There’s no special knowledge Holmgren can bring to bear against Favre. His defense just has to play well and his offense has to produce points. The Packers are, at this point, a more complete team than Seattle, and they’re at home, and they have a Hall of Fame QB who’s playing like he’s in his prime instead of past it. I’m taking the Packers 27-20.
There’s also a tiny glimmer of upset sentiment creeping into people’s analysis of the Jags vs. the Patriots. Why? Because Jacksonville is “physical” and can supposedly run the ball against New England. All fine-and-good. Only problem…the Jags barely beat the Steelers last week, and their QB David Garrard put up T-Jack numbers (that, for those who haven’t been paying attention, is not good). There was nothing in that Jacksonville victory that one could point to and say, “This team is primed to pull the biggest upset in the history of the playoffs.” Plus, Bill Belichick with an extra week to prepare for a team? Yeah…bad news. The Pats are going to take it to Jacksonville – I say 35-14.