Vikings Will Need a Post-Christmas Miracle vs. Eagles

If this post seems familiar, it’s because I put it up on Sunday when I thought there was going to be a game. It will suffice for today’s game preview as well.

As grim as things looked going into last week’s game against the Bears, the optimistic Viking fan could still probably muster a shred of hope that things would break right for the Purple and they would eek out a victory.  Then when Brett Favre made his miracle last-minute recovery that shred of hope grew.  And grew even more when Favre engineered a touchdown drive on the team’s first possession.

Of course we know what happened then:  Favre took a huge shot and suffered a concussion, taking all the air out of the Vikings’ balloon.  The final score of 40-14 was just about right for the effort the Vikings gave the rest of the game.  With the memory of that debacle still fresh in our minds, we prepare for the Vikings to take the field against the Eagles, a better team than the Bears, at their home stadium.  This time, there is nary a shred of hope for the Viking fan to cling to, nary a sliver of optimism.  Pretty much everyone expects this one to be a massacre.

After last week’s embarrassing effort, the Vikings deserve to be doubted.  Not only did they nearly get Brett Favre killed, they also played atrociously in the secondary and on special teams.  Needless to say, against the talent the Eagles can run out there, if the Vikings don’t block, tackle and cover better this week, the game will be over quickly.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to improve your performance when you keep losing players.  Madieu Williams, out with a concussion, will have no chance to redeem himself after playing another brutal game against the Bears.  Steve Hutchinson, now on IR with a broken thumb, will have no chance to prop up an ever-more-unreliable offensive line.  Brett Favre, not officially listed as out for the game but almost certainly out, will get no shot at injecting inspiration into the team one final time.

No, if the Vikings are going to turn themselves around for one week at least, Joe Webb, John Sullivan, Chris DeGeare, Phil Loadholt, Jamarca Sanford and Asher Allen will have to be the ones to do it.  These men represent much of the young talent for the Vikings, the talent that will have to carry the team into the new post-Childress era.  To say Viking Nation is less-than-optimistic about these guys’ ability to lead a quick Viking resurgence would be an understatement.  But, if they muster enough of an effort to at least make today’s game competitive, maybe we will have some small reason to be enthusiastic heading into next season.

Well, it’s better than nothing.

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