subject: Minnesota Vikings Tickets - Life After Favre [print this page] Barring another one of Brett Favre's magical mind changes, the Minnesota Vikings will have to play the 2010 season without one of the best quarterbacks in the league, a first ballot Hall-of-Famer who was the second-highest rated quarterback in the league in 2010. But even without their leader and most important overall player, the Vikings have to move on and try to put together another winning team. The question remains whether or not they can actually pull it off.
The advantage that the Vikings do have is a very strong offensive and defensive line that will keep them in games all season long. While NFL games today are won more in the passing attack than in the trenches, as opposed to the NFL of old, the lines are still of vital importance, and the Vikings have a step up on much of the league. Running back Adrian Peterson is also still a superstar who sells plenty of Minnesota Vikings tickets and will no doubt make it very difficult on opposing defenses yet again in 2010. Rookie back Toby Gerhart also should be a nice fit behind a quick, physical offensive line that should guarantee that they will still be able to move the football.
While Brett Favre elevated the Vikings from a 9-7 or 10-6 team to the second best team in the NFC last season, they'll now have to go back to the drawing board and start either Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels. Though that won't place them in as bad of shape as some of the teams in the league, Jackson has never proven himself as a starting quarterback in the league and Rosenfels is a career backup. Considering that Favre reportedly pushed the offensive coaching staff to consistently expand the complexity of the offense, the Vikings will have to see some sort of regression.
Unfortunately for Peterson, though he still could be in store for a huge season he's also going to face considerably more pressure from defenses preying on the run. If the Vikings' coaching staff can't keep safeties from creeping up to the line of scrimmage by throwing the ball down the field, it could become very tough to run the ball even with one of the most talented backs in the entire league.
The trickledown effect also should have a tremendous impact on the main Vikings receivers, namely Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin. Rice exploded last season for a career year of more than 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns while Harvin quickly became one of the most dangerous players in the league. Under the expanded scheme of the Vikings, Harvin had a very strong rookie season in which he had nearly 800 yards receiving and another 135 yards rushing. The Vikings will have to keep Rice involved and also once again find ways to utilize Harvin's unique abilities to run after the catch.
But even though the Vikings will certainly struggle at times to be as productive on offense as they were a season ago, they still have enough talent to make a serious run at a playoff spot. Led by Pat Williams and Kevin Williams in the middle of the d-line, the Vikings were the second best team against the run last season, which is a trend that should spill over into 2010 as well. If the Vikings can control the football and stay away from the big mistakes, they have the kind of running game that can still lead the Vikings to challenge the Green Bay Packers for the division title.
