By Brent Warnken
Brad Childress’s first season with the Minnesota Vikings three years ago ended with a 6-10 record. Last year he improved the team to 8-8, and this year they’re at 10-6. The turnaround has been fairly short, considering other cases in the NFL, and the fans who use Minnesota Vikings tickets should feel good that their team is headed in the right direction. The NFC North is a nice place to make a living these days, and with a few offseason adjustments, the Vikings could defend their division title next year. It’s pretty safe to say that StubHub will get a lot of traffic looking for Vikings tickets when the tickets become available.
Schedule Breakdown
The Vikings have a nice storyline, both in terms of their success over the past three seasons, and the narrative of the past 2008 season. The Vikes started off losing their first two to Green Bay and Indianapolis, although the games were close enough to keep fans wanting more. They lost another two, to Tennessee and Chicago, before their bye week, putting their record at 3-4. The Vikings were losing to good teams, so although the record was not auspicious, most fans kept their wits about them. After the break the Vikings went into overdrive, winning six of their next seven games, although they benefited from a tame schedule. At this point they were 9-5 and headed for a playoff date, and they managed to hold off the Chicago Bears by winning their last game against the New York Giants, 20-19, despite losing one to the Falcons the week before.
Stats Highlights
On offense the Vikings had obvious highlights- specifically Adrian Peterson and Bernard Berrian. Peterson’s 1,760 rushing yards led the NFL. He had the most rushing yards per game and the 2nd most rushing attempts. He led the league in overall yards from scrimmage and touches, and scored 9 touchdowns. The one downside to it all was Peterson’s 9 fumbles, although you can expect a few mistakes with the amount of time he was asked to carry the ball. Bernard Berrian finished just shy of a 1000-yard receiving season, ending with 964 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He was an excellent go-to performer for long passes. Rushing defense and quarterback pressure was superb on defense. Jared Allen ended with 14.5 sacks and the Viking defense allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league.
Stats Lowlights
With the way the Vikings shut down the run, it’s no wonder they were attacked through the air at an above average rate. Sometimes the secondary lost control over the mid-range passes, although the overall defense was fairly consistent. The quarterback situation needed constant validation and caused countless sports writers a whole week’s worth of work. In the end, third-year QB Tarvaris Jackson looked like the future of the franchise, rather than 37-year old Gus Frerotte. In the end this is a running team, though, so fans shouldn’t be too worried about the options facing the Vikings behind the center.
Possible Offseason Moves
The Vikings have a complete team with a clear direction and have shown that they’re trending upward. The offense has the greatest, most consistent weapon in the league, and the defense was above average. One shouldn’t expect a lot of trades to happen, unless the QB situation suddenly becomes more volatile. We might see the Vikings draft a cornerback with their first pick. They can get to the quarterback fast enough, but they need to snag more interceptions to be an elite defense.
Brent Warnken wrote this article in association with StubHub. If you are looking for Minnesota Vikings tickets, sports tickets, theatre tickets, concert tickets, or any other kinds of tickets, StubHub.com is one of the best places to find them.
