While trying to become the NFL’s best team, the Minnesota Vikings have succeeded in becoming the NFL’s best tease. Under coach Dennis Green, they have enjoyed starts of 5-1, 4-2, 7-2, 3-2, 5-1 and 8-2–and won just one playoff game in five postseasons.
In the preseason under Green, they have gone 21-10 in seven years, including 4-0 this time. No other team can match that exhibition record over the same period.
In the end, they tend to fool their fans. The question now is whether the Vikings are through fooling around. Getting a taste of their own medicine, the Vikes were wooed by author Tom Clancy, whose highly publicized bid to buy the franchise turned into his most unbelievable piece of fiction.
But there are other signs of stability that give cause for hope beyond normal optimism. The Vikings were purchased for $250 million by former car salesman Red McCombs. They committed $116 million in future contracts to keep five top players–John Randle, Cris Carter, Todd Steussie, Robert Smith and Jake Reed. The only thing that proves so far is America is overpaying for cars.
Still, there is reason to believe.
Green slimmed down so much he is a shadow of himself on the sideline. Presumably, he also will lower his profile after creating a stir last year with a threat to sue the team’s owners if they didn’t allow him to buy in.
On the final season of his contract, the NFC’s dean of coaches realizes this year is not much different from any other in this business. Players, coaches, owners and luck come and go every year. The only thing that stays perennially the same is the urgency to win.
In Minnesota, the players have mostly stayed, a tribute to coach Green as much as to the long green the club shelled out in record amounts last offseason. They like playing for him in spite of frustration on the field and controversy off. The plan is to someday win it all and tell all the doubters they told them so.
This could be the year. Few teams have more talent and fewer question marks. With the addition of No. 1 draft choice Randy Moss, Green declares his offense will be “the most potent in the NFL.” A defense that gave up too much too often last year showed the benefits of some lineup changes and more maturity by shutting out its first two exhibition opponents, New England and Kansas City.
Moss caught 14 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns in a sensational preseason. With Carter and Reed and Smith also in the lineup, Green’s main problem will be keeping everybody happy.
Quarterback Brad Johnson’s return to full strength is a necessity–he suffered a neck injury similar to Erik Kramer’s 1996 mishap. Johnson was enjoying a breakout season that ended against Green Bay on a Monday night when he was unable to grip the ball. In the exhibitions, Johnson looked ready for prime time again.
Johnson is not Brett Favre, but the Vikings believe he is the second-best quarterback in the division. What separates the Vikings from other division teams at the most important position is Randall Cunningham, the only backup with a significant resume of production.
Center Jeff Christy is making a less publicized but nearly as vital return from injury.
The Vikings have one of the biggest and best offensive lines in the league, with all-pros Steussie and Randall McDaniel on the left and the unprecedented 700-pound-plus tandem of David Dixon and Korey Stringer on the right. Christy, who broke his ankle late last season, is invaluable in the middle.
Robert Smith, for once, is not returning from injury. He missed only 2 1/2 games last season and parlayed his first relatively healthy year in five into a five-year, $25 million deal.
The defense is the concern. It finished 29th overall and 29th against the pass before late-season lineup changes. Coordinator Foge Fazio expects young linemen Derrick Alexander, Stalin Colinet, Tony Williams and Duane Clemons to blossom and give Randle some help. As the best defensive lineman in the game, bar none, Randle gives more help than he gets, so his teammates should be rushing wild.
Moving undersized linebacker Ed McDaniel to the middle to replace Jeff Brady gives the Vikings three mobile playmakers, including Dwayne Rudd and Dixon Edwards.
Acquiring cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock from New England was the only move the Vikings made to add veteran help. He replaces departed Dewayne Washington. Second-year safety Torrian Gray hopes to help strong safety Robert Griffith. Cornerback Corey Fuller also is looking for improvement. The Vikings had only 12 interceptions last year.
In their effort to convince fans to keep buying tickets, the Vikings even got younger. They replaced 42-year-old kicker Eddie Murray with 39-year-old Gary Anderson.
These guys must be serious.
