Spring Break
Counterpoint: Which Team Is The Biggest Disappointment In The NFL?
Vikings Are Every Bit As Embarrassing On Field As They Are Off
Matt Schonvisky
Issue date: 11/2/05 Section: Sports
So here we are, halfway through the 2005 NFL season and some things never change, at least in the AFC. If the playoffs were to start today, there would be only one change in the conference from a year ago. The Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Broncos and Chiefs are once again tops in the league with the Bengals looking to rain on their parade.
On the NFC side, it is a shake-up of 2004, as only two teams that made the postseason would be back in it - Atlanta and St. Louis. The Giants, Panthers and, cough cough, Bears and Bucs would round up the chase for the NFC crown. So who is missing from this picture?
For one, Brett Favre. In what promises to be his last hurrah in a weak NFC North, Green Bay currently sits at 1-6, and yes, he threw five picks, yes five, against Cincinnati on Sunday. However, his Packers are not the most disappointing team to start the 2005 campaign. That falls into the lap of Mike Tice and the Minnesota Vikings.
With Green Bay looking like they're more and more tempted to put Aaron Rodgers in for the aging Favre, Jeff Garcia taking over for a surprisingly hapless offense in Detroit and da Bears as the only other competition in the division, one would have thought the Vikings would have run away with it.
Where do they stand now? How about 2-5 with their only wins coming in games against the Packers and Saints. They sit in third place, two games behind division leader Chicago, with nine to play. So what happened over the course of the first eight weeks to cause a team that gave up Randy Moss in the offseason to plummet to one of the worst teams in the league? Or could the answer be in that question?
Injuries, scandal or just plain bad football can describe a day in the life of a Vikings player of late and it just got worse for fans in the Twin Cities. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper went down with a torn ACL, MCL and PCL Sunday, the same injury that has Pats safety Rodney Harrison on the shelf for the year. First round draft pick Troy Williamson has yet to step in and look like the Gamecock he was back in South Carolina.
On the NFC side, it is a shake-up of 2004, as only two teams that made the postseason would be back in it - Atlanta and St. Louis. The Giants, Panthers and, cough cough, Bears and Bucs would round up the chase for the NFC crown. So who is missing from this picture?
For one, Brett Favre. In what promises to be his last hurrah in a weak NFC North, Green Bay currently sits at 1-6, and yes, he threw five picks, yes five, against Cincinnati on Sunday. However, his Packers are not the most disappointing team to start the 2005 campaign. That falls into the lap of Mike Tice and the Minnesota Vikings.
With Green Bay looking like they're more and more tempted to put Aaron Rodgers in for the aging Favre, Jeff Garcia taking over for a surprisingly hapless offense in Detroit and da Bears as the only other competition in the division, one would have thought the Vikings would have run away with it.
Where do they stand now? How about 2-5 with their only wins coming in games against the Packers and Saints. They sit in third place, two games behind division leader Chicago, with nine to play. So what happened over the course of the first eight weeks to cause a team that gave up Randy Moss in the offseason to plummet to one of the worst teams in the league? Or could the answer be in that question?
Injuries, scandal or just plain bad football can describe a day in the life of a Vikings player of late and it just got worse for fans in the Twin Cities. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper went down with a torn ACL, MCL and PCL Sunday, the same injury that has Pats safety Rodney Harrison on the shelf for the year. First round draft pick Troy Williamson has yet to step in and look like the Gamecock he was back in South Carolina.