Analysis of the Minnesota Vikings' 2008 Schedule

The NFL released its 2008 regular season schedule for the league on Tuesday and the Minnesota Vikings, with a good start out of the gate, should be able to coast into the NFC Central Division Championship this season despite their so-called tough schedule. With the 2007 Rookie of the Year, Future Hall of Famer, Adrian "All-Day" Peterson being handed the starting job from the get-go this year; with the addition of the Chicago Bear's best wide-out from last year, Bernard Berrian; and with Tarvaris Jackson now stepping into his second year after getting his feet wet and hopefully learning from his mistakes last year (Coach Brad Childress is basically staking his NFL coaching career on the fact that he does); and not forgetting about one of the league's highest scoring defenses returning with a couple of adjustments towards improvement, the Vikings are a sure-in for the Division Title and at least two games deep into the play-offs by the end of their 2008-09 campaign.

According to NFL.com, the Vikings were handed the fifth toughest schedule in the league for the 2008 season, based on the 2007 winning percentage of each team's 2008 opponents. But those figures, I believe, are a little off. I mean, they play the Green Bay Packers twice since they are in the same division. The Packers represent 30 wins and 2 losses during the 2007 season. But unless Aaron Rodgers has a season ending injury during the pre-season, I think the Vikings have finally seen the last of their #1 nemesis, Bret Favre. Rodgers will be paying his dues this season and the Green Bay Packers will be lucky to get 4 wins for the year, none of which will be against the Vikings. The Vikings and Packers kick off the 2008 Monday Night Football ritual, but without Favre at the helm, it just won't be the same. Vikings should win that game easily and provide a healthy boost to Tarvaris Jackson's confidence that he will need to carry with him into the following week.

Week 2 will be the real test for the Vikings. They don't have to win (assuming they beat they Packers in Week 1 on Monday Night) but they need to show themselves, as well as the media and fans, that they can give Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts a run for their money. The Colts will be hanging around in the end of the season looking for another shot at New England when the time comes. Some things just don't change that often.

This is probably the tell-all portion of the season for the Vikings, Week 2 through week 5; Indianapolis, Carolina, Tennessee, and New Orleans, respectively. As I said, they don't necessarily need to beat Indianapolis in Week 2, but if they don't, they'd better be prepared to win at least two out of the next three. While Carolina is trying to rediscover their identity, Tennessee and New Orleans each know exactly who they are and also have their sights on a quick start and a slip-slide into the play-offs. But as eluded to in the opening paragraph, I think Peterson and Berrian will provide enough of a threat to widen the field enough for Jackson to relax and get his job done even while still learning to get better at it. The Vikings should be 4-1 by the end of Week 5, but they will be able to live with 3-2.

Following that stretch are five games in a row that the Viking SHOULD win. 8-2 after 10 weeks SHOULD be enough for them to coast into the play-offs (where they might win one to get their hopes up, but they won't win two). Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Green Bay again, and Tampa Bay.

Detroit is Detroit. Home, away, here, there, doesn't really matter because the Motor City Kitties are never quite sure where they are. Chalk up two wins for being in the Central Division.

Green Bay is not Green Bay. No one knows who they are anymore with Favre gone. This year should provide a sign or two of the answer, but not much more than that can be expected even from the 60,000 owners that show up at the office each Sunday afternoon to watch their investment at play. Two more wins donated to the cause.

Houston is finally getting better and proving that it can play in our league, but they still have another year or two to go before they will actually worry anyone. They've proven they can play, but now they have to prove they can stay healthy. The Vikings meet them mid-season, when most of their players are usually still trying to recover from the season's first few games.

Tampa Bay. At Tampa Bay. If the Vikings won the last four in a row, they may lose this one because they'll probably be starting to think that they are better than they really are and Tampa Bay will bring them back to reality.

So 8-2, 7-3, at this point. Jacksonville will be a tough game. They are a tough team and Del Rio is a tough coach with Minnesota ties. I give this game to Jacksonville with Maurice Jones-Drew out-shining Peterson (only time it happens this season to Peterson).

And then the Viking slide into home plate with the flailing Bears and Detroit again, and Arizona and Atlanta, two teams that do not know how to win in December, and the final game of the year against the NFL reigning champions (cough, cough) the New York Frickin' Giants (I still haven't recovered from that shocker yet). The Giants are not the best team in the NFL, were not the best team in NFL last year, and will not beat the Vikings this year. I'm not quite sure how Eli Manning and his oft injured and banged up crew pulled off what they pulled off last year (I had almost forgotten they were even in the play-offs until I saw who New England was going to have to destroy!) but they won't even make the play-offs this year.

Final regular season record for the Minnesota Vikings...12-4.

But don't let that fool you. The Vikings aren't that good yet. The rest of the Central Division is simply that bad. But Adrian Peterson will certainly be fun to watch each and every week this season, and if Tarvaris Jackson allows Childress to remain head coach for a few more years, they could very well become that good over the next two or three seasons.