Decided to wait a day in reacting to the latest Vikings disaster, in order to take a deep breath and calmly assess where the team is and where it appears to be going. 24 hours of reflection have left me in the same place where I began: We're pretty much screwed here.
There's a lot of pissing and moaning going on this week about a lot of topics, with the majority of it being completely justified. The officiating sucked, the pass rush was lousy, the secondary is a sham and Brett Favre absolutely killed the team with unbelievable turnovers. This is all true. Problem is, short of hoping it gets better, what are you really going to do about it? Bad luck is unfortunate, but ultimately out of your control. Bad play on the other hand? Well that's a stickier wicket.
Fans whining about refs is a loser's lament, the last refuge of someone who doesn't want to admit their team got beat. Coaches and players might be a bit different, but only a bit, because their protests are actually heard, and could subconsciously sway an officials call in their favor the next time around. Fans calling for Favre's head do present an actionable argument, but I'd ask them to stop and consider the alternative.
I mean, you people do understand that you're asking for Tarvaris Jackson, right?
If you do, and you are sticking to your guns on that opinion, then more power to you and excuse me if I totally disagree. I mean you do remember watching T-Jack right? The king of the double-clutch, one-hop knuckler? The man who inspired so much apathy that the Vikings needed two extensions to sell out a playoff game two years ago? The man who's first (and amazingly not only) highlight video features more scrambles than passes from the pocket for more than 10 yards? (Incidentally, ignore the terrible quality of that link and just focus on the music, how perfect is that! He will not die! I couldn't have said it better myself!)
Please don't take any of this an an endorsement of Favre, he's been terrible so far and wobbling around on a bad wheel isn't going to make things any better. Just sayin, if T-Jack is the answer and the question is anything other than "Who is the worst Vikings quarterback of your lifetime after Spurgeon Wynn?", then you've lost me. If this is the guy who we're hoping will lead us out of the wilderness, then we are destined to be eaten by bears. As bad as Favre has been, he at least shows the capacity to make plays, whereas Jackson only shows the capacity to occupy capacity on the roster.
Hope I'm wrong here, really do. But after seeing a lot of T-Jack over the years, including an atrocious preseason most recently, there is no evidence to make me think he will ever be a professional quarterback.
And that is why, fellow Vikings fans, short of a miraculous healing and turnabout in Favre's play, we're tremendously screwed here.
I am looking forward to two things:
1. The first getting-dragged-to-the-ground, desperation flip pass into the arms of a linebacker, which makes every Vikings fan who called for Jackson stop and say "Wait a minute, I remember this, he makes all the same dumb plays, but none of the good ones". That will be delicious.
2. The sideline shot of Chilly immediately following, when all those ugly memories he tried to put out of his mind the last few years come flooding back, and his eyes betray the panic racing through his brain.
Other than that, this should go well.
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