Kyle Ignatius
Staff Reporter
The Minnesota Vikings started the 2010 NFL season with extremely high aspirations for another run at the Super Bowl. “Everything seemed to be going right for the Vikings for awhile but then Sydney Rice got injured before the season and then everything seemed to fall apart,” stated senior Tucker Kroll.
The Vikings had one of the best seasons in franchise history last year with a 12-4 record behind the arm of future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. At the age of 40, he posted career numbers with 4,202 passing yards, and threw 33 touchdowns to a career low 7 interceptions. Favre’s status on returning to Minnesota for one more season was in question until defensive end Jared Allen, kicker Ryan Longwell, and guard Steve Hutchinson payed him a visit at his Mississippi home and recruited him to come back for one more year. His decision to come back for another season did not go as well as planned.
In 2009, the Vikings had one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL with the fifth ranked in total offense and second in scoring. But in 2010 Minnesota plummeted to 19th in total offense and have fallen to a dismal 29th in scoring. “The Vikings offense has been very hard to watch this year; they are terrible,” stated junior Jesse Nusbaum.
Brad Childress had been the Minnesota Vikings coach for the last five years. He compiled a 39-35 record in the regular season but when his team started the season by losing three of its first four games his job status became in serious jeopardy. Childress then went on to controversially cut star receiver Randy Moss with out the approval of management. “Once he cut Moss, I knew that Childress only had a few more weeks as the head coach of the Vikings,” expressed senior Matt Peterson.
The last straw for Childress was when the Green Bay Packers embarrassed the Vikings 31-3 at the Metrodome. Leslie Frazier, who has been the defensive coordinator for Minnesota since 2007, was named interim coach after the firing of Brad Childress. Frazier, who recently got named the head coach for the 2011 season, won the Super Bowl in 1985 with the Chicago Bears. His professional career was cut short due to a knee injury he suffered in that game.
The Vikings ended the season with a 6-10 record and tied for last in the NFC North with the Detroit Lions. The team has many different areas that they need to improve on to compete for a playoff position. With the departure of Favre they will need to fill a key position at quarterback.
Their previously rock solid offensive line performed very inadequately this year and improvements will need to be made. On the defensive side, Minnesota has to make changes in their secondary which ranked 21st in pass defense this year. The team will rely heavily on Frazier to help improve in these areas.
