As the Vikings prepare to leave their bye week and begin the second half of the season, the team sits in first place of the NFC North with a record of 6-2 and a full two game lead over both Detroit and Green Bay. Actually based on an early loss to Detroit the Vikings will need to win their rematch – early Thanksgiving Day game! – in order to tie the season series record.

As mentioned in the Vikings season preview post, the success of this years team was heavily dependent on the success of the reformed offensive line. Early returns have been mostly positive.

The additions of Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers at left and right tackles respectively as well as rookie Pat Elflein taking over starting center duties have indeed paid dividends especially in regards to the run game. The Vikings are currently 9th as a team rushing with 120 rushing yards per game. Shit was looking real good when rookie Dalvin Cook was getting things in gear as he was an early candidate for rookie of the year but since the Vikings and their fans can’t have nice things and are meant to suffer, Cook tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.

Speaking of not being able to have nice things, did you see the Vikings opener against the Saints? Sam Bradford looked fucking otherworldly. Motherfucker was 27 of 32 passing for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns. More than that he was throwing fucking darts. It seemed, for a game at least, that we had the defense and now the offense to really be a dangerous team. Hot damn!

Until.

Could we see a return of Teddy this year? Part of me wants him to come back so badly. I really love the kid. He’s so damn likeable, loves his mom, a great guy in the locker room and community and I’m just afraid he might internally combust the second he steps on the field.

Offseason prediction? The Vikings let Bradford walk into Free Agency, sign Teddy to an extension, then giving Keenum the backup QB spot. Bradford will still get motherfucking PAID by someone out there. Just not Minnesota.

Jacksonville anyone?

In all honesty, the team is 6-2 with Case Fucking Keenum handling the bulk of the QB duties since game 2. Let’s take a look shall we?

With Keenum under center and with the revamped line the Vikings are 14th overall in passing yards per game with an average of 238 YPG. He’s 149 of 233 attempts on the season (63.9%) with 1,610 passing yards and 7 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions.

Overall offensively the Vikings rank 11th in total yards per game with 358 per.

The team is 6-2 so why would they shake that up? Some of the early reports say Teddy is looking sharp so if he CAN come back and be effective?

Fuck man, don’t make me get my hopes up again. I’VE GONE THROUGH THIS BEFORE!

The other side of the ball is where things get a whole lot more interesting.

Defensive rankings:

4th in total yards per game averaging 282 yards per.

7th against the pass with just 200 yards allowed per game.

3rd against the run giving up a mere 81 yards per game.

As mentioned in the team preview there are bad motherfuckers at every level of this defense. Check this out.

Here you can see Baltimore attempting an end around. At the top of your screen you can see the tight blanket coverage that Xavier Rhodes is employing. You can also see D-end Everson Griffin (#97) not fooled at all by the end around as he came in and just blew this play back to Hell where it belonged.

Griffin is sitting on 10 sacks on the year, trailing only Calais Campbell (12 sacks) and DeMarcus Lawrence (10 1/2 sacks) and he has had at least one sack in EVERY game. Danielle Hunter lines up on the other end opposite Griffin and he is sitting on 3 sacks this year, including 2 on Matt Stafford who is no doubt seeing Hunter in his nightmares. At only 23 Hunter is going to be a force for a long time.

Vikings cornerbacks, Rhodes and Trae Waynes, shown here at top and bottom of the screen,

have turned into two of the most dynamic CBs in the league. It’s been fucking eons since the Vikings had a true “shutdown” corner and Xavier Rhodes fits the motherfucking bill. He also has earned a badass nickname “Rhodes Closed” that you apparently need in order to be in the discussion with the top corners out there. If you aren’t too familiar with his work, that’s because he barely gets mentioned during game broadcasts since most QBs don’t even throw to his side of the field.

At linebacker, Kendricks leads the team in tackles like he always does, rookie Ben Gideon has done a solid job of replacing Chad Greenway at weak side LB and I don’t really have to discuss Anthony Barr do I?

While I would not wish injury on anybody, even this fucking Rodgers asshole, you have to admit it really changed the division dynamics. When a story was floated out there by Rodgers that Barr actually gave him the finger after this play I was amazed to find out that I could love Anthony Barr even more than I already did.

While attending the Vikings v Ravens game in October, where they introduced the team defense first, guess who received the loudest cheer, by FAR?

He’s my goddamn hero! Not to mention that he went to UCLA and is from my old hometown of San Pedro, CA! Are you fucking kidding me? I love this fucking guy!

The remaining schedule will tell us everything we need to know about this team down the stretch. After a home-friendly start the Vikings play 5 of the last 8 on the road. This coming Sunday against the Washington Football team, in wherever the fuck they play, followed by the Rams in Minneapolis (FUN!), three consecutive roadies against Detroit (Thanksgiving), Atlanta and Carolina, home against the Bengals, a trip to Lambeau on December 23rd (Merry Christmas!) and finally New Years Eve for a home game against the Bears.

I can easily see a 13-3 finish and possibly a first round playoff bye followed by a home playoff game. I can also see a 10-6 finish and a wild card spot as originally predicted. Fuck it, let’s split the difference and call this 12-4 with a bye. Remember they already beat the Saints head-to-head. Which would mean…

A home playoff game!

Final final prediction? NFC championship game! Only to lose in gut-wrenching fashion to send the fans off to another long, cold, disappointing off-season.

Hey, I’m not that fucking delusional.