The outlook for the Vikings 2010 season has suddenly changed dramatically. And not just in a bad way, since they fell to 1-3 with a sloppy 29-20 loss to the Jets on Monday night.
See, because they have Randy Moss, the dramatic shift is actually good -- and you don't have to look any further than Favre's 500th career touchdown, a beautiful teardrop into Randy Moss' breadbasket right as the wide receiver crossed the end zone, to see that once these two future Hall of Famers find their timing, things could be pretty, pretty good.
In fact, there's an easy argument to make that Favre hasn't adjusted to throwing the ball to Moss -- a lot of his throws weren't even close to spot on, and a few times he underthrew the speedy veteran; time and practice will fix that.
Look, the Vikes could easily be 0-4 and two things from Monday night (Brad Childress' inability to manage a game and Favre's ability to provide costly turnovers at crucial times) should scare folks away from thinking that Minnesota can make a Super Bowl run.
And, yeah, the locker room could completely implode (apparently Randy Moss wouldn't do interviews with the press after his first game back, which is a swell start for chemistry). And, no, you're not looking at a Favre apologist -- if anything, it's the opposite.
But Favre still threw three touchdowns against a very good defense, and that shows just how potent the Vikes offense can be with Moss now on the field.
They have a deep option (in fact, the greatest deep threat of all-time) and Percy Harvin's big game (five catches, 97 yards, two teeters) is a great indication of how improved his play will be now that he's not the focus of opposing defenses.
In a close game that was sloppy early because of nasty New York weather, you'd like to see Adrian Peterson get more than 20 carries, especially when Favre's slinging the ball around, but, again, that's a Brad Childress problem.
And even Chilly can't stop Moss and Favre from creating some deep ball excitement for the rest of 2010 -- that facet alone gives them a shot to make a run at in a suddenly vulnerable divison, even if their upcoming schedule (Dallas, Green Bay, New England) is brutal.
1-3 isn't where you want to start a playoff run, sure, but given how close they've been to winning a few of those three games, a wild card run absolutely isn't out of the question.
