The Road To The Superbowl

by Gregory Figuereo… The New England Patriots have been the most dominant football team of the past decade. Ironically, they’re also the only team to have been part of a major Superbowl spread upset with a victory over the highly favored St. Louis Rams, and a loser with a massive Superbowl spread against the Giants in 2007.

The two matchups that the oddsmakers are favoring in Superbowl XLIV are the Colts-Saints at +275 and the Chargers-Saints at +450. Undoubtedly either of those matchups would have tight lines because of the incredible offenses. If an underdog squeezes through, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the favorite is going to dominate.

The Lombardi Trophy brings the best out of everyone, and a big Superbowl Spread doesn’t guarantee victory for either team no matter what the oddsmakers think.

NFL Insider - Vikings Must Move On

by Greg Riot… Vikings Must Move On; This Is Going To Be Awkward

Brett Favre is out of the picture (kind of…) so now Brad Childress and the Vikings must choose to move on with what they’ve got. Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels said that there are “no hard feelings” but I don’t believe that for a second. Jackson has been reamed by the media and the Minnesota sports betting faithful for his wild inconsistency, while Rosenfels has been a career back-up.

This is why this situation sucks. Every facet of the Vikings’ attack is pretty strong. They have an incredible defensive line, especially if the Williams’ brothers escape this whole debacle cleanly and while the secondary definitely needs some work, the offense has no worries.

That is until this whole Brett Favre thing happened.

Tavaris Jackson was benched after Week 2 in 2008 after two back-to-back losses against Green Bay and Indianapolis. The Vikings had no issues getting down the field with Chester Taylor spelling Adrian Peterson. But it was its inability to score in the red zone that had people calling for Jackson’s head. A one-dimensional offense is all-too-easy to stop in the redzone because of the lack of space. With Jackson over throwing, under throwing, or getting sacked, the Vikings failed to beat the Packer and Colts, and Jackson saw himself sitting on the bench to start Week 3.

Jackson did not start again until Week 14 when the wheels came off the “Gus Bus” and Tavaris was inserted back in to the lineup. In four games, Jackson tossed 8 touchdowns and just one pick while breaking 230+ yards twice. Things were looking good for the once dispassionate Jackson, who seemed to be back in favor with the coaching staff.

Unfortunately for Jackson, that momentum train came screeching to a halt against the Philadelphia Eagles over Wildcard Weekend and the Tavaris Jackson of old came out of hiding. The Vikings moved the chains as well as they could, but Jackson failed to mount any significant aerial offense. He threw 15-for-35, gaining just 164 yards and a pick with no touchdowns. If it wasn’t for Adrian Peterson’s two touchdowns, the Vikings would’ve been laughed off the field. Instead, with the Vikings out of the playoffs again, attention turned to Jackson who many consider the weak link of the bunch, including yours truly.

That’s why Brad Childress and the Vikings jumping all over Sage Rosenfels when he hit the market was absolutely ridiculous. A week later, Jay Cutler came out wanting a trade and Brett Favre emerged. Childress was left combing his mustache as he made no bones about desiring Favre over every other quarterback he has on the roster. After all the posturing and pandering for Favre, Childress was jilted and is know left with the three ugly step sisters instead of the Cinderella he actually wanted. In a case where Childress was hoping Favre’s foot would fit in to the glass slipper, all that happened was a case of the “other shoe dropping”.

Now Tavaris is fighting for his career against the nine-year product of Iowa State, Sage Rosenfels, who has never played more than nine games in a season, and never threw for more than 1,684 passing yards in a season. In 2007 he threw for 15 touchdowns, but that was more due to Andre Johnson than Sage Rosenfels. John David Booty is the rookie in this whole mess, and he may get handed the keys to Childress’s car should either of the men ahead of him falter. But that’s a story we’ll save if it ever happens.

For now the battle is not just between Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. It’s between the team and Brad Childress. Nobody will admit it, for fear of the man in the rimmed glasses and the awesome mustache, but going so feverishly after Favre has either demoralized Jackson or destroyed his confidence. Should he falter at all, Rosenfels will be forced to intervene and we all know that story doesn’t have a happy ending.

The Vikings are amongst the mid-level favorites to win the Superbowl, and are a modest +750 to win the NFC. There’s no doubting Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen’s defensive line, Bernard Berrian’s ability to torch secondaries or Childress’s coaching strategies. It’s whether Tavaris Jackson and Childress can get along after this Brett Favre mess. Of course, if Tavaris didn’t suck so much that his coach was forced to go after a living legend approaching his fourth decade, this wouldn’t have been a problem…and if Childress even entertains going after Vick, you can say goodbye to the potential we once coveted in Jackson.