Vikings 2013: Purple Meltdown

For only the second time this season (and the first time in North America), the Minnesota Vikings won an NFL football game.  They defeated Washington 34-27 at the Metrodome/Mall of America Field in the NFL Network's Thursday night game of the week, but only after surviving a last-minute charge by opposing quarterback Robert Griffin III.

This game the Vikings got right, having previously suffered last-second losses to Chicago and Dallas, and just plain sucking against everybody else--especially on national TV.  Their only victory was over an equally bad Pittsburgh Steelers team in London, England.  Their record at the halfway point is 2-7, good for last place in the NFC North division, but just behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the race for the top pick in the 2014 Draft.

All the ingredients for a bottom-feeding club are there:  Lack of a dependable quarterback.  Leaky defense.  Injuries.  Dissension in the ranks.  Coach's job on the line.  Need more?

Start with the quarterback.  Christian Ponder began the season with question marks about his ability and his leadership.  He's turned out to be a mediocre quarterback who couldn't lead the Vikings over the hump without getting injured, which included having to leave last night's game in the third quarter because of a shoulder injury.  Which led to Matt Cassel, a journeyman QB who led the Vikings to their win over Pittsburgh.  He played poorly in the following game, which led to Josh Freeman, who was just picked up from Tampa Bay.  Freeman was rushed into the starting job in the Monday night game against the Giants, played poorly and suffered a concussion.  Re-enter Ponder . . .

For this, the Vikings gave up McLeod Bethel-Thompson?

It also does no good for your offense if your marquee player is otherwise distracted.  Adrian Peterson went on record as saying he wanted to set the league rushing record this season.  Instead, he's nursing a hamstring injury while mourning the death of a child he just found out was his.

The defense has been marked by injuries and the seeming inability to keep the other team's offense from getting out of hand.  It has gotten so bad that Jared Allen was briefly the subject of trade rumors, because he's a free agent at the end of the season.  Allen is still a Viking, but for how long?

Finally, there is Leslie Frazier, who will be the head coach for the rest of the season.  His assistants are failing him, which is resulting in players taking potshots at them in the media.  Frazier does not have a contract extension, so who knows?

So, yes, the Vikings are starting to look ahead to 2014 and see an uncertain future as a team in transition.  They'll be between quarterbacks, coaches, defensive players, and stadiums on their way to a brighter future in the edifice that replaces the Metrodome.  All we have to do is to be patient.