The team that forgot who it is

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 10/20/2005
 

The Vikings were picked by many so-called experts in the preseason to not only win the NFC North, but to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XL. After four games, the Vikings appear to be living in self-denial.

In this, the organization’s 45th anniversary season, never before has a team won the Super Bowl the same year after their head coach was fined $100,000 for scalping Super Bowl tickets.

 

Never before has an NFL team won the Super Bowl the same year after being sold the same year.

Reality is beginning to hit the Vikings in the face; after all, they are 1-3 and last in the NFL in several key areas, one of which is common sense. They lead the NFL in turnovers with 15. Offensively, they are ranked 23rd in total offense and 29th in total defense, which means they can’t move the ball and they can’t stop anybody.

 

They are also last in the league in giveaway takeaways at eight; never before has a team qualified for the playoffs, much less won the Super Bowl, when you give the football away to your opponent an average of four times each game.

 

The coaching staff has admitted to having lost, misplaced, or forgotten its identity as a team, which is surprising since they knew they traded away their identity (Randy Moss) to Oakland while the team was being sold last spring.

 

When your head coach hires offensive and defensive coordinators during the season -- Jerry Rhome and Foge Fazio -- to evaluate what’s going wrong with the team in those areas, you’re in deep trouble.

The Vikings have made so many personnel changes to this team since last year, the coaches have failed to communicate with many of the players what their specific responsibilities are. The team has also lost its confidence, and it takes leadership to find it.

 

This week, after getting a week off, the Vikings travel to Chicago to play the Bears. Both team are 1-3; if the Vikings are going to salvage this season of disappointment and lost identity, it starts with winning games within their division.

 

The Vikings have lost 19 of their last 28 games on the road, and 21 of their last 25 games played on the road outside. Over the next six weeks, the Vikings play four of their next six games on the road.

If this team is able to find itself over this tough stretch and establish its identity is as a team and play to its true potential, maybe it can still rebound and save this season.