Vikings in playoffs, get rematch
with Packers
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota
Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 1/5/2005
Mike Tice did it: He is the first
Vikings former player to successfully guide the Vikings
to the playoffs. It’s the first time the Vikings have
qualified since 2000. By virtue of their 8-8 record, the
worst playoff record qualified for the NFC playoffs, the
Vikings will travel to Green Bay to play the Packers on
Sunday, January 9, at frigid Lambeau Field.
Green Bay is the number-three seed
from the National Football Conference by virtue of their
10-6 record, which included two last-second wins over
the Vikings by identical 34-31 margins. Can Green Bay
beat the Vikings a third time? The Packers were only 4-4
at home this year, but won nine of their last 11 games
and two in a row.
Tice joins Bud Grant, Jerry Burns
and Dennis Green as the only Vikings head coaches who
have led the Purple to the playoffs.
Because the Vikings lost seven of
their last 10 games for the second year in a row, which
is disgraceful, they would have missed the playoffs
again like last year’s collapse had not New Orleans beat
Carolina 21-18.
Not many teams earn playoff spots
after losing four of their last five games and two in a
row. Somehow, Tice and his staff will have to get his
players to focus on the positives of qualifying for the
playoffs and downplay the misery of allowing the NFC
North title to slip away again after a 5-1 start.
As I wrote last week, by not
winning the NFC North Championship the Vikings blew a
great opportunity to host a playoff game — that will
cost this franchise about $9 million. Tice is the third
Vikings head coach to qualify for the playoffs with just
eight wins.
Bud Grant and Jerry Burns both had
Vikings teams that finished 8-7-1, and in 1987 the
Vikings finished 8-7 for Burns. That was the year of the
players’ strike. In 1987, the Vikings, like this year,
lost to Washington in overtime at the Metrodome on the
day after Christmas and still made the playoffs.
That team, led by the great Anthony
Carter, beat both New Orleans and San Francisco in two
dominating road wins before losing to Doug Williams and
Washington in the NFC Championship game 17-10. Williams
went on to become the first Black quarterback to win the
Super Bowl and MVP honors, dominating Denver and John
Elway 42-10.
No 8-8 playoff team has ever won a
playoff game, so the Vikings will have to make history
if they are to stay alive in the Super Bowl tournament.
Pittsburgh (15-1), defending Super Bowl Champion New
England (14-2), and Philadelphia (13-3) are the
favorites.
But anything can happen, because it
is a new season. The dominant teams appear to be in the
AFC. Pittsburgh is only the fourth team ever to finish
15-1; two of the other three 15-1 teams went on to win
the Super Bowl. They were San Francisco and Chicago. The
only 15-1 team to not win the Super Bowl was the 1998
Vikings.
Pittsburgh, New England,
Indianapolis (with record-setting Peyton Manning) and
San Diego are on a collision course. Philadelphia, which
lost Terrell Owens, and Atlanta with Michael Vick are
the top NFC seeds. Daunte Culpepper threw 39 touchdown
passes for 4,717 yards to lead all NFL quarterbacks.
This is a dangerous Vikings team
with a healthy Randy Moss, who missed five games and
still had 13 touchdowns; Nate Burleson, with 1006 yards;
and Marcus Robinson. The Vikings have lost 20 of their
last 22 road games played outside.
Green Bay has the better running
game with Arman Green. The Vikings appear to have given
up on the running game. They had only 52 yards rushing
in the loss to Washington.
Look for the Vikings to let it all
hang out. Is this Culpepper’s year to join Fran
Tarkenton and Joe Kapp as the only Vikings quarterbacks
to lead their teams to the Super Bowl?
The Vikings received the worst possible news on Pro Bowl
starting safety Corey Chavous. He suffered a fractured
radius bone near his left elbow and is listed as
doubtful for Sunday's playoff game.
Much has been made of super freak Randy Moss walking off
the field with just :02 seconds left in Sunday's 21-18
lost at Washington. If you recall Moss did the same
thing in 2001 in the final seconds of a home loss to
Jacksonville.
It eventually led to a ground swell of local media
haters blaming Head Coach Dennis Green not being tough
enough and losing control and Red McCombs bought into it
and later fired Green. Will Mike Tice be held to the
same standard?
Fitz Notes & Quotes
This past season I witnessed all 16 of the Arizona
Cardinals games watching my oldest son' Larry
Jr's rookie season and former Vikings Head Coach Dennis
Green
in his first year as Head coach.
Larry, Jr. led the Cardinals with 58 receptions for 780
yards and led all first year receivers with 8
touchdowns, 36 of his receptions were for first downs.
Larry was selected as the honorary team Captain for the
University of Pittsburgh in the 2005 January 1st Fiesta
Bowl game against Utah in Tempe. Larry was a two time
All-American at Pittsburgh.
I remember telling coach Green in December that I
thought his offense was the worst I had seen him coach
in 11 years. The Cardinals were 26th in total offense.
That reality led to the firing this week of offensive
coordinator Alex Wood and receiver coach Robert Ford.
The Cardinals finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs.
