Yuck

When I was younger, more innocent and a less jaded Minnesota Vikings fan, I always watched the full 60 minutes of a Vikings game.

I never gave up hope. I always thought there was a chance the Vikings would pull out a victory – no matter how bad the situation looked. And I felt only fair weather Viking fans bailed on the team when the going got tough.

But I’m older now (and, I hope, wiser) and I don’t hold that view anymore.

Case in point: Monday night’s 40-14 loss to the Chicago Bears was about the fifth Vikings game this season I’ve stopped watching before the final whistle was blown. Joe Webb’s generous throw right to Bears safety Chris Harris with about 10 minutes to go was the breaking point for me. I can’t give you an answer why I stuck around that long.

While I think wins for the Vikings at this point in the season are counterproductive for the long-term health of the franchise, I’d still like to see the team show a pulse even if they lose. Well, the Vikings are losing, but a pulse they do not have.

And that may end up costing Leslie Frazier a shot at going from interim Vikings head coach to actual head coach.

Perhaps that is a good thing for Vikings fans. The loss to the Bears was the second straight game against a quality opponent that the defence Frazier has been in charge of struggled to stop the run and looked helpless at stopping the pass.

I expect a Vikings offence quarterbacked by Joe Webb – and with Darrell Bevell calling the plays – to struggle.

What I don’t expect is a defence with players like Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Antoine Winfield, E.J. Henderson, Chad Greenway and Ray Edwards to be unable to get off the field.

The last two Viking losses were as much on the defence as the offence. Frazier is the man in charge of that defence. If he can’t get more out of the talent he has than what we’ve seen the last two weeks, I’m not very confident he can turn this team into a Super Bowl contender (and winner) in the future.

Joe Webb

Monday night was our first extended look at Webb playing quarterback in a regular season game.

I thought Webb did okay. There were some moments where he flashed some nice skills. And there were moments where he made some ghastly plays. What I was most impressed with is that Webb didn’t seem to play scared, which is an important trait for a quarterback to have.

Still, my gut feeling is that Webb will never be a good starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s a great athlete and there’s got to be some place where his athleticism would allow him to be an asset on the football field. I just don’t think that place is at quarterback.

Maybe he can play safety.