Looking back to the end of last season all the way up until today, I've noticed an absolutely perfect string of events that show the Vikings could have destiny on their side in 2009.

The off-season started with huge rumors of the Vikings perusing T. J. Houshmandzadeh. It seemed like a lock that T.J. would be wearing purple as he stayed in Minnesota for quite some time as Brad Childress tried to woe the Pro Bowl possession receiver to be the number one guy in Minnesota. Eventually, Houshmandzadeh signed with the Seahawks and it seemed we were in store of a lack luster off-season. Yeah right.

We sat through the entire "Days of our Favre" drama that seemed to drag on and on. First he said he wanted to sign, then he said he was going to stay in Mississippi and finally, he dawned a purple number four jersey. It was no secret to anyone that the reason why Favre wanted to wear a Vikings jersey is because the Vikings were short a quarterback. Guess what the Vikings may have now?

On the defensive side of the ball, it appears that defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams will be able to play the entire 2009 season after testing positive for diuretic that can prevent steroids from showing up on drug tests last December. If the Vikings were to have lost both of them, who knows how good our rush defensive and defense as a whole would have been. With unproven players behind the two big men on the depth chart, this is a huge relief.

Now, let's get to last night's NFL opener.

Troy Polamalu once again proved that he is an absolute freak of nature. Polamalu showed how good he is at run defense, pass defense, and making absolutely insane one handed interceptions. Unfortunately, Troy got injured in the second quarter of that game. With a supposed sprained MCL, there is a chance Polamalu may be out up to six weeks. ("Madden Curse," anyone?)

You may be asking what an injured Steeler has to do with destiny. Well, the first six games the Vikings play, we should be able to win AT LEAST four of those. It gets a little dicey with Green Bay, Baltimore, and the same Pittsburgh Steelers I was talking about.

Even if the Vikings don't perform well against the first five opponents, a win verses the defending Super Bowl champions heading into the bye week could set the tone for the second half of the season. In my opinion, it is the biggest game of the season and the Steelers may be out their best player who can single handedly dominate an offense. This is great news for Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, and the Vikings as a whole.

If you add those main elements to smaller, yet key events, this off-season just fell into place. We have a favorable schedule, we suffered no major preseason injuries, and we had a great draft, and we'll also be getting our best linebacker in E.J. Henderson back, our special teams ace, Heath Farwell is back, and talented receiver Sidney Rice will be healthy.

Now, I'm not proclaiming that the Vikings will go to the Super Bowl but destiny could have us set to succeed in 2009. It will be up to the players and coaches to see if the Vikings can fully grasp it.

(Writer's note: I probably will not have to remind you what today is. I would like to acknowledge the people who lost their lives eight years ago and send out my sincere apologizes to anyone who was directly or indirectly affected. I have heart felt gratitude to all of the people who have helped us recover rebuild. From our first responders to our troops stationed all over the world, thank you for keeping our country safe and what it is. God bless you all.)