Knock on wood, Vikings fans

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Knock on wood, Vikings fans

Posted by: $author under Vikings, NFC, Super Bowl, Brad Childress, Vikings fans, Vikings injury report, Antoine Winfield, Brad Childress, Phil Loadholt Updated: November 20, 2009 - 9:25 AM

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From 2004 to 2007, the Seahawks won four consecutive NFC West titles and went to a Super Bowl. Since then, they're 7-18, including 3-6 this season.

Someone asked during Monday's chat why Seattle has collapsed. The main reason is quite easy to explain:

Injuries, injuries and more injuries. Last year's onslaught of injuries was ridiculous, especially at the receiver position. This year's outbreak includes some carryover from last year and has hit the offensive line particularly hard.

Through nine games, Seattle has had 12 starters miss a combined 43 games. Now compare that to this week's opponent, the Vikings. Minnesota has had two starters (Phil Loadholt, 1; Antoine Winfield, 3) miss a total of four games.

In a Week 3 loss to Chicago, Seattle's inactive list included seven starters with a combined 16 Pro Bowl appearances. In a surprising 41-0 victory over Jacksonville on Oct. 11, Seattle was down three starters on the offensive line and ended up going to its fourth-string left tackle, Kyle Williams, a former practice squad player, early in the game. Kyle ended up starting the next week against Arizona, too.

All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones (knee) has been on injured reserve all season. Another All-Pro, LB Lofa Tatupu (chest) went on IR four games ago. QB Matt Hasselbeck missed two games with a broken rib.

I asked Hasselbeck about the injuries during a conference call on Wednesday.

"It’s been really tough," he said. "Last year was just beyond crazy. This year we just had some residual stuff from last year.

"Mike Wahle [released in training camp] never made it back, our starting left guard. Walter Jones, obviously our starting left tackle, never made it back. There were some guys like Marcus Trufant [PUP] that didn’t make it back until week six or something like that. Basically, all of our Pro Bowl guys.

"Then we lost (Patrick) Kerney for a stretch and Lofa Tatupu. Really it was all of the Pro Bowlers. It was all of the guys that we elected captains early in the year, myself included. None of us were out there. We were supposed to lead stretch and it was Olindo Mare our kicker and then somebody else leading the stretch. It’s just been a tough deal. So I can’t explain it. I just know that we have to find ways to overcome that stuff and the more guys that are hurt, the tougher it gets."

I asked him if he ever went into a game feeling the team didn't have a chance to win because of injuries.

"No. Not like that," he said. "But it is something that we got to look at and come up with some answers. I don’t know what the answers are, but we just got to find a way to keep our guys healthy and stay together. Obviously, when you lose guys like Walter Jones, Lofa Tatupu, then the next guy’s got to step up. I think for us, at one point we were on our fifth left tackle. I think we’ve done a decent job with our injuries, but it just gets tougher and tougher to overcome. I think we’ve handled it well. Hopefully we can right the ship, so to speak."

Meanwhile, the Vikings have been -- knock on wood, fans -- extremely healthy overall. And that is one of the key factors in them being 8-1 and a game behind New Orleans in the NFC. It's also high on the list of reasons Brad Childress was able to sign a contract extension on Thursday.

FYI: Somehow, my picks in today's paper got mashed together, partially deleted and messed up in general on two picks.

One pick says Arizona at the Giants, even though the copy mentions Kurt Warner playing the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. Also, the Falcons at Giants game isn't listed.

Not that it matters much, but, for the record, I'm taking the Giants to cover the 6 1/2 points against the Falcons, and the Cardinals to cover the 9 1/2 points against the Rams.