Here is the Vikings home page on Startribune.com. It is full of insights, measured takes, quotes and the like. Some of this material was included in our excellent special section, which was published Sunday. Our season preview will not contain a lot of those things. It will be as brief as possible. Here it is:
1) QB play did not make or break the Vikings a season ago, which is a strange thing in the NFL. The odds of that repeating itself are not good. As such, the success of Christian Ponder and/or Matt Cassel will most likely define how far this team goes -- whether it builds on a 10-6 playoff season or regresses. The track record and preseason does not overwhelm us with optimism.
2) If Adrian Peterson is somehow better than he was a season ago, we won't know what to say about the man.
3) The youth of the defensive backs scares us. The linebackers are still in prove it mode. So are the wide receivers.
4) The schedule worries us. Two road games at division opponents to start ... and the weird London game early in the season as well, eating into a home game.
5) Blah, blah, blah, it all comes back to the QBs. If the Vikings get above-average QB play, they are at least a .500 team. If not, then this bet by Bill Barnwell is going to look mighty good. End of story.
Now let the season begin.
