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A Vague Preseason
By Viking Visionary | August 25, 2008
After watching the Vikings loose to the Steelers by a last second field goal, many will try to dissect the game and make proclamations about the state of the team. Before everyone gets all excited about how good the defensive line looked, or how bad the offensive line played, let’s all just remember that a preseason game is coached, played, and valued far differently than a regular season game. The players’ primary objective is not to get hurt, and therefore their play suffers. The coaches really just want to kick the tires, knock off some rust, and evaluate the players on the bubble of their rosters, and therefore the play-calling and scheming suffers.
If you are simply dying for some football analysis, go ahead and read into the game as much as you want. The preseason games are still a bad joke which ends poorly for the players who get hurt in a meaningless game (the Giants just lost their star DE for the season), and in the end a team will only be judged for how it plays in the regular season. Vikings fans are frantic that the Purple are near the bottom of the league in preseason rushing totals. Guess what? So are the Jaguars, the team who finished nearest to the Vikings at the top of the league last year. And if preseason stats were THAT concerning, everyone should be expecting a horrible season from the New England Patriots. Go ahead and bet against them if you want, but the smart move is to wait until the regular season begins to make your assessments.
The Vikings will be fine. Their running game will be strong. Their defense will be one of the best in the NFL. Don’t try to judge our team based on this vague preseason.
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