Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago

Vikings luck with injuries ended at the Superdome
 

Updated: August 31st, 2010 6:29pm

Tom Pelissero
1500ESPN.com

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- It started at the Superdome.

That's where Sidney Rice, Cedric Griffin and Brett Favre limped out on Jan. 24 with the injuries that still are impacting them today.

That's where the Minnesota Vikings' good fortune with injuries came to an end.

Oh, linebacker E.J. Henderson's broken leg seven weeks earlier was bad. But at that point, the Vikings didn't have a single player on injured reserve.

Seventeen starters played every game for that team.

This team has a swarm of locusts in the locker room.

Rice had hip surgery last week and will miss at least a couple of months.

Griffin is rehabbing his reconstructed knee and still hasn't been cleared for practice.

Favre had ankle surgery that didn't take and might need weekly oil changes.

Center John Sullivan got kicked a month ago and has missed the whole preseason.

Playmaker Percy Harvin has missed weeks with migraines and is permanently day-to-day.

Rookie Chris Cook seized Griffin's job at right cornerback -- the only big hole when training camp began -- and injured a knee the same night.

That last one might end up hurting as much as any.

Because it continues at the Superdome.

Rice's injury and Harvin's issues prompted the Vikings to trade with Miami last week for receiver Greg Camarillo.

The price: veteran nickelback Benny Sapp.

He never really had a shot to start, but Sapp was nothing if not a nice insurance policy.

Now the Vikings have only three NFL-caliber corners healthy as they prepare to face a Saints offense that spreads things out and attacks downfield as well as anyone.

A showdown with the Super Bowl champs, and the Vikings won't have their best receivers or offensive line to safeguard a moored quarterback, either.

Remember this, though.

It doesn't end at the Superdome.

The Vikings didn't get there for the NFC championship game because they have one or two difference-makers.

They survived Henderson's injury. And Harvin's migraines. And cornerback Antoine Winfield's foot problem. And the entire o-line being banged up.

Winfield and Henderson are healthy again. Harvin's back on the field (for now). Favre's mobility isn't exactly a weapon at this point anyway.

Teams win titles because of they have two or three elite playmakers, and even without Rice, the Vikings have that.

Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen are two reasons not to count out this team for anything.

The Week 4 bye looked like a curse when the schedule came out, but now it seems to fall when they might need a break most -- right before a brutal stretch in New York against the Jets, home against Dallas on a short week, then at Green Bay and at New England.

All things considered, a 4-3 start would be a massive victory for these Vikings.

Could expectations for a conference runner-up be dipping any more quickly?

Sure, the injuries and everything else could portend a collapse. Instantaneous declines are possible with any team starting 10 players on the wrong side of age 30.

That doesn't mean make anything inevitable, though. Good or bad.

Too much can happen between now and January.

It starts at the Superdome.

Tom Pelissero is Senior Editor of 1500ESPN.com


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zombieslayer
14 years ago
Actually, they didn't survive EJ Henderson's injury. His absence was noticeable if Pelissero watched the games. Their D took a drastic decline after he got injured.
My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
Zero2Cool
14 years ago
Blah, the Vikings won't stop at taking former Packers anything, will they? Players, Coaches, and now sports writers. They have a crappy culture for football and are trying to get some of our magic. 😉
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Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : reported, but not expected to practice
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Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : I really thought he'd play for Packers.
buckeyepackfan (9-Jun) : Packers releasing Jaire Alexander.
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dfosterf (6-Jun) : Semper fi !
Cheesey (6-Jun) : This is why I have so much respect for those that have gone through battles
Cheesey (6-Jun) : I can't even imagine what that would have been like
wpr (6-Jun) : "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"
wpr (6-Jun) : Facing a line of machine guns 2 time medal of Honor recipient, First Sergeant Dan Daly told his men,
wpr (6-Jun) : Another detachment went into the Belleau Wood.
wpr (6-Jun) : On the 6th the Marines took Hill 142 but suffered terrible losses.
wpr (6-Jun) : It’s time to remember dfoster’s Marine brothers in Belleau Wood. The battle went on from June 1-26. Nearly 10,000 casualties.
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett have signed with the PACK
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : he won't be wearing #12, maybe he will wear number two
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : He will fail this season, should have retired
Mucky Tundra (5-Jun) : Thus the cycle of Hall of Fame Packer QBs going to the Jets and then the Vikings is broken
bboystyle (5-Jun) : Rodgers to steelers on 1 year contract
Zero2Cool (5-Jun) : It's the cycle of civilizations. Get lazier, lazier, softer, softer and vanish.
Martha Careful (5-Jun) : great point. every aspect of society, including art, culture and sports has degraded.
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Green Bay sweep meant something to society about stopping pure excellence. We have the tush push now
dfosterf (4-Jun) : We old Martha.
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : *front four
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : Re frout four, I wish we had some Green "People Eaters" or a fearsome foursome
dfosterf (4-Jun) : *directions*
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Just don't ask him for driving direct
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Jim Marshall was an all-time great DE for the Purple People Eaters. Didn't like him. That's a compliment. RIP
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : ooppppss
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : “Kenny Clark played all of last season hurt by the way and got surgery to fix it in January”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood How much did the injury affect him last fall? “A lot.”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood Kenny Clark said he had foot surgery in January. Injured his foot in opener against Eagles and played through it all year.
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : Golden is wearing guardian cap again. I bet he plays with it on too.
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : All the stuff I'm reading from Lions fans are pointing at his toe; he more or less has permanent turf toe in one of his big toes
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Kenny played through it, and a shame he gets little credit for that, imo
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Big men. I hope it's not the undoing of Kenny Clark
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Probably his toe. Pretty much a great center. Toe injuries are brutal to bigen
Mucky Tundra (2-Jun) : Lions All-Pro C Frank Ragnow retires
wpr (30-May) : It's all good.
beast (30-May) : Yeah, and I enjoyed your comments and just attempted to add to it. Sorry if I did it incorrectly.
wpr (30-May) : Beast I never said Henderson was the salt of the earth. Nor even that he was correct. Just quoting the guy.
Zero2Cool (29-May) : What did you do??
Zero2Cool (29-May) : Whoa
beast (29-May) : OMG the website is now all white, even some white on white text
beast (29-May) : Henderson, who admits to taking cocaine during the Super Bowl against the Steelers, might dislike Bradshaw as he lost two Superbowls to him
wpr (28-May) : Hollywood Henderson said Bradshaw “is so dumb, he couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the C and an A.”
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Cooper stock=BUY BUY BUY
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Also notes he’s playing with more confidence.
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : @AndyHermanNFL MLF says there was a time last year where Cooper was at 220 pounds. Now he’s at 240 and still flying around.
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