The Morning After Pill - Week # 7-Plus Bye Week

So for the third consecutive week, the Minnesota Vikings took their fans on a roller coaster ride. Ups and downs, twists and turns, agony and ecstacy. . . all jammed into the space of about three hours or so. The only thing I wanna say from yesterday's game... QUIT GIVING AWAY TOUCHDOWNS!!. I almost threw up all over Tonya and my Dyngle Burger after the Vikes gave away not one, but TWO touchdowns on special teams blunders. We dominated the football game yet still found a way to lose it. If you would have told me the Vikings would score 41 points I would have bet you everything I owned that we would win.
Okay, enough about the game. The Vikings head into the bye this week so let's look at the season thus far.

Adrian Peterson? Still Really, Really Good
With his performance yesterday against the Bears, Adrian Peterson again sits atop the league in rushing yardage with 684 yards through the first 7 games. That puts him on pace for over 1500 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's still, for my money, the best running back in the National Football League, and he puts more distance between himself and the rest of the field every time he touches the football. He's still the biggest threat on the Vikings' offense, by far, and teams are still keying on him every single week. Despite that, he can still put up the numbers he has.
No matter how dark things get in Minnesota, we can take some solace in the fact that we still have this guy on our roster.

Bernard Berrian? Worth the Money
People snickered when the Vikings gave Bernard Berrian a contract that made him one of the five highest-paid receivers in the National Football League. After watching him work over the course of the last 3-4 weeks, the only people that should be laughing are Minnesota fans, because Berrian's contract is going to look like a bargain in a season or two.
Since the Vikings made the quarterback switch to Gus Frerotte, Berrian hasn't had less than 78 receiving yards in a game, and has gone over 100 yards twice. He has a touchdown catch in three consecutive games, and his 18.5 yard/catch average has him in a tie for third place in that category among receivers with at least 20 catches (trailing only Buffalo's Lee Evans and Detroit's Calvin Johnson). He's on pace to set personal bests for yardage (on pace for around 1,200 yards, which would be his first season ever above 1,000 yards) and touchdowns. He's got three scoring catches already, and he's never had more than six in a season prior to this year.
The guy's doing what we brought him in here to do. He's stretching the field, he's making big catches, and he's establishing himself as a threat. Yeah, he's had some drops and yeah, he basically did nothing for the first two games of the year, but he appears to be the receiver we've seen over the past five weeks rather than the guy we saw over the first two.

Kevin Williams? Still the Best Defensive Tackle In Football
Keep your Tommie "Can't Stay Healthy" Harris. Keep your Albert "Gutless Face Stomper" Haynesworth. When you make a list of the best all-around defensive tackles in the National Football League, the name Kevin Williams should be on the top of the list, because there's nobody that's better than he is.
Not only is he a part of the Vikings having the best run defense in the National Football League (sure, they're only #4 in that category right now, but we all know they'll be at #1 when the season ends), but with the added attention that Jared Allen has been getting at defensive end, #93 has re-discovered his pass rush skills as well, as he leads the Vikings with six sacks.
I don't know how much longer we'll have the "Williams Wall" in Minnesota, but with Williams and Allen signed for the long-term, we certainly know that we have two spots that are take care of for at least the next 5-6 years.

Brad Childress? Likely Gone After This Year
Yep. Can't emphasize that enough.

The Vikings' Season? Not Over Yet
Yep, they currently sit at 3-4, and have a 1-2 record in the division. Those two losses came on the road, in close games, by a touchdown or less. We get this bye week, and then what should be a winnable game against the Houston Texans at home before the rematch with the Packers. After the Vikings win that game, they'll be at 5-4, and things will be looking up.

The NFC's Super Bowl Representative? Not Coming from the NFC North.
Not from Chicago, not from Green Bay, and not from Minnesota. As of now, Chicago's the best team in this division, and they'll be a beast when they get completely healthy, but it's quite likely that whoever wins this division will be one-and-out in the post-season.

Most importantly, in the end, I'll still be a Viking fan, which makes me the greatest damn fan in the National Football League. And if anyone disagrees with that assessment. . . well, screw them. Because they're wrong, and they're probably stupid.