Competition: Minnesota Vikings

Have I mentioned I'm completely geeked for the football season to start? So geeked that I'm going to drive to Oxnard this weekend to see the Dallas Cowboys practice. So geeked that I'm going to sit through the entire Hall of Fame game this Sunday, knowing full well Peyton Manning won't play a single down. So geeked that I paid $2.99 each for four NFL network game replays from iTunes. And you know what? It was totally worth it.

I watched the Redskins playoff game. I'd forgotten how much of the scoring happened at the very end. But, nothing much relevant from that game, other than wondering how Jim Zorn will fair in his first year coaching them. I also watched the Bears game. Man, it's nice watching the Bears lose. It was weird watching Cedric Benson just go off against Seattle's run defense. Dude isn't on a team now.

So, what does all of this have to do with the Vikings?

The one player that really torched the Seahawks was Bernard Berrian. His game stats weren't eye-popping (9 receptions for 102 yards), but he repeatedly made clutch plays, and had one amazing catch of a ball thrown well behind him. (Grossman threw a number of balls behind his receivers. Dude sucks). And, of course, Berrian is now on the Vikings. I didn't think that was such a big signing for them until I rewatched this game. Granted Berrian had his best game of the season against the Seahawks, but if that's his upside, it just makes the Vikings that much more scary.

It's kind of ironic that I lead into the Vikings with the Bears, because I can see a bit of the 2006 Bears in the 2008 Vikings: A two-headed monster at running back, a great offensive line, Berrian, a (maybe?) great defense... and a big-ol' question at quarterback. That's a formula that took the Bears to the Super Bowl, at which point the clock struck midnight for Grossman and he tossed the game away with two bad-decision interceptions.

(I should point out that I dislike the Vikings much the way I dislike the Bears. They jacked Hutchinson from us after the 2005 season, and then further wrecked the 2006 season when E.J. Henderson rolled-up Hasselbeck's knee. I'll forever believe was done at least wishfully, if not completely on purpose.)

Still, they got to the Super Bowl. I've got to believe that if the Vikings end the year by losing in the Super Bowl, the 2008 season has to be considered a success. The Seahawks don't play the Vikings in the regular season (though they do play them in the first preseason game), and that's perfectly fine with me. The Vikings have a chance to be scary good, and will almost certainly be in the running for the NFC North title.