Viking nation is devastated.
News of third-year Viking quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s gruesome ACL injury has cast a looming cloud over the newly-built U.S. Bank Stadium. Good thing the stadium is enclosed because this cloud has all the makings of an epic storm.
Gigantic like the stadium, so too were the hopes of Vikings fans in anticipation of a purple and gold Super Bowl run. The team was coming off a winning season that landed them in the playoffs – a feat few thought possible following last season’s opening 20-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. This year all the pieces were in place. Adrian Peterson was back after leading the NFL in rushing. The defense was solid under head coach Mike Zimmerman’s defense first philosophy. And Bridgewater was seeing continued growth as the team’s signal caller.
Then, less than two weeks before the 2016 opener, down goes Bridgewater, down goes Bridgewater (In my Howard Cosell voice).
There goes the season, right?
To quote ESPN “College Gameday’s” Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.”
While Bridgewater is the face of the future for the Vikings and I (along with most of Vikings Nation) wish him a full and speedy recovery, the season isn’t lost for the rest of the team. Like I said before, future Hall of Famer, Peterson is back. That right there is enough to help win games. Coupled with a stingy defense and a weakened NFC North and the purple and gold still have a legit shot at the playoffs.
And don’t write off Shaun Hill.
Not the marquee name, Hill is certainly a serviceable QB; and in a ball-control offense, he won’t be called on to carry the team. Bridgewater wasn’t going to be called on to do that either. Hill can find the open man enough to keep the chains moving. I know, because I’ve watched him play.
As a St. Louis native and (former) Rams fan, I watched every game the team played as the St. Louis Rams. During the 2014 season Hill stepped in, splitting time with Austin Davis in for the oft-injured Sam Bradford. While not dazzling, Hill was consistent and performed well given the fact the team had a shoddy offensive line and a team that featured Kenny Britt – a guy who never had more than 775 receiving yards in a season – as its number one wideout.
Being a (former) Rams fan, I remember the start of the 1999 campaign. The city was all abuzz because hometown hero, quarterback Trent Green, was picked up in free agency and he, along with newly acquired running back Marshal Faulk, were going to lead the Rams to glory. The Rams were led to glory, but it wasn’t Green behind center.
Just as Bridgewater was injured in preseason, so too was Green, hurt when he was cheap-shotted by Rodney Harrison (who’s now throwing verbal cheap shots). And the back-up that year … Kurt Warner; an unheard of, unheralded, undrafted guy who was bagging groceries and slinging balls in the Arena League in Iowa before he somehow landed with the Rams. Warner, Faulk and the rest of the Greatest Show on Turf went on to a 14-2 regular season, stormed through the playoffs (including a rout of the Vikings) and with a goal-line tackle, walked away Super Bowl champions.
Now I’m not saying Hill will be to the Vikings what Warner was to the Rams, but they both don the lucky number 13 jersey, so there’s still hope. I’m just sayin’.
