Questions as Viking season begins

Note: Congrats to my younger brother Mike. Last week, his East Range boys soccer team stunned Grand Rapids, 2-1. Not only had the Golden Bears never defeated the Thunderhawks in their history, but also their foes were 4-0 prior to the loss, having given up only one goal in those four games. It’s Mike’s first year at the helm of East Range, and his Golden Bears could legitimately contend for a section crown. He topped that off by taking a whirlwind flight to Texas over the weekend, where he proposed to his girlfriend Lizz on the beach at South Padre Island. I’d normally make some snide remark here about him taking the plunge, but I like Lizz too much to do that. Congrats again Mike on quite the week less than a decade after he faced an ominous cancer diagnosis.

As I write this, it is less than 18 hours until the NFL kicks off its 2010 campaign as the Minnesota Vikings visit the site of their heartbreaking demise in last year’s NFC Championship Game, the New Orleans Superdome, to face the Saints. Questions abound as the season starts for the Vikings. We’ll tackle four of them here.

1. Can Brett Favre survive his 20th NFL season?

The better question might be can he survive another trip to the Superdome. He was pummeled, legally and illegally, in last year’s game, and you can bet they’ll have their ears pinned back again, especially as the soon-to-be 41-year-old grandfather is still hobbled by his surgically-repaired ankle. One thing about Favre is the game of football has never seen a more durable quarterback, scratch that, player, than Favre. If makes it to the penultimate game of the regular season, he will have started 300 consecutive games, a record that may even overshadow Cal Ripken Jr.’s iron man streak. He’s three TD’s away from 500 career TD passes and less than 700 yards away from 70,000 career yards, simply jaw-dropping numbers. He probably should have been the MVP last season, no offense to Peyton Manning. Yet if he is to survive his 20th season intact, it might be one of his greatest accomplishments. 2. How badly will the Vikings miss Sidney Rice?

The wide receiver was a revelation last season, but unfortunately, he was one of several in purple hurt in the title game and after his recent hip surgery, he’ll miss half the season. And with a brutal stretch in the first half, that’s going to hurt. But if Rice can come back healthy and recapture some of the magic he had with Favre a year ago, the Vikings should be able to make a stretch run and recapture the division or at least a wild card berth. Vikings fans have their fingers crossed that Percy Harvin’s migraines stay away in the meantime.

3. How good can the Vikings defense be?

A lot depends on its health. Middle linebacker E.J. Henderson is coming back from a gruesome broken leg, but could be the Comeback Player of the Year if he keeps up his level of player from the preseason. Cornerback Cedric Griffin is also coming back from major injury and should be back in the lineup soon as will rookie cornerback Chris Cook, who could be one of the steals of the draft after a minor knee injury. The Vikings need those three healthy as the back seven has the team’s question marks, especially the pass defense. Their front four is as good as any in football, and with some health in the secondary, this could be one of the better defenses in football, again.

4. Have the Packers surpassed the Vikings?

Green Bay is the media darling of choice this offseason. Recently, all seven NFL.com “experts” picked the Packers to reach the Super Bowl. Peter King also did, and that’s always this kiss of death. (Last year, he picked the Bears.) Sure, Aaron Rodgers could put up some huge numbers. But with an offensive line that was awful last year and is not that improved this season, Rodgers could be as likely as Favre to get hurt. And I still don’t trust the Packers defense. I still think the Packers make the playoffs, but even with the Vikings injury woes, I’ve got Minnesota coming out on top of the division. And that brings us to the playoff picks.

Quick rundown from last week: AFC byes - Baltimore, New England. Other division winners - Tennessee, San Diego. Wild cards - Houston, Miami. NFC byes - Philadelphia, Minnesota. Other division winners - Atlanta, San Francisco. Wild cards - New Orleans, Green Bay.

That leaves teams like Dallas, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh out in the cold. And I’m sure I’m completely wrong, but I like Baltimore and Tennessee to advance for an old-school AFC title tilt, and Minnesota and New Orleans to have a rematch, this time in the Metrodome for the NFC crown. The Titans and the Vikings take it to Dallas for the Super Bowl, where there’s more heartbreak for Minnesota once again: Titans 27, Vikings 23. I realize this is the second straight year I’ve picked the Vikes to go to the Super Bowl, kind of insane considering they’ve been there once in my lifetime, when I was a couple months old. But the eternal optimist and forever fatalist are both still alive and well.

And we’ll sum up this idiocy with a few awards picks.

NFL MVP: Tom Brady. The Patriots star is completely back and healthy

and had a monster

season last year even

though he faced

the toughest pass defense any QB has

faced since 1993

and was coming off

major knee surgery.

Offensive Player

of the Year: Adrian Peterson. The Vikings running back bounces back in a big way from his fumble-itis and has a monster season as Minnesota rides him hard the first half in the absence of Rice.

Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Willis. The 49ers linebacker is a gamechanging tackling machine and will lead San Fran back to the postseason.

Rookie of the Year: C.J. Spiller. The Buffalo track star is a multifaceted threat, a la Percy Harvin, but he needs to stay healthy.

Coach of the Year: Jeff Fisher. The longest-tenured and a consistently good coach year after year gets his due.

That’s all I’ve got. Bring on the Saints.

Brian Miller is a longtime local sports writer and the co-founder of iSportsNorth. He currently resides in Eveleth and can be reached at miller24bri@gmail.com.