MinnesotaSportsScene.com

After several seasons of being one of the worst road teams in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings today whupped the Arizona Cardinals but good, right there in Sun Devil Stadium. That makes four important road wins this season for the Vikings, which is probably more than they have accumulated in the last two seasons combined under Brad Childress.

They should almost set up a toll free number for shell-shocked Cardinals fans - and perhaps even some disheartened Vikings fans who found out the team isn’t going in the tank just yet - after the dominating 35-14 win that had Minnesota up 28-0 at halftime.

The victory places Minnesota one victory - or one Chicago Bears loss - away from their first division title since, what, 2000? That’s a reason for optimism, because our next two games are at home, and Atlanta could be another Arizona, while the Giants may have everything wrapped up and be resting their starters on Week 17.

The win was even more significant because it came with Tavaris Jackson looking competent at QB, with Adrian Peterson topping Robert Smith’s franchise-leading single-season rushing record en route to a monster day running the ball, and with one-half of the Williams Wall going down with an injury on defense.

Well, the Minnesota Vikings finally came up with their first win of the season, but it took until game three, and a QB change, to secure it. The win game against the acne treatments-needing, so-called “Cardiac Cats,” the Carolina Panthers, who the Vikes have done very well against over the years since Carolina entered the league.

The 20-10 victory may not seem like a lot to write home about, but at least it wasn’t a loss. MinnesotaSportsScene.com was among the first to question whether T-Jack had the drive to be a starting QB, and the answer, finally, seems to be, “Nope.” We don’t revel in being right, this time.

Still, when a 37-year-old journeyman signal caller like Gus Frerotte can outperform you, something’s wrong. And that’s what happened Sunday as Frerotte led Minnesota to a long-awaited first win of the season.

Star RB Adrian Peterson carried only 17 times for 77 yards, but it was enough to help the passing game while Peterson doesn’t overwork his ailing hammy. The important thing, again, is it was a win.

Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson suffered a sprained right knee against the Baltimore Ravens in pre-season action on Saturday. The injury is to the medial collateral ligament and is expected to keep the signal-called out of action for the remainder of the pre-season.

The Vikings are eying a return in time for the regular season debut against Green Bay on September 8. That takes golf balls! While the wound is not expected to be serious, you can bet opposing defenses will be looking to test Jackson’s knee throughout the season.

With no Vikings currently residing in drug treatment centers, it appears Zygi Wilf’s efforts to clean up the team’s image has been bearing fruit. Now that character is being managed, it’s time to consider the question of talent.

One potential weakness is at quarterback. Despite a decent record as a starter, QB Tavaris Jackson is still a question mark as a starter for the Vikings, carrying around an abyssmal passer rating, even though he improved during the team’s five-game winning stretch. The question is, can he improve enough to give an Adrian Peterson-fueled team the firepower it needs to win in the five-to-seven year window that Peterson’s career is likely to provide when it comes to going deep in the playoffs and make a Super Bowl.

Probably the most established name still out there is QB Byron Leftwich, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, most recently of the Atlanta Falcons. Leftwich has shortcomings but is considerably more experienced and could be a proficient enough caretaker to make plays and keep the team from losing off his own mistakes; but Leftwich wants to be an immediate starter, not a number two, and is certain to demand a meaty contract that would be substantial enough to force the team to give up on T-Jack altogether.

Probably not a direction the Vikings are ready to go just yet; look for them to draft a project QB in the middle rounds, perhaps late on Day One.

Coach Brad Childress saw his Minnesota Vikings drop the final two games of the season, robbing his team of a playoff turnaround to their season. After starting the season 2-5, the Vikings turned their season around more efficiently than a New York moving company, beginning with a big win against the New York Giants. After a loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings when on a six-game winning streak to reach 8-6 and be within two wins of the playoffs.

But the Vikings choked against Joe Gibbs’ Washington Redskins, putting them behind the eight-ball, as they not only need to win their final game against Denver, but hope that a Dallas team resting their starters for the playoffs could still beat the Redskins. Neither happened.

Despite an emotional, two-touchdown, two two-point conversion comeback against Denver to tie it up and force overtime, T-Jack fumbled the game away almost immediately, robbing the Vikes of even an emotional, moral victory of going out on a win.

And even with all this, Coach Brad Childress will be invited back for the third year of his five-year contract; his only hope is to immediately improve the quality of the team’s receiving corps; even Tom Brady would look average throwing to these stooges and greenhorns. Of the lot of them, only Bobby Wade and Sidney Rice have proved they deserve to be back next season.

Bill Clinton won the presidency with a four word motto that helped him stay on message: It’s the economy, stupid.

Perhaps when addressing the problems that remain with the Vikings this off-season, Coach Brad Childress would do well to adopt a similar catch-phrase: It’s the receivers, stupid! When going out on the free agent market for body shop supplies, that’s what we need to stock up on most on offense, not a new quarterback.

That will change once the Vikings rid themselves of receiving cancer, former first-round draft pick WR Troy Williamson and sign a key receiver or two who can actually catch the ball. The problem is not so much in inexperienced QB Tavaris Jackson as it is a dearth of talent in the receiving corps.

Sidney Rice looks like a keeper, and Bobby Wade’s not bad; we just need one or two more decent receivers to back them up, since Robert Ferguson is not a long-term fix. Wade finished the season with 54 receptions, Ferguson and Rice with 32 and 21 respectively. Williamson had only 18. Time for him to go, especially after two yet drops that could have been difference-makers against Denver.

Not even heroic QB Tom Brady would be able to win with this year’s group of sad-sack receivers.

Orlando vacations might be the order of the day for quarterbacks playing for teams named after Minnesota. During Saturday’s Minnesota Gophers game, freshman QB Adam Weber may have passed for over 330 yards and four scores, but it is the four times he was intercepted that determined the Gophers’ fate.

For the Vikings, QB Tavaris (T-Jack) Jackson wasn’t about to be outdone by a college QB. In the Vikings’ game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, T-Jack matched Weber … by also throwing four INTs. Against the Lions. And unfortunately, the second-year leader, starting full-time for the first time in his pro career, didn’t make up for it by tossing four TDs and passing for over 330 yards, either. Instead, he fell short of passing for 170 yards by just four yards. The final line on T-Jack? 17-33-4-166 with no scores.

And to make matters worse, T-Jack was injured in the game and may miss time due to a leg injury, leaving the Vikings gasping for breath with only Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb to turn to. Who’s thinking now that trying to slip rookie QB Tyler Thigpen past waivers and onto the practice squad was such a hot idea, eh? Thigpen, who could have at least added depth to the position, is now a Kansas City Chief.

While his humble demeanor is a welcome respite, I’m sure, for the Minnesota Vikings, one has to wonder if QB Tavaris Jackson really wants to be the starter next season.

After spending a second-round draft pick on Jackson, he’s been Minnesota’s most exciting QB prospect, and yet he seems almost hesitant to want to take on the role of starter.

That was understandable in his rookie season, when aging QB Brad Johnson was the undisputed starter and Jackson was one of the “QBs of the future” for the team. And yet, this off-season, with Johnson almost certainly not returning to the team - and not the projected starter, even if he does - he’s still sounding hesitant.

“I’m confident,” Jackson told columnist Charley Walters. “I saw a lot, and I learned a lot last year. If it’s Brooks and me, I feel either of us can do the job.“

There are team players, but this might be getting a bit ridiculous. Where’s the swagger of a starter, T-Jack? Where’s the part of you that believes you can lead this team? I hope you find it soon, or instead of a professional QB, you might find yourself in a job making professional business cards.