Minnesota Vikings' mid-season report card

November 7, 7:15 PMMinnesota Vikings ExaminerJoseph Oberle

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Adrian Peterson shows the Green Bay crowd who has been instrumental in the Viking's great start.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

The bye week comes at a good time for the Minnesota Vikings--the halfway point of the season. At 7-1 with a three game lead on the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears in the NFC North Division, the Vikings can take a week to rest their muscles, heal their wounds and take a look at how they got to this point. There are some who contend they haven't played their best game (hopefully that will happen in the final game of the NFL season), so we will grade them out here to gauge how they may be able to reach that pinnacle.

Knowing that the team is off to one of their best seasons on record, expectations are high for the Purple-Helmeted Warriors; when they return from the bye week, they have three straight home games. The Vikings deserve a week off, but need to come back focused for the stretch run to achieve their ultimate goals. With one of the biggest distractions (two games with the Packers) in the history of the game behind them, it is time get ready for the two most important and toughest months in the NFL. Here is how we grade the team, position by position, and areas they need to work on in the second half.

Offensive Line--The Vikes added two new starters to the offensive line this season--one of them a rookie. But with two pro bowlers on the left side, that should not have posed a major problem. In the pass protection department, they started out slow protecting their 40-year-old signal caller, but have picked up their game in the second quarter of the season, reducing the number of sacks and hits on Brett Favre. But the run blocking seems to have suffered a bit. Adrian Peterson, the league-leading rusher from a year ago, has not found the same freedom he found last season. While still ranked near the top of NFL rushers, AP has seen a lot of 3-4 defenses and teams have been successful slowing him at the line and preventing him from getting out into space where he excels. The line will see less 3-4 defenses in the second half and hopefully they will be able to step up their run blocking against them. A more powerful rushing attack will be important to taking pressure off Favre and winning games as the team moves toward the playoffs. Grade: B

Defensive line--One of the strong suits of the Vikings squad this season, the defensive line has more than once helped dictate the outcome of games. Particularly against the Packers, the d-line harassed, hurried, hit and buried Aaron Rodgers and contributed greatly to the two victories. While end Jared Allen leads the way with 10.5 sacks, the entire line has contributed from Ray Edwards to backup Jimmy Kennedy--even rushing specialist Pat Williams has a sack to his credit. They do have to find a way to get to a quarterback who is not dressed in green and gold, however--especially Allen, as 7.5 of his sacks have come against Green Bay. Returning to their elite run defense of the past three seasons (in which they lead the league) will help as teams that run the ball well tend to succeed down the stretch in the NFL. Grade: B+

Wide Receiver/tight ends--Despite the team's leading receiver of a year ago, Bernard Berrian, being slowed by hamstring injuries the entire first half, the receiving corps has greatly improved this season. From the beginning of the season, Sidney Rice has stepped into the Berrian breach to become one of Favre's favorite targets. He has caught nearly everything thrown at him and really elevated his game. Rookie Percy Harvin has begun to grow into his position and has shown a willingness to catch the ball over the middle in traffic and a toughness when it comes to being tackled. The sky is the limit for this exciting young player who has the inside track for offensive rookie of the year. Visanthe Shiancoe may not be on pace to catch the same number of passes as last season (since Favre constantly gets the entire staff into the action, spreading the ball around), but he is on pace to surpass his scoring total of last season (he is second on the team with 6 TDs). Shiancoe makes the tough catches over the middle and should continue to do well as No. 4 has made a career out of making tight ends. And no analysis of the Vikings receiving corps can be complete without mention of Greg Lewis' game winning TD catch against San Francisco. While he is down in the depth chart, look for more clutch catches from him in the second half. The same for Berrian--he is starting to get into game shape and his chemistry with Favre is on the rise. The bye comes at a good time for him to rest his hammy. Grade: B+

Linebackers--This group is a bit of quandary. It seems like every week, one of them is a leading tackler on the team and then might disappear the following week. While that may have more to do with the opponents' offensive scheme, more consistent play out of them will be paramount in the second half. E.J. Henderson has been mostly solid, but we haven't seen him throwing his body around like he did before his injury last season--perhaps he's a little older and lot wiser. Chad Greenway and Ben Leber have made big plays at times and other times are hard to find on the field. While this crew is integral to the team's success, they are also contributors to some of the poor tackling we have seen late in games. They need to tighten things up in the second half of the season. Grade: C

Running backs: It's hard to criticize AP when he is tied for second in rushing and only 40 yards away from the lead, but most people, including Peterson himself, expected bigger things for him this year. He has faced several 3-4 defensives thus far and they have all been keying on him--in essence challenging the Vikings offensive to beat them through the air (which they have). But being the focal point of opponents' defense schemes was often the case last season, and he lead the league. Perhaps what is different is less rushing attempts by AP (expect to see that change as the Vikings will face predominantly 4-3 defenses in the second half). Regardless, All Day has stepped up his pass-catching out of the backfield and been effective in some pass-blocking situations--things that will only help him in the long haul to stay on the field more. That said, Chester Taylor has seen the field a little less this season. He has caught a lot of passes from Favre out of the backfield (fourth on the team with 24), but really hasn't gotten untracked running the ball. Taylor is a seasoned vet, however, and his experience will pay dividends as the games only get bigger down the stretch. Grade: B+

Defensive secondary--It has been feast or famine with the Vikings defensive secondary this season. They either shut down the league leading receiver (Hines Ward) one week or look helpless trying to make tackles another week. Certainly, the biggest story in the secondary is the loss of Antoine Winfield to injury for nearly three games, both in pass defense and run support. His loss demonstrated that there is a lack of depth in the secondary, yet the squad has rallied and players such as Asher Allen and Karl Paymah are gaining some valuable reps. But the play of this unit has got to improve as the season progresses--teams already focus on them because of the Vikings tough run defense and it is only going to get worse. Look for things to get better when Winfield returns, perhaps against the Seattle Seahawks or Chicago Bears. Grade: C-

Special Teams--Special teams coverage started out looking like they picked up where they left off last season by giving up a punt and kickoff return for a touchdown (they tied an NFL record last season by giving up 7). But with the return of special team standout Heath Farwell from injury and adding free agent Karl Paymah, the unit has turned things around considerably. On the return side, you need to look no further than Percy Harvin who has a 30.7-yard average in kickoff returns and two touchdowns. He has energized the entire unit and along with the coverage team have turned special teams into an asset rather than a "kick and hope" prospect. Before Darius Reynaud went down with a hamstring injury, he flirted with several big plays (17.3 yard average on seven attempts). Jaymar Johnson has been decent a replacement, but hopefully Reynaud returns in the second half and gives the Vikings another weapon. Grade: B+

Quarterback--There isn't much more to say about Favre's first half performance this season than hasn't already been said. Ranked third in quarterback rating, tied for first in TD passes and tied for third in the most important stat: 7-1 as a starter, Favre is being talked about as a leading MVP candidate. From merely a leadership standpoint, it is hard to argue with that speculation. Of course, anyone who has doubted his ability this season always has done so in the future tense--always wondering if he will hold up physically. Skeptics might also ask whether or not he stays in it mentally with the two "revenge games" against the Packers behind him. This analysis, however, is based on first half performance, and time will tell how his season plays out. But given what we've seen thus far from Favre, expect the Silver Fox to be out all winter battling to take his team deep into the playoffs. Grade: A

Coaching--Brad Childress and his crew get high marks for putting together a roster that is off to their best start in, certainly, his tenure and in a very long time. He kept his new quarterback on a tight leash early while he got up-to-speed with the offense and familiar with his teammates. And he has let him loose in the second quarter of the season, but needs to keep him on a "pitch count." There will always be the second-guessing of timeouts, challenges, clock management and even play-calling--all hallmarks of Chilly's tenure in Minnesota, but a coach is ultimately judged on wins and losses, and the Vikings have the third-best record in the league. The talk of a contract extension for Childress, which should wait until season's end and the record plays out, is still warranted, thus far. Grade: A-