Bradford May Save the Vikings (Nick Bowles Sleeperbot @twiidget)

It may not be as bad as you think. I can only imagine how it was for every purple people eater fan out there when they heard about the transaction for Bradford. I on the other hand let out a high-pitched laugh when I heard about the trade. But what else would a Green Bay Packers fan do? At that point in your cheesehead career you all but know for a fact that you have the NFC North title in your hands.

But paranoia creeps up on you at the later stages of preseason and the questions begin to culminate in your head. I wonder who they’re starting. They’ve thought about Shaun Hill over Bradford. Is he just a placeholder so Bradford gets more familiar with the playbook? Seems like that may be the case after Week 1.

The offensive struggle for the Vikings was all too real during Week 1. They faced a Mike Mularkey Titans team that seems to have talent all around them, but can’t get the train on the tracks. That being said, the only reason the Vikings are staring at a zero in the loss column is that outstanding defense. Two sacks, two fumble recoveries, an interception, and two touchdowns. Reproducing those numbers week to week would be an impressive feat, but the chances of that happening are microscopic.

The formula for their offensive success lies in Sam Bradford.

The former Philly QB isn’t that awful. There… I said it. Here’s a fun fact. Last year in the 4 games that Bradford completed more than 30 passes, he averaged greater than a 70% completion rate. Yes, you read that right. Seventy percent. He missed two games and still only came up just shy of 4,000 yards on the season. That’s a career high for him. The troublesome thing about Sam is his touchdown to interception ratio. No, it’s not gruesome, but last year, he generated 19 touchdowns and 14 picks.

This year is a whole new story though. And that’s because of the X factor. Adrian Peterson. Not only is it because he’s the best running back in the league, but these two have prior experience working together. They were Thing 1 and Thing 2 at Oklahoma for a time. Hopefully Bradford’s start in Week 2 gets Peterson motivated to kick it into that extra gear against the Packers (did that really just come out of my mouth?). I have Pete in one of my leagues so I’m allowed to root for him I suppose.

I would look out for the Vikings. They’re not down and out quite yet. With the likes of an emerging Stefon Diggs and safety blanket Kyle Rudolph, Bradford has his fair share of targets to throw to. Keep an eye out for the offenses first touchdown of the season this week against Green Bay. I believe the game could very easily turn into a shootout with Aaron Rodgers at the other helm. Much like that Thursday Night Football game between the Bills and the Jets. Who could have predicted such a high scoring affair?