Scattered thoughts heading into MNF...

Anthony Carter... Cris Carter... Jake Reed... Randy Moss......... Bernard Berrian? Maybe Sidney Rice? I miss the good old days. You never realize how spoiled you are until the time has passed. Then again, I could make a list of all the recent RBs including Michael Bennett, Onterrio Smith, Leroy Hoard, and many others and there's nothing on there that compares to Adrian Peterson. So I guess that's fair.

I have to admit, when I watch Adrian run the ball, all I can really do is just giggle delightfully. It's just such a beautiful thing. The way he cuts on a... well I can't even say a dime, because he doesn't even stop moving. The speed, the agility, the tackle breaking. I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed seeing the football in a running back's hands this much since Barry Sanders. Sure there are other great backs, and I'm not saying Peterson is the #1 guy right now, but none of them are quite the same to watch. The thought of watching him on MNF, national television, to start the season off... I'm just giddy.

And by giddy I think I mean nervous. Maybe it's just the Vikings fan in me, but I can't shake the feeling that Adrian simply isn't going to make it through this season healthy. It makes me sick that he's been my biggest bust in just about everything I've written, but I'd gladly be wrong and let my opponents just run up the points on me all season. I'll believe that when I see it. Something just doesn't feel right with this year's Vikings squad. In a year that seems so optimistic, with such a potentially good defense... I'm just not feeling it. This feels like another one of our teams that disappoints early and then makes a late season run to screw us out of a top draft pick, but not quite enough to make the playoffs as the "team no one wants to face."

Sometimes it makes you long for the days of Denny Green, 9 wins, and a first round playoff exit. But only sometimes...