Minnesota Vikings are a lost cause

Only the Chicago Cubs can come close to the agony that the Minnesota Vikings put their fans through.

I doubt if we'll ever know the truth behind the recent signing of quarterback Josh Freeman.

Was it ordered by owner Zygi Wilf, because Wilf was disgusted with the team's quarterback play, namely Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel? Did Wilf instruct head coach Leslie Frazier to start Freeman, even though he wasn't ready to play even at the minimum level required for a professional quarterback?

Did Frazier want Freeman on the team because he's a black quarterback? Did Frazier start Freeman because he's a black quarterback?

Did general manager Rick Spielman and the scouting staff push to sign Freeman because of his impressive physical tools?  Scouts tend to get excited about athletic players - even if they have lousy on-field statistics.  He's got a cannon for an arm - so what if he only completed 40% of his passes in a season.

Freeman overthrew his receivers so many time in Monday Night's loss to the Giants he must have thought they were all eight feet tall.

At the start of the season I was optimistic and thought the Vikings would go 11-5 and reach the playoffs, although probably not get past the first round. Now I'm not so optimistic. I'm afraid Viking fans might be looking at another 3-13 season.

Minnesota has talented players who are not playing up to their potential (see cornerbacks Josh Robinson and Chris Cook), were over-rated by the coaches and scouts (see quarterback Christian Ponder and guard Brandon Fusco), or just aren't that good in the first place (see offensive tackle Phil Loadholt and guard Charlie Johnson).

It's time for the  coaches to scrap the Tampa-2 defense, which clearly isn't working anymore, either due to the scheme itself or because the team doesn't have the right players to operate it effectively.

The offense has no creativity at all. The play calling was conservative and boring even before Freeman's start on Monday.

Maybe this team needs new ownership (again) to go along with a new GM, scouts and coaches. For now Viking fans can only dream about the day when their team will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.