From Keith Millard in the drive-through lane at Hardee's to the Love Boat, there is just no team like the Minnesota Vikings. Under owner Zygi Wilf and head-coach Brad Childress, the Vikings sold us a bill of goods when Wilf issued a 76-page Code of Conduct for all purple personnel to follow after the sex-boat debacle. Childress was hired because Wilf believed that both men saw eye-to-eye on discipline.

Childress has said that:

“One of the reasons that I’m here in this job and one of the mandates from the Wilf family is that they want this ship run right,” Vikings Coach Brad Childress said Wednesday at training camp. “I’m trying to create a culture of accountability."

The Vikings got off to a slow, scandal ridden, and sexually bizarre start in 2005. When a football team's weird sex-capades are public knowledge, there are bound to be a few distractions on the football team. But the Vikings were saved from the ashes and returned to respectability by the veteran leadership of QB Brad Johnson. Though Johnson may not have had a big contract or the strongest arm in the league, there is no offensive scheme that he can't operate. I bring up Big Bad Brad here simply because he is the Vikings best friend this coming Sunday. The Purple People Eaters need the Johnson led Cowboys to somehow care enough to beat the Washington Redskins Sunday in order to be eligible for a playoff game. More on Brad later.

In the case of Dwight Smith getting busted for supposedly (I'm waiting on the facts ya know) smoking the wacky weed, Childress set a precedence by not fining or suspending Smith under the so called Code Of Conduct. His reasoning was that "not all the facts were yet in" which under my Bull Shit Translation dictionary means, "had this been Week 1 and not a game with playoff implications you would be standing in the soup line now."

Now enter Mr. Darrion Scott. There is a great summary of this latest Code of Conduct casualty over at the Daily Norseman in case you missed it. Who can blame Scott for rolling the doobie? Scott says to himself, "who cares if I get caught with pot, Dwight Smith did and he didn't face any reprimand." So now, the organization has set itself up for trouble due to the lack of action with Smith. The 76-page Code of Conduct can be used for rolling paper for all that it is worth.

So, I've started a tongue-in-cheek Culture of Accountability Wall of Fame on the upper right navigation pane. Let me know if I'm missing any!

Big Bad Brad

One of Johnson's favorite targets with the Vikings was the large and in charge tight end, Jermaine Wiggins. Wiggins had 69 catches in '05 and was always tough in the red zone (unlike He Whose Name We Will Not Mention Let Alone Attempt to Spell). Brad Johnson is the Pope-of-the-check-down pass; he knows how to get the ball to his beefy tight ends. Here is hoping Jason Witten isn't sitting on the pine Sunday. If Witten does play, I think we could see the Cowboys make a game of it.

As good as Brad Johnson is, every 40-year old QB is going to have some major limitations. With T.O. out, I'm not sure who will be the Cowboys go-to receiver (Patrick Crayton?) and it seems likely the Cowboys will have to settle for a dink-and-dunk attack under Johnson. Johnson is not much of a scrambler, but the most dangerous aspect of an aging QB with an average arm is the inability to make all of the throws on a football field. Not being able to make all of the throws can shrink the field and allow a defense to cheat on certain pass routes, and that is a dangerous thing against a defense as good as the Redskins. (If any Packers fans are reading this -- think of Brett Favre's future).

So what will happen Sunday? I think the Cowboys will win with their reserves. Johnson hates 'Skins owner Dan Snyder, the two teams hate each other, and the 'Skins are due for a let down after their big away victory this past Sunday.

Prediction: Dallas 24 Washington 17

Posted by maasx003 at December 27, 2007 08:02 PM