Jeff: The Monday Musings

- Well I guess Steve Smith is human after all. The Hawks defended him well, and because Carolina had no other weapons, and absolutely zero ground game, Seattle could cover Smith with 3 guys and send the other 8 after Jake Delhomme. Smith is still the best receiver this year, but really, who'd we think he was? Chuck Norris (www.chucknorrisfacts.com)?

- I know having 2 weeks off before the Super Bowl gives both teams time to rest and heal, but I still hate it for all the over-hype. The playoffs are supposed to be grueling, and injuries are apart of the game. Play the next week like you're supposed to.

- People will make a big deal about a #1 seed Seattle being underdogs in Vegas to the #6 seed Pittsburgh (early line is the Steelers -4.5). Don't be one of them. Two reasons why:
* Vegas puts out lines to make money. They don't make money if everyone bets on one team. Because Pittsburgh has one of the largest nationwide followings in the league (along with the Cowboys and Raiders), the Steelers could be sending their practice squad team to Detroit (who could probably beat the Lions- ZING! Oh the Burn! A deep burn! It's so deep!), and you'd still get a ton of people betting on them. The Seahawks, on the other hand, have a minimal following outside the Pacific Northwest, so Vegas needs to encourage more people to rally around the Hawks.
* This Pittsburgh team is also not a normal #6 seed, and you'll hear a lot about this too. Before QB Ben Roethlisberger got hurt midway through the year, this was one of the three best teams in football. If he hadn't gotten hurt, they could have very well overtaken Denver for the AFC's #2 seed. So if you're a Steelers fan, not that we'd ever encourage betting, but um, put your popsicle sticks down now, because the line is only going up. If you're a Hawks fan, or think they can win, be patient.

Two Vikings-related thoughts:
1) When talking about the Daunte Contract-gate from last week, let's pull out the ol' cliche "where there's smoke, there's fire." Maybe Daunte didn't really want his agent to ask for more money, but I don't this his agent came up with the idea on his own either. This smells to me like a ploy for Daunte to force his way out of Minnesota. I say that because if Daunte was truly happy here, you wouldn't hear anything from him, and he'd be more willing to meet with the new staff than he has been. The Vikings have another former all-pro that was hurt all year, and yet we haven't heard anything negative about the team or his contract from him or his agent. That guy is Matt Birk. Also keep in mind that as fragile as Daunte's confidence and ego seem to be, I'd still rather take my chances with getting him healthy and seeing what he does in a new system before I kick him to the curb. Good quarterbacks aren't exactly growing on trees lately.
2) I'm loving all the young new coordinators the Vikings are hiring. From everything I've read, these guys were primed for better jobs in the next year or two. Better to get them now and let them learn together, than to miss out on them down the road. I do like this whole "we have an owner who actually wants to win and spend money" thing.

And finally two Packer-related comments:
1) I will never understand this argument, which I've heard from more than a few former Vikings fans that have become Packer fans: they stopped cheering for Minnesota because they think Vikings fans are too fair-weather, and that Packer fans are more loyal. Um, maybe it's just me, but by you jumping ship to the Vikings' biggest rival for that reason, doesn't that make YOU even worse than fair weather?
2) I don't like to brag, but Zygy Wilf asked me to establish the official position for Vikings fans on the topic of Brett Favre's retirement, and here it is:
We want Brett to keep playing. For as long as he possibly can. We've known for awhile that his dilusional Packer faithful still think he's the QB he was 10 years ago, but after watching him this past season, it's obvious HE still thinks he's the QB he was 10 years ago. If he keeps playing it means more 28 INT seasons for him, and therefore more losses for the Pack. Not only that, but there will be no progress for Aaron Rodgers, or for anybody else, and Favre takes up a ton of cap room, not allowing them to build a better defense or address other needs. So please, Brett, on behalf of the state of Minnesota, keep playing.