The time has come for the Minnesota Vikings to drink a nice tall glass of reality.

The idea of putting Tarvaris Jackson on the field and thinking that if you surround him with enough talent, people won’t notice that he isn’t prepared and/or capable of playing quarterback in the NFL isn’t working.
Not only have the fans and media noticed, so have opposing defenses. Before Minnesota’s playoff loss to Philadelphia, Eagles players told Fox Sports that it wasn’t Minnesota’s all-everything running back Adrian Peterson they were focusing their attention on, it was Jackson.

I doubt very much that the thinking behind this strategy was, “If we don’t get after Jackson he’ll carve up our defense.” I’m guessing it was more like, “Let’s attack this ridiculously weak link and start making travel plans for New York.” Which is precisely what happened.

The reality of the Vikings’ situation is they have enough playmakers on offense and defense to make a title run. But that isn’t true if they have to overcome Jackson’s play at quarterback.

Jackson’s role with this team is the same role that an anchor plays in its relationship with a boat.

Unfortunately for the Vikings and their beleaguered head coach Brad Childress, there aren’t a ton of viable quarterback options available in free agency to help this team win immediately.

Kurt Warner, Jeff Garcia Kerry Collins are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. While it’s pretty safe to assume the Cardinals are going to make a strong move to keep the Pro Bowler Warner in Arizona, Garcia and Collins will probably need to pick up some change of address cards.

And last but not least, let’s not forget about the giant elephant sitting in the corner of the room named Brett Favre.

I know the last thing football fans in our area want to think about is another Brett Favre saga, but if the Jets and their new coach decide the team would be better off releasing Favre and his $13 million salary (a good possibility), the ol’ gunslinger could be looking for work.

Favre also made it clear this past summer that if the Packers didn’t want to let him play in Green Bay he wanted a chance to play against them.

I would be willing to bet that is an opportunity the Vikings would be happy to provide.

Assuming Favre’s injured biceps tendon is healed, all he would have to do to make this happen is pick up the phone.

If memory serves me correctly, I think he has the number.

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