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…the Vikings STILL wouldn’t be the big winner chicken dinner in Miami this weekend.  I have to fess up: I’m a Viking fan and a homer for life, but I’m not (totally) delusional.  There’s still almost no way the Vikings would have won the Super Bowl this weekend against the Colts.

They’re like a 13 year-old boy getting to touch a boob for the first time.  They get the ball, get all excited and blow their load by fumbling or making other stupid mistakes.  Say Favre hadn’t thrown that interception and Rice scored, eking out a win; and in a perfect world Favre’s nasty injury healed overnight.  They simply choked and blew it, and maybe got a little unlucky.  As a whole, there were 6 fumbles (3 were lost),2 interceptions, for a total of 5 turnovers.  Minus those mistakes that game should’ve been in the bag.  Then you look at Indy vs. the Jets–2 fumbles (1 lost), NO interceptions, with only 1 turnover.

If you were to look at regular season quarterback comparisons, Favre and Manning are actually pretty close with regard to total value and value per play (and Favre really did have a fantastic year).  Closer yet are the overall team defenses, with Minnesota ranked 15 and Indy ranked 16.  So where does the major difference lie? For the regular season, the Colts weighted offense is ranked 9th to the Vikings in 8th.  But the phantom factor here is the Vikings’ choke rating which is off the charts.  Through all of the turnovers (there were 19), Peterson’s 8 fumbles making up for 42% of the fumbles for the season, and even more embarrassing mismanagement issues (seriously, when will Childress learn how to properly use his challenges?), the Vikings managed to ultimately piss away their season.  When you look at games like they played against B’more, they got the W, but not because they had stellar performance–B’more just blew it.

If the Vikings were given possibly one more season to gel with Favre, it is my opinion they could very well make it to the Super Bowl and win it all with their current roster next season.  However, the chances of Favre returning for the next season look pretty grim (have you seen that guy’s ankle?).  Maybe if the fans keep up all the facebook pages and billboards, he’ll waffle a few 85 more times and cave, but that we won’t see until training camp is over.  Until then, they’ll be on their couches cramming their faces with nachos and watching the Puppy Bowl like the rest of us.

Special thanks to Chauncey for helping me pull stats while I pretend to work.  Image via.