If you keep up with sports media, and by "keep up" I mean read anything, you have heard the claims over the last two days that the Vikings would have won their playoff game against Philadelphia with anyone behind center not named Tarvaris Jackson.
Jackson went 15-35 for only 164 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, which was so badly thrown it almost looked like he thought Asante Samuel was a wide receiver. The Eagles won and the Vikings are headed to a long off-season and it appears nobody in Minnesota can smile.
Now even backup quarterback Gus Frerotte, who played in 11 games this season and would have continued to start had he not hurt his back against the Lions in Week 14, is complaining about what happened, saying he may have been the answer.
"I just don't know what to think right now," Frerotte told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports. "It was a very frustrating experience, because I felt like I should've been the one playing. That might sound selfish, but I think I would've given us the best chance to win. I'm going home to St. Louis [on Monday] to be with my family and figure out where things stand, but the way things played out at the end really makes me question things."
Even though Gus didn't exactly tear it up this season (12 touchdowns to 15 interceptions, 54.7 completion percentage), it makes little sense to leave an inexperienced player out in the trenches with no gun and no real grasp of what is happening.
Even though head coach Brad Childress supposedly went with Tarvaris because of a "gut feeling" (nice coaching strategy), at what point does that "gut feeling" change to "man, this guy couldn't complete a word jumble."
It's easy to see that the Vikings don't have a quarterback that could help this team improve their Achilles next season. Jackson isn't doing it, Frerotte isn't doing it and John David Booty probably won't be the answer. If this team is going to improve, finding a capable (not even good, just capable) quarterback in the off-season is imperative.
If not, come playoff time next year, teams will know exactly how to beat the Vikings.
h/t PFT
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