Who would have thought we’d see the Vikings as the NFL’s lone unbeaten team five games into the season? I sure wouldn’t, and most other folks wouldn’t either. After all, here in Minnesota we lost our starting quarterback and our star running back, the biggest name in Minnesota football for years… and somehow here we are, sitting pretty atop that wacky cartel they call the National Football League. Folks from ESPN to the local bar are scratching their heads about it, but it proves a very good lesson about the necessity for being prepared and having backups.
Sometimes, that backup has been there all the time, waiting on the bench, waiting for his chance to shine. We wouldn’t have the Tom Brady we know today if Drew Bledsoe hadn’t gotten hurt, and the Vikings themselves cruised to the playoffs after Jim McMahon replaced Sean Salisbury way back in 1993. It even took Brett Favre’s, ahem, mistakes for Aaron Rodgers’ star to finally outshine him in the Packer Pantheon. Whether it’s a health reason or maybe something they’ve done that they really shouldn’t have, a good backup is always a good thing to have when things go south with your chosen leader.
Now I’ve only mentioned quarterbacks for a reason. This sort of inspiring story works best with a QB, because they are expected to lead the team. They need to be able to inspire confidence and get their team out of the gate fired up and ready to win. With a backup, they’re often called in at the last minute and have to be able to inspire that same amount, or maybe even more, confidence and desire to see something happen. Sometimes, a backup can succeed in shaking up the entire structure, and when the starter returns he finds the team much different than when he left it. Quarterbacks have amazing power, and backups have possibly even more to bring about real and last change.
So now we have Minnesota, 2016. An outsider, someone who wasn’t even calling himself a Viking until recently, is carrying the team to a league best (as of this writing) 5-0 record. How does that work? Most of the talk is pointing to a strong defense. The truth is, you can have the greatest quarterback in the world, but if there isn’t anyone supporting him it’s not going to work. Ask Archie Manning. The defense is a movement that can give a backup quarterback power, a base on which he can feel confident to take those chances and shoot the moon, and without the backing of that base it can often all fall apart. For the best example, look to the Carolina Panthers. Lead by a brash quarterback who often turns people off, we’ve seen them achieve great things right away, but as the time goes on, more and more holes appear. It turns out to be a flash in the pan, all sizzle and no steak, and without a strong movement behind him, the Panthers are looking at a dismal 1-3 start after getting to the Super Bowl only last year.
It all goes to show: you can change horses right at the last minute, and if you have smart leadership with a strong movement behind it, you can see win after win. Who knows, maybe there’s another contest going on right now where you could see a major shift for one team by putting in a new QB a the last minute, just like the Vikings did. It’s a risky choice, to be sure, but if you stay too long with a cocky Carolina quarterback, or even too long with a bland, underperforming Sean Salisbury (who I’m sure is a nice man), you might end up with a disappointment when it comes time for postseason.