Minnesota’s Dreamcast Offense

By Scott Simone

EP remembers it like it was yesterday. With Dreamcast controller in hand–yes, Dreamcast–we would throw pass after pass to Randy Moss, who adorned the cover of NFL 2K in his purple #84 jersey. The virtual Moss racked up the yards and touchdowns. EP's Dreamcast offense never seemed to fail.

(Dreamcast: such a short lived video game console.)

On October 6, the Vikings reacquired Moss from the New England Patriots and it seems that Brett Favre and the Vikings have adopted this video game offensive philosophy and tried to emulate it on the field. With Moss back in a purple #84 jersey, Favre looks like a child playing with a new toy.

In the Vikings' Week 6 matchup against the New York Jets, Favre dropped back to pass a total of 38 times, while Adrian Peterson, arguable the best running back in the NFL, had only 18 carries. Those 34 passes accounted for almost 66 percent of the Vikings' plays on offense. The Vikings even passes on 12 of their 16 first down plays.

(The addition of Moss only aids Favre's gunslinger passing style.)

The Jets defense contained Peterson in the first quarter, which is the only time the Vikings seemed to remember he was on the team. But why go to the air so often when you have a weapon like Peterson on the ground especially when you have an aging, hurt quarterback like Favre. The Dreamcast offense proved to be the Vikings own undoing, however, as Jets' defensive back Dwight Lowery returned a pick-6 to cement the wins for the Jets.

Last week, the Vikings used a much more balance offensive attack because of Favre's elbow injury. Favre threw only 19 times against the Dallas Cowboys, while Peterson had 24 carries. This much more balanced attack led to a cleaner game for the Vikings as they were able to limit their mistakes and grind out a close 24-21 victory over the Cowboys.

(Peterson rushed for 73 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries last week against Dallas.)

But the question remains: which Vikings' offense will we see the rest of the season? Will it be a pass happy Favre and the Dreamcast offense or a traditional balanced attack? Maybe we can just sext Favre to find out. Hey, it had to be said. (Ed note: I was really hoping we could go one week without having to use the "Croc shot" tag.)