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It looks like Bryant McKinnie is going to be suspended for four games, and the timing couldn’t be worse for the Vikings. He’s one of the keys to their offensive line – their left tackle – and the team plays an unusually tough schedule early.
Minnesota opens the season at Green Bay. Then it plays a pair at home, against Indianapolis and Carolina, before making a trip to Tennessee. With Jake Delhomme back and Julius Peppers seemingly energized, the Panthers look like the favorite in the NFC South, while the other three teams all made the playoffs last year. And the schedule isn’t much easier in week 5 – at New Orleans. The Saints look like the other power team in that NFC South division.
If the Vikings open the season with an 0-5 or 1-4 record, that could be too deep of a hole to dig out of.
McKinnie was one of the principal figures in the team’s “Love Boat” scandal in 2005. His latest incident involved a brawl outside a Miami nightclub in February. He has pleaded not guilty to charges, and the matter will go to court Sept. 24.
The story appears on the blog of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Duane Stay | Aug. 14 at 07:03 PM
He's nothing, but trouble. He's not as good as his press clippings either.
Posted by Paul Owers | Aug. 15 at 08:46 AM
Anybody looked at the Vikings' entire schedule? As Ian points out, the first five weeks are tough. And even though it lightens up after that, they still have to play the Bucs and Jags and Giants in the second half of the season. They better find a way to at least start 2-3 or they will be one of the biggest disappointments of the NFL this year.