Does Randy Moss Make the Vikings Super Bowl Contenders? Brett Favre is celebrating his 41st birthday on Sunday — likely trying to stay out of the spotlight given the recent allegations and media uproar. On Monday, he and his Minnesota Vikings teammates will be in prime time, trying to even their underwhelming 1-2 record to 2-2.

When a team starts 1-2 and is on a bye, it's rare for talk of it being a Super Bowl contender to suddenly emerge, but that is exactly what has occurred since the Minnesota Vikings acquired Randy Moss on Wednesday.

Many have argued that the Vikings' problems thus far this season can be boiled down to lack of a vertical passing target who Favre clicks with, and now that Moss is there, the air attack will be revitalized. How true that is remains to be seen — though it is a given that Moss helps.

The more relevant issue, however, is whether or not the team was a Super Bowl contender to begin with. Entering the season, it seemed as though the Vikings would be as talented as anybody. They have Adrian Peterson, elite linemen on both sides of the ball, and a hard-nosed defense.

But when bad luck and poor chemistry doomed the team to an 0-2 start, all of that talk went away. Either those originally on the bandwagon were wrong, or those quick to discount the team because of early-season losses are. Moss' arrival doesn't really alter the validity of either argument.

The Vikings' biggest problem may be their schedule. The NFC North isn't easy, nor will the AFC East and NFC East opponents that the Vikes have drawn. If Moss fails to impact and the team falls to 1-3 on Monday, they may simply have too long of a road back to make it into playoff contention, let alone a Super Bowl.

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