"A Vikings team with championship hopes isn't aiming for a .500 finish to the season. A 2-2 record in October, however, might just be an accomplishment. Four teams with Super Bowl potential — the Jets (2-1), Cowboys (1-2), Packers (2-1) and Patriots (2-1) — await the Vikings in a brutal stretch of NFL scheduling. Only one of those matchups takes place in the Metrodome, where the Cowboys will visit on Oct. 17. The Vikings, concluding a bye week today, play the Jets on "Monday Night Football" on Oct. 11. "I don't know if I would have drawn it up that way, but we're not going to back away from a challenge," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. If the Vikings can survive the season's first two months, the rest of the schedule is a little more manageable. But after a sluggish 1-2 start and with a questionable passing game, the Vikings face a four-game slate that will either validate their belief as a contender or carve them deeper into a losing hole. Since 2000, these four opponents have won 376 games, 22 playoff games and, thanks to the Patriots, three Super Bowls. Betting site Bodog.com has the Packers as a 7-1 favorite to win the Super Bowl, the Jets at 12-1, Patriots at 14-1, Cowboys at 15-1 and the Vikings at 25-1. According to Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders, the team with the toughest four-game stretch since 1994 was the 2007 Baltimore Ravens, who faced the 10-6 Cleveland Browns, 11-5 " Read more: http://www.twincities.com/vikings/ci_16238494?nclick_check=1
