The Vikings won their first-ever NFC North title this season and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They also finally got over the .500 mark (10-6) after going 6-10 and 8-8 in Brad Childress' first two seasons.
Despite that success, the Vikings will enter the offseason with a big question mark. Who is going to be this team's quarterback in 2009?
Tarvaris Jackson's play Sunday in a 26-14 wild-card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles did little to inspire confidence that he should be the guy. Jackson completed 15 of 35 passes for 164 yards with no touchdowns, an interception that was returned for a touchdown and a way-below-average 45.4 passer rating.
This was the type of play that got Jackson benched after the first two regular-season games in favor of veteran Gus Frerotte. Jackson only got back on the field late in the season because Frerotte was injured.
While Jackson helped the Vikings rally to beat Detroit and then threw four touchdown passes the following week in Arizona, he eventually reverted to his old form.
After Sunday's loss, coach Brad Childress refused to speculate on Jackson's future. "We sure don't make any of those kind of pronouncements after the game but those are the kind of things we go through here this whole week," Childress said. "We pull apart the roster and look and see where we're at."
What the Vikings are likely to find is that they need to go out and get a quarterback. Frerotte wasn't happy about losing his job to Jackson because of injury and at 37 years old he may decide he has had enough. John David Booty, a fifth-round pick out of Southern California, spent his rookie season watching and learning but he's going to be far too raw to consider a starter.
Jackson, meanwhile, has to be running out of chances. He will be entering his fourth season and has yet to show any consistency.
