Byes

With the Minnesota Vikings finally on their bye week, I've been thinking about the NFL's bye weeks. They've been doing this since the 1990 season. I didn't much care for them at first. So, I absolutely hated when the NFL made the ridiculous decision for each team to have two bye weeks in 1993. Ridiculous! In those early days of byes I didn't really think about these weeks off from a player's perspective. How could I?  I couldn't understand the need for a week off because they never seemed to have a need before. They'd been playing the same demanding game for 70 years. I saw it only as a way for the NFL to bring in more TV money by adding an extra week of games. I'm sure that was the reason all along. The NFL is always looking for ways to extract more money from their fans. I never thought that the players could use a week off at some point in the middle of the season. It became obvious through their own words that they loved having a week off. A time to heal. A time to recharge. A time to get away even for just a couple of days.

It's unfortunate that with 32 teams these bye weeks take place over approximately eight weeks. That range presents problems. Some teams get their breaks so early that the time off is somewhat wasted. Anything around weeks four or five is just too early. The season has barely started. Maybe it works if the team has gotten off to a horrible start. Maybe if the team is hit with injuries early. It's usually best when the bye week is around the middle of the season. This season the Vikings are part of the last group of teams to get their bye week. They get it at a great time. Receiver Percy Harvin is rehabbing an ankle injury. They need him. Really need him. The Vikings final six games are pretty brutal. They face both the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears twice. They face the Houston Texans. Five of the six games are against three of the best teams in the league. The sixth game is against the physical St. Louis Rams. This week is a great week for a bye week.