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Purple haze

cris carter

The leading rusher from last season, Onterrio Smith, has been suspended. One of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Randy Moss, was traded. The Pro Bowl center, Matt Birk, is out for the season. The offensive coordinator, Scott Linehan, is now in Miami.

Those are the holes the Minnesota Vikings have had to fill. Every single one of those key pieces has been hard to replace.

That's why I think when Daunte Culpepper leaves the Vikings' facility every day, he feels like he has to do a lot of things on the field by himself. That's a lot of pressure for one guy to handle. That's why one of the league's best quarterbacks has struggled and the favorite to win the NFC North is at the bottom of the division two weeks into the season.

Minnesota's defense is also going through an adjustment period. New free safety Darren Sharper thought the Vikings would fare better this week after losing to Tampa Bay, but they faced a better offensive team in the Bengals on Sunday. You are going to give up points anyway when your quarterback turns the ball over 10 times.

The Vikings still have the talent. And the NFC North will continue to be up for grabs because there are no world beaters in that division. Despite a 0-2 start, Minnesota is just one game behind co-leaders Chicago and Detroit. And since no team in the NFC North is capable of running off 10 or 11 victories in a row, the race will remain close throughout the season.

Of course, head coach Mike Tice will get a lot of blame for the losses to Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. He has the horses this season, and he has absolutely the best team he's ever had in Minnesota. Steve Loney, who moved from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator, will receive a lot of criticism, too.

The bottom line: If the Vikings don't get turned around quickly, they are going to be at least 0-4. The motivated New Orleans Saints and the NFC title-contending Atlanta Falcons are next on the schedule.

CARTER'S SIX POINTS

GO ROUTES
(Those who made great strides in Week 2)

1. Panthers back on the prowl. I was very impressed with the way the Carolina Panthers bounced back and played a very physical game to beat the world champion New England Patriots. The Panthers played the type of football we thought they were capable of playing, and head coach John Fox came up with some great schemes to put pressure on Tom Brady. Not a lot of teams have had success getting to Brady, and Carolina ended up sacking him twice.

2. Peyton's holiday. I think it's great that Peyton Manning can take a week off and the Indianapolis Colts still win. Manning's subpar 13-for-28 passing performance marked the first time he had completed less than 50 percent of his passes, but the Colts still beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 10-3 thanks to Indianapolis' defense. Is the Colts' D for real? Well, Indy has only given up 10 points in two games. I don't care who you are playing in the NFL – 10 points against any two teams in back-to-back weeks is a great accomplishment.

3. Shiny new Cadillac. Jon Gruden may have gotten the steal of the first round in Carnell Williams. I think Gruden jumped up and down in his chair when the Miami Dolphins selected Ronnie Brown instead of Williams, whose 276 rushing yards leads the NFL and is the best two-game start ever by a rookie. Gruden feels he got the best running back in the draft, but it'll take some time to prove that to be true. So far, Cadillac is certainly looking like it.

FADE ROUTES
(Those who dropped the ball in Week 2)

1. Winless Ravens. You would think the Baltimore Ravens would be able to beat the Tennessee Titans. Defensively, the Ravens should be one of the best defenses, if not the best defense, in the league. (I've already said that Baltimore may have the best defensive secondary of all time.) That's why I'm puzzled they would have so many problems with a Titans team that'll win no more than six games this season. But Jamal Lewis can't run the ball and the Ravens' longest pass completion Sunday was 20 yards. With no big-play capability on offense, things will continue to be tough for the Ravens.

2. Winless Packers. Brett Favre will be thinking more and more about retirement if the Green Bay Packers keep playing with a lack of enthusiasm, lack of urgency and lack of energy. You would think in a game like Sunday's, when they retired Reggie White's jersey, the Packers would come out with a lot of fire against arguably the NFL's worst personnel in the Cleveland Browns and jump on top of them. But the Browns ended up jumping all over the Packers at Lambeau Field.

3. Horrible Harrington. Nineteen-for-37 and 196 yards. Two sacks. Five interceptions, including three in the first half. We shouldn't be shocked by these numbers because we already know what kind of quarterback Joey Harrington is. The Detroit Lions will probably be a 7-9 or 8-8 team, but I don't see them doing any better than that because I don't see Harrington getting any better.