Week 7-8 reaction: The spookiest Halloween in some time. Are the Vikings on the decline?

As a Vikings fan, I have been conditioned to brace for certain things.  I'm always waiting around for Cinderella's coach (no pun intended) to turn back into a pumpkin.  How fitting, considering I'm writing this on October 31.

Teddy Bridgewater was supposed to have his breakout season to establish himself as at least a solid quarterback in the NFL.  His passes in the preseason were precise, and even his deep ball showed improvement, which was sure to get the loud minority of fans unsatisfied with his play off of his case.

Then, Teddy got hurt in perhaps the most Vikings way possible (yes, an even flukier way than Taylor Heinicke), and suddenly the 2016 season, as well as the entire future of the team was in doubt.  

Vikings fans know better than anybody (except maybe Browns fans) that it is not easy to find a franchise quarterback, no matter how simple everyone else makes it look.  The Packers can go out and get Favre and Rodgers, the Falcons can get Matt Ryan, the Colts can get Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, and so on and so forth.

Teams like the Vikings have to wade through 20 guys before finally finding someone who might fit the bill. 

It was supposed to be Teddy.  The hope is that he can play again, at some point.

In came Sam Bradford, and through a combination of him and Shaun Hill, the Vikings went 2-0 including a very satisfying win over the Packers after months of their fans boasting about a ruined homecoming in shiny, new UsBank Stadium.

Then, the Vikings beat a Carolina Panthers team fresh off of losing to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.  Awesome, this might work out after all.  Wins against the Giants in prime time; this time with Odell Beckham in tow (shut down by Xavier “Road’s Closed” Rhodes) and Texans followed.

5-0 into the bye week.  Nothing’s gonna stop us now, copyright 1987 by Jefferson Starship, right?

Something’s gone wrong in the happy-go-lucky world of the Minnesota Vikings.

As Carson Wentz broke out, I looked to the matchup against the Eagles as a potential first loss.  Oh, it happened.  Injuries finally caught up to the Vikings, and Mike Zimmer’s “next man up” philosophy could only go so far before Sam Bradford’s offensive line made Philadelphia look like the 1985 Chicago Bears.

Oh well, we said.  We shrugged it off.  One loss to a team on the rise isn’t the end of the world, right?  After all, the Vikings were in the same position as the Eagles with Teddy two seasons ago, just trying to put some good games together and sell some hope for the future.  Though, Philly might actually make some noise this year.

Well, the future is now.  The Vikings next lined up to play the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, which is always a struggle.  But hey, the Bears were 1-6, right?  Easy money.  6-1, then on to Detroit for 7-1.  Winnable games.  Winnable games everywhere.

*whack*

I wake up from my unplanned nap and notice that the other shoe has fallen.  As usual, I say to myself.  After covering up several flaws for five weeks, the Vikings have gone 0-2 due to a laundry list of problems.  Unfortunately, there is no “quick fix” for what just happened.  For Halloween, the Vikings broke out the 1984 version of themselves and made the 1-6 Bears look like, you guessed it, the ’85 Bears.  In front of the entire nation.  Happy bleeping Halloween.

Again, through my years of watching Vikings football, I have been conditioned to expect such turns of events.  Mike Zimmer’s reputation as a great coach may have taken a hit tonight.  We can only hope that the play of the team improves from here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this team lays another rotten egg at home against the Lions.  Detroit has just become a scary team. 

If the Ed Thorpe curse is real, it must be ending soon, because the Vikings are really getting punched in the mouth right now.  

Then again, if you had told me that this team would be 5-2 without Teddy, Adrian, or an offensive line worth a dollar, I still think I would have taken that; though I would have swapped out this awful loss to Chicago with a loss to a better team, because that was dishearteningly ugly.

Week 7: A Field Trip to Wentzylvania!

Well, here we go…another game that’s tough to call.

Of course, the Eagles looked a lot more dangerous a couple of weeks ago.

But first, a little recap of the previous game.

The bye week took forever to pass.  Seriously, this past week of football was exciting, yet something was definitely missing. 

The Vikings went into the bye about as perfectly as one could expect; 5-0, first place in the NFC North and a string of 20 quarters without a turnover on offense (seriously, that weird fumble-to-fumble against Green Bay is still the only giveaway the Vikes have this year).  Sam Bradford looks great, though this blogger sincerely believes Teddy would have the team in the same place if healthy. 

The defense, of course, continues to stymie the rest of the league and is a big reason for 5-0 instead of 4-1 or 3-2.  Typically, there has been an element of drama in every Vikings game I have ever personally attended.  Houston provided very little drama as the Vikes rushed out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.  It was about as relaxed as I ever felt at a game, which is not a bad thing at all (relaxed minus the constant cheering when things went right, that is).

USBank Stadium is amazing and if you have a chance to attend a game or go there for any other reason (second round state tournament games for high school football and soccer are coming up), do yourself a favor and go.

…So when does the other shoe drop? 

It had to be asked.  This is the tradition of Minnesota Vikings football; to occasionally explode out of the starting blocks only to trip and fall just before the finish line.  I’ll spare us the painful memories, because the networks have a thing for showing Vikings pratfalls when the team is actually good.

Philadelphia took a couple of bad losses in the past two weeks and looks about as threatening as Apollo Creed did against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.  But, when they are on their game, they are as capable as Mr. Balboa himself.  No one has forgotten their Texas-sized whooping of the Pittsburgh Steelers; the team that some thought could win it all this year.

The Vikings are rested, and they just need to go into Philly and play their game.  Carson Wentz may very well be a star someday, but he’ll have to get past the Zim Reapers first. 

Halloween may come early for Mr. Wentz, for all the wrong reasons.  And I may have to restrain myself from unloading all of my Halloween puns now when the Vikings have a game on the actual day next week.

This one won’t be easy, but I think 6-0 is in sight.  Just…don’t go researching what has happened to 6-0 Vikings teams…the results are frightful, but the fire is so delightful.

Wait, wrong holiday. 

Skol Vikings, and fear the Zim Reapers.