Week 1: Captain Kirk (Cousins) Steers the Good Ship Skol!

It all begins again. 

In Week One, the Vikings embark on a long journey toward that glitzy new stadium in Atlanta, GA; and the team might very well be good enough to get there barring another year like 2016.

2017 saw the Vikings lose Sam Bradford and dynamic rookie Dalvin Cook by the fourth week of the season.  Other than them, the team stayed relatively healthy.  The end result was Stefon Diggs performing a miracle to exorcise the long-standing Bountygate demon and give the Vikings their first playoff win since then.  We won’t talk about the next week, though.

Indeed, the Vikings were unable to “bring it home,” but many people have suggested they could bring it to Atlanta.  After years of being mediocre, does anyone else enjoy the respect the Vikings get now from the sports media?  For a long time, I joked that the national perspective was “the Vikings are Adrian Peterson and no one else,” which was true, for the most part, except for the brief Favre era.  It is great that the Vikes actually get props and the conversation isn’t “well, the Packers are going to win the North, there’s no debate.” 

If the Vikings are supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, they have to come out and play like it in their home stadium, where they won 7 of 8 games in 2017.  I would go so far to say you can’t lose your home opener if you want to play in Atlanta in February.  I’m not ready to crown Jimmy Garoppolo king based off of a few wins last year.  If he gets the 49ers off to a 6-0 start or something like that, then maybe.

My prediction is that the Vikings make the playoffs again this year, and the only way they miss the playoffs is if 2016 repeats itself.  With the initial Kirk Cousins deal, we’ve got three years to make this Super Bowl thing happen.

Finally this week, there was a lot of talk after the Minneapolis Miracle that whatever “curse” had plagued the Vikings for decades, Stefon Diggs had stomped a mudhole in it.  If that’s true, than the Philly loss was “just a bad game.”  I said myself a couple of years ago that I thought the “curse” would end after 50 years.  Considering it started with the misplacing of the 1969 league championship trophy (Minnesota’s lone championship to date), that means…2019, when Super Bowl 53 is played.  Time to see if that prediction rings true.

Skol Vikes.    

Free Agency: Vikings Football; Special Kirk Cousins edition!

It is shaping up to be the decision that could shake the foundation of the Minnesota Vikings for years to come.  Find the right quarterback to steer a fundamentally well-built team on the right course toward Valhalla; in layman’s terms, sign the guy that might reverse nearly 60 years of heartbreak by guiding the Vikings to their first Lombardi Trophy. 

Vikings fans have been through this before.  In a well-remembered tale, longtime adversary Brett Favre donned the purple and gold for one magical season, and one that was anything but.  The less said about Donovan McNabb in purple, the better.  Josh Freeman?  I have successfully repressed that memory.  The current situation is different; while Freeman was a young man who could have stuck around if not for that horrendous Monday night game, Favre’s tenure was a short window-opening, and the window slammed shut on fans’ fingers in 2010.  McNabb was the NFL equivalent of a transitional champion in professional wrestling; someone with name recognition holding the belt until the higher-ups decide “the kid” (or another better quarterback) is ready.

In 2011, “the kid” was Christian Ponder, who ultimately didn’t pan out.  In 2014, the Vikings tried again with Teddy Bridgewater, who began his career in Week 3 after an injury to Matt Cassel (with Ponder still on the team at the time).  The jury is still out on Teddy after a horrific knee injury completely derailed any season he may have had in 2016 or 2017 after a reasonably successful, though not flashy 2015. 

Indeed, the biggest on-the-field crime of the Adrian Peterson era was not building all that well around him.  For a long time, Adrian carried the team to some pretty mediocre records, but without him things would have been far worse.  In many respects, the Vikings have had the same problem as the Packers.  While Green Bay has been recently exposed as a nearly-incompetent offense/team without Aaron Rodgers, the Vikings for several years would have been as incompetent without Adrian Peterson.  While the Packers have only managed one trip and one Super Bowl win with the career Rodgers has had, it is still one more than the Vikings have even sniffed since 1977; yes, the Raiders loss predates the entire Star Wars franchise by about four months.

For the Minnesota Vikings as a franchise and a fanbase frothing at the mouth for “just one before (they) die,” the Minneapolis Miracle— ten seconds which turned back decades of agony for one week— was nice but not quite nice enough.  In a season where the hype built on a weekly basis as every Minnesota fan knew they were hosting the biggest sporting event in the nation and one of the biggest in the entire world, they were ultimately left out in the cold, once again trophy-less and ring-less.  Let the “no rings” and “empty trophy case” jokes fly for another year.

Now, a decision needs to be made.  Free agency looms and the Vikings must decide who to bring back and who to add in order to position the team for another run at glory.  Fans do not want to wait another eight years just to win a playoff game.  Some were in high school when the Vikings beat the Packers in the 2004 wild card game.  Those same people likely sat in their dorm rooms watching the Vikings beat the Cowboys in the 2009 divisional playoff game. 

Oh wait, I’m describing my own experiences.  Moving on…

Losing via Bountygate hung over the franchise like a dark cloud, and the Minneapolis Miracle was the first playoff win for the team since that fateful night nine years prior.  Other teams win playoff games with great regularity, so why can’t the Vikings?

After leading Minnesota to 13 of 14 wins after a mysterious knee injury sidelined Sam Bradford, 

Case Keenum seemed like a solid choice to try again in 2018, but he’s off to a well-deserved contract and likely the starting job in Denver according to the latest reports.  Bradford, who got saddled to an injury-riddled 2016 Vikings team, is being pursued by the Buffalo Bills after they sent Tyrod Taylor to the Browns.           

Drew Brees was thought to be available, but only for a nanosecond, as the Saints signed him to a two-year deal that will likely have him finish his career there.  I am not looking forward to the potential revenge for the MM should the Vikings and Saints make the playoffs and face off again.

In the end, the only option at this point is to make a play for Kirk Cousins, and it sounds likely that the Vikings will land him.  The real question is how do you construct the team for a situation like last year if (God forbid) it happens again?  Honestly, Josh McCown at the right price wouldn’t be a bad option to have around for a year.  Or just keep Teddy as a backup and/or draft a guy.  You need some kind of insurance policy if things go dreadfully wrong.  Last year, the Vikings lost their starting quarterback and almost made it to the Super Bowl because they had such a plan in place.  I don’t think any of us could have predicted such a run for Case Keenum, but it certainly beats the daylights out of the alternative (Aaron Rodgers walks into A. Barr and the Packers’ season goes with him).      

With the NFL news cycle going crazy, free agency truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  Whichever direction the Vikings decide to take, I just hope it doesn’t take another decade to make it back to the NFC title game.

(Edit: It appears likely that Kirk Cousins will indeed sign a 3 year contract tomorrow.)

Minneapolis Miracle, or "Vikings fans finally allowed to have a nice thing" Edition!

“Vikings gonna Viking.”

Those three little words were my simple response to how things had played out with 25 seconds left in the second NFC Divisional playoff game; the last football game of the weekend.  Yes, it was only a one point game at 24-23, but come on…this is the Vikings.  A missed pass interference penalty in 1975 in this very round ended what many people say was that team’s best chance to win a Super Bowl.  Even if we get into field goal range, there’s no guarantee Kai Forbath makes the kick (with apologies to Kai…he’s still a better kicker than Blair Walsh).

This team has had a recently awful track record with clutch kicks in the playoffs.  Gary Anderson hadn’t missed a single kick in 1998, and missed one that would have likely put the NFC title game away against the Falcons.  Blair Walsh missed the easiest kick of his life in the last playoff game the Vikings had. 

With all of that on our minds, why was this game any different?  We were about to lose to the freaking New Orleans Saints, the team that put a bounty on Brett Favre and were allowed to get away with it.  Of all the teams to lose to, only the Saints or the Packers (if they had run the table) could have hurt this much. 

But then, Stefon Diggs caught that pass and somehow stayed on his feet as two Saints ran into each other, giving him a free path to the end zone.  Before the game, if you had told me one of these teams would win like that, I would have assumed the Saints.  Because a receiver breaking free for a last-second winning touchdown after two defensive players collided seems like a vintage Vikings choke moment that may or may not have happened at some point.

Somehow, some way, the Vikings now have their miracle playoff moment, like Pittsburgh and the Immaculate Reception, which turned that franchise’s entire history around.  The Steelers won four Super Bowls in seven years following Franco Harris’s immortal play, so perhaps there are greater things in store for the Vikings even if they are unable to “Bring It Home” this Sunday with a win over the Eagles.

Then again, how do we know that the Minnesota/Minneapolis Miracle wasn’t the start of such a thing?  There’s only one way to find out; by tuning in to the NFC Title game at 5:40 p.m. on Sunday.  Here’s hoping if we win, we don’t need another miracle to do so.

And here's the miracle itself, one more time, because I will never get tired of this.

https://youtu.be/OKgUiBOpsZ4

Week 16: Have a holly, jolly Christmas, and kick the Packers in the rear!

The Vikings had been Kings of the North since beating the Packers and continuing to win week after week until Carolina, but Sunday the 17^th made it official.  The Vikings showed no mercy, pounding a team that clearly had no answers.  We even got to see Teddy step onto the field to a massive ovation.  It was a goosebumps moment.

Everything seems to be lining up for the Vikings to take one of the top two NFC playoff seeds by force.  With the Super Bowl being hosted by Minneapolis this year, it goes without saying that home field advantage is as important as it possibly could be.  However, you also have to have faith that this team could go on the road to defeat someone.  The next two weeks will be very intriguing.  I feel like the Vikings finish with no worse than 12 wins, and that’s if they slip up against a Packers team with no Aaron Rodgers.  The only two things tipping the scales in Green Bay’s favor for that game are the game being at Lambeau Field, and the fact that it will be very cold there tonight.

Zimmer should have the Vikings prepared to take this one.  A Vikings team that wasn’t quite as good as this one beat the Packers at Lambeau Field to take the division two years ago, and that was with a fully healthy #12.  Brett Hundley is going to have to play like Brett Favre for the Packers to have a chance in this game.  However, we should not count our chickens before they hatch.  The 1988 Vikings were in the midst of a season much like this one and lost to a much worse (4-12) Packers team 18-6…on a cold night at Lambeau Field in week 16.  They finished second in the division to Chicago and eventually lost to San Francisco on the road in the second round of the playoffs. 

Which just goes to show you there’s always a bad Vikings loss somewhere to remind fans to keep their hubris in check.  Yes, the Vikes might win by 30, but Hundley might surprise everyone.  Here’s hoping for the former.

And have a Merry Christmas, Skol Nation.

Week 15: Win and In, quite literally.

I think we had a collective freakout on Sunday.  It’s amazing how stressful a Vikings game can be, even when the team has 10 wins more than a week before Christmas Day.

(Speaking of which, Vikings-Packers, however much it ends up meaning, is on the 23^rd, not the 25^th.)

There are several ways to look at Sunday’s loss…the first since early October.  The first way is sheer panic.  We didn’t think much of it when the Vikings lost that ugly game to…Carolina in 2009, did we?  We already had the division sewn up; it didn’t matter.  Or so we thought.  The next week brought an unfortunate overtime loss to the eventual 7-9 Bears.  And the rest is history.

Another way to look at it is that this year’s game went better than that.  The Vikings got handled for much of it, but they overcame a bad performance to come back and tie the game late in the fourth.  If not for a long Cam Newton run on which Matt Kalil got away with holding, we might be talking about a nine game winning streak.  Overall, it was not a great game, as so many little things that hadn’t gone wrong for a while went wrong, and we can only hope the Vikings got a bad game out of their system.  Better now than in January, especially if the Vikings get a first round bye. 

The Vikings got a taste of losing, and it should hopefully keep them humble and hungry.  Adam Thielen even said that the team had forgotten what losing felt like, so the loss might be a good thing in the long run.  All I know is win this week and all is forgiven.  You’ll automatically clinch the division if you beat Cincy, meaning you wouldn’t have to play at Lambeau Field more than once this year.  If they end up making it, the Packers—who are the team it would hurt the most to lose against this postseason in particular (hypothetically)—would have to come to The Slatra House (Norse word for slaughter, meaning “to butcher”).  The same would be true for Detroit; a return trip to Minneapolis if they played the Vikings a third time at all.   

The media is probably looking at last Sunday’s game as the “Vikings aren’t for real” game, which is fine given that the team performs better when the media isn’t drooling all over them anyway.  Makes me wonder how the Packers or Cowboys handle it.    

Next week’s Cavalcade will be going up on Friday, as I am busy with Christmas stuff on the day of the Vikings-Packers game.  Hopefully I’ll be typing up a description of a division championship.

Week 7 (2): The "did Packer fans not watch Bountygate?" edition.

Yes, last week was actually week 6.  Oops. 

Before we move on to discussing Baltimore, the initial question is in the title of the post.  Plus, it's hard for me to have too much sympathy for a fanbase that has been spoiled rotten for the past 25 years on quarterback play and quarterback health.  Without Rodgers to fall back on, possibly for the rest of the season, we get to see how good of a coach Mike McCarthy really is.

Seriously though, Packer fans...unless he makes a miraculous recovery, welcome to the world of practically every other NFL team that doesn't have a potential Hall of Fame quarterback to lead them.  Quarterback injuries happen; you've just been extremely lucky to avoid significant ones in most years.  Vikings fans felt their world come to a crashing halt when Teddy Bridgewater went down to a non-contact injury right before the season last year; there aren't many teams that are unluckier than us.

Anyway, onto Baltimore.  The Ravens at 3-3 are only a game worse than the Vikings, but they honestly don't scare me that much.  Not like the Packers pre-Rodgers-injury.  Also, the Bears beat them last week with a 113 yard performance from their rookie Mitchell Trubisky, which was by design.  Joe Flacco has been on the decline this season, and this is a very winnable game; though I know better than to guarantee anything as a Vikings fan.  Still, the Vikes should win this one as long as they stick to their fundamentals.

Teddy also came back to practice this week.  I think I'll be talking more about him in the coming weeks, though I doubt they'll rush him back to action unless Case Keenum starts to struggle. 

Then there's the London game next week with the Browns...more on that next week.  Here's hoping the next time this blog gets updated I'm talking about a 5-2 team.

 

Week 7: It's Packer Week! ...Yay?

Well, let’s dive right in. 

The Vikings enter the home portion of the 2017 Border Battle having endured about as much drama as a middle school theater club.  Despite feeling like half of the team is already on the Injured Reserve list, the Vikes are, in fact, over .500 at 3-2.

Were this any other week, I’d be thrilled at the prospect of a win, and 4-2 would look mighty fine after the way this season has begun for the purple and gold.  But, because of who we play, I am tempering my expectations as usual. 

The Packers are, again, winning games by the skin of their teeth this year.  This means that the Vikings, if they hope to win, need to control the clock and score the game-winning touchdown with virtually no time left in the fourth quarter.

We’ve got the defense to hold this team and this quarterback in check.  See last year, when the Vikings allowed just 14 points to Green Bay in the first-ever relevant game at USBank Stadium.  They’ve even done it at Lambeau Field, as evidenced in Week 17 of 2015, when they beat the Packers 20-13 after building a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.

So really, this game could go either way.  Seeing as how the team is still relatively healthy, there’s a chance.  A couple of turnovers could turn the tide in our favor.  After I spent a week shouting up at the sky, asking God why he hates Vikings fans after Dalvin Cook got hurt, McKinnon and Murray looked pretty good on Monday night, especially after Case Keenum came into the game and the passing game opened up a little.

Keenum and the Vikings’ offense should feast on this defense, but the Packers might just be able to rely on Rodgers to get a win.  It’s what they’ve done for the past nine years, and I’m surprised his back hasn’t broken from all of the times he’s had to carry an otherwise mediocre team. 

Anyway, here’s hoping the Vikings can put up a wall in this Border Battle and take a step toward keeping the Packers from invading Minneapolis in February.

Week 16: Hello Mr. Vikings fan, Merry bleeping Christmas!

Being a Vikings fan is absolutely maddening.  I know, breaking news, right?

The only thing more maddening than watching this team fizzle out in the clutch every single year is wondering how it happens so consistently.  Sports are a cycle.  Sure, some teams remain good for years by making the correct decisions, but even teams considered bad change something whether ownership or front office personnel or simply players and become good for a time.  

The Pittsburgh Steelers began their history as an awful, awful team, but things shifted for them around the 1970s and Franco Harris’s “Immaculate Reception” started a wave of success that continues to the present day, as the Steelers currently possess the most Super Bowl victories in the league.

A rich team history…the Vikings have that, but without the hardware to show for it. 

It’s not like the team does things any differently from any other team.  The Vikes build through the draft, having constructed a strong defense that should have been able to propel the team into the playoffs as division champions again.  The Vikings sign key free agents to provide veteran leadership and depth.  They drafted a franchise quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater in 2014 and got Adrian Peterson in 2007.

So why does this team continue to fold like a cheap suit when it gets anywhere near success?  The Vikings’ last trip to the Super Bowl predates every Star Wars movie ever made.  The team has only had four real chances to go back since (1987, 1998, 2000, 2009), and most of you reading this know how those turned out.

With the way sports tend to cycle from year to year, one figures the Vikings have to have their turn at some point.  Some of the most historically awful NFL teams (Buccaneers, Saints) put together good years and won it all.  No amount of embarrassment over a number of years could keep them from their one shining moment. 

My fellow Vikings fans must feel tortured at this moment because they can look around the NFL and see the exact same things their front office does working for other teams.  The Dallas Cowboys drafted Ezekiel Elliot, who looks like the next-generation Adrian Peterson and they are 12-2, best record in the NFC; something to which the Vikings also laid claim at one point in 2016.  Meanwhile, the Vikings wasted the prime of the actual Adrian Peterson.

The most egregious example of “they have everything and we have nothing” (despite the fact that both teams do things virtually the same way) arrives this week in the form of a Green Bay Packers team that, in a twist surely no one saw coming (/sarcasm), righted the ship after some horrible losses of their own.  Just in time for Christmas.  Oh joy.  Two teams going in completely different directions.

The Packers, of course, need no introduction to Vikings fans.  As the haughtier of Packer fans consistently remind the fans of “little brother,” they have the most combined old-school NFL Championships and Super Bowls of any team.  Titletown USA, they call it.

The Packers have a quarterback who has made a career out of roasting the Vikings defense like chestnuts on an open fire.  They drafted him the same year the Vikings drafted Troy (bleeping) Williamson, though in the Vikes’ defense, Daunte Culpepper was coming off of a career year.  Before Rodgers, there was Favre; a man we all loved to hate, but he would have been our favorite player ever if only he didn't play for that team.

On the other side, the Vikings’ record at drafting QBs is spotty at best.  Fran Tarkenton is a legend and Tommy Kramer, along with Culpepper, was pretty good.  But Tavaris Jackson sucked.  Finally, they got Teddy Bridgewater, only for his leg to practically fall off as he suffered the fluke injury to end all fluke injuries, putting his future in limbo.

In closing, being a Vikings fan is like watching your friend get the hot new toy for Christmas.  It looks awesome and you beg your parents to buy you one…only for yours to wind up being a defective pile of fecal matter that breaks in ten seconds.  Except in this case, no matter how many times your parents get it replaced, it just keeps happening and happening.  It’s like you aren’t allowed to have this one specific toy.

Just like the Vikings seemingly aren’t allowed to have the same kind of success as other teams by copying their model.

Vikings-Packers at Lambeau.  Christmas Eve at noon.  Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst.

(In the improbable event of a Vikings win, potentially taking Green Bay down with them, here is a link that will brag for you!)

Ohhohohohohohohohoho, Delicious!

Week 11: There's still time to fix this...right?

You know, after losing Teddy Bridgewater the way the Vikings did before the season even began, it was foolish to assume this season would come free of drama and anguish.

The same exact story played out again last week; the Vikings blew another game.  Because of this, the Detroit Lions are now in first place in the NFC North via tiebreaker.  Frankly, the only good thing about the past few weeks for Vikings fans is that the Packers are also going through their dumpster fire phase.

The question is, when do the Vikings snap out of it?  The great bounty hunter Spike Spiegel once said "I'm just watching a bad dream I never wake up from."  The past month of Vikings football has felt just like that; a continuous nightmare as the team falls from grace faster than Ken Bone after the internet found out his thoughts on the Trayvon Martin situation.  

The NFC North is now a three team race, but two of those teams look like hot garbage.  There is still hope, though.  If the Vikings can sneak out a pair of wins in the next two games, it would serve as a nice little bandage to stop the bleeding.  

7-4 is still a realistic possibility, and it would put the Vikings back into first place no matter what Detroit does in week 11.  

Aside from hoping for the future, I really have no answers for the last month.  I don't think any of us do.  These next two games are must-wins if this team hopes to make any noise in December. 

If the Vikings can slow David Johnson in any way, there's a chance they take back their momentum with a win. 

Otherwise, the only celebrations on tap for USBank Stadium in 2016 will be had by the 7 high school champions to be crowned when the Prep Bowl concludes next weekend.

Skol Vikings!

Week 10: Make the Vikings Great Again!

Well, the Vikings beat the Redskins in 2014, so today should be a breeze, right?

Uh...

There really isn't a lot to say about the last three weeks.  Oh, there is, but this blog would get a little PG-13 if I really did that.  

Let's just move on from the last three weeks.  The Vikings have a chance to get right against the Redskins.  There is still time this season to make the Vikings great again.  Here's a chance to get things back on track.

This is a must-win for the division chances of the purple.  Detroit has caught up, and there's no telling what they might be able to do over the final 7 weeks.  The Packers are the Packers and will probably get right before the Christmas Eve game, so there's always that to worry about.  Chicago is in the rear view mirror for now, but that can always change.

It's a road game, which was how this whole mess started, on the road against the Eagles.  

Anyway, I'm sick of talking about losing.  Let's talk about how 6-3 would help.

-It would hold off everyone for another week

-It would put everyone's minds at ease after blowing a 5-0 start

-It would possibly help the Vikings extend the division lead if Green Bay loses again.  Titans are not a cakewalk.

Minnesota really has no other choice; they MUST become great again, or face the consequences.  

It's time to get back on track.  #Skol

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.

Week 17: Return of the Ted-i?

Here it is…week 17 is upon us.

The Vikings have returned to Sunday Night Football in an attempt to rescue the NFC North title from the clutches of the vile Green Bay Packers.

The Packers, fresh off the worst beating of the season (against a team the Vikings nearly pushed to overtime, by the way) need to regroup for a rematch that could result in them losing a treasure they have held for most of the season.

Vikings fans once again have a reason to feel confident, even if Week 11 was a disaster.  Packer fans…well, when you’ve ruled the NFC North since the NFC Central kicked Tampa Bay to the curb, you’ve got every reason to remain confident even when your team looks mortal for the first time since 2008.

Which side’s overconfidence will be its weakness?

It’s finally time for the big one.  All season, we’ve been waiting for the Vikings to beat a good team.  The win over Atlanta is as good as it got, as the Falcons at least were decent when we played them.  Eh, I’m going to count Kansas City as well.  Sure, they were down and out when we beat them, but it wasn’t by much.  The Vikings were the last team to beat KC…they are in the playoffs now.

But, every other chance they’ve had to beat a good team has gone badly with two close losses and a pair of not-so-close losses (Packer game wasn’t a rout; Vikes trailed by 6 in the fourth quarter). In other words, 10-5 is made up of roughly nine wins over mediocre teams, four losses to good teams and the still-inexplicable San Francisco loss that thankfully did not cost the Vikings the playoffs altogether.

Sure, we won in prime time, but this team still lacks that one win that would make people stand up and say, “You’d better watch out for the Vikings; they could win the NFC!”

They could get that win this Sunday.  Much like Week 11, even though Green Bay is wounded, it’s still Green Bay.  A win here would boost Minnesota’s stock exponentially.  Winning the division in Mike Zimmer’s second season would echo Mike McCarthy’s second season when the Packers did the same thing (though to be fair, McCarthy had Brett Favre that year).

The nice thing here is that the Vikings play next week no matter what.  Fans can relax, if only a little at the fact that Aaron Rodgers, if he bounces back here and the Packers beat us for the nine thousandth time in his career, cannot end our season and knock us out of the playoffs in Week 17.

Still, we want that win.  We want that division title.  We just want to beat the Packers, period.  It has 

been 3 long years since that magical game where Christian Ponder threw three touchdowns and 

Adrian Peterson ran through the Packers defense before Blair Walsh kicked us into the playoffs.  It has been so frustrating watching these games the past ten years.  They have been the better team consistently, but in 2015, I feel the Vikings are the more complete team, which made Week 11 all the more upsetting when we lost. 

Once again, Vikings-Packers serves as a measuring stick for the purple.  They’ve proven they can play with anyone else.  The team’s progress the past two seasons has been remarkable if you think about where we were in 2013.  It’s time to purge some demons of the past and do something that even Detroit and Chicago (both teams we swept, in case you’ve forgotten) managed to do this season…beat the Packers at Lambeau Field.

If we fail, it simply isn’t our time yet.  I think we know better than to be overconfident.

Week 16: The prime time curse is over (for now)!

Boy did Sunday night feel good.  Yes, the Giants had nothing for which to play.  Yes, Odell Beckham sat out the game due to his own stupidity the previous week. 

When they eventually got started offensively, the Vikings outclassed the Giants and looked like the far better team.  Aside from a couple of touchdowns given up when the game was out of hand, the Vikings defense played brilliantly and for once, they buried a bad team like all of the other good teams do, instead of struggling to win like earlier in the season.  Well, to be fair, they beat the Bears by 21 last week, too.

Sure, this barely counted as a “big win” for the Vikings (according to some people) due to the quality of the opponent, but try telling that to most Vikings fans.  Personally, I will gladly take any game where my team can hang 49 on the other team.  Teddy didn’t exactly light the Giants up like many thought he might, but you don’t have to throw for 350 and 3 when you can run the ball like the Vikings can at their best.

Perhaps the biggest reason for jubilation after Sunday night is this; the Vikings finally won in prime time.  The Arizona game was the first time in a while that the Vikings did not embarrass their fans under the lights, and, though playing a much inferior opponent this time around, I think it’s safe to say fans are more than happy with Sunday’s victory over the Giants. 

But…there is another.

The Packers still loom large in that week 17 matchup which has (not surprisingly) become the feature game of the week.  That’s right, the Vikings become one of the few teams to play in back-to-back SNF games since its arrival on NBC in 2006 (I’m guessing there weren’t many situations like this in the ESPN days since they didn’t have flex scheduling in those years).

But, that is another story for another day.  For now, let’s just enjoy the fact that we’ve made the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Week 16: Nodell in Prime Time: The NFL Strikes Back!

(Yes, I realize the title has nothing to do with the Vikings, I just wanted to make that joke.)

It is a not-so-dark time for the Vikings.  Although injuries threaten the playing time of superstar Adrian Peterson, Vikings fans have noticed the potential return of Harrison Smith, Anthony Barr and Linval Joseph in time for Sunday Night Football.

Led by Teddy Bridgewater, whose late-season emergence has delighted everyone except the most jaded of hearts, the Vikings welcome the New York Giants, whose playoff hopes depend on winning the NFC East.  (Update: they now have nothing to play for, as Washington beat Philadelphia 38-24.) 

Odell Beckham Jr’s game-long war with Josh Norman did not go unnoticed.  The league suspended New York’s best player when it hurt the most; another chance to show off under the lights and potentially save the season with a win (now null and void).  That goal for the Giants gets tougher without Beckham.   

Packer fans lie in wait for week 17.  Unless the Vikings lose and the Packers win, the regular season finale decides the fate of the North division.

I think we are all aware of the stakes by now.  If certain things happen, the Vikings can clinch a playoff spot before taking the field on Sunday night (hello again, 2009 parallel!).  The most important part, of course, is taking care of business that night if Green Bay wins.  We all want week 17 to turn into week 17 of 2012, except with the division on the line this time.

This game has gradually lost most of its luster since NBC flexed it.  Unless the Packers and Falcons both win, this Sunday night game will essentially become an exhibition for the Vikings.  A Packer win would keep the sense of urgency for the Vikings to win in order to have a chance to achieve Mike Zimmer’s goal of stealing the division title in week 17.  A Falcon win would keep the pressure on the Vikings to win because of a stupid tiebreaker I still can’t figure out.  Seriously, we whipped that collective butt; exactly how do they get into the playoffs over us if they tie us for the second wild card seed?

Of course, the Seahawks would have to lose for that scenario to possibly play out next week as well, and I don’t think they will.  The Rams beating the Seahawks came as a shock to everyone in week one.  Seattle laying a beating on the Rams in week 16 would shock no one. 

So let’s review; a Vikings win (necessary only if everything goes the exact opposite as we want) gets us in.  A Seahawks win gets us in no matter what Atlanta does.  If all else fails, a Falcons loss will do the trick.  Or, in the unlikely event that any of the three teams tie their opponent; that would work, too.

Back to our game; it’s hard to predict anything because we won’t know the situation until at least the Falcons and Panthers get done around roughly 3-3:15 or later.  The Rams and Seahawks follow at 3:25, so Minnesota’s pair of chances to clinch by doing absolutely nothing air back-to-back.

About the only thing I can say is that I hope the Vikings finally end the prime time curse, regardless of this game meaning anything or not.  Packers-Cardinals will play alongside Seahawks-Rams, so we will have an answer before kickoff.

One thing is for sure, with Nodell, things just swung in Minnesota’s favor if it comes down to win-and-in.  Hopefully Teddy continues his December surge as well.

Week 15: A New Hope?

Everybody else is referencing Star Wars because of the new film, so I’m just following suit.

It is a period of uncertainty.  A decimated Vikings team has won a moral victory by simply not getting destroyed on national television by the powerful Arizona Cardinals. 

During the battle, the young team appeared to regain the confidence thought lost in a devastating encounter with the Seattle Seahawks.

With the losses fresh in their memory, the Vikings strive to get healthy for a battle with the Chicago Bears… 

Anyway…to celebrate The Force Awakens, I will be doing a Star Wars-ish intro on the last three blog posts of the regular season.

In spite of losing two Thursdays ago, the Vikings may have re-discovered the fight within them that got them to 8-3 before losing twice in a row.  Here’s hoping it carries over into this week, because there are some important things on the line.

First off, because some teams have lost and kept the NFC playoff picture weak, the Bears are not yet dead in the hunt.  Therefore, I expect them to come after the Vikings with all they’ve got.  Jay Cutler, for the most part, is not making the same old mistakes on which he staked his claim to fame.  On the other hand, the Bears just lost to the Redskins.

Because of the way things have shaken out over the past two weeks, even in spite of losing twice, the Vikings can clinch a playoff spot as early as this week with a win and some help.  Typically, people balk at the mention of needing “help” to make the playoffs, but this is a situation where clinching early would definitely be welcomed with a prime time game next week (the place where Minnesota sports dreams go to die) and the looming showdown with Green Bay (which may or may not decide everything).

In case you care that much about “getting help,” the Vikings currently have seven, yes seven scenarios in which they could clinch a playoff spot.  I’m not going to list them here, so head to Vikings.com if you’re curious. 

Adrian Peterson owns the Bears, so I have no doubt he will get his yards and hopefully a couple of touchdowns, too.  What I really want to see is a continuation of the Arizona game from Teddy Bridgewater.  Despite the final play of that game, Teddy looked great throughout the evening and showed flashes of the quarterback we all hope he can be.  If he can come out and shred the Bears, there’s a good chance this team goes to 9-5 and possibly clinches a berth (surely one of those seven things has to happen, right?). 

Above all else, the Vikings need to take care of business on their own end.  All year long, the Vikings have been a team that knows how to take care of business…at least against mediocre teams.  The Bears are 5-8; this is no time for a letdown. 

The Force has awakened in theaters this weekend…let’s see if our favorite football team can do the same.  Is the Force strong in this family?

Week 14: NFC West Blues

Here we go again…

Another Vikings game where I have absolutely no idea how it will play out.

The Vikings suffered their worst loss in years (no matter the opponent) on Sunday.  Now, on a short week, they travel to Arizona, a team that I believe will grab the second overall seed in the NFC regardless of Thursday night’s result.  We’re missing several of our core pieces on defense, and they look to be relatively healthy.  Teddy looks like a second-year pro, while Carson Palmer is having his Kurt Warner moment this season. 

This could be a doozy.

I’m still not sure of how this team works.  I suppose that’s part of the fun, the unpredictability of it all.  The patterns of the season are as follows

            

      1.  The 2015 Vikings have won the games they “should” win (bad to mediocre teams).  As recently as last year, the Vikings had trouble closing out games.  2014 was when they learned how to do it; 2015 is when they’ve done it more often than not.

          2.   Unfortunately, every time this team has had a chance to make a statement, they’ve failed…sometimes miserably.  Beating the 49ers wouldn’t have made much of a statement, but it would have gotten the Vikings off the hook for prime time losses.  Denver was a huge missed opportunity, and the team completely forgot how to do all of the things that led to its current record vs the Seahawks and Packers.

          3.  The final and perhaps biggest pattern of 2015 is that the Vikings have bounced back after every loss.  They followed the MNF loss with two solid wins over Detroit and San Diego.  They followed up the Denver loss with 5 straight wins after the bye.  After the Packers ended that streak, the Vikings beat Atlanta to go to 8-3…

…which leads us to Thursday night.  The thing that makes most Vikings fans squirm right now is that they haven’t faced this caliber of opponent after a loss all season, especially on such a short week.  However, it would take a complete collapse to miss the playoffs at this point.  There haven’t been many times in recent years where the Vikings have known the benefit of winning early.  Typically the team has a bad start and either rebounds for a shot at the playoffs or not.  Or, it’s the exact opposite…remember 2003?

(Coincidentally, up until they “won” against Detroit, I felt the Packers might have been heading in that direction.)

I feel like we are not yet in the position where we have to watch the scoreboard.  Even if the Vikings enter Week 15 at 8-5, there’s still hope, and that’s a position I will continue to hold until all hope is lost.

(Both members of Vikings Cavalcade will attend Vikings-Bears on the 20^th.  Pictures to come during that week’s reaction blog.) 

Week 12: Back in the saddle again? Can we keep it this time?

Did someone hit the reset button or something?

I distinctly remember being disappointed at having squandered a chance to open up a lead in the division last week.  Now, as we head into a showdown with the Falcons, suddenly we’re in first again with a chance to keep it, if only for another week?

I’m not sure if I should be ecstatic the Vikings got help from the Bears this week, or even more upset that they pulled one off against the Packers when we couldn’t. 

But, that’s okay.  All will be forgiven and forgotten, much like Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay (which made it even funnier when the Packers lost on the ultimate Packers night) if the Vikings can claim first with a win against the Atlanta Falcons.

There are warts on both sides.  Atlanta’s ultimate touchdown vulture Devonta Freeman is out with an injury on their side, but the Vikings might have the worst of it because we are missing our hitman; the best safety this team has got.  Antone Exum will apparently start in his place.  I’m excited for Antone to get his opportunity, but I’m prepared for the worst.

It goes without saying that if the Vikings want to be taken seriously as a playoff contender, they need to bounce back this week and get a win.  At 7-3, the Vikings lead the division, but they would currently have a game on the rest of the wild card teams if Green Bay had won to go to 8-3.  If the Packers want to continue melting down against every team that’s not the Vikings, that’s fine by me.  But, assuming the Packers find their late-season form again, the Vikings will definitely want to own the tiebreakers over the teams chasing them if they should happen to lose a couple down the stretch like they usually do.

A win Sunday might, dare I say it, put the Vikes in the driver’s seat for a wild card berth.  The remaining schedule is tough, but if the Vikings win half of their remaining games, that’s 10.  With how weak the NFC Wild Card hunt currently looks, 10 might be the magic number.  As for which three I’d pick the Vikings to win…uh, get back to me on that one. 

After all, anything can happen in the NFL. 

Here’s to a bounce-back win this time.

Vikings vs Packers: Little Brown Jug 2.0? The slow and painful death of a once-great rivalry.

Well…that Vikings game against the Packers certainly…existed.

With the puke in my sink as my witness, I have to say that we saw one of the worst losses in all of Border Battle history on Sunday.

What made this one so bad?  Was it the fact that the Vikings were more than willing to be the slump-buster for a wounded Packers team that fell behind them in the standings after an inexplicable loss to Detroit last week, handing back the keys to the NFC North in the process? 

Was it the seemingly one-sided officiating?  Yes, the Vikings’ penalties were mostly self-inflicted, but the Packers got off scot free with quite a lot (like nearly decapitating Teddy on a facemask). 

Or was it the fact that at 7-2, the Vikings had finally begun to look like a professional football team for the first time since 2012 (possibly 2009), only to lose badly to Green Bay and make all of this progress seem like a total fluke? 

It’s likely a combination of all three.  That, and there’s the fact that with so many green and gold fans living in Minnesota, the taunting certainly won’t stop anytime soon.  “We have Super Bowls and you don’t!”  “We have Aaron Rodgers and you don’t!”  “You thought you could actually beat us?  That’s cute!”  They might even steal a great line from Dodgeball; “We’re better than you, and we know it!”

Ahem…getting back to my earlier point, I think the worst part about losing to the Packers for the 15^th time in 20 games since 2006 is that the Vikings proved once again beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are simply not ready for the spotlight (though let’s be honest, this team’s entire history is built around not being ready for prime time).

This team can win games.  They proved that by winning seven of eight after that awful MNF loss to begin the season.  You can say whatever you want about “getting fat” on mediocre/bad teams; the Vikings are finally decent at winning games again.

What we wanted to see was progress.  A win against the Packers would have sent the Vikings’ playoff stock skyrocketing.  As I said last week, even a win over a wounded Packers team would have been huge.  It would have also provided the confidence to beat just about any of the tougher teams on the back seven (Atlanta, Arizona, etc).  If the Vikings are going to become a premier team in this league, they must be able to defeat the team that has run the NFC North since its inception in 2002 when the realignment happened.

By choking away such a huge chance on Sunday with awful line play and inexcusable penalties that we weren’t taking in previous weeks, fans will surely enter this week moaning, “If we can’t beat the Packers, how can we expect to beat Atlanta or Arizona or Seattle?”

The biggest question the Vikings need to answer beginning next Sunday at Atlanta is this; are the Packers just an Achilles heel like the Yankees to the Twins or the BlackHawks to the Wild? Or is this team lacking the ability to beat the elite? 

If the answer to the first question is yes, the Vikes might be able to do just enough to avoid a season’s on the line situation at Lambeau Field in Week 17.  After Week 11’s pathetic showing, it's clear we want no part of that.

Rising Vikes vs Slumping Pack: Who takes first place?

And so it begins…the tough part of the schedule.  Green Bay twice, Arizona, Seattle, Chicago (which might get very interesting the second time around if the Bears keep winning games), Atlanta and the New York Giants.

After a 7-2 start, that schedule does not look as brutal as it once did.  However, those other games will have to wait.  After all, it’s Packer week.

Things have been going well for the Vikings lately.  Players seem to get nominated as “player of the week” after every game, and winning that honor quite a bit.  Terrence Newman is the most recent recipient on the defensive side after scoring two huge interceptions.  His second one came at a critical time, as a third Derek Carr touchdown might have given Oakland a late chance to come from behind and beat the Vikings.  Of course, All Day sealed the deal with another “HE’S LOOSE!” run for a touchdown.

The Vikings are on a five game winning streak.  The defense is becoming more legitimate with each passing week.  You can say what you want about “feasting on bad teams,” but I’ll take it because the Vikes used to lose to some of those teams (like in the opener this year).  The team is 5-0 since a game in which it had a legitimate shot to beat Denver way before Andrew Luck did.

Historically, this is the point where it all comes crashing down.  But, the Vikings seem to be adopting a Marty McFly attitude (“Yeah, well, history is gonna change”). 

One thing I doubt many people saw coming in the March to the Border Battle was what happened to the Packers the past few weeks.  As the Vikings beat Kansas City and Detroit, the Packers kept a steady hold on the division lead at 6-0 while the Vikings sat at 4-2.  The next week, the Vikings finally won at Soldier Field for the first time since 2007 while the Packers got stomped by Denver.  Minnesota won again in overtime against the Rams the next week to go to 6-2.  The Packers lost to Carolina 37-29, and suddenly Green Bay stared the “inferior” Vikings straight in the face.

Typically, Aaron Rodgers bounces back from one loss.  He usually doesn’t lose two in a row.  He most certainly doesn’t lose three in a row…right?  Wrong.  In a game that apparently wasn’t televised outside the Wisconsin and Michigan markets (Vikings fans see the Packers almost as often as their own team most seasons), the Packers lost at home against the previously 1-7 Lions for the first time since the first Bush administration.  The Vikings took care of Oakland, as previously mentioned, to claim sole possession of first place.

The Vikings come into the first Packers game in a rare position.  Green Bay is in a slump the likes of which Aaron Rodgers has avoided since his rookie year, when he suffered a five-game losing streak that took the Packers out of any possible playoff contention.  Yeah, as Vikings fans, we are used to losing to them and they are not used to losing period.

The rest, as they say, is history.  But, as we all know, you can throw silly things like records and history out the window whenever rivals play.  One thing is for sure, the Vikings need to smell blood and get after a limping rival.  The Packers are still the Packers, and they will be enraged after losing to the Lions last week.

Mike Zimmer has had his team fight and claw its way to increasing levels of respect.  The Vikings might very well be favored against Green Bay at TCF this weekend.  He sounds like he’s doing everything he can to keep his players’ heads on straight and not fall victim to believing their own hype.  That’s probably what happened against San Francisco, right?

This begins a test to see if the Vikings can stand up with the elite teams in the league.  7-2 is still 7-2 no matter how you got there, but that’s not enough for some people, including Coach Z.  A win over Green Bay, even a wounded Green Bay, would keep the respect coming and the Vikings hype train would keep rolling. 

Best of all, the Vikings would open up a two-game lead in the division.  It would also guarantee a winning record in the divison one year after losing all but one game within the North.  The Vikings are playing football as a fairly complete team right now.  Sure, Teddy Bridgewater could be throwing for more yards, but Minnesota is playing to all of its strengths, which has proven to be a winning formula.

If they can do the same against the Packers and get a win, watch out. 

On the flip side, a loss would prove that the Vikings are still a fringe team; good at beating the Detroits and St. Louis’s of the world, but not quite ready for the next level; something which has really defined the Vikings throughout their history. 

Could the Vikings make the playoffs without beating the Packers?  It’s possible.  Seattle’s looking decidedly less invincible than in previous years, and I’m pretty sure Eli Manning hates us by now.  If 7-2 was to drop to 7-3, that’s still a pretty record through the first ten games.  It’s likely the Vikings could still control their own destiny regardless of this game.

But, count on Vikings territory to be disappointed if it happens.  We’re sick of being pushed around.  If change is coming as soon as this season, a win against the Packers needs to become a reality.  Expectations have changed in a hurry for the purple and gold, and the biggest rivalry we have needs to turn the corner at some point, so why not now?    

Sunday, we find out if this team is ready to step up to the big stage.