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 18: Wild Card; on to…uh, Minneapolis!

Welcome to the Division Champion edition of Vikings Cavalcade!  

I was pretty ecstatic Sunday night.  At least, I felt that way after the Vikings properly defended a play that may or may not have happened on time (in slow motion, Rodgers appeared to get the play off in time, but it’s extremely bang-bang and would have almost certainly been carefully reviewed had the Packers scored). 

In a way, ending the game like that was the perfect way for Minnesota to win the NFC North; Vikings fans were extremely upset when the Lions forgot how to play defense on the Hail Mary awarded to Green Bay after what I like to call “the Phantom Facemask.”

After losing to Seattle a few days later, the Vikings fell behind Green Bay in the division race, seemingly for good; and it burned fans up that the division turned on what we thought was a screwy sequence at the end of that Thursday game (and that THEY got to win like THAT and all WE got was a beating from the Seahawks).  

How appropriate, then, that the Vikings showed the Lions how it was done; knocking down one final heave from one of the best quarterbacks in the game today.

After years of Packer dominance (with the Bears winning in 2005, 2006 and 2010 and the Vikings winning previously in 2008 and 2009), does this win signal a changing of the guard?  Or will the teams trade the title over time?  That seems the more likely route, unless Green Bay reverts to 1970s form anytime soon, which won’t happen as long as they have a HOF quarterback behind center. 

My, what a long way we have come from Week One, where most of us shut the television off in disgust and said “Playoffs?  You kiddin’ me?  I just hope we can win a game!”  Well, 11 wins later, here we are.  We get a rematch against Seattle; not a favorable matchup, but we also aren’t missing half of our defense this time.  And speaking of those other guys, I’m not so sure Green Bay got the “easy” matchup, either. 

Kirk Cousins is red-hot right now.  The Redskins are no cupcake, in my opinion.  Yes, they probably are an easier team to beat than Seattle, but not if Cousins has all day to pick apart that defense.  We had a 17 point lead on Green Bay in the third quarter with hardly a contribution from Teddy.  If the Redskins get going, watch out!

It’s just a nice thought at this point, but if the Vikings can get past Seattle and Arizona and Carolina follows the trend of bye-week teams losing immediately, TCF Bank Stadium would be able to go out with a bang hosting the NFC Title game.  I just hope Green Bay has lost by that point, because after the way it ended for them last season, I’m not sure if I want an angry Aaron Rodgers slinging the ball around on the second-biggest stage of them all.  That is, unless our defense could shine again, and have an exact repeat of last Sunday’s game.

Mike Zimmer might not consider it a signature win, but it was.  The Vikings won two Sunday Night Football games in a row (literally) after losing so much under the lights in recent years.  Furthermore, when the people doubted the team after bad losses, the Vikings always seemed to answer the bell and bounce back with a win or a closely-contested loss to show they hadn’t lost their edge. 

Some people doubt the Vikings again as they welcome Seattle.  I say let them doubt, and let’s see if the Vikings can get the last laugh.  It’s the playoffs, where “any given Sunday” goes from oldest cliché in the book to sudden reality.  It’s time to stop being pessimists and believe in this team. 

Bring it on.

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?