Week 3: Whoops, we skipped Packer week!

Sorry about that...we completely skipped last week's tie against Green Bay, and the consequences that came from it.  Well, we have a new kicker, and Kirk Cousins appears to be the real deal.  I am still salty that the coaching staff took the ball out of Kirk's hands in the final few plays of overtime when he was dealing and probably would have thrown another touchdown to win the game.  Instead, the coaching staff decided that they could maybe trust a kicker who hadn't made a kick all day.

Spoiler alert: they couldn't...and that's why Dan Bailey is now our kicker.

Fast forward a week; this is a game you absolutely have to win with a short week to follow, and your next two games being against the Rams and Eagles.  Buffalo may very well threaten to join the 0-fer club, population Detroit (2008) and Cleveland (2017).  Theoretically, this should be the easiest game the Vikings play all year...but of course, the Vikings never make anything easy on themselves, so I'm not holding my breath on a blowout win.

The Vikes will probably make this game closer than it has to be.  Then again, it could turn out exactly like the Bengals game from late last year.  That's all I have to say about this game on short notice. 

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

Divisional: The Exorcist Edition!

The Vikings have been running a "bring it home" campaign detailing everyone for whom they want to win the Super Bowl.  With this weekend's opponent, I think a certain quarterback should be added to that list.  Yeah, you know the guy.  The guy Bountygate hurt the most; Brett Favre.

But enough about the past.  Today is about exorcising some demons.  Neither Atlanta or Philadelphia should have struck fear into the heart of either team playing this afternoon at USBank Stadium.  Therefore, it's my prediction that the winner of today's game will go on to beat the Eagles next week and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

It's a pretty simple task, beat the Saints and go on to play a severely weakened Eagles team.  It has been eight years since the Vikings beat the Cowboys in the divisional round, and they haven't won a playoff game since (thanks, Blair Walsh).

But, it's also the Vikings, a team that is 17-28 all-time in playoff games.  I'd say it's time to turn things around.

Week 17: Eyes in front edition

Personally, I would have liked to see a blowout over the Packers, but 16-0 works just fine as a Christmas present.  It got us a win, and unless Philadelphia gets its mojo back in the playoffs, the Vikes possibly won't play outdoors again this season. 

But that of course means the Vikings need to win today.  I'm putting down today as a must-win, even though there's a chance Atlanta beats Carolina to accomplish the same thing.  Today's Cavalcade is going to be a short one, because there are not 86 different scenarios to visit.  Instead, we have just one: win and claim a bye.

There might be some scoreboard-watching today, but if the Vikings win, none of it will matter because they would get an extra week of rest and be prepared for the divisional round of the playoffs. 

I will share my thoughts on why this team has me believing again next week, whether they end up slipping to Wild Card Weekend, or they come through and get the bye.  Either way, as division champs, they'll play at home.  You just need to beat the Bears, and this defense has given up 7 points since losing to Carolina.  I've got to think we'll be fine.

It's a nice feeling to be going to the playoffs no matter what happens this week.  Beats the crap out of the alternative (2016, anyone?).  Skol!

Week 11: Tune in this week for the next exciting episode; Spygate 2: Electric Boogaloo, or Keenum makes his Case!

Well, the decision to start either Case Keenum or Teddy Bridgewater just got a whole lot simpler.  It has been an interesting scenario, to say the least. 

Keenum came out looking like he knew this could be his last game if things did not go well against Washington.  If he was feeling any pressure like that, he handled it extremely well, two ugly interceptions aside.  My main concern coming out of this game is the defense.  Did Washington just give the rest of the league a roadmap to beating the Vikings defense?  The Vikings also thwarted the bye week curse from last season by winning after it.

The team is now 7-2, having won five games in a row.  If this feels vaguely familiar to you, it should; the team did the same under Teddy Bridgewater’s leadership in 2015, his last season in the league.  This team might be better than that team, given the injuries to leading RB Dalvin Cook and Sam Bradford, and they still racked up five wins to climb to first place in the NFC North.

The big storyline this week is the LA Rams.  They are also 7-2, which means they must fall if the Vikings are to be taken seriously as contenders.  This game will likely tell us a lot about both teams.  The other storyline is the fact that Greg Olsen, a future opponent of the Vikings, will be on the broadcast team.  It’s likely that nothing will come of this, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.  If the Panthers stomp the Vikings in a completely unrealistic way later this season (like 41-donut), we will all know why. 

It almost makes you wonder if there’s a conspiracy to stop the Vikings from hosting and playing in the Super Bowl this year.  Almost.  I mean, Bountygate happened.  So anything’s possible, really. 

Though, the fact that the team is actually good enough for a conspiracy to hypothetically happen feels pretty grand.     

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 1: Villainizing the Saints, or, Cooking Up Trouble in Prime Time!

I promised myself that I would not go off the rails and predict a Vikings Super Bowl win in the one we host next February.  If the Vikings have a good year, we will hear enough steam on the subject from other people.

With that said, Monday’s season-opening game against the Saints was a lot of fun to watch.  At long last, the Vikings got some measure of revenge on the team that Bountygated the crap out of Brett Favre seven years ago.  Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs shredded admittedly one of the worst defenses in the NFL.  The really important part was that the Vikings kept one of the best offenses in the league from scoring the usual boatload of points they are known for.  Seriously, if the Saints had a defense that could rival a small college, watch out.  Considering they allegedly cheated to get their one and only Super Bowl, the fact that they have languished since 2014 despite an embarrassment of riches on offense is probably karma.

Many people would tell Vikings fans to slow their roll because playing such a horrendous defense is part of the reason 1-0 came surprisingly easy.  However, I say just enjoy the moment.  The Vikings are not known as the team that does the butt-kicking in prime time games, though they are 5-3 in such games since the loss to Arizona on Thursday Night Football in 2015.  Plus, for those who now hate Adrian Peterson, Monday’s game had to be especially satisfying as a certain rookie completely showed him up.

The true test comes against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, who will have a much better defense chasing after Sam Bradford, Dalvin Cook, and the previously mentioned Thielen and Diggs.  Minnesota should know where its beloved warriors stand after Week 2.  All in all, if the offensive line can actually block all season, this offense should be fine. 

Week 17: ...we should all be used to this by now...

With apologies to Little Orphan Annie, it truly is a hard knock life for Vikings fans.

Ah, 2015.  David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, and a bunch of other people were still alive, and the Vikings won the NFC North.  Good times, good times.

A year later, 8-8, over 9,000 injuries and a wasted opportunity to truly do something great is all we got.  Though let’s be honest, this season was stolen from Vikings fans.  Teddy Bridgewater falling down and destroying his knee was something that could only happen to the Vikings.  Sam Bradford was a good bandage, but somewhere down the line, it all fell apart and the Vikes could not stop the bleeding.

Despite all of that, the real reason it’s tough to be a Vikings fan is because…they did it.  As of this writing, the Green Bay Packers are division champions.  And unlike the Vikings last year, they’ll probably go on to win a fifth Super Bowl and we will never hear the end of it.  Admit it, fellow fans; you’re more upset about that than about the Vikings collapsing.  I think a lot of us would have forgiven a lost season if the Vikes could have knocked off Green Bay on Christmas and possibly kept them out of the playoffs.  But no, the Packers continue to increase the gap and get another year to make “empty trophy case” jokes.

And I don’t think the Vikings will ever catch up.  Indeed, as a wise man once said, "they have everything, we have nothing."

So farewell, 2016-17 season.  Maybe the draft will be good.  Perhaps the Vikings will find the missing pieces to do well next year.

Or, it could all turn to crap again because Winter Park was built over a sacred burial ground. 

At least the Vikings went 1-0 against the Packers in “our house” in 2016.  Of course, you know they’ll probably return the favor by winning the Super Bowl when we host it next February.    

Boy, it was fun when the Vikings were good last year and in the first five games this year.  How I yearn for those times to return again.  The silver lining is that there won’t be a Blair Walsh vs Seattle moment in this year’s postseason, and that’s about all we can be happy about. 

Ouch.

Well, we beat the Bears anyway.  Here's to 2017.  Maybe we'll be good?

For added effect, re-read this post with this video accompaniment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU

       

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 5: We Could Have Something Big Here. Also, winning tickets in random BWW drawings rules!

We are through a quarter of a season and the Vikings have a perfect record of 4-0. 

If you have been paying close attention to Vikings football over the past few seasons (and I’m sure you have if you’ve seeked out this blog to kill time before the noon kickoff against the Texans), by now I’m sure you have noticed some key differences from teams of the recent past; namely that this defense is really, really good.

I can say, with a sour taste in my mouth coming back from watching the 2013 Vikings defense, that the defense of that season (pre-Zimmer) would have allowed Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. to all get loose for a huge combined game in either a close or blowout loss, because that’s what that Vikings team did in prime time.

The Vikings of 2016: nada.  Those three got about a hundred yards total and caught zero touchdowns.  Rhodes closed indeed.  This Vikings teams is 2-0 under the lights with two more games scheduled barring any sudden flexes as the season rolls on.  Moreover, they finally snapped an ugly Monday Night Football losing streak that dated back to 2009.

Aside from the defense, the offense did something that was rare for a Vikings team pre-Zimmer; they responded to the Giants scoring with a nice long drive and put one on the scoreboard to make the lead 14 points again.  How many times have we seen that old, familiar story of “Vikings play well, but can’t dagger the other team, and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as a result?”  Not this team. Not Monday night.

Next up: another home game against Houston.  The Vikings have faced Houston three times and have never lost to them.  The last game took place in 2012 (you know, the year Adrian Peterson went super saiyan), and the Vikes won 23-6.  In 2004 and 2008, the Vikings won by a touchdown.  2004 might be the most famous game of the bunch, as it saw the Vikings get up 21-0 only to need overtime to win.

This feels like another win for the Vikings.  They proved last week that they didn’t have to sack Eli Manning 10 times to get a victory.  All of the moving parts just need to work together, as they have in the first four games.  I’m feeling a couple of turnovers lead to points, but I’m wondering how long the Vikes can sustain the current no-offensive-turnovers run of 16 quarters.

All I know is I’m looking forward to doing the new “Skol” chant at the game.  And as always…

Fear the Zim Reapers.

Week Four: Cutting the Giants Down to Size, or: What? It's Week Four already???

Yes, yes, I know.

The season is already three weeks old.  This will return as a weekly blog starting right now.

Without further ado, here we go.

The 2016 NFL season has so far proven the old adage that you can’t script September. 

Oh, that’s not a thing?  Well it should be.

Just days before the NFL season was set to begin, Teddy Bridgewater collapsed at practice in extreme pain.  We didn’t know if Teddy had suffered some kind of freak bodily injury that could have either killed him or ended his career, but we did know it wasn’t good.

Enter Sam Bradford; former 1^st overall pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2010.  Some people panicked and declared the Vikings’ season to be over before it started, as they had when Teddy got hurt.

Cooler heads reminded everyone else that Sam Bradford, injury-prone underachiever he might be, was entering the greatest situation of his life; plenty of weapons at his disposal and a defense that makes grown men cry for mommy.

So far, cooler heads have prevailed and Bradford has done everything asked of him as part of a 3-0 start that hasn’t quite come the way Vikings fans may have expected, but we will certainly take it.  A little bit of national credit (and I do mean little...the excuse computer has been working overdrive) after being the Doomsday to Cam Newton’s Superman?  That was fun to watch.    

Of course, shutting up all of the Packer fans who told us for months that they would ruin our homecoming was pretty sweet, too.  Oh, and also getting a respectable game out of Shaun Hill in week one.

There are flaws in the Vikings’ offensive game, but if this team can still get better, this season could be a lot of fun.

Next up is the Giants on Monday Night Football.  Normally, I would dread such a game, but the Vikings have started a new streak: 3-0 in prime time games.  It is entirely possible that “the moment” under the lights is not a weakness to this team anymore.  One difference this season is that unless he does something stupid in the next few days, Odell Beckham Jr. will actually get to play this time.  The Giants also have a rejuvenated Victor Cruz and a rookie in Sterling Shepard who is contributing right away.  Trying to contain three talented wideouts could be a challenge.  Then again, don't most good NFL teams have at least two?  Hopefully, the Zim Reapers will be up to the task.

One of the stranger themes in the NFL over the past several years is that the Vikings defense loves to play Eli Manning…and most of that success was when the defense was not that great.  Last year was another example of why Eli must hate us by now.  After bludgeoning Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton in back-to-back weeks, what does Zim have planned for Eli?  I guess we’ll have to find out.

In Zim we trust.  Enjoy the season, Vikings fans.  It should be a fun one with games on Halloween, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving, among others.

Fear the Zim Reapers!

Hello, Vikings fans.  This is a bonus post for this week.  Expect the main post later this week. 

After dismantling Cam Newton and making him look like a rookie, people began to praise the Vikings defense calling them the “Purple People Eaters.” 

You may remember this as the nickname the Vikings defense acquired in the 1970s when they were really, really good.  Drawing comparisons to the past is never a bad thing, but I also feel like that name belongs to Alan Page, Jim Marshall, Paul Krause, and the rest of that team that served as the heyday of the Vikings when we were good enough to at least appear in Super Bowls.

It’s a new era in Vikings football with a new stadium and expectations for the near future are as high as they have been in some time.  Mike Zimmer is doing his best to put the Vikings in a position to succeed for years.      

Not to mention, the defense is really, really good again.    I will always respect Bud Grant and his legacy of putting this team in the national consciousness, but taking the nickname he and his players earned just wouldn’t be right.  We need a new nickname to pay tribute to the monster Zimmer has created.

This blog cannot take credit for creating this name, but we really like it and think it best sums up what the Vikings defense does and will hopefully continue to do.

“The Zim Reapers.”  

Right away, it leaps out at you.  “The Zim Reapers are knocking at your door!”  “Fear the Zim Reapers” could very well be the slogan of the 2016 Minnesota Vikings.  I can foresee some kind of chant involving the Zim Reapers being invented in the future.  Cam and Aaron will be seeing Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen and others in their nightmares for the next month.

I love this name and I heartily endorse it for the nickname of the Zimmer defense that is finally starting to catch the attention of the nation.

Fear the Zim Reapers.