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.
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