Winning…I had almost forgotten what that felt like.
The Vikings finally took care of a team for the first time
in over a month on Sunday. However, in
true Vikings fashion, they almost choked the game away. In fact, the late game had an eerily similar
feel to the 2003 game (the Paul Allen “NOOOOOOOO” game, in case you need a
reminder).
Only this time, the Vikings closed the deal with defense; something
which the 2003 team was awful at doing starting with the seventh game of that
season. Losing a game or two is a
natural occurrence during the typical NFL season. Losing four in a row is a sign of a team that
perhaps wasn’t as great as everyone made it out to be.
So indeed, as soon as the Vikings got hyped to Mars and
back, they started losing.
However, the losing streak is now in the past. Hopefully, the Vikings can replace it with a
winning streak and take back the division lead.
The opponent: the Detroit Lions. Loss #3 on the year and the correct answer to
a trivia question; indeed they were the first team to hand the Vikings a loss
at shiny new USBank Stadium. The Lions
got into this position simply by winning football games. The Bears stumbled out of the gate and fell
on their faces, and the Packers are surprisingly fading at the moment after a 4-2
start.
Which leaves the Vikings and Lions to fight over the
division today. The first game was ugly,
and I’m not sure what to expect out of the second game. I think Vikings fans are simply relieved that
this game means something, as a loss last week may have been the death knell of
a strange season.
This is the first time the Vikings have played on
Thanksgiving since the less famous Thanksgiving showdown with the Dallas Cowboys
in 2000. The Vikes have played Detroit thrice on Thanksgiving and stand at 2-1; a 27-0 win in 1969, a 23-0 win in 1988 and a 44-38 loss in
1995.
So, how will this one go?
Happy Thanksgiving.
Lion is on the menu this year, and I’m starving for the division lead.
Skol!
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