NFC Title Game: To go boldly where no (host) team has ever gone before!

So, it’s time to put the miracle in the rear-view.  Now there’s a phrase used in everyday life.

The 2017 Minnesota Vikings have already made history after one playoff game.  If you believe that there is a curse specifically targeting the Vikings, they may have destroyed it with the Minneapolis Miracle only to encounter another one: something called the home field curse.

As we all know, no team has ever had home field advantage in the Super Bowl, and no matter how hard the NFL tries to play it (AFC being designated the “home team” as per usual rotation), if the Vikings make it, they will be the home team.  There’s no way around it. 

The other part of the “home field curse” is that no one had ever made it past the divisional round of the playoffs in the year their city hosted the big game; something the Vikings have already done thanks to Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs putting the Saints’ season through a table Dudley Boyz style.  The Vikings already conquered one part of the curse by being one of the few host teams to make the playoffs in the first place.  This is uncharted territory.  

Minnesota’s opponent on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles, are not a victim of this curse, because Philly has never hosted a Super Bowl.  But they, like the Vikings, have also never won one.  That is the best thing about the championship games this year; three of the four teams have never won a Super Bowl, and one of them automatically gets that shot regardless of results.

The Eagles are definitely powered down without Carson Wentz, but I would not sleep on Nick Foles.  The Vikings defense will have to be up to the task of stopping Philly’s ground game and making them a one-dimensional team.  The Eagles only scored 15 points against Atlanta, but they seemed to make all of the right plays at the right times.  Meanwhile, we needed a rookie to falter at the worst possible time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  Mike Zimmer said “there is no damn curse.”  If that’s true, I expect a win on Sunday.

There isn’t much more to say except I really hope this isn’t the last Vikings Cavalcade this season to review one game and talk about the next one. 

I hope to begin the next post with “THE VIKINGS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!” 

I also hope to be able to start a Skol chant in public whenever I feel like it.  It’s all up to you now, Vikes.

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 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 13: The "I'm done with predicting seasons forever" edition

Amazing how a run of bad luck can completely change one’s outlook on a season.

When this season started, I was so excited that the Vikings got to play on basically every major holiday; they were going to cause Halloween havoc against the Bears, they were going to have roast Lions alongside turkey for Thanksgiving, and best of all, they were going to give their fans a very merry Christmas Eve by potentially taking the Lambeau game for a second straight year.

Did any of that happen, and will any of it happen?  No and probably not.

I’m really starting to think Winter Park was built over some kind of sacred burial ground.  An injury list that would read like a V.I.P. guest list if the Vikings were nationally relevant and a starting quarterback who destroys his knee without even trying in one of the most fluke-ish ways imaginable.  

Every other team in the NFL makes finding a franchise quarterback look easy, except maybe Cleveland.  The Vikings finally get one, and wouldn’t you know it, he may never play again.  Darn the luck.

Chalk up tonight’s Dallas game as one that looked very exciting and even winnable when the season started.  Not anymore.  The Cowboys are a juggernaut this year.  They have found the next Adrian Peterson and Dak Prescott ain’t too shabby, either.  This wouldn’t be that big of a problem if the Vikings were still good.  But they aren’t.  How many more “save our season” games can the Vikings blow before there’s no more season left to save?

The only real hope is that this Vikings team has one more sucker punch left in them.  Indeed, with the way the NFL is, one punch could be all it takes, and we could be looking at an 11-5 team when the end of the season rolls around.

But then I remember this team is cursed.  Maybe it’ll lift when the Vikings move their operations to Eagan.

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!

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.

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 9: Gurley vs Peterson; a tough one to call

I’ve been forced to re-think some things.

The Vikings are 5-2, on a three-game win streak, and conclude a favorable schedule run against the Rams and the Raiders; two teams that have had a recent history of being terrible (as have the Vikings).

The catch here is that these two teams seem to be coming out of that period along with the Vikes.  The Raiders will be a featured subject next week, but I’ve got plenty to talk about regarding this week’s opponent.

The Vikings have a long history with the Rams.  It’s been a fairly successful run, but they threw the biggest haymaker when they beat us in the 1999/2000 playoffs on the way to a very memorable Super Bowl win against the Titans. 

Lately, the series has been all Vikings. Brett Favre rolled to a 5-0 start in his good year with the team, a 38-10 blowout in 2009. Three years ago, Adrian Peterson ran for 212 yards near the tail end of his MVP season while Christian Ponder rode along just trying not to screw up anything. The Vikings held on for a 36-22 win.

Last year, the Vikings crushed the Rams 34-6; a victory that should have been a sign of great things to come for the purple and gold.  Instead, it wound up being one of just a handful of highlights from what we can really call a lost year.  Last season, Matt Cassel led the Vikings.  Some people thought Teddy Bridgewater should have started from the word “go” in 2014.

This year, Teddy gets his chance.  He has Adrian Peterson.  He has Charles Johnson back, which is good with Stefon Diggs limping along a bit.  But, this game will be no walk in the park.  The Vikings offense has struggled to close victories over lesser teams than St. Louis.  When I thought the Vikings might roll to non-nail-biting wins against the hapless Chiefs and Lions, they ended up having to grind and made all of Vikings territory (see what I did there?) squirm.

Last week, it looked like another loss to Chicago before Teddy turned back into Teddy after spending the game looking like someone else.  Resiliency has been a theme for this team all season.  They’ll need it against Todd Gurley, who has been a stud this season since being cleared for NFL action.

In fact, this Vikings-Rams game resembles the famous Chargers-Vikings game from 2007.  A comparison Branden and I have thrown around quite a bit this season is that the Rams heavily resemble the 2007 Vikings. Solid defense, stud halfback, but Nick Foles is a better quarterback than Tavaris Jackson was.

Overall, the Vikings look better on paper, but this team has been unable to score touchdowns in the red zone.  They’ve struggled to beat teams whose seasons are turning pear-shaped.  St. Louis is proving that solid defense + running game = better chance at victory.  The Vikings should win, but the cupcake portion of the schedule has ended prematurely.  

Oakland will be no picnic either.  Derek Carr is blossoming into a star quarterback before our eyes.