Vikings

One Year Later, the Week 17 Stakes are Higher For the Vikings

Photo Credit: Brian Curski

What a difference a year makes for the Minnesota Vikings.

Starting in Week 15 a season ago, the Vikings played a middling AFC team at home, the Green Bay Packers on the road and the Chicago Bears at home to finish the season.

This year’s schedule was nearly identical, but the outcomes have been drastically different.

Minnesota defeated Cincinnati soundly at home in Week 15 one year after getting drubbed by the Indianapolis Colts, 34-6. Then they headed to Lambeau Field, where they flipped the script on the Packers, who beat them 38-25 in Week 16 last year to squash their playoff hopes.

Now, instead of looking to reverse last year’s results, they’ll be looking to match their 38-10 win over the Bears in Week 17 last year. If they do, the Vikings will have secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the NFC.

“You’re either playing for something or you’re playing for nothing. We’re playing for something a little extra,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs. “It definitely adds motivation, especially for the guys, your teammates, who are a little banged up. You want them to be healthy so they can be out there and that kind of thing. It definitely adds fuel to the fire.”

In his four years as Vikings head coach, Mike Zimmer has prepared for four Week 17 games — two meant something; two didn’t.

To Zimmer’s credit, the Vikings have never lost in the regular season’s final week, a time when many teams are packing it in.

But he acknowledges that the energy at Winter Park is different when his team has something to play for.

“When you get in the playoffs, you’ve got a chance,” Zimmer said. “Whether it’s a six seed or second seed, you’ve got a chance, and I think our guys feel good about that.”

Wide receiver Adam Thielen twice referred to Sunday’s tilt with the Bears as a “playoff” game. If Minnesota doesn’t win, there is a small chance they could lose their bye week and be forced to play in the Wild Card round. In that sense, a win on Sunday counts for two.

No team since 2012 has reached the Super Bowl without a bye week.

“Obviously, it is going to be a little different intensity,” said Thielen, “just because we’re playing for that first-round bye, and that’s huge.”

A year ago at this time, people were wondering if Thielen could reach the 1,000-yard mark in receiving yards and whether his breakout season was a fluke or the start of a trend. This season, he accomplished the 1,000-yard feat in Week 12 and enters Sunday’s game as the fifth-leading receiver in football.

One year ago on the defensive side, the Vikings were fielding questions about whether or not their secondary went “rogue” during a sloppy first half against the Packers. Presently, the hot topic is the defensive backs’ work the last three weeks against the pass, allowing 129, 115 and 126 yards, respectively.

In 2016, Zimmer’s work as a coach was under scrutiny for the first time. Had he lost the locker room? Now he’s up for Coach of the Year.

As mentioned, a lot can change in one year.

The only constant seems to be that the Chicago Bears are, again, out of the running.

And the Vikings know they have to take advantage.

“We’re going in with the right mindset,” said Diggs. “We want to finish what we started, and we want to keep it going. That’s the goal.”


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