I would have been surprised if you had told me the Minnesota Vikings would lose their opening game to the Cincinnati Bengals before the season started. I would have been further confused if you told me they were 1-3, and their win was over the Seattle Seahawks. But it’s essential to place this in context, and I think it will inform us why the Vikings were able to be the team they thought they would be in Week 3.
The context is that they lost their first two games by four total points and then handily beat a good team, something they never did last season. The only two-possession win they had last year came against the Detroit Lions, and they were the only team worse than the Vikings in the NFC North.
We all know by now that the Vikings haven’t beaten the Seahawks since Brett Favre was in purple and Russell Wilson was a sophomore at NC State. And I think part of the story is that the Vikings finally beat the Seahawks under Mike Zimmer. But it’s not the whole story.
It’s been too long since the Vikings won a big game that wasn’t close. Seriously, when was the last blowout the Vikings had against a team with a winning record? By my estimation, it was the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, and they ended up with a 9-7 record.
That Philly game wasn’t all that meaningful either, other than that it became talking point for Kirk Cousins defenders. And Philly was a 9-7 team; that’s by no means a world-beater record.
The Vikings killed two birds with one stone last week. It’s good progression since Week 1, when the defense was awful and the offense was plagued by penalties. In Week 2, they were able to keep Kyler Murray at bay, at least to the extent you can. But they lost due to a missed kick. In Week 3, they appeared to play angrily and let the Seahawks have it.
Now they need the defense to be what the front office promised: an experienced collection of free agents, vets, and young studs. On paper, it looks excellent. But we need to see the secondary firm up and the run defense hold running backs to under 4.5 yards per carry.
The Cleveland Browns will be the perfect test for Minnesota in Week 4. It’s a big game even though we are less than a quarter of the way through this season. The Vikings are in the middle of a three-game homestand and need to get out with a positive record to keep pace with the Green Bay Packers and the rest of the NFC.
And, yes, they need to get hot because they have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. Here are the remaining opponents:
The only teams I’m sure the Vikings can beat are the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Chicago Bears. But since two of those teams are divisional rivals, they could easily trade wins. The San Francisco 49ers are pretenders, and the Baltimore Ravens are mercurial, so there are two winnable games. However, outside of a home win against the Green Bay Packers, there’s a lot of uncertainty.
With six remaining divisional games, including two to close out the season against the Packers and Bears, I don’t think there are any reasonable win/loss record predictions right now. It’s a crapshoot. We do know one thing: The Vikings can play with a chip on their shoulder and pull out a win against a favored team.
With Cousins’ performance this season and the steady progression of the team, this could be a watershed moment, especially with fans back at US Bank Stadium and the fantastic play-calling from Klint Kubiak over the past two games. This could last.
