T.J. Hockenson looked exhausted after the Philadelphia Eagles game. The Minnesota Vikings had hung with the Eagles in a hostile environment but came up short, losing 34-28. It was a Thursday night, four days after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had upset them 20-17 as four-point underdogs at US Bank Stadium. Hockenson slumped next to his locker. He had grass stains on his white uniform, bags under his blue eyes, and sweat building in his long, blonde hair.
“0-2, it’s a tough way to start,” he said. “But there’s a lot of football ahead of us.
“There’s an unwavering belief in this locker room that we’re gonna come out with a win every week, and it’s a credit to these guys in here that we continue that. We can’t come out here just thinking it’s a bounce the wrong way or doing anything like that. We have to put these two behind us and correct a few things.”
Only 11.5% of teams that have started 0-2 have made the playoffs. Hockenson looked beat after the Philly game. But he talked about how the team would rest for three days, then prepare to play the Los Angeles Chargers in Minneapolis. “There’s 15 games left, and we can’t lose that unwavering belief,” Hockenson added. “It’s our job to get our bodies right. We have a lot of games left before bye week. I think bye week is Week 12 or something, Week 10, somewhere around there, and we have a lot of games before that.”
Minnesota’s bye week isn’t until Week 13. December feels like a long way away in mid-September. To make matters worse, the Chargers beat the Vikings 28-24 the next week, sending them to 0-3. Since 1979, only six teams have lost their first three games and made the playoffs. Of the 158 teams that have started 0-3 since 1990, only four have made the playoffs, and none have reached the Super Bowl.
The Vikings picked up their first win over the Carolina Panthers, but it was a sloppy 21-13 victory over a team that is still winless. The Kansas City Chiefs beat them a week later, and Justin Jefferson left the game with a hamstring injury. Given Jefferson’s importance to the offense and the strength of this year’s quarterback class, it was fair to speculate on whether they would tank.
Minnesota might not necessarily have needed the first-overall pick to land Caleb Williams. A loss in Chicago may have pushed them toward focusing on the draft. But the Vikings insisted there was no talk of tanking within their Eagan facility. “No. No, we have not,” Kevin O’Connell said before the Chicago Bears game. “It’s been kind of a back-to-work mentality, with a mindset on, regardless of the circumstances, respond, do your job one snap at a time.
“It’s about our process to prepare for the games. [And] it’s about us staying true to doing the things we need to do to take on the challenges every week in this league.”
Minnesota traded for Cam Akers and Dalton Risner after the loss in Philadelphia, indicating that they weren’t going to bottom out. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has called tanking “unconscionable” in the offseason. Still, it felt like a possibility, even after beating the Bears. The win in Soldier Field hardly felt convincing. Justin Fields was ineffective before leaving with an injury, and backup Tyson Bagent last started in a Division II game. The Vikings’ offense looked lost without Jefferson.
Still, the players had an unwavering belief in themselves. Risner picked up on the vibe even though he joined the team in Week 3. “This is a different feel here in Minnesota,” he said before the Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers. “We may be 2-4. Not that I’m some wily old vet that’s been in the league for 15 years, but it’s a different feel here, man.
“Give credit to these guys; they’re a great team. We’re gonna have to bring our juice, but’s gonna be a fun Monday night.”
The Vikings brought their juice and upset San Francisco, dismissing any notion that they would tank this year. Beating one of the NFC’s best teams as a seven-point underdog is impressive. But now Minnesota must take care of business. They should have beaten Tampa Bay as favorites, and the Chargers have started 2-4. The Vikings can’t have many more slip-ups. They have six winnable games coming up, starting with Sunday’s border battle. Vegas favors the Green Bay Packers by a point, even after losing to the Denver Broncos last week.
“We are always going to be the underdog,” Camryn Bynum said after the Vikings upset the Niners. “It doesn’t really matter, especially the hole we put ourselves in [at] the beginning of the season. But none of that noise affects us. We keep our head on straight, and we know that day by day, we get better and better.”
The Vikings must win most, if not all, of those games to avoid the mushy middle. It’s their chosen path, and the win over San Francisco validates their self-belief. But it’s a daunting journey. They have a small margin for error in their next six games before facing the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions twice to end the season. December doesn’t feel so far away now, but Minnesota will have earned their bye come Week 13.
