T.J. Hockenson vividly remembers the short week between the Minnesota Vikings’ 31-29 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 7 and their 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams five days later.
“It was a tough one,” Hockenson said. “We came off our bye week and lost two in a row, [then] turned the page and won nine straight.
“This league humbles you quickly, and things like that can happen.”
Hockenson was close to returning against the Rams but used the extra time before the Indianapolis Colts game in Week 9 to get fully healthy. Blake Cashman also missed that game with turf toe, and Puka Nacua unexpectedly returned.
Things will be different this time. The Vikings will play the Rams in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday because of the wildfires in Los Angeles. Cashman and Hockenson are healthy, and Minnesota has a plan for Nacua.
The Vikings cannot allow history to repeat itself because there is no second chance this time. Minnesota may have reeled off nine straight before Detroit beat them 31-9 last week, but that was one of Minnesota’s few true road tests this year. They have largely played in front of purple-clad crowds in Sun Belt locations, and they will on Monday night in Arizona.
There was a lot of hype before the Detroit game. It was the first time two 13-plus-win teams had met in the regular season. By beating Minnesota, the Lions got home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and made the 14-win Vikings start on the road.
Still, it wasn’t do-or-die, which makes the feeling around this week’s game so strange.
Granted, many people in the Vikings organization, including Kevin O’Connell and Sam Darnold, have Southern California connections. The natural disaster in the Palisades is part of Monday’s narrative.
Still, it feels like people were anticipating last Sunday’s Week 18 game in Detroit more than the playoff game in Glendale.
Two weeks ago, Justin Jefferson brightened up when discussing the Detroit game.
“I love these games,” he said. “Just to be in that moment, to be in that building, and the whole world is watching.”
However, Jefferson took a different tone in describing Monday night’s game against the Rams.
“It felt like any other week, honestly,” said Jefferson. “Really trying not to make this week [bigger than] what it is.
“Everyone knows it’s a playoff game. Everyone knows it’s a win-or-go-home situation.”
Last week, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels described the Detroit game as a “slobber knocker,” or a hard-fought, physically aggressive game.
“We’re looking forward to it,” he said. “Bringing our big-boy pads and really kind of strap it up.”
However, like Jefferson, he focused more on the reset than the hype this week.
“It’s very, very hard to win in this league,” he said. “For us to go out and win 14 says a lot about the players, staff, personnel. Everybody’s put everything into it, really the whole organization.
“But with that, we kind of turn over a new leaf. Record doesn’t matter anymore, everyone’s 0-0.”
Perhaps “slobber knocker” isn’t the right term for the Rams game because they play less physically than Detroit. The Lions have taken on Dan Campbell’s coffee-fueled, knee-biting persona. Instead, O’Connell and the Vikings must match wits with Sean McVay, who he coached under before taking the Minnesota job.
O’Connell has established the tone this week, telling his team that their record no longer matters. Nobody will be happy with a 14-win season if they lose as a favorite to the Rams, just like they lost to new friend Daniel Jones and the 9-7-1 New York Giants as a 13-win team two years ago.
The league humbled the Vikings on Sunday night. They’ve quickly reset and are acting like it’s business as usual this week, except this team hasn’t won a playoff game under O’Connell. To change that, they feel the best approach is treating it like the regular season never happened.
They’re trying to go 1-0 like they have been all year. Only this time, if they don’t, their season is over.