Going into this season I asked everyone of my friends who are fans of the Minnesota Vikings, how they thought their team was going to fair this year in the overcrowded NFC North and they all gave the same sort of answer,
“3-14 would be a solid year.”
“I’d take 5 wins.”
“With Sam Darnold at the helm, 4 wins would be a great year.”
“Hopefully we suck just enough to get the first overall pick.”
“Wait Minnesota has a football team?”
So, you would think they would be through the moon with this start to the season. Well, you would be 100% wrong. Ahhh I’m just kidding. I just wrote that sentence to ruffle a few feathers. For the first time in my life I’m seeing a new Vikings fan, one who is full of understanding and positivity by saying things like,
“Come on guys, if Sam Darnold leads us to promise land great, if not we will have an early pick to surround the team with more talent to make a run at it next year with our new young quarterback.”
Confusing I know… Most years all I hear echoing through our great lakes is a Tom Cruise cocktail of ignorance and negativity. But this sudden change of attitude must have to do with the fact that the team had zero expectations headed into the year but nonetheless, it’s the shock of my lifetime time. Over the past 5 years I’ve heard nothing but complaining from the Vikings fan base,
“How will Kirk mess it up this year.”
“13-4… We will probably choke in the playoffs.”
“I can throw a better ball than Kirk.”
“How the hell did we lose a home playoff game to Daniel Jones of all people?”
“Kirk sucks, fire everyone.”
“You guys are yanking my chain. Minnesota really has a football team?”
They were right about at least one thing… How did you lose to Daniel Jones in the playoffs? For the most part they have earned the right to be negative. The Vikings always have found a way to either choke away a playoff chance due to a kicking mishap or be stuck in .500 purgatory. Two places that will anger any fan base. I will never forget when Blair Walsh missed a game winning 27-yard chip shot in the 2015 playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks on a day where wind chills were reaching close to the negative 30’s. I was at that game, drinking a Miller Lite slushy as I was stuck to an ice-cold metal bleacher seat, watching winter hats and mittens rain down on a slumped shouldered Walsh, listening to fans spit out language that would even make Quentin Tarantino say,
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? I don’t even think Jules Winnfield would have said that.”
It was at this point that I learned that maybe that whole Minnesota nice thing doesn’t apply to our sports franchises.
With expectations this year lower than the resting place of Edmund Fitzgerald, it’s nice to see a new side of Vikings fans, one full of compassion and understanding. Well so far… There is no denying it, the Vikings have been the Sam Darlings of the NFL season. The key part to the darling-fication of the Vikings has been their newly found shipwreck of a quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnolds career up to this point has been a combination of bad to worse to bad again to huh, there might be something here. Darnold has bounced around from team to team since being drafted 3rd overall by The New York Jets in 2018. But when Darnold started to see ghosts of Patriots players in New York, they shipped him off to the Carolina Panthers which to put politely, didn’t go well. But last year after signing with the 49ers as he was filling in for an injured Brock Purdy up in the Bay Area, something seemed different. He looked competent in the Kyle Shanahan offense by making good reads and good throws so much, so it landed him an opportunity with the Vikings, where he has fit right in. It does help that The Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell comes from the same coaching tree as Kyle Shanahan, so it must have been an easy transition for the now NFL Journeyman.
Darnold has been spectacular this year. He has taken full advantage of his opportunity with an elite Vikings offensive roster, so much so that after Sunday night’s win over the silver fox Joe Flacco lead Indianapolis Colts the Vikings record has improved to a floating Pre-November 10th, 1976, Edmund Fitzgerald 6-2. The Vikings find themselves only a game back in the NFC North from the best team in the NFL Detroit Lions. But what comes with a 6-2 record and a game out of 1st place in the division? Well, I’m glad you asked. Expectations and we all know how ornery you Vikings fans can get when your team doesn’t live up to expectations. So, I implore you Minnesota to take it easy on this team if things do start to go post November 10th, 1976, Edmund Fitzgerald on you because you shouldn’t even be here in the first place. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but with a great defense, a competent quarterback and a receiver who is on goat pace, you have found yourself in the midst of playoff contention, exceeding every expectation you had.
Minnesota I'm proud of you so far. There has been little to no complaining this year. So, let's continue that trend by just enjoying this unexpected sail towards the playoffs. All is forgiven for past comments but we can also learn from those past comments that have been made to not repeat them in future because If I hear anyone in this deciduous state say anything remotely close to,
“Kevin O’Connell needs to be fired he can’t coach a pee-wee team let alone an NFL Franchise.”
“Sam Darnold sucks he should be kicked out of this league.”
“I can throw a ball better than Sam Darnold.”
“Even though we ran him out of town, I really wish Kirk Cousins was still here.”
"Sam Sucks. Fire Everyone."
“You guys weren’t joking; Minnesota actually does have a football team. I thought we built US Bank stadium solely for Taylor Swift Concerts.”
I’m going to start comparing you to Jets fans… That’s right you heard me… Jets Fans!
Thanks For Reading and Hopefully My Friends Are Still Talking To Me After They Read This…
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