[OC] Maybe it is Time for Minnesota Vikings Fans to Believe
The Minnesota Vikings moved into the top playoff spot in the NFC this weekend. Their eighth straight win, and the Philadelphia Eagles loss to Seattle, makes the Purple the number one seed in the NFC—provided the playoffs were to begin next week.
Yet, a lot of long-suffering Vikings fans are still waiting for the proverbial "other shoe to fall." This franchise, despite some very successful teams, is known to always lose when it seems to matter most—not quite as bad as some franchises, say like Detroit or Cleveland, but still a loser.
The week leading up to the Atlanta game I broke the Vikings history into a series of different eras.
The height of Vikings success, no surprise, is called the Super Bowl Era. In the 10 seasons between 1968 to 1977, the Vikings made the playoffs an incredible nine times, playing (and losing) in five NFC Championship games and four Super Bowls. This era is remembered by losing as heavy favorites to Hank Stam and the Chiefs, losing to the Perfect Season, losing to the Steel Curtain, losing to the Cowboys and the Hail Mary and losing to John Madden and the Raiders. Their perfect 0-4 record in the Super Bowl matches the most by a team without a victory.
Following the Super Bowl Era, one finds the Lost Era, a decade of futility where the Vikings would not achieve 10 wins in any season. Then another era of winning dubbed The Rise of Hope—Green, named for former head coach Denny Green who led the team in nine of the 13 season that makes up this era. During his tenure, Green would average 10 wins per season. The current era is similarly named The Rise of Hope—Zimmer. Hopefully, this will be the start of another long winning tradition. Between these two eras is dubbed the WTF Era. This era was led by Mike Tice, Brad Childress, and Leslie Frazier. Outside of the 2009 season, when quarterback Brett Favre provided a glimmer of hope for a championship, this era was a turbulent time when it didn't seem like the Vikings ship had a rudder to steer the organization to any destination except chaos. This era is full of its own terms of futility that includes "Take a knee," "41-0" and "12 Men in the Huddle."
With the Week 13 win in Atlanta, the Vikings matched a franchise-record five consecutive road wins. This is the fourth time they have achieved this. In 1969 and 1974 they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. A win in Carolina this Sunday would set this team above any other in franchise history. If they can win the last road game in Green Bay two weeks later they would tie the most road wins in a season of seven, sharing the record with the 1998 team that finished 15-1.
This 2017 team is a special team. It's a balanced team. The defense is currently ranked second in the NFL in both points and yards allowed. The offense, despite losing their starting quarterback early in the season and their leading rusher in Week 4, has found a way to string together eight straight wins. It's led by quarterback Case Keenum, who has transformed himself from an undrafted journeyman into one of the top-ranked quarterbacks in the league. His passer rating of 98.6 places his eighth among starting quarterbacks with at least 193 attempts. He's credited with an 8-2 record as the starter, but should also be given credit for salvaging the game in Chicago when he came off the bench to lead the Vikings in a come-from-behind 20-17 win.
It seems each week someone, somewhere is saying that the Vikings are facing their toughest challenge of the season. It started with the road win in Washington after their bye week. This was followed by a convincing win over the Rams in Week 11 and road wins in Detroit and Atlanta. Four games into the toughest five-game stretch of the season the Vikings are 4-0 with yet, no doubt, the toughest challenge yet when they face Cam Newton and the Panthers in Charlotte. Slowly the Vikings are being recognized as one of the best teams in the NFL. Most NFL power rankings have them at third or fourth with the likes of New England, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. If they can win the remainder of their schedule the Vikings would be guaranteed the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs, including the Super Bowl.
Yes, it just might be time to believe in this team. To not be afraid of speaking about the potential of a championship. Everything is aligning for Minnesota to be the first team to play in the Super Bowl they are hosting.
That other shoe isn't going to fall, not this year. Vikings fans need to know it is all right to believe and have faith—afterall even the Chicago Cubs were able to win the World Series, why not the Vikings winning the Super Bowl?
Yet, a lot of long-suffering Vikings fans are still waiting for the proverbial "other shoe to fall." This franchise, despite some very successful teams, is known to always lose when it seems to matter most—not quite as bad as some franchises, say like Detroit or Cleveland, but still a loser.
The week leading up to the Atlanta game I broke the Vikings history into a series of different eras.
The height of Vikings success, no surprise, is called the Super Bowl Era. In the 10 seasons between 1968 to 1977, the Vikings made the playoffs an incredible nine times, playing (and losing) in five NFC Championship games and four Super Bowls. This era is remembered by losing as heavy favorites to Hank Stam and the Chiefs, losing to the Perfect Season, losing to the Steel Curtain, losing to the Cowboys and the Hail Mary and losing to John Madden and the Raiders. Their perfect 0-4 record in the Super Bowl matches the most by a team without a victory.
Following the Super Bowl Era, one finds the Lost Era, a decade of futility where the Vikings would not achieve 10 wins in any season. Then another era of winning dubbed The Rise of Hope—Green, named for former head coach Denny Green who led the team in nine of the 13 season that makes up this era. During his tenure, Green would average 10 wins per season. The current era is similarly named The Rise of Hope—Zimmer. Hopefully, this will be the start of another long winning tradition. Between these two eras is dubbed the WTF Era. This era was led by Mike Tice, Brad Childress, and Leslie Frazier. Outside of the 2009 season, when quarterback Brett Favre provided a glimmer of hope for a championship, this era was a turbulent time when it didn't seem like the Vikings ship had a rudder to steer the organization to any destination except chaos. This era is full of its own terms of futility that includes "Take a knee," "41-0" and "12 Men in the Huddle."
With the Week 13 win in Atlanta, the Vikings matched a franchise-record five consecutive road wins. This is the fourth time they have achieved this. In 1969 and 1974 they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. A win in Carolina this Sunday would set this team above any other in franchise history. If they can win the last road game in Green Bay two weeks later they would tie the most road wins in a season of seven, sharing the record with the 1998 team that finished 15-1.
This 2017 team is a special team. It's a balanced team. The defense is currently ranked second in the NFL in both points and yards allowed. The offense, despite losing their starting quarterback early in the season and their leading rusher in Week 4, has found a way to string together eight straight wins. It's led by quarterback Case Keenum, who has transformed himself from an undrafted journeyman into one of the top-ranked quarterbacks in the league. His passer rating of 98.6 places his eighth among starting quarterbacks with at least 193 attempts. He's credited with an 8-2 record as the starter, but should also be given credit for salvaging the game in Chicago when he came off the bench to lead the Vikings in a come-from-behind 20-17 win.
It seems each week someone, somewhere is saying that the Vikings are facing their toughest challenge of the season. It started with the road win in Washington after their bye week. This was followed by a convincing win over the Rams in Week 11 and road wins in Detroit and Atlanta. Four games into the toughest five-game stretch of the season the Vikings are 4-0 with yet, no doubt, the toughest challenge yet when they face Cam Newton and the Panthers in Charlotte. Slowly the Vikings are being recognized as one of the best teams in the NFL. Most NFL power rankings have them at third or fourth with the likes of New England, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. If they can win the remainder of their schedule the Vikings would be guaranteed the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs, including the Super Bowl.
Yes, it just might be time to believe in this team. To not be afraid of speaking about the potential of a championship. Everything is aligning for Minnesota to be the first team to play in the Super Bowl they are hosting.
That other shoe isn't going to fall, not this year. Vikings fans need to know it is all right to believe and have faith—afterall even the Chicago Cubs were able to win the World Series, why not the Vikings winning the Super Bowl?
