The Quiet Tank

The Vikings Will Not Tank

Had the Vikings lost to the Bears, it would be an interesting conversation among Vikings fans to root for losses instead of wins in hopes of securing a better draft pick – and a future beyond Kirk Cousins.

It’s not generally a serious conversation for teams themselves (with a notable exception) because players and coaches have their own incentives to play well and win games, even if the ownership and front office do not.

Of course, it’s specifically not a serious conversation for the Vikings because they employ Brian Flores (the notable exception). I won’t belabor that point, so I’ll just repeat what I wrote in my Justin Jefferson injury piece.

If they were the kind of team to give up during a season like that, they likely would not be the kind of team to sign Brian Flores to be their defensive coordinator given what he’s suing the Miami Dolphins for.

On top of that, if they struck Flores as that kind of team, he’d likely remain the linebackers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers or have signed with someone else as a defensive coordinator.

More to the point, the Vikings still have a reasonable shot at the playoffs. They entered the game with about a one in five chance of making the postseason (according to ESPN FPI and Numberfire) despite their record – in part because of their strong fundamentals.

They exit the week with a slightly stronger set of odds – the one in five chance incorporated the likely win against the Bears, but will be bolstered by the fact that the likelihood turned into a certainty.

And, as the Jets demonstrated this week, no team is invincible. The Browns proved that that included the 49ers. There are no undefeated teams left and the Vikings have a puncher’s chance against a San Francisco team potentially without Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel.

So the Vikings will go into next week with some idea that they can win. And have good odds the following week against Green Bay. After that, it’s too late – the trade deadline will have passed and the Vikings, already committed to the arduous task of winning, will keep trying to win.