“Are You In Yet”

Vikings Fan guide to handing over your soul….again

“Hey honey, you’re looking really good!

I can’t believe you’re 7-1 you haven’t looked this good since 2009 when you started 10-1. I think we might have to consider getting hitched this season and committing to each other. What do you think? Hello……Hello???”

Well here we are again Viking fans. The once every 10-15 yrs of being relevant as a professional football team where we’re actually good, at least by record, if nothing else. Some will argue we are a good team and for full transparency here I fall in to that group. There are others who believe we aren’t that good, this is luck Jobu black magic, that everything is breaking the Vikings way well beyond historical precedent and it will all fall apart soon enough.

The question Vikings fans is…are you ready to believe in the 2022 Minnesota Vikings as possible SB contenders?

You can’t say well yeah I think they’re good and I hope they do well but I’m guarding my soul here and not believing.🫤

Sorry can’t do that, you’re lying to yourself. You want them to do well but you don’t believe they’ll do well so when they do well you’re happy but when they choke you get to walk away unhurt and ok.??

Oh no…not here bub….that is not how this works. Either you’re in, or you’re out. Pick one or don’t it’s really not up to you anyway, you and your soul are along for the ride regardless. This is an emotional roller coaster buster and the protective harness has been lowered and the climb up the tracks has begun ”click clack….click clack…. click clack…” It’s the bloody highway accident you can’t help but rubber neck to see….”Oh god are those entrails??” No that’s just our kicker shitting his guts out again. 🤢

So now that we’ve established you have no choice and are along for the ride here’s where we evaluate that corn dog, sugar covered elephant ear and cup of vinegar fries you ate before you stepped on this ride. Is this team really good or just lucky? I think the truth is somewhere in the middle, as usual. Yes this is a good team that plays complimentary football in all three phases. Offense ranks 9th https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings tied with a few other teams if you tally up all the stats. Defense ranks 8th https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/defense and special teams 12th https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/special-teams

Best of the lousiest, lousiest of the best.

Pro’s & Cons:

Pros:
-The head coach is legit. Kevin OcConnell is the straw that mixes this drink that I’m convinced. He’s smart, calculating and knows his shit to put it bluntly. He can communicate well with this younger generation of players and create a culture that players love and believe what is being built. Time and time again this offense has found a way to score late in these close games to pull out the win. That’s a HC and play caller who can evaluate what is happening and adjust the plan so his players can be successful.

-The QB is more comfortable. Say what you will about Kirk Cousins but last week while taking a beating from a stacked dline he stepped up and took another serving of punishment while he made plays down the stretch to win the game. Yes the QB won the game. The long pass to Jefferson while getting smoked again and then the absolute dime to Cook in the EZ for the TD. It was quite a beautiful thing to see. He’s comfortable with his coach, teammates and himself while letting the chains loose celebrating.

-Left tackle is a gawt damn monster. That’s it. He is and we probably don’t deserve him considering who picked him.

-Defense is playing better than many thought they would. We all knew the offense had talent but the defense we had legitimate questions heading in to the season. Secondary with aging vets, new scheme, dline with more questions than answers. Hunter would he return to form following injury plagued back to back seasons? Za’Darius Smith being booted from our rival after injuries reduced him to an afterthought. Back ups along the dline being asked to contribute more. Well it seems our D-coord ole Ed D knows what he’s doing. Secondary has been a pleasant surprise forcing turnovers and covering well. Harrison and Peterson have turned back the clock. Pass rushers Hunter and Za’Darius have been nothing short but productive. Dline has done well against the run, not great but good enough, and the youngsters have stepped up as have some new FA signings.

-Luck, Mojo, Injuries is all going the vikings way. We’re staying healthy (knock on wood) ball is bouncing our way when it counts and we have massive MO with the wind at our backs with a 4.5 game lead in the division. Thank you Jobu.

Cons:
-Kicker sucks, ranked dead last in the league and is a head case loser. You’ll not convince me otherwise that at some point he won’t be the one responsible for ruining our season. It’s just how this works folks. Stupid liquored up kickers.

-Right Guard is….wait for it….not very good. He’s a rookie so he gets a little break. He also has a ton of potential with strength to burn. Doesn’t commit penalties which is a good sign he just gets beat with his hands and technique. We’ll see.

-Occasional lull. For whatever reason it seems for a quarter or so we go dormant and let the other team either build a lead we must fight to overcome or catch up and make a close game that should have been a comfortable win a Fred Sanford I’m coming to join you Elizabeth heart attack. Not sure why but it is who we are.

So here we are folks over the first climb flying down the tracks making sharp turns and dips and actually enjoying the fact we might die a grizzly death when the cart flys off the track. I think it means you might as well enjoy the ride…we’re already on it. We can’t have ”One before I die” if we don’t have the opportunities and this year we have an opportunity. Don’t fret……. It’s ok to not be ok. ☠️