This is one of those rarities where you can be both right and wrong at the same time.
That’s what this Vikings-Jaguars game came down to at the final whistle Sunday afternoon.
It turned out Mike Glennon didn’t torch the Vikings defense as much as I thought, but the other formalities of my pregame prediction rang true.
Time to relax. Time to coast. Time to take a week off.
Unless the name plate on the back of your jersey read Cook, Jefferson, Dantzler, or Smith…they all applied.
Eric Kendricks, unbiasedly the best player at his position in the league, got hurt in pregame warm-ups…dancing…and was forced to sit out the game. And you beat 1-10 Jacksonville in overtime.
That pretty much sums it up.
The Vikings got away with another one. That’s two consecutive weeks of pulling a rabbit out of their hat.
But…I don’t care. I’ve never been a guy who says “a win’s a win” but I’ll get as close as I’ve ever gotten when I say “WE’LL TAKE IT!”
Games that play out that way never work in the Minnesota Vikings favor. Now we’ve got two in the last two weeks.
However the hell the games have played out…If you start 1-5, and then go 5-1 in your next six games, no matter how it’s done, you owe no apologies. I can point to at least two firm games they could’ve easily won but dropped in heartbreaking fashion this year as well.
So, again, we’ll take it.
And it’s all set up…The Cardinals lost. And the game against the Bucs next week could potentially bring those two teams even, resulting in Minnesota jumping ahead of Tampa Bay.
Any nationally televised game from now until the beginning of next week will no longer feature the Vikings as a team that’s ‘in the hunt.’ Instead they will be inserted as a ‘wild card team’ when the NFC playoff picture graphic is posted.
That’s what they’ve earned winning 5 of their last 6 games.
A big tip of the hat to the coaching staff and the veteran players on this team for holding it together and fighting like hell after that 1-5 start. I’m sure there are plenty of teams with more talent that couldn’t have willed their way back into the thick of things the way this team has.
The Falcons and Texans of this year both come to mind.
The best thing about sports is, it doesn’t matter at all how you got there…Once you’re there, and you have that chance, anything can happen.
And that’s what the Vikings have earned when they play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week…that opportunity to seize the moment. A chance to do something only four other teams in league history have done…start 1-5 and make the playoffs.
Will Tampa Bay win this game 8 or 9 times out of 10? Probably.
But I gotta tell ya, I really don’t give a shit.
Like I said in my Jaguars game preview I’d rather play Rodgers or Wilson than Glennon. Well, throw Brady in there too for old times sake. I can’t wait for next week’s game.
Stay tuned for an official prediction.
