The Minnesota Vikings’ season was nothing short of extraordinary. They won the NFC North and find themselves in the 2nd Seed the NFC with 3 games to go, with an 11-3 record.
However, despite the record, there are still doubts about how good the Vikings actually are. In 14 games this season, 10 of them have finished by a margin of 8 points or fewer, just four fewer than the all-time record of 14.
Last weekend, the Minnesota Vikings broke the record for the biggest comeback in NFL history against the Colts. At halftime they were 33-0 down and seemingly out of the game. But an inspired comeback in the second half saw the team win 39-36 in overtime and shatter the history books.
The stats
Some fans are still skeptical about how good this team is, mostly because of their losses. In their 3 losses this year, they have beaten the Cowboys, Lions and Eagles by a combined 65 point difference. In the meantime, they have surpassed their opponents by just 67 points with 11 wins, meaning they have just surpassed their opponents by 2 points this year, which is incredible considering they sit in 2nd place in the NFC.
A big reason they’re struggling is their lackluster defense. They allow the league’s worst 399 yards per game for opposing offenses and 28th worst 24.9 points per game.
It was the 4thth Quarter where the Vikings excel, scoring 9.4 points in the 4th quarterth fourth, almost a point more than anyone else in the NFL. But when it comes to playoff time, it’s a whole different ball game and teams need to be on point throughout the game as they play against the best of the best.
Against the No season ended today.
The talent
There is no question that the team has talent. Featuring perhaps the best wide receiver in the game in Justin Jefferson, who has a league-high 1,623 receiving yards and 8 total touchdowns.
There’s also Dalvin Cook, whose season has been very up and down. He has only two games for 100+ rushing yards. But since the team needs to score, that wasn’t too much of a problem as he posted a team-high 10 touchdowns.
Kirk Cousins under the middle was also the key for the Vikings. Leading them to comeback after comeback and turning the team on its back and looking like one of the best quarterbacks this year.
The comebacks could cover up the cracks for the Minnesota Vikings. If something like Saturday’s 33-0 halftime deficit happens in playoff time, they will undoubtedly lose the game. For now, however, they’re grinding out wins and preparing to be in the best possible position in playoff time. With not much time left in the season, the defense needs to fix things so they can start winning games from the first half, and if they can fix it, the sky’s the limit for the Minnesota Vikings.
This article was written by our new author Alex Merson. Thanks to Alex for contributing to this article. In the future you can see more of his work here.
Feature image: CNN
