In July, Vikings Begin to Receive Some ‘Underrated’ Love
Dustin Baker
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“Sneaky contenders.”
Those are the two words, among several others, assigned to the 2021 Minnesota Vikings by Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports. He made express mention of the Vikings tendency to miss the playoffs and then reach them in alternating fashion, predicting that the squad follows the same weird sequence this season.
In even-numbered years under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings are a less-than-.500 ballclub. Minnesota accrued a record of 30-33-1 (.476) in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 combined. The odd-numbered years are very kind to Minnesota, offering a 34-14 (.708) win-loss record.
There is certainly something to the odd-even necromancy.
CBS Sports is buying it, too. Benjamin also granted the Vikings an underrated adjective, a classification that will be appreciated by Vikings faithful as the team seems to perform better when the masses aren’t high on them. It’s another strange, Vikings-esque phenomenon. Here’s what Benjamin said in totality about the 2021 Vikings:
“Both their coach and quarterback have built a reputation as predictable mid-tier performers: never bad enough to bottom out, but rarely elite enough to get over the hump. How else do you explain the Vikings literally going in, then out, then back into the playoffs every year since Mike Zimmer took over, or Kirk Cousins posting Pro Bowl numbers without also posting a signature postseason run? And yet, even if Aaron Rodgers stays in Green Bay, they’re poised to bounce back. Not only because Zimmer’s due for his biannual playoff ticket, but because Cousins has more motivation (hello Kellen Mond), the offense has bona fide play-makers (Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson) and, best of all, Zimmer’s defense is both deeper and healthier (welcome back, Danielle Hunter!) after an uncharacteristically porous year. They may not win the division, but the Vikings have the makings of a sneaky contender.”
For all of those nuggets that Benjamin referenced – Rodgers potentially out of Green Bay, the Cousins-Mond dynamic, the litany of roster weapons – this is the last best chance for this rendition of the Vikings to thrive in this vein of construction. The roster is tailor-made to win football games, disabling any excuses flooding “yeah buts” into the equation. Last year was the yeah-but season with the injuries to Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Mike Hughes, and Michael Pierce’s opt-out. Understandably, those injuries mattered as the Vikings defense sunk to the depths of hell.
That won’t matter in 2021 – at least in terms of public opinion. The team is groomed to win now – this has been the mindset since 2016 – and another 7-9 or similar outcome will trigger change. Momentous change.
Minnesota has all the roster pieces to avoid a flimsy record, evidenced by the free-agent additions of Patrick Peterson, Dalvin Tomlinson, Sheldon Richardson, Bashaud Breeland, Xavier Woods, Mackensie Alexander, Stephen Weatherly, and Nick Vigil. That is a lot of red meat. Hell, that would be a lot of defensive newcomers for one division to experience, let alone a single team inside a division.
In various batches of power rankings (out of 32 teams), the Vikings have existed in a 14th to 17th zone, chiefly because NFL heads most recently remember the sickly 7-9 record. This is one of the first notable circumstances in which the Vikings “slept on” status is acknowledged.