Poll: Vikings Fans Weigh In on Team’s Playoff Hopes
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings sputtered out of the gate, dropping heartbreaking losses to the two current top seeds in the AFC and NFC – the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals.
At the time, the Bengals were considered closer to their 4-11-1 standing from 2020 instead of their tops-in-the-AFC reputation through seven weeks of 2021. As for the Cardinals, Kyler Murray’s team remains undefeated, thanks to a missed “gimme” field goal by Greg Joseph that should’ve handed Arizona its one loss in 2021.
But these are the Vikings and snake bites are commonplace, so the team bumbled out of the gate with an 0-2 record. Enthusiasm dipped.
Since then, the Vikings have won three of their last four games, evening the record to 3-3 and finishing up a bye week in Week 7. Because of the somewhat prosperous previous four games, fans’ appetite for Minnesota reaching the playoffs is renewed. An unscientific poll confirmed the sentiment.
1,418 people responded to the informal poll on Twitter.
68.5% of fans are on board with a Vikings appearance in the postseason. That’s a lot, especially in a season when fans are calling for the termination of the head coach – even after winning efforts.
The Vikings are ranked by FootballOutsiders.com as the league’s 12th-best team via DVOA with sixth-best defense and 12th-ranked offense. The special teams still lag, placing as 30th in the NFL through seven weeks per Football Outsiders.
So, Minnesota’s prospect of the postseason is dependent on how the offense and defense blend at the same time. In the first five games, the offense would seem proficient while the defense did boneheaded stuff. Then, the inverse would occur. The defense would flex, whereas the offense would string together plays and a philosophy reminiscent of the 1970s. Finally, to an extent, the Vikings unleashed both astute versions of the offense and defense versus the Carolina Panthers in a thrilling road victory.
If the Vikings can paste together competent offense and defense performances amid its next four games – vs. Dallas Cowboys, at Baltimore Ravens, at Los Angeles Chargers, vs. Green Bay Packers – they can fullfil the fans’ prophecy of playing postseason football. But against certifiably good teams, the hot-and-cold offense-defense dynamic will not cut it. It just won’t.
That’s the big mystery for the Vikings bout with the Cowboys on Halloween. Will the team show up with all aspects of football clicking? Or will conservatism on offense sully U.S. Bank Stadium? Perhaps the defense is Swiss cheese as quarterback Kirk Cousins gets embroiled in a shootout?
It’s simply unknown, and that’s why the poll was conducted in the first place. Determining if the 2021 Vikings are actually good or bad is a legitmate question.
Thankfully, answers are on the way. The Vikings will either tear through the difficult slate of games upcoming, preparing for an honest-to-goodness playoff push in January. Or – they’ll uphold mediocrity and finish somewhere in the ballpark of 8-9, likely catalyzing full-scale structural change for the franchise.
Left up to the fans, though, they believe the 2021 Vikings are closer to good than bad.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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