When’s the Last Time the Vikings Won Convincingly?
The Minnesota Vikings have not won a football game by more than 14 points in 720 days.
The scene was StubHub Center in Carson, California. The Los Angeles Chargers hosted the Vikings at their makeshift home, rounding out the Philip Rivers era with the franchise.
Minnesota was pushing toward the playoffs, slaughtering the Chargers 39-10 on a rough afternoon for the aforementioned Rivers and the team on the whole. Former Vikings lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo scored his first career touchdown. Mike Boone, also no longer with the team, scored twice, too.
So, December 15, 2019, was the last time Minnesota thoroughly stomped an opponent. The days of Vikings football feeling smooth sailing on some Sundays have been scarce ever since.
Before the start of the 2020 season, the Vikings made a habit of beating teams with ease. Here’s a comparison from 2018 and 2019 to 2020 and 2021:
Put simply, the Vikings embrace close games amid the last two seasons. From Week 1 of 2020 until now, Minnesota has participated in 20 games decided by eight or fewer points. That is — a whopping 74% of Vikings games since the beginning of last season have been decided by one score or less. No team has notched more tight games than that in the last year and a half.
And there’s a reason why. It’s pretty elementary, in fact. Mike Zimmer’s defense isn’t very good anymore.
In 2018 and 2019, Kirk Cousins and friends would hop out to a reasonable leading, allowing for defensive suffocation. The defenses from 2020 and 2021 do not suffocate anything any longer, aside from fans’ nervous systems in the final minutes of the 1st Half or 2nd Half.
From 2014 through 2019, the Vikings could lean on a staunch defense. Those days are over. There’s a glimmer of hope those tendencies could return, but they likely would’ve arrived by now. Matters are not helped by the absences of players like Danielle Hunter for the rest of 2021 and recently Everson Griffen, Michael Pierce, and Dalvin Tomlinson.
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If Zimmer’s squad wishes to spank a team — once and for all — this weekend in Detroit is the best opportunity. The Lions are winless at 0-10-1, tallying one tie ballgame in 2021 against the Pittsburgh Steelers — who the Vikings host on Thursday Night Football in Week 13.
Even blowing out the Lions won’t be breezy. Injuries have piled up, forcing Zimmer to concoct a hodgepodge depth chart in the last few weeks.
Yet, good, playoff-bound teams find ways to circumvent injuries. Not all of them trek to Super Bowls, but the sturdy franchises overcome injury adversity. The 2021 Vikings are mysterious for getting a drop on their true trajectory — are they a good football team snakebitten by wacky, late-game tomfoolery? Yes. Are they a ho-hum squad deserving of a 5-6 record? Yes. Somewhere in the middle of those realms of thought exists the Vikings true 2021 form.
Smashing the Lions in Detroit would be an apropos forum to “get back on track” if the team is indeed formidable. However, each time the Vikings seem to show tidbits of proficiency, they drop a game like the one in San Francisco last week.
One thing is certain — Minnesota is due for a convincing victory. Few teams in the NFL provide a better forecast for that desire the 2021 Lions. If they do embarrass the Lions, it’ll be the first time in two years the Vikings have dismantled an opponent.
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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