So, are the Vikings gonna like be really good this year?!

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Jun 15, 2021

It wasn’t more than a week ago that I penned an article right here on this website that was pretty much “Doom & Gloom“. It was dripping in the fatalism that Minnesota Sports fans have simply come to accept and embrace over the years and it highlighted everything that we should brace ourselves for in case the wheels fell off.

One week later, a sudden shift in the winds has Minnesota Vikings fans completely changing their tune about the 2021 NFL Season and the Vikings place in it.

Just yesterday the team came to an agreement with Danielle Hunter that not only moved money around to keep Danielle happy but also moved money around to give the Vikings flexibility to make some more moves. Then this morning we see video surface on social media of Danielle, in uniform and on the field as Vikings Mini Camp opens up.

And then the Vikings didn’t waste much time using some of that new found money to bring another defensive lineman, one familiar with Minnesota and Mike Zimmer’s defense in Sheldon Richardson.

And all of the sudden, Minnesota Vikings fans are whistling Dixie ready for the regular season to kick off now. So where did that come from? What happened to the fatalism? Why are our historically pessimistic sports fans all of the sudden seeing the world through purple colored glasses.

Simply put, it’s what we do.

That pessimism referenced is something that carries Minnesotans through free agency when other bigger markets are making the headline grabbing moves. It’s the same mentality that plagues us the week after the draft when “such and such player” was still on the board and we passed on them. And it’s the same mentality that suddenly disappears when camp opens up and we start to see our team, day-by-day shifting more towards the optimism of what could be this season.

Now we all know too well that may only last three weeks into the NFL season, but for now we enjoy it.

But this time feels different. There’s a different smell in the air this time, call it blood in the water…but it smells a bit more cheesy if you catch my drift?

Since the days of our woe is us attitude has kicked in, things have only gotten worse across the river in Wisconsin. Their disgruntled star is not showing up to mini camps. The narrative being spun around that situation has only gotten worse in the weeks since the draft and there continues to be an increasing feeling that Aaron Rodgers will not be in Green Bay this season whether he “retires” and sits out, or forces his way out of town.

At that point, this division is wide open and the Vikings firmly supplant themselves as the front runners.

With a veteran quarterback, dynamic running back, multiple options in the passing game and now what feels like a deep and finally healthy defense, the Vikings jump straight to the top of the pile and it becomes their division to lose.

That’s the mentality that has taken over here in Minnesota. That’s the change of heart that we’re all feeling right now. It’s the states collective way of saying, Dalvin Cook, Danielle Hunter, Sheldon Richardson Justin Jefferson….LET’S GO!!!!!

It feels good, doesn’t it?!