Oct 30, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings fan as The Joker. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.
The Minnesota Vikings capped a weird and wild season a few weeks ago, winning 13 games and the NFC North for the first time since 2017.
The ride was beset by peaks, valleys, and oddities, so let’s re-live 20. The weirdness is ranked in ascending order, so the weirdest item is at the bottom of the article.
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A “where were you when” moment to be sure, Sasquatch had a seat next to Vikings running back Dalvin Cook in October at a Minnesota Timberwolves game.
Udoh was arrested in Miami in October — for a nothingburger. He allegedly followed a woman into a nightclub restroom. The state later determined “it would not be able to prove that the defendant committed the crimes charged.”
While the game ended up a rout, the Vikings were very much alive on a 3rd and 10 play. And then they trotted 10 defenders on the field, the opposite of the infamous 2009 NFC Championship gaffe.
We don’t know how or why, but Duke Shelley wound up the Vikings best CB in 2022. He finished 2022 as the NFL’s fourth-best corner, according to Pro Football Focus.
In the end, the Vikings-Eagles game wasn’t very competitive, but at the point Smith dropped this sure-fire touchdown, the game was somewhat alive and well. But no cigar.
The Vikings conducted a controversial trade to land Cine in the 2022 NFL Draft, and then he didn’t start next to Harrison Smith. Cine later broke his leg and is slated to return — hopefully as a starter — in 2023.
In late July, Jefferson told reporters, “I’ll focus on contract after the season. Our main thing is reaching to that goal, but I’m not really too fond of money. I’m really just trying to get that goal of being the best receiver.”
The stuff of dreams.
Somehow, Joseph missed six extra points in 2022 and then drilled five game-winning field goals. Vikings fans brag about having a money kicker — just one that struggles with extra points. Classic Vikings.
In a five-week period, the Vikings defense made Mac Jones, Mike White, Jared Goff, and Daniel Jones look better than Tom Brady. The blunders were all foreshadowing for the same Daniel Jones carving the Vikings in the playoffs, thus ending the 13-win season.
VikeFans, a Twitter account with over 12,000 followers, tweeted after the Vikings Week 17 loss to the Packers, “Once again, the Viking offense does not show up for half or more of the game. Only in Buffalo, did the MIN offense play a full 4 qtrs. That is on your OC, and Kevin needs to be a Head Coach, not an OC. Want to be OC? Resign as HC.”
The Vikings were 12-4 at the time of the tweet.
Because of losing a couple of games in blowout fashion, plus an 11-0 record in one-score games, the Vikings finished the regular season with the worst point differential (-3) by a 13-win team in NFL history.
Nobody understood it during or after, but indeed, Chilly showed up out of nowhere at Vikings training camp.
Before the Vikings playoff game against the Giants, Ed Donatell proclaimed about his defense, “I think you’ll like the way we play.”
We did not.
No context or caption needed.
Mattison scored against the Jets, fired up a tiny twerk, the NFL shared the video all over the place (presumably capitalizing on the exposure and impressions), and later fined Mattison $6,503.
That doesn’t make any sense.
After Reagor joined the Vikings via trade, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said about Reagor’s physique, “He’s a very stout, cocky-built guy. He’s not really narrow. He’s got thick, strong legs, big glutes, really nice calves, you know. Again, I salivated over the guy.”
The rookie head coach won 13 games, and COTY voters shrugged shoulders and said, “Dah well.”
O’Connell was not a finalist for the award.
Reed had safety help on Justin Jefferson when his Jets lost to the Vikings. But Reed claimed he was “in his shit all game.”
Jefferson took notice:
Referees blew the whistle dead on two honest-to-goodness Sullivan touchdowns against the Colts — and then fined him for getting mad about it.
The Vikings won anyway.
“People are complaining about Kirk Cousins’ PFF grade in this game. Cousins didn’t do that much in this game,” one analyst said.
NFL Network‘s Gregg Rosenthal tweeted about Cousins’ performance, “It is very Kirk Cousins to not be playing that well during a 33-point comeback.”
Cousins threw for 417 passing yards and 4 touchdowns in the 2nd Half alone.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.