A HARD DAY'S SEASON

COWBOYS 31

VIKINGS 28

I don't think I have anything left to give emotionally to the 2020 Minnesota Vikings season. I think today sucked it out of me. 

This season, man. Everything has just been seemingly engineered to make me as miserable as possible at all times. Yes, even when things go good. 

The 3 game win streak was great. It really was. Winning at both Green Bay and Chicago was great. But even those wins set up expectations and raised hopes that this Vikings team just cannot live up to. It just adds to the disappointment and heartbreak that I feel after watching this seemingly resurrected season euthanized as the Vikings just let a 2-7 team that has been a punchline for most of this season and is led by a backup QB and a lousy defense come in to US Bank Stadium and realistically end their season.

This was unacceptable. You have it all there in front of you after crawling back to 4-5. A 3 game homestand against bad teams that could set you up for a chance at a playoff spot that isn't a pipe dream but a real thing. Your patchwork defense is hanging in there, and your All Pro running back and resurgent passing game are leading the way.

And you lose to the 2-7 Cowboys.

The vibe was bad right from the start. The Vikings 1st offensive series ends with a Cousins sack that on replay turns out to be a strip sack, complete with a helmet to helmet hit on him that the refs don't care to call. Dallas quickly scores, although we did block the PAT. 

The offense did have a great response drive, with some nice run-pass mixing and finally a Cook touchdown.

The only other positive from the first half was a diving pick by Kendricks.

This was a half of football that had without question the worst, most blatantly biased officiating I have ever seen in 30+ years of watching football. The refs were, and yeah I'm saying it, RIGGING the game for Dallas. It was purposeful. There was a personal foul on Harrison Smith for merely bumping a receiver. Multiple BS holding calls. An illegal shift that wiped out a fake punt. A block in the back on a return. The missed helmet hit on Cousins. A hit on a defenseless Cook that wasn't called. Those last 2 handed Dallas 9 of the 16 points they had at halftime.

I was irate by halftime. We were being robbed of a needed win. 

The Vikings themselves were clearly angry about what was being done to them, cause they came out in the 3rd quarter with energy and purpose. Their first 2 drives of the 2nd half were just domination. Cook running with power. Kirk zipping passes all over the place. Two touchdowns by Thielen, including maybe his all time best in the corner. By the early 4th quarter that unjust 16-7 deficit had become a 21-16 lead.

There was not a single atom in my body that did not think the Vikings were now going to win going away. Their run game had asserted control. Zimmer's defense had been money in the 2nd half during the win streak. And Dallas stinks.

But this 4th quarter instead ended our season.

Instead of locking down a win, Zimmer's defense was made a fool. In just 5 plays Dallas went right down the field, mostly on the ground, and we let their backup RB house it from like 40 yards out.

Our now on fire offense responded just as quickly with their own 5 play drive, ending in an absolutely beautiful play action deep ball to Jefferson.

So mini crisis averted. Control re-established. The next Dallas series we finally got a sack and forced a punt. So now we get the ball with like 6 minutes left and a chance to finish the game.

But we couldn't finish. Just like we couldn't finish Tennessee or Seattle. Our offense that had been unstoppable the whole 2nd half suddenly went 4 and out.

And our defense blew their chance to atone for blowing one 4th quarter lead. They blew it again. They immediately let Dallas get into Vikings territory. They had a 4th and 6 where they let Dalton find Amari Cooper on the sideline. They left a guy embarrassingly wide open for the go ahead touchdown. This wasn't getting picked apart by Russell Wilson. This was way worse. 

But there was still a minute and a half left and we had a timeout and even just a field goal gets us to OT. But our offense failed to rise to the occasion. Jefferson dropped a ball that would have been a potential big play. Kirk threw a couple more incompletions, and that was it. Win streak over. Season once again over.

You simply HAD to take care of business in these 3 home games. Instead the Vikings are a dismal 1-4 at home. Even without fans it is not okay to lose to Atlanta and Dallas at home.

So where do things stand now? No place good. 4-6. Still 2 back of the last wild card spot. You blew a chance to pull within 2 of Green Bay too. You're still behind the Bears. And you have 1 less week to somehow make up those gaps.

You now basically HAVE to beat either the Saints or Bucs in December, along with winning all the other "easy" games. But you just blew an easy game. And yeah you won at Lambeau and Soldier Field so you can't say the Vikings have NO shot to win those games, but you also now clearly cannot say they have NO shot to lose any of the 6 games left either.

Look, until you are officially eliminated you don't give up. And this team has made it clear they will not quit on Zimmer. But it's pretty clear to me after today that the 2020 Vikings are just not good enough.

Other, less depressing Sunday thoughts....

The bright spot of the day was Indy coming back to beat the Packers. The Packers have a pretty easy schedule left, but they look like paper tigers again.

The Saints stay at the top of the NFC, beating Atlanta with that little prick Taysom Hill at QB.

The Steelers go to 10-0 by thumping Jacksonville. I still don't think they can run the table. 

Carolina started a backup QB from the XFL and shut out Detroit. I don't know how Matt Patricia can possibly keep his job another week. 

Cincy lost Joe Burrow to a torn ACL.

The Titans came back to beat Baltimore, who are suddenly falling out of the playoffs.

Denver upset Miami. The Patriots fell to 4-6. Cleveland took care of the still 1st place Eagles. The Jets remained winless. Honestly their only chance left is maybe week 17 at New England.