Questions Answered: Super Bowl Hype, Vikings as Home Dogs, Andrew Booth
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the November 14th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
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Q: How serious are you about the Vikings as legitimate Super Bowl contenders?
A: After beating the Commanders in comeback fashion, the Vikings deserved Super Bowl mentions. But following the triumph in Buffalo, it is an injustice to exclude Minnesota from honest-to-goodness February talks.
Of course, they must maintain these cardiac theatrics into the playoffs — that won’t be easy — but the Vikings are proving that their DNA is battle-tested. It is no accident that they continue to win squeaker games. They’re good. They’re legitimate.
Now, the team heads back to Minneapolis for five home games in the next six weeks, allowing the ability to assert a stranglehold on NFC playoff seeding. The schedule looks dazzling, especially after the franchise just proved no team is unbeatable.
Q: Is it correct that Dallas opened up as the Vegas favorite to beat the Vikings?
A: Yes, this is accurate. The Vikings opened as two-point home underdogs against the Cowboys, who just lost to the Packers.
On Monday, the line shrunk to a single point in favor of Dallas. However, through implication, oddsmakers believe the Cowboys are “four points better” when accounting for the built-in three points that home teams are granted.
It’s very weird.
But who cares — all the Vikings have to do is win, like they’ve done seven consecutive times in a row.
Q: Andrew Booth looked a little lost at Buffalo. Is that bad news?
A: No. That was his NFL debut on defense, and it occurred amid one of the wildest games in NFL history.
Booth gets a mini-pass considering the stakes, situation, and assignment versus Stefon Diggs, a Top 5 wide receiver.
Akayleb Evans is the Vikings new starter as Cameron Dantzler battles back from an ankle injury. Evans was concussed in Buffalo but should regain his starting job in Week 11 or Week 12.
It was encouraging to see Booth get some meaningful snaps, and he’ll only grow from here.
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 Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).