Could Vikings End Up Overcoming Their Own Curse Thanks to NFL’s “Cursed Season”

With the Vikings dropping to the Panthers in Carolina and the Philadelphia Eagles beating the Los Angeles Rams this weekend, the number one seed switched back from the Vikings (who held it for a week) to the Eagles (who held it for most of the season). However, the Eagles ended up losing something much more important in their second-year quarterback and (depending on who you ask) front-runner for the MVP in Carson Wentz to an ACL tear. The Eagles have now joined a number of teams who have lost their star players to injuries this season and while the Vikings have dealt with a ton of injuries as well (losing both their starting quarterback in Sam Bradford and starting running back in Dalvin Cook to knee injuries as well), but outside of those early season hiccups and some recent injuries at the offensive line position, the Vikings are poised to enter the playoffs as both the number one seed and one of the more healthy teams in the NFC (if not the NFL). Simply put, perhaps what it took for the Vikings to shake off the curse they’ve had since 1961 was for every other team to basically acquire a piece of that curse. Think of the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy when the Guardians all grab onto Star-Lord to each shoulder the burden of the Power Stone, with each Guardian representing a different NFC team and the purple Power Stone representing the Vikings curse.

Some people I talk to ask whether or not I’d feel good about winning in a league where a lot of the good players aren’t playing and really, at this point, I’ll take what I can get. I don’t think that teams that have never won a championship can really get picky about the How behind it, as the key is just winning. Injuries are a part of football and something that teams can’t really control, so it’s not like some sort of unfair advantage either, as all teams and players risk injuries on every play of the game. Take the Steelers’ Ryan Shazier, who was nearly paralyzed on a routine tackle and may never play walk again, let alone play football. It’s a reality of the game that teams have to consider when building their rosters and so some good teams can overcome injury, just as the Vikings have this season (and I assume the Eagles mostly will with Nick Foles starting under center). The Packers have even hung in there after losing Aaron Rodgers to a routine hit turned shattered collarbone.

With three games left, the Vikings have a pretty easy schedule, especially when compared to the gauntlet they just ended in Carolina. The final three weeks consist of a game against the hapless Cincinnati Bengals, the Green Bay Packers (who may or may not have Aaron Rodgers under center) and the terrible Chicago Bears. The Vikes will need to run the table and hope that the Eagles drop at least one game with Foles playing, considering the fact that they’re playing the Cowboys, Giants, and Raiders they may just do that. While the Eagles and Cowboys aren’t very good this year, the Cowboys will have Ezekiel Elliot back from suspension and hopefully running with a gigantic chip on his shoulder and depending on what happens in the AFC the Raiders could be fighting for their playoff lives the last week of the season and thus will put up a pretty good fight.
Home field advantage will be huge this year and the Vikings do have a lot of tiebreakers over the other NFC playoff teams (excluding the Panthers, obviously). The team that people have been increasingly saying that they fear the most in terms of their match-up with the Vikings is the New Orleans Saints, a team that bested them the last time they had a championship caliber team. While the Vikings vastly outplayed the Saints then (who most definitely did cheat, as well) the fact that that game was in New Orleans was also a big part of what happened. So, while the Vikings did beat the Saints earlier this season at home, that wasn’t the same team that has been playing really, really well these past few months and considering the fact that Drew Brees is Drew Brees, you definitely want as many advantages going into that game as possible.

Homefield will provide that and so really the key is the Vikings winning out, hopefully over a Packers team that has no reason to start Aaron Rodgers. The Packers need to win out to make the playoffs and they face the Panthers this Sunday, which means that the Vikings will be rooting for the team that beat them this past weekend to end any hope in Green Bay before the Vikings travel there to battle their most hated team. I believe that the Vikings, Keenum, and the Defense especially will bounce back against head coach Mike Zimmer’s former team, while I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles fell to the Giants in their first game without their leader. The Vikings first two losses on the season both came the game after losing one of their offensive leaders with the Steelers game coming after Bradford’s injury and the Lions game coming after the loss of Dalvin Cook. Beyond that, division games are always difficult and regardless of whether or not the Giants are a mess, they will have Eli Manning playing with a chip on his shoulder as well and that could mean good things for the Viking’s playoff seeding.

While this all means that the Vikings wouldn’t be technically beating the best teams out there, I don’t really care. This is a team that has dealt with so much heartbreak both historically and even this season and you could also make the argument that the Vikings aren’t putting their best players on the field because of the NFL’s “Cursed Season” as well. While some do worry that Packers fans will call us out if we do end up winning the Super Bowl this year because of the injury to Rodgers, or injuries in general, just realize that Packers fans are going to attempt to justify the Vikings winning a Super Bowl in any way they can. So, let’s just hope that the Purple and Gold can continue to avoid this season’s curse and that they can lock up home-field. We’ve all had our fair share of injuries and sadness and it’s the Vikings’ time, it’s our time and we’ll take it however we can get it.

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