Examining the 5 Game Winning Streak

So, the Minnesota Vikings are riding high yet again. If it feels like we have seen this before, it’s because we have. The Vikings are on a 5 game winning streak for the third straight year. Each season has been a little different though. There have been different reasons for success and different reasons why they have come to a close. Let’s take a look at the win streaks from the last couple of seasons and how they compare to the win streak of this year.

Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

2015

Opponents: Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders

Streak Ender: Green Bay Packers

Quarterback: Teddy Bridgewater

2015 was a fun season. The defense became great and earned its title as “Mike Zimmer’s Defense.” Adrian Peterson came back and was dominant on the ground. We won the NFC North. It all kind of stemmed from this streak. Every game felt like the Vikings proving doubters wrong. Fresh off of the bye week with a 2-2 record, people said we couldn’t win out of the bye. Then we beat the Chiefs. Then people said we couldn’t win a division game on the road and we march into Detroit and take the W. We hadn’t won in Chicago since 2007 and Blair Walsh kicks a walk-off winner. People said AD’s time as the best running back in the league was up with the emergence of Todd Gurley and he carries the team on his back while putting on a clinic against Gurley’s Rams. Then people said that we couldn’t win in the west coast. Of course, we go to Oakland and blow out the Raiders. It was a fun stretch because all these hurdles were true. It was backed up with statistics not just what people were saying. It finally felt like we were turning a page as a franchise to something better. The Age of Zimmer really began with this streak. We then fell apart playing Green Bay. Maybe the team got too excited about the game or maybe they just didn’t prepare like they should have, but the team that came that Sunday was not the same team we saw the previous five weeks.

2016

Opponents: Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, Houston Texans

Streak Ender: Philadelphia Eagles

Quarterback: Sam Bradford

Has there ever been a better five-game streak for a Vikings defense in the team’s history? I mean, man! It looked like absolutely nobody would be able to stop them. They start out the season with the defense almost single-handedly defeating the Titans on the road with touchdowns from Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter. Then they shut down Aaron Rodgers in Week 2 with a game-ending interception from Trae Waynes. Next, they stroll into the defending NFC Champions stadium in Carolina, and sack Cam Newton eight times, while intercepting him three times. On Monday Night Football, Xavier Rhodes held Odell Beckham to 3 catches and 23 yards. And they rounded it out with a blowout victory over the Houston Texans and Brock Osweiler. But the writing was on the wall for this team to fall apart. It wasn’t a recipe for the team to keep winning. All the injuries were stacking up. Teddy Bridgewater two weeks before the start of the season. Adrian Peterson in Week 2. Both starting tackles in an already weak offensive line. Bradford played well over this stretch, but the run game and the offensive could not hold up, and the Eagles took advantage. They exposed the team to the rest of the league and the team fell from grace.

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

2017

Opponents: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins

Streak Ender: None

Quarterback: Case Keenum

This has been an interesting season for the Vikings. I don’t think anyone expected them to go on a streak like this that started with Bradford getting benched in Chicago. What makes this whole scenario even weirder is the fact that there is a quarterback controversy coming out of it. Teddy Bridgewater is healthy again and it feels like the fan base is split on whether he should get the starting job back or Case Keenum has played well enough to earn the starting job. The team started the streak with an odd game against Chicago. Bradford started for just the second time this season and looked awful. He did not look healthy enough to be playing football. Yet the team was still ahead 3-2 at halftime. Keenum came in and lead the way to a 23-20 victory. He played great. He threw a touchdown to Kyle Rudolph and really elevated the offense when it came out sluggish to start the game. He followed that up with, probably, his worst game against the Packers. The Vikings were fortunate enough to face Brett Hundley for the majority of the game and came out with a win. He then came out with a dreadful first half and finished with a solid second half against the Ravens, and did largely the same against the Browns. He then came out on fire against the Redskins with Bridgewater being active for the first time and his job being on the line. He threw four touchdowns in the team’s first 6 and lead the team to a 35-17 lead over the Redskins. It looked like he was going to take a firm grasp on the quarterback job and not let go. However, he then threw two back-to-back terrible interceptions, and the Redskins got right back in the game. The team was able to hold off Washington from completely coming back and won 38-30. And this is where the quarterback controversy came in. The fans that are pro Keenum saw the 4 touchdown performance and the five-game winning streak and thought absolutely he deserves to be the starter on Sunday. The fans that are pro Teddy saw the 2 picks and the near collapse and thought we can’t afford to have this happen against better teams. Now, the team has a big 2 game stretch with big playoff implications and the question remains, who should be the starter. There is risk in either option. And probably by the time most of you have read this a starter has been named. If you stick with Keenum, you run the risk of having that game where he does eventually fall off and give away a game for us. So, there is uncertainty of when that will be and all we can do is hope it doesn’t come at a bad time. If you make the change and go with Teddy, you have no idea who this guy will be after the injury. He was a borderline top 15 quarterback before he got injured, but showed signs of improvement and potential to jump into the top 10. Can we trust that he will maximize that potential or even make it back to where he was? We just don’t know. Personally, I think that if the coaches believe that Teddy is the future of this team, they should find out sooner rather than later the answer to that question. If he isn’t, then they can always go back to Keenum, much like the Chicago game. However, it is not up to us as fans to decide who will be the quarterback or what is best for the team. I trust Zimmer and Shurmer will make the choice that best benefits the team and I will be happy with whoever they choose. I am just happy they are winning and am looking forward to them continuing their success because this team is more than just the quarterback,  Zimmer has proved that time and again.

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