This Vikings season has already taken about 432 twists and turns, so with four games left we shouldn't assume anything.
They could win their last four games (or go 3-1) and carry momentum into the playoffs. They could split their last four and (likely) be left to lament missed opportunities. They could lose all four and go limping off.
What we like to deal with in the midst of uncertainty is most likely scenarios. Various models give the Vikings about a 1 in 3 chance of reaching the playoffs this season, a feat that almost certainly will require at least three wins in their final four games.
The most likely outcome to this season is that the Vikings miss the playoffs. And if they miss the playoffs, one could argue that the most likely outcome is a major shakeup resulting in one or more key stakeholders — head coach Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman being at the top of that list — losing their jobs.
All of that relates to Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, who might be the most interesting case of all – as I discussed at the start of Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Win or lose this season (but particularly lose), the Vikings have a big decision to make on Cousins. The options, in brief:
*Keep Cousins, who has been among the league's most productive quarterbacks this season and without whom the Vikings arguably would be toast already this season, and either let him play out the final year of his contract on a $45 million cap charge or sign him to another short-term extension.
*Trade Cousins to a QB-needy team, absorbing $10 million in dead money on the 2022 cap while recouping some draft assets and shedding $35 million from the cap.