It was barely more than a week ago that the opinion was offered publicly by someone who looks and writes a lot like me that the Vikings would finish 7-10.
Statement game: Vikings would be an early NFC favorite with a win tonight
There is a lot to sort out the rest of the way, but an early look around the conference reveals an opportunity.
September 19, 2022 at 3:58PM
While that is still entirely possible — anything is possible when a season is roughly 6% old — a far more optimistic potential narrative is also taking shape rather quickly.
The Vikings beat the Packers fairly convincingly in Week 1. Green Bay responded with a breezy win over the dismal Bears on Sunday night, but the Packers still have the feel of a team that exists somewhere between mortal and very good.
Tampa Bay has a dominant defense and the most successful QB in NFL history. The Rams are the defending Super Bowl champions, but they were humbled in Week 1 by the Bills and threatened in Week 2 by the Falcons.
Does anyone, maybe outside of Tampa Bay, really scare you in the entire conference?
The answer so far is no, which leads to point Patrick Reusse and I made on the Daily Delivery podcast: The Vikings have a great opportunity against the Eagles on Monday Night Football to jump into the conversation as an early NFC favorite.
Yes, that's a far cry from 7-10. But when the facts change, opinions change.
The Eagles, too, have a chance to enter that "early favorite" conversation with a win Monday, making this a truly intriguing matchup. Philadelphia is a mild favorite (2.5 points), and it should be a close (and quite possibly high-scoring) game.
A loss for the Vikings would hardly be devastating, but a win would establish some momentum that hasn't existed for at least three years.
Every Mike Zimmer team from 2017-21 had at least two losses through four games. The 2020 squad started 1-5. Last year's team started 1-3. Justin Jefferson is on a team with a winning record for the first time in his NFL career.
While early momentum doesn't guarantee anything — the 2016 Vikings started 5-0 before collapsing to an 8-8 finish — it generally helps carry a team at least to the postseason.
If the Vikings can start 2-0 with a win over their biggest rival followed by a road win on grass in primetime against a quality team, they will have earned the right to be taken seriously as a threat.
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