If the 2020 Vikings didn't exist, the ghost of Pete Rozelle would invent them.
After taking the subterranean elevator to play down to the level of the 1-11 Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Vikings are the definition of average, whether you consider the word a compliment or slur, and are helping to fulfill the mandate of the NFL's most important commissioner.
Rozelle fought for parity and economic equality between teams, to maximize the number of games that would matter, the number of teams that would stay in contention, and the number of fans who would tune in because of the league's enforced unpredictability.
If he were alive in 2020, he would be wearing Helga horns and a Dalvin Cook jersey, because the same team that was often unwatchable on Sunday while pulling out a 27-24 overtime victory over the horrid Jaguars is now in position to make the playoffs.
No, really.
The Vikings are 6-6. They own the NFC's seventh and final playoff spot for now. The Vikings have won five of their past six games. They have also lost to the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys at home, and they needed to work overtime — and make Cook work far harder than is healthy — to beat a team whose ownership was probably rooting for a loss to enhance their draft prospects.
This Sunday, the team that has allowed three return touchdowns in two weeks, that is plus-1 in point differential over the past three weeks against three bad teams, will travel to Tampa knowing that a win would put them in the NFC's No. 6 position.
No, really.