Need a pulse on the Vikings' locker room after Sunday's 22-17 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City dropped them into an 0-4 dungeon? Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan may have put it best, stating that this team is now in a strange predicament -- too proud to surrender, not good enough to contend.
Writes Souhan: "As the Vikings have lost their first four games, they have reminded us not only that this is a flawed team, but that this has been a flawed team for more than a year now. Since the beginning of the 2010 season, the Vikings are 6-14. There are 32 teams in the NFL. Only two have won fewer games than the Vikings in this time: The Broncos (five) and the Panthers (three)."
Wow. When you look at it that way ...
Four weeks into the season, the Vikings insist they're not hopeless. They are still in great health and still have plenty fo talent on both sides of the ball. And their four losses have come by a combined 19 points. You look at all that and wonder how 0-4 could be 2-2 or 3-1 with just a big play here or a big play there. But that's what mediocre teams in the NFL often do, lamenting their misfortune and insisting that they are oh so close to turning the corner.
As it stands now, the Vikings are one of only four winless teams left in the NFL. The Rams and Dolphins also fell to 0-4 Sunday. And the 0-3 Colts play Monday night in Tampa. That would help explain why the mood in the visiting locker room at Arrowhead Stadium late Sunday afternoon was so depressed.
Cornerback Cedric Griffin said there's only one way to avoid falling into a deep emotional funk as the losses pile up.
"This is football," Griffin said. "This is still a dream that I'm living, a dream that the other 52 players in here with me are living. I think that's the only way we can look at it to keep our spirits up. A lot of guys don't get to do what we do. We're living a dream and that's the only way you can keep your emotions positive."
Griffin and his teammates are doing their best to keep their spirits up. But a month into the season, you can bet that "Living a Dream" is not the best working title for the story of the 2011 Vikings.
