Vikings and other Minnesota teams: They're all what we thought they were

The Vikings have been a disappointment this season, but they haven't been a surprise — something that is hard to accomplish, but very much on-brand for this team and in fact Minnesota sports in general.

We thought the Vikings had a top-heavy roster susceptible to absences. We thought they had talent but holes. And we thought they would constantly be playing whack-a-mole from week to week try to patch things together.

That has played out so far in a 3-5 season in which almost every game has gone down to the wire.

For the sixth time in eight games Sunday, the Vikings' defense allowed a tying or go-ahead score in the fourth quarter or overtime (both, as it turned out, on Sunday).

For the sixth time in eight games Sunday, the Vikings offense put the team in position for a tying or go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

Both units were culpable in Sunday's loss, as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast.

Neither unit is good enough to win a game by itself, which means either is capable of contributing to a loss. That's about what we thought going into this make-or-break year.

*The Gophers coming into the season looked like they would go as far as their offensive line took them. When the line struggles, they can lose to Bowling Green or Illinois at home. When the line makes big holes and Minnesota can play with a lead, anything is possible.

*The Timberwolves looked like a team with talent but a team in transition. That seems even more the case after an 0-4 homestand during which longtime star Karl-Anthony Towns was a minus-97. If things get ugly during a four-game road trip, their whole plan will be hacked.

*The Wild looked like a team on the rise and a team with resilience. Both of those things showed up over the weekend in big wins over Pittsburgh and the Islanders.

*Minnesota United looked like a team with a lot of new faces that would probably be playing better at the finish than the start. That's the case for the Loons, who made the playoffs as the West's fifth seed even after an 0-4 beginning to the year.