What do the Vikings have in common with 3-10 Cardinals and 3-10 49ers?

The Vikings share something with two of the teams that share the worst record in the NFL. It's something that should distress them.

December 12, 2018 at 12:09PM
Danielle Hunter (99) sacked Josh Rosen in the second quarter with the Vikings played Arizona.
Danielle Hunter (99) sacked Josh Rosen in the second quarter with the Vikings played Arizona. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2018, file photo, Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo looks at his play sheet during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, in Minneapolis. DeFilippo has been scheming this week on how to beat the Eagles, the team he won a Super Bowl with as quarterbacks coach last season. The trip will be even more poignant than that, because Philadelphia is where DeFilippo grew up.  (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn, File)
(Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

What do the Vikings, Cardinals, 49ers and Falcons have in common, besides their combined record of 16-35-1?

Answer: They are the only teams in the NFL without a victory over a team that now has a winning record.

That's right. These, indeed, are desperate times at TCO Performance Center.

The difference is the Vikings are still very much in the playoff picture at 6-6-1. They can salvage a season, which is why head coach Mike Zimmer says he fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo in favor of Kevin Stefanski, someone he's more philosophically aligned with.

How he didn't see this philosophical butting of the heads coming just months ago when he hired DeFilippo is something Zimmer no doubt will have to explain to the big bosses when it comes time for the organization to self scout the 2018 season.

For now, the Vikings have three games left against the Dolphins (7-6) at home, the Lions (5-8) in Detroit and the Bears (9-4) at home.

Right now, the combined record of the six teams the Vikings have beaten is 27-50-1 (.353). The combined record of the six teams they've lost to is 53-25 (.679).

They've beaten no one they weren't expected to beat. And they lost to Buffalo as a 16 1/2-point favorite in one very memorable game they were supposed to win.

Meanwhile, around the league — except for Arizona (3-10), San Francisco (3-10) and Atlanta (4-9) — unexpected wins have been more plentiful.

Denver (6-7) has beaten Seattle, the Chargers and Pittsburgh. The Lions (5-8) have beaten the Patriots and Dolphins. The Packers (5-7-1) beat the Bears.

The Giants (5-8) beat Houston and the Bears. Washington (6-7) beat Dallas. Tampa Bay (5-8) beat New Orleans. The Jets (4-9) beat Indianapolis. And even Oakland (3-10) beat Pittsburgh.

Next up for the reeling Vikings is a Dolphins team coming off the "Miami Miracle," a last-second 70-yard, triple lateral touchdown pass to beat the Patriots at home.

As they head to U.S. Bank Stadium — where the "Minneapolis Miracle" took place and now seems so long ago — the Dolphins (7-6) will be bringing victories over three teams that now have a winning record: The Patriots (9-4), Titans (7-6) and Bears (9-4).

about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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