Vikings Could Use a Christmas Miracle Sunday

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Photo: Minnesota Vikings

“Twas the night before Christmas
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung
by the chimney with care,
In hopes that cracked-rib Kirk Cousins and hot-seat Mike Zimmer could somehow lead the Minnesota Vikings to a win over the LA Rams without Dalvin Cook and, possibly, Adam Thielen….”

Ask for a Christmas Miracle

If you’re religious, then pray. And if not, then ask Santa for one last gift tonight before you lay your head down on Christmas Eve. The Minnesota Vikings need a miracle on Chicago Ave this weekend. It might be the only way to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Of the three NFC teams (MIN, NO, PHI) still realistically fighting for the 7th and final playoff spot, Minnesota has the smallest chance (31%) of success, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. That’s because, with the Rams and Packers still on the schedule, the Vikings have the most difficult remaining slate of the three.

Those playoff odds came out before we found out that Kirk Cousins, who has NEVER been on the injury report while with the Vikings, will play Sunday with a cracked rib AND before Dalvin Cook hit the reserve COVID list. Oh, and we’ll be counting on Oli Udoh to stop Aaron Donald from breaking the rest of Kirk’s ribcage.

That’s before we get into Mike Zimmer’s defense, which has given up the 3rd-most yards in the NFL this season (5th most passing yards), being tasked with stopping Cooper Kupp, Matt Stafford and the 4th-best passing attack in the league.

Christmas Hope

But this blog wasn’t meant to depress this fanbase on Christmas Eve. Because, given what we’ve seen from this team so far during the 2021 season, the Vikings are better when odds are stacked against them. Their best performances of the year have come against the Packers, Cardinals, Seahawks and Chargers; all games they were supposed to lose.

On the contrary, they’ve struggled mightily when heavily favored to win, like vs the Lions (twice), the Steelers and Bears. So if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s the Minnesota Vikings playing both up and down to whatever competition is on the field.

Mike Zimmer’s Vikings hate blowing teams out but they hate being blown out even more. If they were to lose by more than ten points on Sunday, it would be the most lopsided loss since Christmas Day one year ago vs the Saints (52-33). Win or lose, I’d get yourself ready for another barn burner this weekend at The Bank.

Can our purple pull it off? Well, that’s what we have Santa for. Hopefully you were all good this year.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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