PurplePTSD: Boring Football Can Be Winning Football

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

December 9, 2021

As I sat there and watched the New England Patriots run the ball, and run the ball, and then run the ball again vs. the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, I couldn’t help but think to myself, how would we as Vikings fans feel about winning a game like this? Would we feel good or would we be upset that our quarterback had only thrown one pass during the whole first half, and three total passes for the whole game?

Think about this: if Bill Belichick had Kirk Cousins instead of Mac Jones, would the Patriots be as good or maybe even better? If Bill Belichick had this Vikings roster, with a mix of old and young guys, weapons on offense and defense, would the Patriots still be holding down the number one spot in the AFC? Now ask yourself: where would this current Patriots team be if they had Mike Zimmer instead of Bill Belichick?

I think we all know the answer. Not in the Super Bowl conversation, maybe not even close.

With the Vikings season coming to a disappointing end and the door likely closing on the Mike Zimmer era, it is crucial that we as Vikings fans decide what we want with our future moving forward. Do we want more Justin Jefferson highlights, do we want touchdown dances, would we rather have a running QB who can juke a defender and be on SportsCenter’s top plays, or do we want a winning football team? If the answer is a winning football team, we might have to embrace “boring.”

Belichick and the Patriots fan base embrace “boring,” in fact they LOVE “boring.” They don’t complain about running the ball on every play or on 2nd and long while not using their emerging rookie QB. They don’t complain about not trading for OBJ, or not signing the top free agent out there who has a huge social media following. They actually seem to want the opposite. The time they did do that with Cam Newton, the stint was short lived and they cut him for the boring rookie who was the fifth QB off the board in the draft. Jones was passed over for much more exciting QBs like Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields.

That may mean that we don’t hire the attractive young coach who will bring us multiple Justin Jefferson highlights, or wildcat trick plays that will be talked about all over the sports networks. It may mean hiring a coach that will leave ego at the door and worry about winning over all. It may mean trading Dalvin Cook and using that money to bring in a boring offensive lineman that will get the job done. It may mean no more 300 yard passing games for Kirk Cousins, but rather 200 yard games that win because of time of possession and a defense that doesn’t care about nicknames or sack dances, but cares about three and outs and turnovers. The point I’m trying to make here is that we as fans also have a responsibility this offseason: do we want splash plays or do we want winning plays? On 3rd and 3, do we want a 50 yard play action bomb to Jefferson with 2 minutes left to put us up 10, or do we want a 4 yard run that secures a 3 point win?

A lot of times, I’ve found myself wanting the splash play. All because we need to keep Jefferson happy and we need to keep his targets up so he doesn’t request a trade and pull a Stefon Diggs on us. But at the end of the day, do we want him to stay because he’s putting up stats or because we’re winning? We need to want winning players, and by no means do I think Jefferson is not a winning player, but I do think that we as Vikings fans are falling into wanting flashy players and flashy plays more than winning players and winning plays. When it comes to finding the next coach to lead the franchise, we should make sure that he’s bringing a winning culture and not a flashy one. Do we want to be the boring Patriots or do we want to be the flashy Buffalo Bills?

If Monday Night Football taught me anything, it’s that we better start trying to embrace a “boring” culture like the Pats. Winning isn’t boring.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.