PurplePTSD: Not All Hope Should Be Lost

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

Christian Stoinev

2021-12-05

In a season that seems to be filled with disappointment, not all hope is lost for Vikings fans. With every game this season pretty much coming down to the wire, it has left Vikings fans in either a frenzy of excitement or a super deflated mood. However, it’s important to have some perspective and let reality kick in after what felt like another deflating loss, this time to the San Francisco 49ers. The Vikings currently sit at 5-6. They have a 55% chance to make the playoffs according to Football Outsiders, and have 6 games left to play on the schedule with a golden opportunity to be back at .500 if they can get a win this Sunday against a winless Detroit Lions team.

Following this weekend’s battle vs. Detroit, they come home for a Thursday Night showdown against the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s face it: a week from today, the team could be 7-6 with back-to-back wins; we’d be feeling a whole lot different about our beloved Vikings. As athletes and coaches often say, it’s important not to get too high or too low after wins and losses, and whether we like to admit it or not, Vikings fans love to get to the lowest of lows after losses. It’s a long season, and despite injuries, Covid protocol absences, and a handful of plays that went the other way resulting in losses, everything is still within reach for this team. I’m not typically a super optimistic person. I like to be realistic, and yet the reality is that this team has the talent and potential to make a playoff run. This isn’t the NBA where you have to win a best out of 7 series to advance. It takes 4 quarters of football to advance to the next playoff round. Just like several bounces haven’t gone their way this season, who’s to say that those bounces can’t turn in the Vikings’ favor down the stretch? It has been a 5-6 season that could easily have this team sitting at 7-4 if not for a missed field goal in Arizona and a questionable Dalvin Cook fumble in Cincinnati.

Whether they got in as a #2 seed or they get in as a #7 seed, they’d need to win 3 games to get to the Super Bowl. This team shouldn’t be counted on to get those wins, but neither were the Cowboys when they came into US Bank Stadium and beat us with a backup quarterback. It’s football, and anything can happen in a game. It’s OK to have hope as Vikings fans.

In a season that could’ve played out so much differently, not all Vikings hope should be lost. The destination of this wild season could still be a very exciting one. Let’s embrace it.

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