Brian Murphy: The joy, success and disappointment of the 2022 Vikings
Fatalism is baked into Vikings fans’ DNA, the genetic differentiator from other fanatics who are tortured by biblical losses or chronic ineptitude and carry it around like a disease.
Typically, in the fog of so many playoff defeats, Minnesotans stomp around their living rooms and bar stools full of rage and recriminations -- offended by fate, failures or dark forces that conspired to enable their inevitable reckoning.
Not so for the enchanted 2022 Vikings.
Processing their pitiful yet wholly predictable demise challenges convention and requires greater self-awareness than stalking the usual scapegoats for cheap catharsis.
Compartmentalize those emotions to cherish a 13-win season and its jubilant journey and demand better from the front office and coaches who thought the cast of “Cocoon” would suffice on defense.
Search for how to fairly and accurately describe an entertaining and confounding season like no other in the franchise’s 61-year history.
This was an unforgettable but ultimately unsuccessful romp that ended how we knew it would. The pixie dust well finally ran dry in a humbling 31-24 loss to the underdog New York Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium.
To be sure, it was a disappointing end to a magic carpet ride that would have crashed next week in San Francisco anyway. No one is that naïve to dream about Kirko Chains clutching the Lombardi Trophy and white-man over-biting through a victory dance in a confetti shower.
Take those fleeting moments of unlikely joy for what they are worth.
The Vikings were a feel-good distraction in a world gone mad. A weekly ratings juggernaut compelling enough to light up social media, text chains and virtual meetings every Monday morning with “Did you see that?!” incredulity.
A psychedelic experience that should be shared among other indulgences around the campfire without losing touch with reality or serious adulting when it wears off.
Remember 2022 forever. Where you were and who you were with when the flashbacks come rushing. Perhaps they will sand down the jagged edges of so many miserable losses seared into collective memory.
A first-round postseason exit following a division title normally means primal screams and pitchforks around here. This letdown should leave you wanting but not angry. Dissatisfied but not vengeful.
There are solid pillars of talent and culture on which to build.
From head coach Kevin O’Connell’s impressive debut and Kirk Cousins’ about damn time emergence as a quarterback worthy of his paycheck to Justin Jefferson’s hall-of-fame credentials at receiver and Christian Darrisaw’s ascension at left tackle.
There also are cracks and hemorrhaging in the foundation on defense and the payroll. From defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s job security and expensive playmakers up front in Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter to Patrick Peterson and Harrison Smith on the back end and Eric Kendricks in between.
Ruthless decisions await general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who mostly left the previous regime’s roster intact but needs to start defining his legacy as a talent evaluator and negotiator.
When autopsying losses or seasons, it is not about how many, but simply how.
The Vikings did not lose to the Giants because Cousins reverted to a risk-averse bot who threw 5 yards short on fourth-and-8 to T.J. Hockenson. Or because Jefferson was abducted by New York’s defense after the opening drive. Or because John Elway jumped out of the vanilla cake known as Daniel Jones.
Their defense ran out of the spackle, duct tape and bubble gum Donatell used to keep his crumbling unit semi-functional for 18 weeks.
Boy, did Donatell pick the wrong week to keep sniffing glue. Challenging the Giants and the world to scrutinize Sunday’s performance like Gary Hart daring the media to prove he was a lying adulterer.
Time to shine up that resume, Ed.
Look for a news release soon saying the Vikings have “moved on from” or “parted ways with” the mastermind of a defense that flopped on the biggest stage of the season.
Unable to convert a timely turnover or unforced error into precious momentum, the Vikings were exposed as aging and flailing opportunists who only had so many big-play moments to pull from their bag of tricks.
Old, slow and confused is no way to play defense in the NFL, but that is the lasting image of this unit.
The season was not a failure, but Minnesota’s defense failed their teammates and fans at the biggest moment. O’Connell must account for that.
The easiest part is firing Donatell, who couldn’t stop a runny nose. The hard part is meshing a new or existing scheme with raw draft talent and whatever creaky parts remain serviceable.
Mike Zimmer made a living out of scapegoating his offensive coordinators until there was no one else to blame but himself for mutual failure.
O’Connell gets to tee up his Mulligan. No time for another shank into the woods.
We could be in for a generational shift of the power structure in the NFC North.
The regressing Packers might be finished with Aaron Rodgers if the mercurial quarterback is finished with them.
The irrelevant Bears have the No. 1 overall pick, an elite QB talent in Justin Fields and an incoming president in Kevin Warren, who happens to be the NFL commissioner in waiting.
The former Vikings executive and Big Ten commissioner knows how to snuff organizational fires and set and exceed high expectations in business, crisis management and real estate development.
If Adofo-Mensah’s competitive rebuild window isn’t closed, it is about to crush everyone’s knuckles.
No one said this would not be complicated. Like analyzing feelings for Vikings fans.
A 13-win season should never be forsaken. But 2022 should not be dismissed as a failure because it only produced a lifetime of memories instead of four more postseason victories.
It is so convenient to be a fatalist who vows outcomes are predetermined by history or curses. It is much more difficult to recognize individual joys amidst shared sorrow.
The hardest work is yet to be done.
