Wide Left: The Vikings return to where it all went wrong
Wide Left is written by Vikings superfan Blair Anderson, who convinced Bring Me The News that it was a good idea to give him a platform to unleash his emotions. It feels like a good idea now, but honestly, we're a little worried about what will happen once the Vikings lose a few games.
After a dominating Week 1 performance over the Atlanta Falcons, our Minnesota Vikings are heading into true enemy territory this week when they head to Green Bay to take on the Packers. Marching into Lambeau Field is like marching into the arm pit of America. It’s where the Miller Lite flows like wine and the air smells of vomit.
As many words that I could say about Lambeau Field (and the fact I wanted to pee on the side of it, but it is very well lit) I can also confirm that the home of the John Deere Cult is exactly where the 2018 season went south for your Minnesota Vikings.
Cook down and Bad Kirk
Let’s go back to September 2018. It was a warm day in the epicenter of football hell and while thousands of innocent Viking fans were about to be sandwiched between two 400-pound, sweaty farmers wearing nothing but green and gold overalls, things were still looking up for the Vikings. They came off a win over the San Francisco 49ers and Super Bowl aspirations were still in the air — that is until the Vikings played the first three quarters.
It was the first official time we were treated to “Bad Kirk” as a fan base as Kirk Cousins and the offensive line looked like they split a bottle of tequila before the game. Just as the Vikings appeared to be dead in the water, Cousins rose from the dead after a completely catchable ball from Laquon Treadwell clanged off his hands and into the arms of HaHa Clinton-Dix.
Just as it looked the Packers would score their first victory over the Vikings since the worst Christmas ever in 2016, Mike McCarthy and the officiating crew must have had Cousins on their fantasy teams as he took advantage of the poor coaching and roughing the passer call that was brought on by Aaron Rodgers to fire a laser to Adam Thielen for the game-tying score with 31 seconds left.
At that point, it felt like the Vikings were going to go on, win the game and head back to Minnesota with a 2-0 record. However, that overtime is what would do the Vikings season in.
Early in the extra frame, Dalvin Cook would limp off with a cramp in his hamstring. He would say he was fine after the game, but the injury would ultimately turn out to be a pulled hamstring and would sabotage the first half of the season, rendering the Vikings’ running game completely useless. Zimmer would get upset, can John DeFilippo and the offense would go in the tank.
Oh, that kicker thing...
There was also the matter of Daniel Carlson, who was selected in the fifth round of a NFL Draft before burning fifth-round draft picks on kickers was cool. After an uneventful first game, Carlson completely lost it in the cauldron of Lambeau Field (which I think was brought on by a phenomenon known as “corn sweat”) missing three field goals, which resulted in Mike Zimmer demanding the bus head to the airport without Carlson (can’t confirm this, but I’m just going to assume this was the case).
Carlson went to the Oakland Raiders and hasn’t missed a kick since while the Vikings have played Russian roulette with every member of the special teams grouping. Fun times.
After losing a game they probably should have lost and then should have won, the Vikings went on to have the type of hangover reserved for Saturday night’s with Grain Belt Premium, and Anthony Barr was a Goomba to Josh Allen’s Super Mario in a beatdown by the freaking Buffalo Bills.
Now, I’m not saying that this is partly because of the Packers, but it’s completely because of the Packers. As much as losing to the Packers would have sucked, the Vikings get out of their healthy, clobber the Bills and all is right with the world. Heck, they probably make the playoffs and maybe they end up on the right side of the New Orleans screw job and go to the NFC Championship only to get blasted by wonder boy Sean McVay! One can dream right?
So as the Vikings head to Lambeau almost one year to the day our hopes and dreams died for the 2018 season, all I ask is that the Vikings take care of business and keep the tone that they set last week rolling. If they do, this could be a very good season for the purple.
