Let the NFL Madness Begin

During my over 50 years as a Viking fan, I have collected all kinds of memorabilia, including autographed helmets, photos, trading cards, shirts from various championships, knick knacks and popular jerseys as shown here. Someday I do still hope to add some Super Bowl victory merchandise to my collection. (Photo by Julie Rae Rickard)

By Julie Rae Rickard

It is almost September and the start of another season of NFL football.

For me, being a Minnesota Vikings fan has always been a challenge, but last season the team played some of the most amazing, frustrating and record setting games including the biggest comeback in NFL history. So what will happen this year?

Of course, I am always optimistic deep down that this is the Viking team to go back to the Super Bowl. (Their last one was Super Bowl XI.)

Last year I was a bit more reserved due to the 2021 season having so many disappointing games that were lost at the end. There was a new head coach, Kevin O’Connell, fresh off a Super Bowl victory while offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, but the team was full of question marks.

Then on week one, they beat their division rival, the Green Bay Packers, easily. Suddenly I had hope that at least they would have a good season.

Things got a bit crazy after that.

They finished 11-0 in one score games, a complete turnaround from 2021’s 5-8 in close contests. This included 10 comeback wins, two of which were stunning to watch.

Over the years Viking fans have become accustomed to heart-stopping finishes, and we should all have a stress test prior to the start of the first game to ensure we can make it all the way to the playoffs. But, this was a whole other level of excellence/insanity.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who somehow never seems to get credit for his amazing performances, led the team to eight fourth quarter comebacks including the biggest comeback in NFL History when they beat the Indianapolis Colts 39 to 36 in overtime after being behind 33 to 0 at the start of the second half.

Previously, one of my favorite comebacks by the team was in the early 80’s when they came from behind in the fourth quarter to somehow beat the Philadelphia Eagles. The Colt game blew that one away.

At the time they met, the Vikings were 10-3 and ready to secure a playoff slot while the Colts were struggling at 4-8-1 in week 15. This hardly seemed like a contest until kickoff.

Of course to have the biggest comeback, you have to be behind. The first three quarters were embarrassing to watch as the Vikings stumbled time and again. There were blocked punts returned for touchdowns, fumbles, interceptions, and stops on fourth downs.

The contest also had several questionable calls which disqualified two fumbles for touchdowns by Chandon Sullivan.

I was screaming like crazy as the defense continually struck superstar wide receiver, Justin Jefferson, with what seemed like unnecessary roughness.

But somewhere in the second half, they became the “little engine that could” as they kept chugging and slowly tied the score to send it into overtime.

It was mind boggling to watch. As a fan you often find yourself doing the impossible math to determine what your team needs to do to come back in a game like this. Never have I seen it happen before my eyes to this extent.

(Weird trivia: the quarterback who prior to this had the biggest comeback in NFL history was Frank Reich who led the Buffalo Bills to a big playoff win against the Oilers. He was the Colts coach until week 9.)

The Viking/Colt game made many lists of the best games in 2022. But the actual best game of the year was the Viking/Bills match up a few weeks earlier.

In Vikings’ 2022 style, it involved another comeback as the two teams battled it out. This was when I, and many others, started to take the team seriously. The Bills were expected to be a Super Bowl contender and early bets were on them to beat the seemingly lucky Vikings.

With two minutes to go, an amazing catch by Jefferson made everyone gasp. (This catch won many post-season awards.)

After failing to get the ball into the end zone, they turned the ball over to the Bills at the 1-yard line but a fumble by QB Josh Allen was recovered for a touchdown.

They took the lead with seconds to go, but the Bills offense is also great at moving the ball and they got into field goal range in time to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The Vikings got the ball first and were able to score a field goal. The Bills attempt to score was stopped by an interception by Patrick Peterson and the Vikings won.

Just thinking about these games gets me excited for this season. There have been changes in the roster: the team is without fan favorites Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook. But I am still optimistic. Not that they will win a Super Bowl, but that Coach O’Connell, QB Cousins and the incredible WR Jefferson, will provide plenty of entertainment when they take the field in 2023.