The Vikings Wanted A Championship. They Got Proof Of Concept.
Credit: Joseph Rondone via Imagn Images
And just like that, it’s all over. After a 14-2 start, the Minnesota Vikings and their fans were looking at limitless possibilities. Two weeks, two losses, and 18 points later, there are none left. The regular season was an incredible twist of fate every bit as extraordinary as the Minneapolis Miracle, and was dashed just as abruptly and harshly in a 27-9 loss to the LA Rams.
How do you even process a season like that?
It feels like cope for anyone in the Vikings organization or fanbase to say “Hey, no one expected us to be here.” Don’t get that wrong — it’s true, no one did. This season as supposed to be a transitional year in Minnesota, a euphemistic way to say “Things are probably going to go rough while J.J. McCarthy gets up and running.” Then a meniscus tear ensured that McCarthy wouldn’t be doing any running at all, leaving it all on a journeyman quarterback.
But the expectations have long increased. Having a surprise 10-7 season is playing with house money. But a 14-3 team? It doesn’t matter what you did last year, or what pundits thought you were in the preseason — you’re playing for keeps. A team that got 14 wins, 4,300 yards, and 35 touchdowns out of Sam Darnold shouldn’t have expected the results they got in the two biggest games of the year.
The Vikings entered the year hoping to rebuild on the fly. They ended the season having their legitimate Super Bowl hopes dashed. What they ultimately got was something in between: Proof of concept. They got to see — at least through 16 games — what Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s vision of this team could look like.
The 14-2 Vikings were exactly what Minnesota hoped to build toward when they parted ways with Kirk Cousins on a mission to invest in other areas of the team. No matter how ugly the ending, you can’t say it didn’t work. The Vikings scored the ninth-most points in the NFL while giving up the fifth-fewest. New contributors Minnesota was finally able to afford — Aaron Jones, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, and Stephon Gilmore, to name a few — paid off handsomely with strong seasons.
Remember, too, as charmed of a season as the Vikings had, there were some awful breaks that went their way, too. T.J. Hockenson missed half the season while rehabbing from his ACL tear, and Christian Darrisaw tore his ACL in October, ending his season. And of course, while Khyree Jackson’s tragic loss was much, much bigger than football, the Vikings also lost a talented young cornerback who could have provided them much-needed depth.
Still, they won 14 games. Whatever flaws Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores have, that’s no accident. They both architected schemes that were able to squeeze the absolute most out of an offense led by Darnold, and a defense that, while improved, was still a playmaker or two away from being truly championship-caliber.
Fair or not, these last two games reinforce the lessons of the first 16. Maybe Darnold proved himself as a $30 million quarterback, and maybe these two poor outings can be pinned on jitters for a player playing his first two real high-stakes games since college, or bad blocking for the offensive line. But making a commitment to him means, once again, putting a massive amount of resources into a signal-caller who we don’t know can win huge games.
No, Darnold’s served his purpose in Minnesota, which is showing the Vikings what they can be with McCarthy. If O’Connell is right about McCarthy — and after he was (mostly) right about Darnold, we can give him the benefit of the doubt — then Kwesi is cooking. They’ll keep being able to shore up their roster’s weaknesses with their cap space, and potentially, with an extra $10 million they’re not spending on Darnold.
And while the roster has flaws, Minnesota isn’t far away from where they need to go. Find a road-grader guard to open up holes in the running game, a defensive tackle who can generate enough pressure for Flores to not have to rely so much on the blitz, and perhaps a talented young running back or help at cornerback, and things are looking bright.
Now, proof of concept isn’t results. McCarthy has to be the real deal. Kwesi has to keep up his high batting average on free agent signings. They’ll need to avoid critical injuries to foundational pieces like Darrisaw. It’s far from a guarantee that a surprise team will repeat their success, and if things don’t come together, this season will be viewed as a lost opportunity.
But if this isn’t a one-year fluke? If what we saw was a glimpse of what will be? Then the memory of the 2024 Vikings won’t feel nearly so sour as it feels right now.
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