Vikings Officially Eliminated From Playoff Contention By Loss to Ravens

Dec 8, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Toby Gerhart (32) is met by wide receiver Jerome Simpson (81) and tackle Phil Loadholt (71) after an apparent injury during his fourth quarter touchdown run against the Baltimore Ravens at M

It’s official: The Vikings have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. You can put different combinations into the NFL Playoff Machine from here until next Thursday, but it won’t make a lick of difference. The Vikings can no longer make the postseason.

It may seem silly to even write this post – hasn’t it been a foregone conclusion for a long time that the Vikings were going to miss the playoffs? – but I think we’ve learned that the NFL is a pretty wacky, wide-open league where a lot of stuff happens. How many people gave the Vikings a shot last year when they were 6-6?

Okay, coming back to make the playoffs from 3-8-1 is a heck of a lot longer shot than coming back from 6-6. But you have to take the division into consideration too. It’s not like anyone is running away with this sucker.

As a matter of fact, had the Vikings somehow managed to pull out the victory Sunday in Baltimore, they still would have been in it by virtue of the Lions’ loss to Philadelphia. That’s how tight the NFC North is this year.

Hopes would have been slim, but they would have still been alive. And sometimes that slim hope is all you have. Sometimes you don’t even have that. Sometimes all you have is a big brick of cheese and several episodes of Sons of Anarchy that you downloaded.

Despite the bad feeling after today’s loss, there is plenty to be upbeat about. Rookies Cordarrelle Patterson and Xavier Rhodes continue to shine, and Sharrif Floyd is beginning to come along as well. Brian Robison is developing into a top pass rusher. Audie Cole is looking like a solid player at MLB.

Greg Jennings has shown he can still make plays if he has a QB who can get him the ball. Did I mention Cordarrelle Patterson?

Patterson, that kid is good.

The best news? There are only three games left in 2013. And then the shake-up will begin. There will be lots of changes in Minnesota this offseason. Hopefully they will be good changes.

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