Optimism for Vikings Future?

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

This is different. Very different.  A playoff loss that did not tear my heart out of my chest? I find myself capable of keeping my head held high as a Viking fan, even though I just saw my team get surgically destroyed by the man who, and this hurts to say, is the best QB in the league. Packer fans trash-talking isn’t even phasing me at all, and I’m actually excited for next year,  and here is why…every analyst, expert, pundit, and whatever Mike Greene calls himself, predicted a 4 win season for the Vikings in yet another year of rebuilding. These are the same folks who thought the Jet’s vast arsenal of mediocre QB’s was THE story to cover all off-season. Reality is strange though, because as i hear year after year, the NFC east is the “toughest division in football”, yet the lowly Vikings had the same record as that divisions winner, as well as the AFC north champion Ravens.  Its also worth noting that if not for two gut wrenching interceptions in the first match-up with the Packers, the Vikings would have won the division they didn’t stand a chance of competing in. So not only did they exceed everybody’s expectations, they did it with a young team. Most of whom have been Vikings since they were drafted, and a coach who never budged on his  ideals or vision of success for this team, no matter how badly we wanted him too.

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

And unlike previous playoff losses we can take comfort knowing that for once,  this team is not one of the “built to win this year and this year only” teams we have grown accustomed to. No concern over how to replace an over-paid veteran QB, or wondering if they MIGHT come back to save us next year? We have a head coach who I believe in more after that loss than I have the entire season, and a young QB who has shown a lot of promise, as well as a lot of question marks. What about the youth on defense with Smith, and Griffen, and even Robinson? I can sit back and think that they are finally building a team to win for the years to come, which is a great way to feel at the end of a Viking season. Granted there will be holes to fill. Who knows what the future holds for Winfield, Williams, Loadholt, and Percy Harvin? But if Spielman can hit slam dunks in the draft again this year, they will fill those holes more than adequately.  Here’s to 2013 Vikes fans.

SKOL!

as always the Packers, (even though they just embarassed us) still  SUCK!