After a humiliating loss on Sunday on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills and the emotional tumult of this week’s news regarding defensive star Everson Griffen, the Minnesota Vikings seem to be fighting for the fate of their 2018 football season.
With limited details surfacing about the arrest and behavior of Vikings’ defensive end Everson Griffen, Minnesota Vikings players and coaches are no doubt facing a rare emotional drama as they prepare to face the powerful Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night in a prime-time road game.
Adding insult to that emotional injury is the fact that the NFL media seems to be uniform in their subscription to a potential Vikings free-fall from the ranks of superlative teams in the league.
No doubt it is tough to play or even consider professional football with sadness lingering in an athlete’s or coach’s heart. Indeed, it is tough on all of us who support a professional team when we know that such a successful, talented and endearing fellow like Everson Griffen is in trouble.
But that’s exactly what the Minnesota Vikings have to do. Their fans, of course, have the choice in whether they support them or not.
Putting this bad news, as well as this awful loss, to the side of this present week–and ultimately, this present season–is the responsibility of the Vikings coaching staff.
To the best of their abilities, they must put the team’s situation in perspective and compel them to play good football, just as they did after they received news of the sudden death of offensive line coach Tony Sparano just days before the beginning of the season.
Understanding a man like Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, it is fairly clear that they will at least take up this serious and challenging task. Certainly few coaches in the history of the NFL have dealt with more crucial conflicts in leading a football team than he has.
Against the Rams, the Vikings will have opportunities as well as possible disadvantages in the contest. Both of Los Angeles starting cornerbacks are out due to injury, while the Vikings are dealing with infirmities to both starting left tackle Riley Reiff and running back Dalvin Cook (both listed as questionable for Thursday’s game), as well as the absence of Griffen, all cornerstones of their team.
Minnesota has the ability to win this game against Los Angeles. They also have the ability to lose in a competitive fashion.
Losing the way they did against Buffalo will further disappoint their fan base and inspire more pessimism from the NFL’s talking heads, press corps, and a legion of armchair quarterbacks.
If they are so embattled, then it is time to fight. They have something to prove, to themselves, and to their supporters who have endured so much to stand behind them.