5 biggest takeaways from the Vikings win over the Lions in Week 17
By Adam Carlson
Tank goodness for no tanking
From watching the Sunday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Football Team, it’s obvious that tanking a game isn’t good for almost anyone involved. The Vikings could have sat just about every starter in order to improve their draft stock with a loss, but they didn’t.
Let’s be honest, nobody wants to see Sean Mannion throw passes to Hale Hentges behind an offensive line where Dru Samia is the most recognizable player. Instead, fans actually got to see a great performance from Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson got an opportunity to break a franchise record (and an NFL record).
Even though this was a divisional matchup, there was still a lot of clamoring from fans that wanted to see Minnesota lose this game. A loss would have improved the team’s draft pick, but it’s also scary territory for a franchise to throw a game.
The coaches and staff know throwing a game is not a good impression on them as well. Considering Mike Zimmer is a popular target of heat from fans on social media, it was probably best that he did not “pull a Sudfield” in Week 17.