3 overreactions from the Vikings ugly Week 11 loss to the Cowboys

Minnesota is no longer a championship contender

So the Vikings were demolished on Sunday, suffering an embarrassing 37-point loss to the Cowboys. Any hopes of winning the Super Bowl this season are probably out the door for Minnesota following a performance like that, right?

No, not at all.

Just two years ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 6-2 heading into a Week 9 matchup on their home field against the New Orleans Saints. The Bucs wound up losing by 38-3 to the Saints, a 35-point margin.

A few months later, Tampa Bay was hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy in the air after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

Last season, the Los Angeles Rams, with Kevin O’Connell as their offensive coordinator, got off to a 7-1 start before losing their three games, including a 21-point loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10. The Rams and O’Connell, of course, went on to win Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Good teams losing by large margins is not uncommon in the NFL. Sometimes things begin to unravel in a matchup and the outcome just turns ugly.

Six of the last 11 teams to win the Super Bowl suffered a loss by at least 21 points in their championship season, including three of the last four. The Rams and Bengals both lost at least one game by 21 points or more before making the Super Bowl last season.

Bad losses by good teams happen all the time in the NFL. But the best teams are able to use these losses to their advantage to help fix some of their weaknesses.

So is the dream of a magical championship season over for the Vikings? No, it’s not, but Minnesota still has a lot of work to do if they want to get back to being considered a serious contender once again.