Just realized we are tanking

[StickierBuns]

Wins are wins are wins. Do fans not want wins? Always moving the goalposts: you want the team to have heart? It obviously does. I thought KOC had 'lost the team'? Now they are wins because there's 'no pressure', lmao. I'd argue winning NOW is harder....keeping the players engaged. Trust me, if the Vikings would have lost their last 2 or 3 these same fans would be bagging on the org. just differently.

This team isn't far away, contrary to what the naggers think.

[greediron]

Wins are wins are wins. Do fans not want wins? Always moving the goalposts: you want the team to have heart? It obviously does. I thought KOC had 'lost the team'? Now they are wins because there's 'no pressure', lmao. I'd argue winning NOW is harder....keeping the players engaged. Trust me, if the Vikings would have lost their last 2 or 3 these same fans would be bagging on the org. just differently.

This team isn't far away, contrary to what the naggers think.

So true.  I enjoyed each one of these wins.  Team is fully engaged, KOC is building the culture and banking goodwill for next season.  Players have pride and want to win.  Unless you are playing for the #1 pick, tanking is a hard sell.  Even then, it is tough.  Just ask the Giants.

[supafreak84]

Wins are wins are wins. Do fans not want wins? Always moving the goalposts: you want the team to have heart? It obviously does. I thought KOC had 'lost the team'? Now they are wins because there's 'no pressure', lmao. I'd argue winning NOW is harder....keeping the players engaged. Trust me, if the Vikings would have lost their last 2 or 3 these same fans would be bagging on the org. just differently.

This team isn't far away, contrary to what the naggers think.

We want wins when the wins count for something. Thats not moving the goalposts. These wins count for nothing and winning at this point only diminishes the little advantage losing gives us heading into next season. If you think these wins count as some kind of "cultural momentum" for next season, it doesn't, because that's not how the NFL works. We won 14 games last year...how did that carry over to this season? It didnt because its a completely new year with a new team. Every year is a completely new and different entity in its own and league parody has made it that way. The Viking way throughout history has been to win meaningless games when they amount to nothing. You want to know why we've never had a franchise quarterback and have been one of the most successful regular season teams in league history with the littlest postseason success? It's because we are "just good enough" and have forever lingered in mediocrity because we win meaningless games. Sorry, but give me the higher draft pick and the last place schedule in 2026. I know the old curmudgeons hate that and consider it blasphemous, but welcome to the new NFL.

[Zanary]

We want wins when the wins count for something. Thats not moving the goalposts. These wins count for nothing and winning at this point only diminishes the little advantage losing gives us heading into next season. If you think these wins count as some kind of "cultural momentum" for next season, it doesn't, because that's not how the NFL works. We won 14 games last year...how did that carry over to this season? It didnt because its a completely new year with a new team. Every year is a completely new and different entity in its own and league parody has made it that way. The Viking way throughout history has been to win meaningless games when they amount to nothing. You want to know why we've never had a franchise quarterback and have been one of the most successful regular season teams in league history with the littlest postseason success? It's because we are "just good enough" and have forever lingered in mediocrity because we win meaningless games. Sorry, but give me the higher draft pick and the last place schedule in 2026. I know the old curmudgeons hate that and consider it blasphemous, but welcome to the new NFL.

...except, that's a load of crap. Winning is more important to the team, and the culture that you try to write off, than essentially any single draft position.

We've seen many teams have GREAT draft picks for year after year...the Browns, the Jets, the Bungles, recent Miami, most of Detroit's history...and it was high picks that went to s**t teams.

As has been VERY discussed on this matter, it's wrong and utterly unfair to expect some rookie to reset his team's culture, expectations, and future. It takes the whole thing, and the truth is:

Bad teams getting great picks are often still bad teams...just with potential for the NEXT coach, GM, etc.

See the above-mentioned teams for proof...hell, see any teams with lasting success. KC was a playoff regular even before Mahomes landed. SF was the powerhouse of 80s into the 90s because they knew how to close games/seasons. New England only got good draft picks by trading their blue-chip players...because their slew of Superbowl wins had them picking about 30th or worse with regularity.

A team has to know how to win before any new, shiny college boi can be much help...and history bears that out. Hell, it took a coaching and system change to get Caleb from worst to first in our division, because he was a dumpster fire under the previous regime.

Stafford's the most recent #1 draft pick to win the big game, and he went through a decade of s**t in Detroit first...but, the Rams had a...wait for it...winning culture (including KOC!).

It's always far bigger than draft position, just ask the GOAT, Mahomes, and many others.

[medaille]

I like winning. I think losing creates a losing mentality where players check out and don’t try as hard. If we tanked the last 5 games, I think that makes it more likely for players to start quitting next year when things get tough. And I don’t really want to watch a team that thinks it’s ok to lose. Only time it’s ok to lose on purpose in my mind is that last game or two, where losing allows you to get one of the top X draft picks where there are only X good QBs. Like if Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning is sitting there, and you are tied for the first draft pick, by all means tank that game or two. In general, I don’t really think better draft picks have much of a correlation with winning. I think good teams are good because they have good coaching staffs and are good at maximizing the production of the players that they do have. I think bad teams are bad because they fail to capitalize on the talent they have. You give a bad team a better prospect and they’ll most likely squander it. You give the Browns Myles Garrett and they still suck. There’s just not very many players that can carry a bad organization. It’s basically just generational QBs, so like 1 to 2 a decade.

[MaroonBells]

Wins are wins are wins. Do fans not want wins? Always moving the goalposts: you want the team to have heart? It obviously does. I thought KOC had 'lost the team'? Now they are wins because there's 'no pressure', lmao. I'd argue winning NOW is harder....keeping the players engaged. Trust me, if the Vikings would have lost their last 2 or 3 these same fans would be bagging on the org. just differently.

This team isn't far away, contrary to what the naggers think.

"I looked up on Christmas Day and the Vikings, somehow, were 8–8, after beating Detroit with three net passing yards. To get to .500, given how their quarterback situation has played out with injuries and everything else, is remarkable. And I still think the franchise is in a really good place, if it can sort out the quarterback position (and get DC Brian Flores to sign a new deal)." --Albert Breer

[purplefaithful]

"I looked up on Christmas Day and the Vikings, somehow, were 8–8, after beating Detroit with three net passing yards. To get to .500, given how their quarterback situation has played out with injuries and everything else, is remarkable. And I still think the franchise is in a really good place, if it can sort out the quarterback position (and get DC Brian Flores to sign a new deal)." --Albert Breer

EVERYTHING hinges on JJM in 26...everything for this franchise. 

He has to prove durability and show significant improvement. 

Right now he is the runt of the 24 QB class litter, we're stuck in purgatory w/out his improving. 

I hope he can do it? If not we gotta cut bait quick. Sad its come to this, but two full seasons are now in the books.

[ArizonaViking]

It's simple..."Winners never quit, Quitters never win". That's the mentality a football team needs...

[purplefaithful]

The NFC and the North Division have failed to produce a dominant team. 

Had the Vikings employed a better backup quarterback, or won a couple of close games, or gotten J.J. McCarthy up to speed earlier, they could have had a place in one of the least impressive NFC playoff fields in memory.

The best team in the NFC, the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks, is led by the quarterback the Vikings ditched because he choked in the two biggest games of the 2025 season. Now, Sam Darnold faces at least two consecutive big games — one for the NFC West title, against San Francisco, that will determine the first seed in the conference, and then a playoff game.

Last season, faced with exactly that scenario, he shriveled.

The best team in the North, the 11-5 Chicago Bears, benefited from a soft schedule and a ridiculous number of late-fourth-quarter comebacks. If the Vikings hadn’t botched the kickoff coverage against the Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 16, the Vikings would have swept the Bears this season without even playing well.

All of this mediocrity has produced a rarity: a Vikings-Packers game that means nothing.

Green Bay, with a chance to contend for the division title, allowed Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry to rush 36 times for 216 yards and four touchdowns at Lambeau Field. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he’s not sure whether he will play all of his starters, including quarterback Jordan Love, against the Vikings on Sunday, Jan. 4.

A victory for the Vikings would give them a 9-8 record and reason to second-guess every decision they made that cost them that one victory that might have gotten them into the playoffs.

Here is where the Vikings needed to be just a little bit better:

The loss to Atlanta
Yes, McCarthy played horridly against the Falcons in Week 2, but it was the Vikings run defense that was truly embarrassing.

The Falcons rushed for 218 yards on 5.6 yards per carry in their 22-6 victory, and McCarthy suffered the ankle injury that would short-circuit his season.

The DK play
This might be the most galling loss on the schedule. The Pittsburgh Steelers looked quite beatable in Dublin, but the Vikings defense allowed a game-changing play that shouldn’t have happened.

Letting Eagles fly
Defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia had lost two straight games, managing just 17 points in each, when the team came to Minnesota in October. The Vikings secondary allowed Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to run wild. The two combined for 13 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns.

The Vikings had safety Josh Metellus covering Brown one-on-one on one of the game’s most important plays, and Brown torched him for a touchdown to help the Eagles prevail 28-22.

The Bears return
The Vikings experienced the Full McCarthy in a home game against the Bears in November. McCarthy was awful for much of the game, then led a fourth-quarter drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison that gave the Vikings a 17-16 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

Then the Vikings allowed a 56-yard kickoff return by Devin Duvernay that led to a game-winning field goal for the Bears, who won 19-17.

If not for the kickoff return, the Vikings would be 9-7, a half-game behind the Packers for the seventh seed in the conference, and would have a 4-1 record in the division, with all four victories produced by McCarthy.

Instead, the Vikings and Packers will hold a joint practice Sunday.

[MaroonBells]

EVERYTHING hinges on JJM in 26...everything for this franchise. 

He has to prove durability and show significant improvement. 

Right now he is the runt of the 24 QB class litter, we're stuck in purgatory w/out his improving. 

I hope he can do it? If not we gotta cut bait quick. Sad its come to this, but two full seasons are now in the books.

He's starting from a lower point, but if he can show the same level of improvement Williams, Maye and Nix showed from year one to two, we should be in good shape. 

I tend to think McCarthy is just a much more dynamic player than the others. That's good and bad. Too much youth, too much 9, too much excitement combines to make a volatile QB, the kind of QB who will throw too hard, make boneheaded mistakes, but also the kind of QB who can some of the big time throws the others can't. Time, patience, maturity is what is needed.