Sunday, October 11, 2009

Just a friendly reminder....

....it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

For the third time in the past ten seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have started a regular season 5-0. While that's nice, it guarantees absolutely nothing.

The previous two seasons in the past ten which the Vikes got off to such a nice start?

2000: The Vikings actually started 7-0 with first year starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper at the helm. But they seemed to hit a wall after week fourteen when they had a 11-2 record. The Vikings would go on to lose their final three regular season games, allowing an average of 35 points per contest. The season culminated in the NFC title game, a horrific loss to the New York Giants. That's a game affectionately known as "41-doughnut".

2003: With Culpepper having one of his finest seasons as a pro, the Vikes would start 6-0. But once again they inexplicably floundered, losing the next four games and six of their final nine. In one of the uglier ends to a regular season, the Vikings lost to the pitiful 3-12 Arizona Cardinals, thus being eliminated from playoff contention.

Am I excited for the 5-0 start? Sure. But no team ever clinched a playoff birth with five victories.

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