Who are these Vikings anyway?

by BRYAN ZOLLMAN Co-Publisher, Let’s Play Football

We are five weeks into the NFL season, and it is still hard to pin down exactly what sort of team the Minnesota Vikings are.

Are they a playoff team, an also-ran, or a bottom dweller?

I vote for the former and here is why.

The Vikings are entering Week 6 at 2-3, still very much within reach of the 4-1 Packers, who haven’t exactly been a lights out front-runner in the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers is a little like the uncle at Thanksgiving where you don’t know if he is going to show up drunk with a different girlfriend or just be “Uncle Aaron.”.

That said, we can’t worry about what the Pack is going to do because the Pack is going to do what they do (we just hope they do 7-9).

But what are the Vikings gonna do? Are they a legit 2-3 team? Should they be 1-4? Or could they be 4-1?

The Vikings are like climate change. Are they for real, or aren’t they?

After escaping with the win over Detroit on Sunday, they probably should be 4-1. If the referees make the correct call on the Dalvin Cook fumble in the opener, the Vikes probably win that game. If Greg Joseph, who proved he can drill home game-winning field goals, kicked the game-winner against Arizona, they would be 4-1.

But it’s those little things, ya know? Even against the Lions, those little things almost cost us a loss to a winless team in our home stadium.

Alexander Mattison had a great game subbing in for the injured Dalvin Cook, but his fumble in the final two minutes almost cost the team the game. It should have cost them the game.

Enter Kirk Cousins. For those Cousins-haters out there, consider he had 37 seconds to get the Vikings in field goal range. At that point, I think the Vikings faithful threw their hands in the air...another agonizing defeat, right?

But Cousins went all Tom Brady on the Lions and completed two huge passes to Adam Thielen, who ironically had not caught a pass all day until those waning seconds.

How good has Cousins been this year? He’s been great, really. He is rated in the top 10 in most QB categories and on Sunday proved he can move the ball under pressure. Of course, we will wait until playoff time before we decide

Cousins’ true stature in Vikings lore.

And then enter Greg Joseph. After missing a kick to win the game against Arizona, the 27-year-old from South Africa netted a perfect kick from 54 yards out for the win. Kicking just may be the toughest job in all of sports, so for Joseph to nail that kick knowing 80 percent of the crowd at US Bank Stadium was expecting him to miss it, shows Vikings fans he has the ice in his veins to stick around awhile.

It would also appear he likes long-distance kicking. He is 10-for12 on the season, which is about the league average, and 5-for-5 from 50plus yards out. He is also 11-for-12 on extra points. The Arizona game wasn’t a good one for Joseph, but otherwise he has proven efficient.

So yeah, the Vikings beat an 0-4 team…woo-hoo.

But they should’ve beat undefeated Arizona, and of course, got robbed against Cincy. And they beat Seattle, handily.

So…who are these Vikings anyway?

Their next five opponents are a combined 19-6.

I guess we will find out soon enough.

Coming Home

by RYAN JOHNSON Columnist, Let’s Play Football

I was raised in a small town in the heart of Redwood County, Wabasso, Minnesota. Our motto was, and I hope still is, “Some Bigger, None Better.”

It is so small that we didn’t have a single four way stop in town let alone a stoplight. Small towns in rural Minnesota are farm towns, or at least started out as farm towns. Mine is still a farm town, as it was when I graduated. It was very common for one or two my football teammates to haul a load of corn into town prior to a football game each Fall. It wasn’t out of the ordinary at all, in fact some hauled corn into town on school days as well. Fall is harvest time and with that comes Homecoming across America. I can’t think of any combination that can beat Homecoming Week and a Friday night football game.

Late summer some of my classmates (55 total) informed the rest of us that it was our 30th reunion this year. Informing you that this message was delivered via our Facebook group should come as no surprise as after all it is our 30th and that pins us in that stage of social media.

After a little bit of banter and discussion it was noted that the locals now play their Homecoming game on a Saturday and that might be a great way to spend the weekend back home.

It was settled, the reunion was slated for Homecoming weekend. It would be the largest crowd of Rabbits (the mascot that has fed opposing team homecoming Elmer Fudd themes for years) that many of us would take in since Graduation.

I had heard that the hometown squad had moved its game to Saturday several years ago and I have kept up with them via Facebook and marveled at what a spectacle they create each Fall in southwestern Minnesota. Heck, they have a parade, and from the pictures I have seen it seems that nearly the entire town shows up.

Friends have told me what a great time it is, celebrating the kids as well as a big football win. Two main things dominate these small towns in the Fall: Homecoming and Harvest. In preparation for heading home I contacted a couple of my former classmates about seeing them.

“It depends on the harvest,” was the same response from those farming. After all, this is what it is all about for the farmers — everyday is gameday in the Fall for those bringing in the beans and then the corn. “The beans were soso and the corn isn’t really ready but the ears are falling off the stalks…” The drought this summer really hit these folks hard and the Harvest will not be the best this year, but yet, the same work must take place to bring what they have in to town.

We are at the midpoint of the season and these Homecomings are taking place everywhere. Not as many harvests are out there but soon it will be Thanksgiving – the holiday celebrating the harvests – and we will be celebrating state football championships. I’m going to celebrate the fact that we will be having championships after being denied them last year. But that is in a couple of months. This week I am going to celebrate going home, and being reminded of a time far before Covid, protocols, and zoom learning. I’m going to remember the excitement of youth, pep bands, football games, and hometowns.

Happy Homecoming everyone.

by BRYAN ZOLLMAN Co-Publisher, Let’s Play Football