***NOTE: As I was posting this, word came down that Adam Thielen is back. Take the level of excitement below and add a heavy dose of Mark McGwire’s late ‘90s vitamin regimen***
The anticipation has reached a crescendo! Of course, it always does this time of year. With the preseason slate in the rearview, fans of all 32 NFL teams bend their minds into a pretzel to engage in scenarios/delusions where their team somehow manages to lift the Lombardi Trophy come February. Everyone is tied for 1st place on Labor Day, after all.
For maybe 40% of those fan bases, there’s a legitimate degree of realism tied to the optimism. It’s not…inconceivable. Fortunately, our Vikings are firmly situated in this group. We’re coming off a 14-win season, led by the reigning NFL Coach of the Year, with a consensus Top 10 (if not Top 5) roster, and, if not for the Cousins injury in 2023, could be aiming for a fourth consecutive playoff appearance. That resume alone justifies the enthusiasm. Add to this the excitement that comes with a highly touted, Top 10 selected, first-time starting QBOTF in J.J. McCarthy, and visions of a deep playoff run come as naturally as me adding an unnecessary final leg to an otherwise winning parlay. Think Patrick Mahomes in 2018. Jayden Daniels last year. Only…better? A Super Bowl appearance? Yes, stranger things have happened.
The euphoria is palpable. In June, a SB Nation poll here at the DN found 48% of Vikings fans were already pumped for the season, with another 20% planning to get on board the hype train by the start of training camp. A July survey from The Athletic echoed this sentiment, with positive vibes recorded for the team’s leadership, direction, and outlook (projected average of 10 wins vs. just 6.5 in 2024). Similarly, fans were excited about J.J. McCarthy’s prospects and the potential of the improved offensive line. On social media, the optimism seems out of place given Vikings fans’ muscle memory and their historical, passionate love affair with doom. Like Tom tiptoeing across the room to grab a piece of cake, knowing Jerry is somewhere waiting to drop an anvil on his head.
Yes, we’ve been here before. The question is: Where does the anticipation for the 2025 season rank historically? It’s a fun game to play while waiting out the tedious final days before the games count for real. For this exercise, let’s focus on the modern NFL era, starting from 1980 onwards.
Top 5 Contenders:
1988 Season (Joe Montana Who?)
Reason for optimism: While going 8-7 in a strike-shortened, chaotic 1987 season, Jerry Burns’s scrappy bunch flipped the switch in the playoffs and turned into conquering road warriors, convincingly defeating the 12-3 Saints and handing Joe Montana his first-ever home playoff loss. To this day, the 36-24 whooping of the 13-2 49ers stands as the most impressive Vikings postseason victory of the post-1980 era. Of course, we came up just short in the NFC Championship Game against Washington (the eventual Super Bowl winner), but the table was set and the excitement sky-high to finish the job next season.
Result: A nice 11-5 season, anchored by a lights-out defense, anda Wild Card win against a good Rams team. But Joe Montana was Joe Montana, and the ‘80s 49ers were a dynasty for a reason. 34-9 and that’s all she wrote. In perfect Vikings fashion, it would be even uglier against the Niners in the playoffs the following year.
1994 Season (Expectations to the Moon)
Reason for optimism: After two straight Wild Card appearances under new coach Dennis Green came up short, it was clear the team needed an offensive infusion. Scoring a combined 17 points in two playoff games wasn’t cutting it. Enter Hall of Famer Warren Moon, Mr. Video Game Offense himself. Man, was I pumped for this.
See rake. Step on the rake. Rinse. Repeat.
Result: A fine season: 10-6 and winning the NFL Central. But been there, done that. It was about the playoffs. Thirty years on, I’m still confused about that embarrassing 35-18 home loss to freakin’ Steve Walsh and the Bears. It was the uniformly perfect collapse. Moon played poorly; the defense looked as if there were eight guys out there, with no one able to tackle, block, or muster anything worthy of the moment.
1999 Season (Revenge for Gary)
Reason for optimism: 27 years on, I still think we beat the Falcons 8 out of 10 times that year. People forget they were 14-2; they beat a strong, Steve Young-led, 12-4 Niners team the week before. This tends to be lost in the discussion. It didn’t matter. The Vikings were the team of destiny—the record-breaking offensive juggernaut. Of course, we run it back in 1999. We get revenge for Gary Anderson.
Result: Despite Randall Cunningham quickly falling back to Earth, Jeff George appears and goes 8-2 for a 10-6 finish. A convincing Wild Card win against an aging (but still dangerous) Dallas Cowboys team got the purple neurons activated (We’re doing it!!!). Yeah, no. In perfect Vikings fashion, we bow out against the evil twin version of ourselves in the St. Louis Rams – a steamroller that came out of nowhere to steal our identity and Super Bowl championship.
2010 Season (Brett Rhymes with Regret)
Reason for optimism: See 1999. If not 8 out of 10 times, then damn close in terms of how many times we’d beat the Saints if given the opportunity. We outgained them 475 to 257 and held Drew Brees to under 200 yards passing (at the Superdome). I’ve said it here before: Only the perfect combination of unlucky bounces, bad decisions, and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan-level heel tactics could cost us this one. Five turnovers (-4 differential), capped off by the ill-fated, across-the-body Brett Favre interception. Twelve men in the huddle. Bountygate. Only we could check all the boxes. It sucked, but once Favre decided to run it back, the theme was revenge. Take no prisoners. 2010 was our year…finally.
Result: LOL. Murphy’s Law, baby! Favre’s natural, age-related decline was acerbated by the legal assault he suffered the prior January. The defense regressed. Brad Childress burned through the goodwill of two consecutive division titles so fast that Usain Bolt would be in awe. He didn’t even make it to Thanksgiving. Vikings fans were thankful when the nightmare season was finally over.
2018 Season (Cousins as the Missing Piece. To what? Still TBD)
Reason for optimism: If Case Keenan got us to the NFC Championship Game, Kirk Cousins lifts the Lombardi. That was the mindset. Simple. Nothing more, nothing less. Like the Pet Rock, Vanilla Ice, Harley-Davidson Perfume, or high school yearbook photos, people look back and ponder, “WTF were we thinking?”
Result: LOL, Part II. It started fine: 4-2-1 with a nice revenge win at Philadelphia in Week 5. Then we were 6-6-1. Then we needed to beat the Bears at home in Week 17 just to make the damn playoffs. Cousins? 20/33 for 132 yards, 1 TD, and a 23.5 QBR. The lone highlight was the famous argument with Adam Thielen on the sidelines.
Conclusion
I say this after walking away from the keyboard and giving it some thought. I genuinely put my anticipation for the 2025 season only behind that of 1999. Yeah, I said it. The rest? I’d probably go: 2010, 1988, 1994, then 2018. On the surface, this sounds absurd – we didn’t even win a playoff game last year. However, I mentioned it before, something feels different. The usual reflexive biases aren’t driving it. It feels unique and genuine, driven by established on-and off-the-field leadership, proven roster talent, and an unwavering belief that J.J. McCarthy is the real deal. The trend is also our friend, as Year 4 is historically a sweet spot for an NFL head coach’s tenure. Active HCs were a combined 99-47 in their 4th year, which includes Kyle Shanahan, who posted a 6-10 record due to an insane 166.6 adjusted games (AGL) lost to injury or COVID, the second-highest total in two decades.
The thrill of the chase keeps us going. At some point, the payoff will arrive. If not, well, we’ve had the football version of a cartoon anvil dropped on our head so many times it’ll feel like a feather.
So, how are we feeling? How does the anticipation for 2025 rank for you? Any past seasons I miss?
With that, I’ll see everyone next time with a look at Week 1 of the NFL season. We made it!
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