As our News from the Couch founder and fearless leader, Matt Hambidge, detailed in his post about the brutality of being a Minnesota sports fan, tonight’s NFC Championship game was the latest playoff blunder in an extensive history. It’s easy to get swept up in the craziness of a game like last week’s Vikings win against the Saints, and it’s easy to convince ourselves that our teams are contenders after strong showings in the regular season. But, after 20+ years of being a Minnesota sports fan, I’ve learned the end result is always the same – a season-ending loss in convincing fashion.
In recent memory alone, the Vikings, Wild, and Twins (to a lesser extent) have all shown enough potential to give fans hope of a championship run, and the Timberwolves are currently doing it. What a great time to be a Minnesota sports fan, right?
No. No it is not. Another promising season, another embarrassing departure. I’ll skip the detailed summary of tonight’s game because there’s really nothing to talk about. The Eagles crushed the Vikings in every way. They scored 38 unanswered points following an opening drive Vikings touchdown. Their offensive line was better. Their defensive line was better. Their receivers were better. Their running backs were better. Their quarterback was better. They forced turnovers at the most crucial moments of the game and capitalized. Eagles: 38, Vikings: 7.
Here are some “happy” thoughts we can take with ourselves into the offseason:
Positive takeaway #1: Case Keenum sucked. Maybe it will knock a few million dollars off of his price tag for next year if the Vikings are interested in keeping him.
Positive takeaway #2: This game will temporarily lower our expectations for all Minnesota sports teams and lead to less disappointment in the short term.
I can’t think of any more. The game was that bad. Here’s to an inevitable 4-0 Timberwolves second round loss to the Warriors when the NBA playoffs roll around in April.
