The Vikings played what quarterback Kirk Cousins called a “T-shirt and hat” game on Sunday. They lost. They’ll keep playing “T-shirt and hat” games, until they finally win one and in turn secure the division title.
Eventually they’ll get their T-shirts, and their hats. Which is likely about all they’re going to get this year.
Sorry, Vikings fans, but it’s true. Your team has overachieved. They know it. (You know it, too.)
In contrast, the Eagles won’t celebrate their inevitable ‘T-shirt and hat” game. They clinched a playoff berth on Sunday, but coach Nick Sirianni didn’t want to talk about that; the Eagles have far bigger goals than playoff berths and T-shirts and hats.
The Vikings should, too. The fact that the team’s starting quarterback would attach any relevance whatsoever to winning the division is troubling. While it’s an important piece, it’s not the puzzle. It’s a steppingstone to something bigger.
Winning the division is better than not winning it, obviously. But pausing to attach any significance to winning the division is problematic. Because there will always be a team in the conference that doesn’t even shrug at being crowned division champs. That team doesn’t care about being the best of four teams; it’s trying to be the best of 32, and it won’t allow itself to spend a second thinking about anything but that quest.
If you disagree, think about the 2020 Buccaneers. When linebacker Devin White complained in the locker room about not making the Pro Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady chastised him for caring about a postseason game that doesn’t matter. When the Bucs beat the Packers to qualify for the Super Bowl and players were shedding tears of joy in the locker room, Brady made them shed a little urine, too, when he yelled at them for losing sight of the real prize.
The Vikings have already lost sight of the real prize. They’re content to win a division title. They view anything beyond that as gravy. But it’s hard to deserve gravy without meat, and a defense that has given up 400-plus yards in five straight games should have every Vikings fan shouting, “Where’s the beef?”
Here’s a hint -- it’s thriving in the home of the cheesesteak.
