With a 6-1 record, the Minnesota Vikings’ bandwagon is starting to fill up.
Pat McAfee was the latest national analyst to praise the Vikings this season while discussing their win over the Arizona Cardinals on his show Tuesday. While discussing how upset Cardinals fans were that they lost by eight points in Minnesota, McAfee said there was no shame in the loss because of how good the Vikings are.
“I am a strong believer in the Minnesota Vikings,” McAfee said. “I f****** love them. I f****** love everything about them. I enjoy the way their games go. I enjoy watching them play. I like the way their defense hums around. I like everything about this Vikings team. They’re electrifying on television and they’re very f****** good.”
McAfee believes most aren’t aware of how good the Vikings could be and are on par with the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles.
“I don’t think the [NFL] fan base as a whole is ready for the Vikings to be the Vikings,” McAfee said. “The Vikings are really f****** good and now that we’re staring at Week 9…the Vikings appear to be a team. An NFC wagon. Just like the Eagles appear to be.”
Kevin O'Connell has done a GREAT job in Minnesota#PMSOverreactionMonday pic.twitter.com/cC5K25O2re
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 31, 2022
His colleague, former Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk, is also impressed by the Vikings but isn’t willing to pass judgment until Kirk Cousins and the rest of the team proves it in bigger games.
“It doesn’t matter with Kirk,” Hawk said. “Until they get into the playoffs and primetime games, people are going to say, ‘This is great,’ but until he does it, they’re always going to say, ‘Until he does it in the playoffs, we’re not going to believe it.'”
Both Hawk and McAfee have merit in their arguments. The Vikings are one of just three six-win teams in the NFC (Philadelphia, New York Giants) and have the inside track to earning a playoff spot by the time the calendar flips to December.
The Vikings also have to win over the court of national opinion, which saw them get blown away in their lone national television appearance – a 24-7 loss to the Eagles in Week 2.
FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd raised eyebrows last summer when he predicted the Vikings “would double their win total” and then said they could win 13-14 games.
The hype continued when NFL Network’s Michael Irvin predicted Kirk Cousins would win the Most Valuable Player Award and now McAfee has put his stamp of approval on the team.
If the Vikings keep winning, they’ll have a chance to welcome more pundits to the bandwagon and prove doubters wrong in the process.
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