Lunchbreak: ESPN Calls Panic After Vikings 0-2 Start an Overreaction

[Viktor]

There's no denying it – the Vikings start to the 2020 season has been anything but pretty.


After falling 43-34 against the division-rival Packers in Week 1, the Vikings were badly upended by the Colts yesterday, doomed once again by a poorly played first half.


Vikings fans have been asking: Is Minnesota's season already a wash? ESPN's Dan Graziano doesn't think so.


Graziano included the Vikings in his weekly article that evaluates generalized responses to games across the league and deems whether or not they're overreactions.


Graziano didn't sugarcoat the Vikings early struggles – saying "NFL offenses don't look much more inept than Minnesota's did in Week 2" – but he also suggested to fans that it's not yet time to panic. He wrote:


The Packers are 2-0 and so, somehow, is a Bears team that was outscored 23-6 in the first three quarters of its first game and 13-0 in the second half of its second. So the Vikings are already two games behind the defending division champs and some sort of Mitchell Trubisky magic show. Not the way you want to start a season.


That being said, Graziano deemed the "Minnesota's season is over" conclusion as an overreaction.


First of all, there are seven playoff teams per conference this year. So the otherwise troubling fact that only four of the 108 teams to reach the Super Bowl started 0-2 is no longer relevant.


Second of all, Mike Zimmer hasn't had a losing record since he went 7-9 in his first season as Vikings coach in 2014. His team has a young secondary and a defense that has gone through a lot of change for the first time in years, but there's still plenty of talent there. They will need time to get their feet under them.


[Kirk] Cousins has had a stinker or two before but tends to bounce back, and he seems to be driven by the doubters. It's a tough climb back, but I'm willing to bet Sunday was the worst game the Vikings will play in 2020.


The Vikings next opportunity to bounce back will be Sunday, when they welcome Derrick Henry and the Titans to a fan-less U.S. Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon (CT).