A few weeks ago, I felt like the Vikings were going to have been true playoff contenders but-for the Kirk achilles tear.
But between Dobbs keeping the offense going, and the defense looking legitimately like a top 5-10 unit in that time, they might still just be flat-out playoff contenders even without Kirk. With a bunch of young guys popping all over the field on defense, suddenly the long-term trajectory of this defense feels a lot different.
I think it’s important to remember that our last few games have been against a 49ers offense without Deebo or Trent Williams, a Falcons team with Heinicke, the GB packers, and NO Carr/Winston.
And now we get Denver’s inept offense with Russell Wilson.
The defense is definitely better than last year, but we definitely aren’t top 10 by any means.