The Minnesota Vikings Improved to 6-0, but Just How Good ARE They???

How good are the Minnesota Vikings? Rich's first answer was the obvious one. They are 6-0. "You are what you are in the National Football League," he said, borrowing Bill Parcells' famous line. "And he's right."

The internet is less convinced. Rich shared two posts that popped up on Threads while he was scrolling through games. The first: "The Vikings being the last undefeated team feels like Bran ending up on the Iron Throne." The second landed even harder: "The Vikings are the first team in history to be 6 and 0 and have a realistic chance to end 6 and 11." Rich admitted he did not know whether those came from Vikings fans, "but it would track."

The numbers explain the jokes. Minnesota has 10 touchdowns this season after its lone touchdown in the win over the Colts on Sunday. That is tied for the third fewest during a 6-0 start in NFL history, behind the 1933 Bears with eight and the 1922 Cardinals with nine, and level with the 1934 Lions at 10. Then came what the studio dubbed an "old gen stat": with five touchdowns in their last five games, the Vikings are the second team in NFL history with five or fewer touchdowns during a five-game win streak. The other is the 1926 Kansas City Cowboys.

Rich is not buying a collapse, though, and the reason is the defense. "You look at their schedule and you're like, find me the losses that knock them out of the playoffs from this 6 and 0 start," he said. "They're not there."

He would like to see Kyler Murray get up and running, and Rich pointed out a quirk in Murray's résumé: this is the second time he has been the quarterback of the league's last remaining undefeated team. The 2021 Cardinals started 7-0, finished 11-6 and were one and done in a wild-card game at SoFi, which to date is Murray's only playoff start.

The schedule is not soft. Next up is Detroit on the road, followed by Buffalo at home, a trip to Green Bay and a San Francisco game in Mexico City. When a 9-8 finish was floated in studio, Rich went through the rest of the slate line by line: Atlanta and Carolina at home, a visit to New England, Detroit and Washington at home, a trip to the Jets. "Come on, dude," he said. "There are not eight losses on this page right here with their schedule."

The pushback was that Minnesota is not going to win every game 10-7. "Unless they do," Rich replied. Or, he allowed, Murray starts playing better and the offense gets more efficient with its weaponry.

Rich will take the under on any doomsday projection. "This defense is way too good," he said. "Way too good."