@emily

3mo

The Curse Of Winning 15 Games: Part 1: Vikings

15 wins in an NFL regular season. That's pretty hard. Before the schedule expanded to 17 games, you would have to win 93.75% of your games. That's the equivalent of an MLB team winning 152 games. Yet, 9 teams have done it. First, it had to be possible. The league expanded to 16 games in 1978. However, hold your horses. We have to wait until 1984. Enter: San Fransisco 49ers. Now, the 49ers were in the midst of a fantastic dynasty. Having bested the Bengals 3 years earlier in 1981, they knew what they were getting themselves into. But not how dominatly they would do it. They would win the first 6 weeks. Close, but won. Fun fact: against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5, the Falcons scored the rare 5 points. They would lose their only game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gary Anderson kicked the game winning field goal in the 4th quarter to send San Fransisco home with a 20-17 loss. Keep the name Gary Anderson in mind. Some highlights were them beating the Vikings 51-7, the Browns 41-7 and the Rams 33-0. In the final week, they had a real scare. The Rams lost by only 3. Crowning the first ever 15 win team in NFL history. The 49ers would have a dominant run in the playoffs including a 21-10 win over the Giants, a 23-0 win over Chicago, and the infamous 38-16 win over the Miami Dolphins for the Super Bowl crown. Now, when's the next 15 win team? Well, we only have to wait a year. Enter: the Chicago Bears. Yes, those Chicago Bears that lost 23-0 in the playoffs to the 49ers. Those Chicago Bears. Hall of famer and Packers running back Johnny McNally dies at the age of 82 due to complications from a stroke. Anyway. The 1985 Chicago Bears. Well... it's the 1985 Chicago Bears. There's not much to say here. I'd much rather you watch a full documentary about this team, because we do have to get to the point of this. It is about the 1998 Minnesota Vikings. They lost to the Miami Dolphins, went 15-1, won the conference, beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl 46-10. Capisce? Okay. Now the 1998 Minnesota Vikings. Guess who's on this team? The place kicker Gary Anderson from the 1984 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Minnesota Vikings would go 5-0 before their BYE WEEK in Week 6. The lowest points total they scored during that stretch was 29. Yes, 29. After that they would score 41 and 34 in the next two weeks respectively, before losing to the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. The Bucs were down 24-20. Then, Mike Alsott had a 6 yard run into the end zone with 5:48 to go in the 4th quarter. The Vikings couldn't respond, and they lost their first and only game of the regular season. Now, the next EIGHT WEEKS. Wk10: W 31-24 Wk11: W 24-3 Wk12: W 28-14 Wk13 (Thanksgiving): W 46-36 Wk14: W 48-22 Wk15: W 38-28 Wk16: W 50 TO 10. Wk17: W 26-16 That's not a lie. Their offense was that good. They lead the leauge and broke an NFL record with FIVE HUNDERED AND SIXTY SIX POINTS IN 16 GAMES. Randy Moss caught 17 touchdown passes AS A ROOKIE. Gary Anderson completed EVERY SINGLE PAT AND FIELD GOAL HE ATTEMPTED THAT YEAR. Spoiler alert: that is going to get ironic real fast. There's nothing much to say about the first game against the Cardinals. A dominant 41-21 win. Then the NFC Championship. #1 Vikings. #2 Falcons. It was a pretty competitive game. 27-20. Gary Anderson lines up to kick a field goal. He's been perfect all year. This would put the Vikings up by 10 and certainly take them to the Super Bowl. "...and Gary Anderson lines up to kick, he's been perfect all yea- OH NO! AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME, GARY ANDERSON HAS MISSED HIS FIRST KICK OF THE YEAR!!! With a chance to send them to the super bowl, he misses it wide..." The Falcons would lead a game tying drive and win on a field goal in overtime. And such started the curse of winning 15 games.

Vikings

Replies:

Please Start Murray

With the NFL starting soon the Vikings are faced with a decision they probably should not even be making. Should they start JJ McCarthy aka NINE or Kyler Murray. The Vikings drafted JJ a couple years ago to be their next franchise QB out of Michigan. But he'd tear his meniscus before the season and would miss his entire rookie year. In his second year in the NFL he'd underperform and lead his team to a 9-8 record. Then in the most recent off season Minnesota would sign Kyler Murray. Now they have been battling it out in training camp for the opening day starter spot. reports say that Murray is most likely going to start and I hope so. In my opinion I think NINE still needs some time to develop. He can learn a lot from Murray. Murray knows all about adversity being the little guy proving everyone wrong. NINE can learn and grow to become the player we know he can be but I don't think this is the year, yeah he has the weapons but I just feel it in my gut he's not ready. Any Vikings fans that have thoughts about who you'd rather see start week one let me know. I feel Murrays the way to go.

@Bro

Seattles Unforgettable Run!!

After so much disappointment for the Hawks in the 2020s with Russ being traded and the weird but never forgotten Geno Smith era. The Hawks were Hoping praying even that they could just mark the playoffs in the 2025-2026 season coming with a new QB in Sam Darnold who led the vikings to a 14-3 season the last season, they hoped to get even a little sniff of that Sam Darnold. And they did in fact they got the same Darnold as the season before. At 14-3 and winning the NFC West, they headed into the playoffs with a bye and the 1st seed. Now you may ask yourself was it Sam Darnold or someone else who lifted this season up. No it was the defence. Only allowing an average of 16.8 ppg 285.9 ypg (first in the NFL) with 47 total sacks as well. In the playoffs they have classic BTA to the niners 😂 and barely escaped the Rams. But in the Super Bowl the hawks offence and Defence combined to Kill the Frauds which is the New England Patriots. With Ken Walker the 3rd winning MVP Overall WE all saw this coming Thanks Bad Bunny

@emily

The Curse Of Winning 15 Games: Part 4: Panthers

15 wins in an NFL regular season. That's pretty hard. Before the schedule expanded to 17 games, you would have to win 93.75% of your games. That' the equivalent of an MLB team winning 152 games. Yet, 9 teams have done it. First, it had to be possible. The league expanded to 16 games in 1978. Today, we visit the 2015 Carolina Panthers. 7-8-1. That was the record of the 2014 Carolina Panthers that still made the playoffs. The record of the 2014 Carolina Panthers that somehow upset the Cardinals in the wild card. And the record of the 20th season in Carolina Panthers history. However, the 21st would be much more famous. Superman... To the rescue. They started the season 14-0. The best in NFC history. They joined the 1972 Dolphins, 2007 Patriots and 2009 Colts as the only teams to start 14-0. Their BYE week was in Week 5. They might as well have been doomed to never get 15 wins. Cam Newton was playing good, but that's a long time to not get a week off. They defied the odds. All of them. Fanduel. Draftkings. The Panthers defied all of the odds and all of the people's beliefs. Week 8. Colts. They won 29-26 in overtime. Somehow. They had a pretty dominant season. There's not much to say, really. In Week 14, they beat the Falcons 38-0. But that same Atlanta Falcons team would deny their undefeated hopes 2 weeks later by beating them 20-13. In between those weeks, the Panthers almost lost to the Giants 38-35. They beat the Bucs 38-10 in Week 17 to end the dominant year 15-1. They would see the 6 seed Seahawks in their first game. And they almost lost. They almost had the same fate as the 2011 Packers. But they survived 31-24 against the defending NFC Champions. They then brutally murdered the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 in the NFC Championship game. The Carolina Panthers made the super bowl against the Denver Broncos. They had a chance. But as we all know... Cam Newton never fell on the ball.