Do or Die in Week 9
This feels bad. The Vikings need a victory and now they head east to play the Giants. Recently history makes me want to talk like Rainman - bad, baad, very baad.
The last visit to New York to play the Giants is painful to Vikings fans. It was the NFC Championship game and it was over as quickly as it started. When the game was over, it was ugly - 0 - 41. Complete domination and humiliation.
Historically, the Vikings and Giants are even. It's hard to believe but since 1964, the Vikings & Giants at 10-10. The teams are 4-4 in Minnesota and 6-6 in New York. That's hard to believe when you consider the Giants are on a three-game winning streak against Minnesota. The recent wins are all in Minnesota (20-27 in 2002, 17-29 in 2003, 13-34 in 2004).
Now, the Vikings can step up. If the Vikings can break the streak, if they can chase away the demons, this can be the launching pad. With the Bears hosting the Forty-niners, the Vikings cannot afford to lose ground on the division leaders. If the Bears win and improve to 6-3 and the Vikings lose to New York and drop to 3-6, the Vikings likely leave their playoff hopes in New York.
So Sunday, it's time to break the streak. Or, to start over and forget 2005 ever happened.
