If anyone knows what it’s like to be a loyal fan of the Purple, it’s the readers of SKÖLIOSIS — your weekly reminder that being a Vikings fan is bad for your health.
Minnesota Is Becoming Winnesota
We’re not sure what prompted it (most likely Will Reichard deserves all the credit), but this past weekend Minnesota officially turned into Winnesota. This occasionally happens to cities (see Champa Bay, Florida) when all the sports teams in one town decide to cycle victoriously together like sorority sisters.
While it’s possible we’re living in a simulation, please consider the facts of this past weekend.
The Gopher hockey team started things off by sweeping North Dakota for the first time since 2011. Wyatt Cullen officially entered the chat with a hat trick, and we were able to put swaggy stuff like this on our Instagram stories.
Not only did the Gopher hockey team kickstart the Winnesota Weekend, they shifted their schedule with a rare Thursday/Friday home series to accommodate . . .well, more winning. Because P.J. Fleck and the Gopher football team brought Floyd of Rosedale home beating Iowa on Saturday. Not only was this the Gophers third victory against ranked opponents this season, but it also means the Gopher trophy case is currently in possession of Paul Bunyan’s Ax, the Little Brown Jug, and Floyd of Rosedale all at the same time. The last time this happened was 1978! As P.J. would say, “Row the Boat, Skiumah, Go Gophers!”
The Timberwolves also finished Winnesota Weekend undefeated, off to a 3-0 start with Anthony “Ant” Edwards and LaMelo Ball starting a bromance the likes of which we haven’t seen since Kirill Kaprizov’s BFF Mats Zuccarello left town.
The hometown Wild did their part too, righting a road trip by sweeping back-to-back games against Seattle and Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday game included Kirill Kaprizov’s stanky leg hair flip combo platter which tasted better than anything on the Culver’s menu. Which makes sense because Culver’s is not based in Winnesota. They’re from Wisconsin, along with the Packers who lost to the Lions. And we all know Peak Kirill is way better than a butter burger.
And finally, the protagonist of our story, your Minnesota Vikings are the last standing undefeated team in the NFL, upping their NFC North leading record to 6-0 with a win against the Colts.
The Weirdest Undefeated Team Ever
The 2026 Vikings don’t feel all that much like the ’72 Dolphins, ’85 Bears, or the ’07 Patriots. This season’s winning recipe continues to be a defense, a kicker, and special teams. At one point this Sunday, I found myself Googling WHAT IS THE LEAST OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS AN NFL TEAM HAS SCORED IN THE REGULAR SEASON?
While there were some teams that apparently didn’t score any offensive touchdowns at all, they had names like the Dayton Triangles, Hammond Pros, and Louisville Colonels. More recently the 1992 Seahawks scored 13 offensive touchdowns, and the 1991 Colts just 14.
Currently our touchdown challenged Vikings have scored 8 offensive touchdowns. I’m not going to lie to you; I’m intrigued by this narrative. I’m not saying I don’t want us to score offensive touchdowns, but if we can keep winning and somehow break this record it would be cool. It’s the NFL equivalent of closing your eyes or taking a left-handed free throw. It’s winning a fight with one hand tied behind your back. It’s something to shoot for. Actually, shooting probably wouldn’t be involved at all, certainly no shootouts . . . I’m not sure, it’s confusing. But I like it.
Despite the Winnesota Weekend, we cannot rest on our laurels. Because there are some things threatening the Vikings unblemished recipe of defense + kicker + special teams as well as the psyche of Vikings fans everywhere.
ONLY KOC’S EGO CAN STOP US NOW
Admit it. We can feel it. It’s palpable. While the Vikings are 6-0, Head Coach Kevin O’Connell is probably still kicking rocks outside the TCO Performance Center. He has to hate this. He’s like Tito Jackson in the Jackson 5. Well, technically it would be the Jackson 5-0 if it was this year’s Vikings. But you get my point.
We felt it Sunday against the Colts. O’Connell wanted to go for it on fourth down, almost as if he was trying to prove a point. You could feel KOC’s ego trying to somehow put his fingerprints on the victory.
He knows he has the best defense and kicker in the business, but he wants to go for it on 4th down. Why? Because KOC wants his face painted somewhere in the Purple Picasso. But what KOC is forgetting is that Brian Flores is the real artist here, and he doesn’t use paint—he uses the blood and tears of his opponents to create his masterpieces. So, please, put down your brush, KOC.
When he wasn’t running straight up the middle with a miniature quarterback on 4th down, KOC seemed to be deliberately trying to set up Will Reichard to fail. It was almost as if he was like, “how far can I stretch this guy out? Good luck making this one, Willie!”
Not to mention, while we know KOC only whispers himself, just like the rest of Vikings fans, he must really be hearing voices now because . . .
THE J.J. FACTOR
The Vikings traded first rounder J.J. McCarthy to the New York Football Giants for a bag of pucks. Since arriving in New York, Mr. McCarthy has thrown for 495 yards in 5 quarters of football.
Even if you had given up on “Nine” seven times sideways, there was something eerie about watching Kyler go three and out time and time again against the Colts, only to be interrupted by highlights from the Giants game as “Nine,” now “Eighteen,” led New York to victory.
Not to mention we had to watch J.J.’s “Fricken” postgame speech in the locker-room.
Okay, maybe that actually made us feel better.
This J.J. thing has to be doubly hard on KOC, making the quarterback whisperer wonder if he should have spoken loud enough for his QBs to hear him. It’s hard to be a quarterback guru when everyone plays better once they leave your tutelage – see Darnold, Sam. See McCarthy, JJ. And Dimes, Danny (at least last year).
WHEN BRUNO MARS IS YOUR QUARTERBACK, AT LEAST IT’S FUN TO WATCH HIM RUN
Kyler Murray’s quarterback play for the Vikings has been uneven at best. He seems vertically challenged, and only able to pass successfully to the sides of the field. If Kyler started a band they’d be called “3 and Out.” And when he does try to throw downfield, Kyler is grossly overthrowing his receivers.
But there is a silver lining. There is nothing quite like watching Kyler Murray run. It’s like watching Rocky Balboa chase a chicken, if Sylvester Stallone was Bruno Mars. Kyler Murray doesn’t run, he scurries. And it’s super fun. Appropriately, Kyler Murray running has a video game quality to it. It’s his ultimate “Get Out Of Jail Free” card, because no matter how many times Kyler frustrates us, all it takes is one of those Bruno Mars scurries, and every Viking fan everywhere is like, “Okay, I feel you. This might just work.” It’s Looney Tunes, and it’s lovely.
MILESTONES MATTER
There is always skepticism when an orthodox recipe like the 2026 Vikings starts red hot as to whether they’re legit or not. People will throw shade asking are they are a “good bad team” or a “bad good team?” And as Vikings fans we know a hot start doesn’t always lead to long term success—see 2016 when a 5-0 Vikings team ended up 8-8 and outside the playoffs.
But we here at Pulltab Sports learned a long time ago that to properly enjoy the Minnesota Vikings you need to appreciate regular season success. You need to let it be good when it’s good and not ask too many questions. Does a Vikings team completely reliant on defense, special teams, and a messianic kicker look like the precise recipe to kick us in the teeth and let us down at some point? Sure, but let’s not talk about. Let’s look at the positives. Let’s celebrate the milestones. And there were a few this weekend.
With the Chiefs and 49ers losing, the Vikings are the last undefeated team standing. If I told you the last team to lose a game this season would be the Vikings, and the last team to win a game would be the Chargers— I think I could have placed that bet at 500 to 1. So, that’s good. And some other awesome things happened this Sunday too.
Paul Allen called his 500th game as the radio voice of the Vikings. He even blew the Gjallarhorn. Whether you’re a P.A. guy or not, his voice has been synonymous with Vikings football for an entire generation of Vikings fans —and nobody puts more emotion into their call than Paul Allen. Congrats, P.A.
In fact, it was P.A. who called Harry “the Hitman” Smith, Harry “the Pick Man” on Sunday when Smith recorded his 40th interception as a Viking effectively icing the game. Smith has ended so many games this way, he could also be Harry “The Ice Man,” but we digress.
Even more interesting is that Smith is one of only 3 NFL players to combine at least 40 interceptions with 20 career sacks, joining Charles Woodson and Ronde Barber. It should also be noted that both Woodson and Barber are in the Hall of Fame. And Barber himself helped encourage Harry to come back this season, and we’re glad he did.
Also, Smith placing the ball after his 40th interception on the 40-yard line was a nice touch. God bless The Hitman.
The Vikings are about to enter a brutal month of football playing Detroit, Buffalo, Green Bay, and San Francisco the next four weeks.
No one knows what will happen.
KOC’s ego could get the best of him.
Brian Flores could be asked to run Seal Team 6 and be forced to leave the team mid-season.
Will Reichard could . . ., who are we kidding, nothing bad will ever happen that’s Will Reichard related.
Heck, we could be 6-4 by Thanksgiving.
But even if we are, we will always remember one glorious October weekend in 2026 when Minnesota was transformed into Winnesota. And no one can take that away from us.
Bring on the Lions!
Epilogue: Donate to a Good Cause
Please don’t forget to join us in donating after each Viking win.
Join us in donating @ https://www.scoliosis.org/donate/
SKOL!!
NETWORK PARTNERS
