The most popular Purple-related question going into and coming out of the bye week was/is …
"Are the Vikings … for real?"
That's a tough one to answer.
Are they good?
Yes.
Are they bad?
No.
But are they "for real?" is hard to quantify because who out there, after watching seven weeks of head-scratching NFL action, can say what "for real" even means relative to every other team in the jumbled heap of squads still vying for the playoffs.
Is Tom Brady, right now, "for real"? He just scored three points to lose by 18 to a team that had given up on its season, that traded its best player, that was led by an interim coach and a backup quarterback. Yet Brady and his Bucs, at 3-4, own the fourth seed in the NFC and shouldn't be counted out just yet.
Are the 6-1 Giants "for real"? They're the third team in NFL history to have six wins of 8 points or fewer in their first seven games. The other two: The 1988 Saints, who went 10-6 and missed the playoffs; and the 2000 Vikings, who were smoked 41-0 in the NFC title game.
Is Geno Smith and the Seahawks, at 4-3 and holding the NFC's third seed, "for real"? Smith has come out of nowhere with the third-highest passer rating in the league (107.7). The only two higher ratings belong to guys named Mahomes and Allen. From 2014 to 2021 — eight seasons — Geno won five games as a starting quarterback. The last seven weeks, he's won four.
Are the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams "for real"? They hold the NFC's seventh seed. They're also 3-3 with three double-digit blowout losses and a quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who has more interceptions (eight) than touchdown passes (six), his worst passer rating in 11 years (84.5) and 22 sacks, only eight fewer than he suffered in 17 games a year ago.
Are the Cowboys "for real"? They're 5-2 and hold the NFC's sixth seed. They're second in the league in scoring defense (14.9), but they also score only 19 points a game. And, oh yeah, Dak Prescott is deadlocked with Kirk Cousins in career playoff victories at one apiece.
Are the 6-0 Eagles even "for real"? Sure looked that way in prime time against the Vikings. But they also gave up 35 points in a three-point win over the Lions, 1-5 and the worst team in the league. And doesn't a lot of what we're saying about the upstart Eagles this year sound a lot like what we were saying about the upstart Cardinals when they were 7-0 last year en route to a 4-7 finish that included a 23-point, one-and-done playoff loss?
Things change rapidly in the NFL. Only two of the NFC's seven playoff teams from last season have winning records this season. The four NFC divisional playoff teams from last year — Rams, Bucs, 49ers and Packers — are a combined 12-15 with nary a one of them over .500.
So what, exactly, does it mean to be "for real" in a league that isn't the same as it was last year or last month and won't be the same next month or the month after?
If "for real" you mean, "Are the Vikings perfect and/or will they finish 16-1?" the answer, Nope. Kevin O'Connell's Kumbaya Klub will at some point experience adversity that stretches beyond a bad night in Philly. The only question is how they will respond.
The best news is they're healthy and fresh. They don't beat themselves with turnovers and penalties. They might have the best special teams in the league. The offensive line is no longer home to Public Enemies 1 through 5. And maybe there's hope for this new defense with six takeaways in the past three games.
So if "for real" you mean, "Are the Vikings good enough to win a wide-open NFC?" the answer is, You betcha.
