The Vikings lost three of their first four games last season with all the defeats coming by one score. That set the tone for a year in which the Vikings finished a game under .500 because they went 6-8 in an NFL-record tying 14 one-score games. A common lament was that with a few breaks the Vikings could have been a playoff team, instead of a franchise that fired its general manager and head coach.
This attempt to put a positive spin on things was silly. The Vikings were historically bad in the final four minutes before halftime or the end of games, surrendering touchdowns on 32.4 percent of opponent drives in that time, according to Sharp Football Analysis. That didn’t just put the Vikings at the bottom of the NFL for the season, it placed them 686 out of 686 teams since at least 2000.
