Let me take you way back to Oct. 23, 2020.
The Vikings, after a terribly disappointing 1-5 start, had just a day earlier traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue roughly six weeks after acquiring him. On that same day, they had learned bookend defensive end Danielle Hunter would miss the entire season with a neck condition.
No white flags were officially waved, but those two events — preceded by a lopsided home loss to the previously winless Falcons — were ominous signals of a season going off the rails.
But on that Friday, local sports fans were buoyed by the optimism generated by a different football team.