Souhan: Vikings declares he is ready to break more record

Reaching 13 wins has been a rarity for the Vikings. Led by a journeyman QB and a good head coach, and having already survived the daunting part of the schedule, this year’s team has a chance to reach that milestone.

Since the 1998 Vikings went 15-1 in the regular season, the franchise has produced two seasons of 13 or more regular-season victories.

Before 1998, the Vikings, in part because of shorter schedules during their glory days, had produced zero.

Eight games into the 2024 campaign, the Vikings look poised to reach 13 again.

They are 6-2. Their next two games are against bad teams — Jacksonville and Tennessee — on the road. Then they play against a suddenly-struggling Bears team in Chicago.

The Vikings are capable of winning their next three and entering the stretch run with a 9-2 record.

The 2017, 2022 and 2024 quarterbacks have one obvious characteristic in common; all three were veterans who had played for multiple teams and responded well to working with a highly-regarded offensive staff.

In 2017, Case Keenum, a journeyman backup who replaced the injured Sam Bradford, had his best season under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski, the reigning NFL coach of the year.

Shurmur’s reputation was damaged by his struggles as a head coach, but he was the ideal coordinator for head coach Mike Zimmer, because he was creative in the run game and married a ball-control offense to Zimmer’s best defense.

In 2022, Kirk Cousins didn’t post his best traditional stat line but excelled at what previously had been considered weaknesses — leading and being clutch. Cousins’ relationship with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips altered his reputation.

In 2024, journeyman Sam Darnold, in perhaps his last chance to salvage his career, has far exceeded expectations.

In 2017, the Vikings went 5-3 against teams that finished with winning records and 8-0 against teams that finished with losing records.

In 2022, the Vikings went 3-2 against teams above .500 and 10-2 against teams .500 or worse.

In 2024, the Vikings are 2-1 against teams that are better than .500 and 4-1 against teams .500 or worse.