Despite their third straight victory on Sunday, the Vikings' Super Bowl and playoff odds tanked due to Kirk Cousins' injury, which might keep him out for the season.
ESPN reported on Sunday night that Cousins had suffered a tear to his Achilles tendon and is awaiting an official MRI.
Although the Vikings beat the 49ers — who were Super Bowl favorites before the loss — to go along with a divisional vicotry over the Packers, Minnesota's Super Bowl odds have tanked from +6600 to +11000 in a matter of hours.
That's relative to +4000 odds in the preseason. The Vikings were looking to become just the sixth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting 0-3.
The Vikings have a 4-4 record now but are forced to rollout rookie sixth-round pick Jaren Hall out of BYU at the quarterback position.
The only team since 1998 to make the playoffs after starting the season 0-3 were the 2018 Texans, who lost in the Wild Card Round to the Colts. Before that, the 1998 Bills made the playoffs after losing their opening three games. The Bills that year also lost in the Wild Card Round, that year to the Dolphins.
On Sunday night, the Vikings' odds in the NFC North — where the Lions have a commanding chokehold on the division — weren't posted. Neither were their playoff odds.
Minnesota has a softer portion of their schedule leading up to their bye week, facing off against the Falcons on the road, the Saints at home, the Broncos on the road and the Bears at home before their bye. Then, they face an ailing Raiders team on the road.
While Minnesota had figured to be favorites for perhaps all of those matchups with Cousins in the fold, now, they're likely underdogs for all of those matchups except for its home game against the Bears.
The injury came two weeks after Justin Jefferson was placed on the injured reserve list with a hamstring injury. While rookie first rounder Jordan Addison stepped up to take Jefferson's mantle the last two weeks, with a middling rookie quarterback at the helm, the Vikings look poised to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
