They have been winning ugly. They could come apart at the seams if the Williams Wall is knocked down. And their QB situation is, at best, iffy. That said, the Vikings have won 8 of their past 11 games and could clinch the NFC North as early as Sunday with a Bears loss and a Minnesota win (the Vikings would be assured of no worse than a tie in the firs two tiebreakers and would have an insurmountable edge in common games, thus ensuring a win in the third tiebreaker and therefore claiming the division). They have a huge star and MVP candidate in Adrian Peterson. They have a defensive difference-maker in Jared Allen who has been worth every penny, every draft pick and then some. The NFL sees them as a big-time team, having just changed the time of the Atlanta game to 3:15 for a national audience. And still there is an overwhelming sense of negativity toward this team.

According to the popular but unscientific ESPN.com coach ratings, Brad Childress’ approval rating continues to languish at 37 percent. Every other team that is a sole leader or co-leader of a division — Denver, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, the Jets, Miami, New England, Arizona, Carolina and the Giants — has a coach with an approval ranking of at least 64 percent (and that low mark belongs to the Patriots’ Bill Belichick, which is absurd. All other coaches are 75 percent or higher, thus making them all double Childress’ number).

Tickets to the Falcons game, which is a mere 12 days away, are still available (as are tickets to the finale against the Giants). We swear we heard a buy one, get one half-price ticket offer for either game on the radio last night, though we can’t find it anywhere online and it could just be the dementia of a long day setting in. If anyone heard the same thing or finds the deal, let us know). [Update: Thanks to reader Matt S. for delivering the link to prove we are not crazy. A first-place team is, indeed, offering the very discount we described].

Comments on game stories, even victories, are overwhelmingly negative.

We get it, to a degree. But then again, we don’t get it. The Mike Tice era was defined by spectacularly bad losses (remember, the Vikings lost to a one-win team and a two-win team in 2001 lost to four teams that finished 4-12 during their 9-7 season in 2003) and offensive shootouts. The Childress era has been defined by vanilla offense and ugly wins — but enough of them to put the team in first place with just three games left. (Note: Those facts crossed out and italicized, while true, were incorrectly attributed to Tice, as Go Vikes correctly points out in the comments. That was Dennis Green’s final year. There were plenty of other crushing losses under Tice to mention, and we are appalled that we messed that up.)

Yeah, we understand there will never be a love affair with Childress the man or Childress the coach. That’s not what he’s built for. But this team seems worthy of more love than it’s getting. Maybe it’s time to get over personal grudges and negativity and start enjoying a legitimate winning season.

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