“Sneaky contenders.”
Those are the two words, among several others, assigned to the 2021 Minnesota Vikings by Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports. He made express mention of the Vikings tendency to miss the playoffs and then reach them in alternating fashion, predicting that the squad follows the same weird sequence this season.
In even-numbered years under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings are a less-than-.500 ballclub. Minnesota accrued a record of 30-33-1 (.476) in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 combined. The odd-numbered years are very kind to Minnesota, offering a 34-14 (.708) win-loss record.
There is certainly something to the odd-even necromancy.