Kirk Herbstreit Forgot the Minnesota Vikings Play in the NFC

It’s not longer a surprise when the Minnesota Vikings are an afterthought to national media. They weren’t expected to be this good . Also, anyone that operates primarily on the coasts forgets that the middle of America even exists. Kirk Herbstreit provided us our latest example.

Kirk Herbstreit neglects Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football

The past few seasons the watchability of Thursday Night Football matchups has been questionable at best. They have since moved to Amazon Prime, and Kirk Herbstreit calls them alongside Al Michaels. During the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks game this week , he blanked on the Minnesota Vikings existing at all .

“If I ask you who the best team in the NFC is. Like, not right now, but when you look at the roster, you look at their potential, I still think San Francisco. Especially if they get Christian McCaffrey back. Who else besides them? You could bring up Dallas, bring up Green Bay, Tampa. There’s some good teams out there, but if San Francisco’s healthy they’re still a force in this NFC.”

Kirk Herbstreit on the NFC contenders during TNF

It would be one thing for Herbstreit to discredit Minnesota if they were the cellar dwellers of initial projections. It might also be fair to overlook them if they hadn’t had any similar opponents to the teams he was calling a game for. Of course, neither of those things are true. The Vikings are one of two teams in the NFL (hello Kansas City) with a 5-0 record. One of those wins came against San Francisco just a couple of weeks ago . The Packers, who Herbstreit also named, lost to Minnesota (at home) as well.

Herbstreit does plenty of college football work, but that doesn’t absolve overlooking the subjects in front of him. The 49ers have been a roller coaster team all season. After a home loss to the lowly Cardinals last week, they did rebound to beat Seattle on the road. One of their three losses came at the hands of former backup Sam Darnold. It was also not as close as the 23-17 score represented.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Expected to do Something Before NFL Trade Deadline

At some point you’d hope that the national media will take the Vikings seriously. They are perfect in the win column, and have covered in every single game . They are finally betting favorites against a good Lions team next week. Still, there is a level of disbelief in Darnold and his teammates . That requires Kevin O’Connell to continue setting his group up to get the job done on a weekly basis.

Related: 4 Minnesota Vikings Stats That Help Make Sense of Undefeated Start

The Vikings are in the midst of a well-deserved bye week. Aaron Jones needs to rest up and get healthy, but otherwise Minnesota is in a great place. That’s true even if Herbstreit doesn’t know they exist.

More must-reads:

• Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl and Playoff Odds
• Minnesota Vikings Cut Young Defensive Lineman from Roster
• Don’t Waste Your Money on Sam Darnold Winning Comeback Player of the Year