Doug Wolter: A little hate is healthy (or at least normal) between NFL watchers

Jan. 18—In my previous column, I reminded my readers once again that I'm no genius when it comes to predicting the results of NFL playoff games. So I decided, then, to spare them my NFL thoughts for at least another week or two.

But then Monday morning happened, and I turned on the TV to see an unhinged Dallas Cowboys rooter waving a big blue banner. And the banner said (drumroll please) "AMERICA'S TEAM!"

OK, so I'm thinking at that point that the Dallas Cowboys haven't been America's team since, I don't know, the 1960s? They certainly aren't America's team now. They might in all probability, in fact, be the team America's football fans hate the most (there's Dallas, of course, then Green Bay (at least in the Midwest), and then whatever team Tom Brady is on).

People always hate on the Cowboys. But when any team loses a playoff game, the knives become unsheathed.

I checked out some of my favorite NFL websites Sunday night and read the screeds fans put into the commentary sections after their teams won or lost their wild card weekend contests. It's always entertaining to see what the fans are thinking after big games, and it provides real insight into the reputations of the teams themselves.

Of course I researched the reactions of Minnesota Vikings fans after Sunday's home loss to the New York Giants.

There were no surprises. They demanded the firing of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. They also accused the Vikings organization of being abject postseason failures for almost the entirety of their existence (forgetting those four Super Bowl appearances, as usual). And they excoriated the quarterback they love to hate, Kirk Cousins, for throwing a 3-yard pass in a 4th-and-8 situation at the very end of their game with the Giants.

My favorite websites are the ones where, alongside fans' reactions, there are also the reactions of non-fans of the teams in question. There were a lot of Packers fans, and a few Detroit Lions fans weighing in on the Vikings loss, too. And it was instantly obvious that Vikings fans — however unhappy they are with the Vikings — aren't happy with outsiders who like to throw their two cents in.

I think it's like that line from the movie Animal House. "They can't do that to our pledges," says one. "Only WE can do that to our pledges," answers the other.

There's a certain sense (and the "experts" say it, too) that the Packers are about to enter a difficult stage in their existence. Aaron Rogers isn't the game-changer he once was (the team's season-ending loss to Detroit in Green Bay is Exhibit A), and besides that, there is suddenly the Detroit Lions to contend with.

Besides that, even the most devoted Vikings followers think the jig is up until major changes are made.

The idea of the Lions being a legitimate NFC Central contender, of course, is a real challenge for the Vikings and the Packers to accept. It's like when you've been in charge of your company for the last 30 years and suddenly some young, incompetent pimple-faced teen-age intern with a runny nose and who speaks in a high-pitched voice is promoted to be your boss. You can't believe it, and you just won't stand for it.

But the Lions are one of the league's best stories. They finished the season strong and they're fan favorites now with their weirdly inspirational head coach (Dan Campbell) and their slightly off-center young players who together have learned how to win.

I laugh when I read Vikings fans dissing the Lions in the comments section of Pro Football Talk. Lions rooters were saying that the Vikes had better get used to looking up in the standings and seeing the Lions. To which the Purple fans retorted, "And this about a team that has won only one playoff game since 1957?????"

It's a good comeback. And you can't blame them. The Lions have been horrible for more than half a century.

And yet, I remember one ESPN football analyst (Rex Ryan) who said with a straight face after the Lions' take-down of the Packers that the NFC Central will go through the Lions for the next five years.

Ouch. Not even Lions fans like that comment.

One thing is for certain, and it's something that both Vikings fans and Lions fans know all too well — including those handfuls of Vikes fans that thought they'd beat the Giants. And that is, just when you think things are bound to go your way, that's when disaster is ready to strike.