NFL
By Steve Rogers
Alright, a fresh NEW season of the NFL is here. So why are we having and saying the same things we did last year about the Minnesota Vikings? The Vikings were set to have lowered expectations with supposedly damaged goods at quarterback in Sam Darnold. No one expected the team to win more games than in the 2023 campaign, which was 7-10. All they did was go out and display a winning culture that earned head coach Kevin O’Connell NFL Coach of the Year honors.
O’Connell led the should-be-underachieving Vikings to not only exceed the 7 or 8 wins projected but also double it with 14 wins. The Vikings are talented, physical, and scrappy, and have proven they have an edge as well. They demonstrated the mental toughness required of a championship team. I mean, they are resilient and NEVER think there is a game they can’t win. Usually, the word is grittiness that is most commonly used to describe this, but in this team, it’s more like GRIDDINESS.
That is the celebration dance most often found being done in the end zone by the Vikings team captain and the 9th-best player in the league, Justin Jefferson. This team flies and follows as Jefferson goes. If he is on fire doing his thing, it seems to fuel the entire team to perform at a higher level. He has an electric personality that is powerfully driven to succeed, doing so with a positive attitude, energy, and a smile that pulls you in. His aura is both magnetic and contagious.
Let’s take a minute and go game by game this season.
Week 1
Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears W
Week 2
Minnesota Vikings vs Atlanta Falcons W
Week 3
Minnesota Vikings vs Cincinnati Bengals W
Week 4
Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers W
Week 5
Minnesota Vikings vs Cleveland Browns W
Week 6
Minnesota Vikings Bye Week
Week 7
Minnesota Vikings vs Philadelphia Eagles L
Week 8
Minnesota Vikings @ San Diego Chargers W
Week 9
Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions L
Week 10
Minnesota Vikings vs Baltimore Ravens L
Week 11
Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears W
Week 12
Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers L
Week 13
Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks W
Week 14
Minnesota Vikings vs Washington Commanders W
Week 15
Minnesota Vikings @ Dallas Cowboys W
Week 16
Minnesota Vikings @ New York Giants W
Week 17
Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions W
Week 18
Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers W
That’s good for a 13 – 4 record. Now, yes, that is fewer wins than last year, but falling off the cliff to under 10 wins is an utter disrespect. That won’t be happening to this team. At least not this year. Last year, the Vikings were one win away from being the NUMBER 1 OVERALL SEED IN THE NFC.
The Vikings identified where their flaws were most prominent and went out this offseason and retooled. They were not great as an offensive line, especially on the interior. They signed two top-talented free agent veterans and drafted a rookie as the third piece of the puzzle. They also made significant additions on the defensive side, signing two talented interior defensive linemen.
So the Vikings went out this offseason and made two of their biggest weaknesses into their potential biggest strengths. Yet somehow you don’t see this team as not only better but sliding back down? They retained the entire coaching staff, trainers, and in-house staff. They kept the tandem of offensive head coach (and QB guru) O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores together. Flores’ defensive schemes helped the Vikings have one of the top five scoring defenses last year. With an improved D-line, especially in the middle, how does this team not get better?
Did this team get better than last year? Yes. Does that mean they have to win MORE games? No, not necessarily. They face a tougher schedule this year. In fact, it’s among the toughest schedules in the NFL this year.
What it does mean is that every win this year will be that much harder to come by. The Vikings were one game away from winning the NFC North title and securing the top seed in the NFC. This team is out to fix those mistakes. If the Vikings can go 13-4, they will win the NFC North and be very much in the hunt for the number one seed in the NFC.
