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Can The Minnesota Vikings Defend Division Title And Compete For Spot In Super Bowl?

By Ty OKeefe
Published on: 07:39 PST, Jul 23, 2016

As current players, politicians, local legends, and football fans gathered in the Twin Cities to celebrate the long-awaited opening of U.S. Bank Stadium this week, there was one unofficial theme that dominated the festivities—these days, it’s good to be in business with the Minnesota Vikings.

From the $1 billion worth of new apartments and office buildings that surround the Stadium, to the local businesses that stand to benefit from the lucrative combination of its construction and the team’s recent rise, to the actual players that will start the season on Minnesota’s roster, the Vikings’ new digs have blessed almost everyone associated with the franchise in one way or another.

During a tour of the city’s new star attraction, tight end Kyle Rudolph, who is expected to take a significant step towards developing into one of the NFC’s better pass-catching tight ends in 2016, was clearly in awe of Minnesota’s fortress of the future while speaking to the media.

”The Metrodome as a player, it’s an awesome environment,” said Rudolph via USA Today Sports. ”It’s loud, the turf is fast, it’s a controlled environment. But the amenities and the fan experience that this place brings, it’s second to none. Just look at all the things that this place has. There’s probably 10 times the stalls that there were in the Metrodome. We had five for the entire team. That kind of puts it in perspective in terms of our quality of life here in the new stadium.”

But the stadium itself isn’t the only thing that’s got football fans in the NFL’s frigid north all hot and bothered. For the first time in three years, the reigning division champs will start their season with the promise gained from the previous campaign’s playoff appearance, and even their harshest critics are predicting that the ”Purple People Eaters” will contend for a second straight NFC North crown.

Now entering his third year as Minnesota’s head coach, Mike Zimmer bounced back quite nicely from a 7-9 finish in his first year at the helm by successfully guiding his team to be the league’s least penalized while steering his squad to an 11-5 finish and its first division title since 2009.

Although Zimmer’s defensive-minded approach and desire to play near-flawless football has obviously made its mark on Minnesota, the play of starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will go a long way towards determining this team’s destiny in 2016. But after a sub-par performance in his sophomore campaign, Bridgewater will be carrying a lot of question marks into the regular season.

As the team’s undisputed starting quarterback, Bridgewater began last summer’s training camp with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Having all-world running back Adrian Peterson by his side in the backfield helped relieve some of that pressure, but in the end, Bridgewater failed to fulfill even a few of the more modest expectations while quarterbacking an offense that ranked 31st in both passing yards and touchdowns.

Other than finishing with 3,231 yards passing—a slight improvement from the 2,919 passing yards he totaled as a rookie, and throwing three less interceptions that he did in year one, Bridgewater only matched his first year touchdown total with 14 and managed minor statistical improvements in passer rating, completion percentage, and quarterback rating last season.

If there’s one glaring issue with Minnesota’s offense, it concerns a lack of consistently dependable targets at wide receiver. During the off-season, the Vikes kicked unproductive veteran wideout Mike Wallace and his sizable salary to the curb, and the team will begin training camp with former fifth-rounder Stephon Diggs as its leading pass-catcher.

Since June’s NFL Draft, the City’s football faithful have been buzzing about the arrival of former Mississippi wideout Laquon Treadwell, who Minnesota took with the 23rd overall selection. Although Treadwell is expected to win a starting job opposite Diggs, immediately improving a very weak group of receivers, the Vikings haven’t had much luck when it comes to drafting wideouts during the last few years, and they definitely don’t need another Charles Johnson or Cordarrelle Patterson.

As usual, Peterson will power much of Minnesota’s offense with the same punishing ground game that netted the veteran 11 touchdowns and 1,485 yards rushing last season—the third highest total of his career. And in an attempt to erase the issues that led to seven fumbles in 2015, including one in the final frame of last year’s heartbreaking playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Peterson has had trainers wearing boxing gloves swatting at the football all summer.

Earlier this week, Peterson explained some of the benefits of his unique training method while working out at his gym.

”[The punches are] more of an instinctual trigger than a hit,” Peterson told reporters via ESPN. ”It’s kind of like going through that front line, where you’ve got arms coming, you’ve got legs coming. It really makes you clench on it even more and make it tight.”

Defensively, Minnesota ranked a very respectable fifth in points against in 2015, and there’s no real reason to believe that the likes of Pro-Bowl safety Harrison Smith, seasoned cornerback Terrence Newman, and defensive end Everson Griffen won’t lead this unit to a repeat performance.

After defeating the hated Green Bay Packers on enemy turf in Week 17 to win last season’s NFC North and nearly knocking out Seattle at home on Wild Card weekend, the lofty expectations placed upon this year’s team are well deserved.

Are the Vikings a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Not yet. But many of the pieces are already in place. And as long as injuries don’t decimate Zimmer’s promising squad and Minnesota maintains the positives gained in 2015, it will be a while before football fans in the land of 10,000 lakes stop looking forward to game day.

[Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images]

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