Through three quarters of the 2015 National Football League season, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in the thick of playoff contention in the NFC with a record of 8-4. And all signs point to the Vikings being able to earn a postseason berth for the first time since 2012. But for anyone that has followed the Vikings this season knows that they have some questions that must be addressed by them if they intend on being contenders in the playoffs next month.
Of the Vikings eight victories this year, only one has come against a team that currently has a winning record. The Vikings are 1-3 this season against teams that have winning records and they failed miserably in their last two opportunities against playoff contenders.
In Week 11, the Vikings welcomed the Green Bay Packers to town with first place in the NFC North on the line. At the start of the contest, the atmosphere was electric at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. But by the third quarter, the Packers had seized firm control of the game as they went on to win by a score of 30-13. For the game, the Packers defense sacked Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater five times along with limiting running back Adrian Peterson to just 45 yards rushing.
This past Sunday, the Vikings had another shot to prove themselves at home against the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are the defending NFC Champion and they also find themselves right in the middle of the wild card hunt in the conference. But the Seahawks never gave the Vikings an opportunity to breath as they raced to a 21-0 halftime lead. The Seahawks would go on to defeat the Vikings by the score 38-7 with Minnesota’s lone touchdown coming on a 101-yard kickoff return by wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson in the third quarter. The Seahawks defense limited the Vikings offense to just 125 yards for the game while Peterson only had 18 yards rushing and Bridgewater was only able to muster 118 passing yards as he was sacked four times.
And it won’t get any easier for the Vikings who’ll be on the road this Thursday night to face the Arizona Cardinals who are currently in first place in the NFC West along with a rematch with the Packers in Week 17 which will more than likely determine the winner of the NFC North. The Vikings are now entering their stretch run with a potential trip to the playoffs where your flaws tend to get exposed.
The Vikings are a team that is not built to come back from large deficits which is something that the Packers and Seahawks each displayed. Offensively, the Vikings rely heavily on their rushing attack which is fifth in the National Football League and it is led by Peterson who is the league’s leading ground gainer with 1,182 yards. But in last Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, Peterson was a non-factor due to Vikings falling into an early hole. Bridgewater is in his second year as the Vikings starting quarterback, but he is not at the point of his career where he can put the team on his back. And when the Vikings offense becomes one-dimensional in leaning on their passing game, they are in trouble. The Vikings defense is 16th in the NFL in total yards allowed while their 35 sacks are seventh in the league, but in the big games they’ve been unable to get to the quarterback or prevent other teams from scoring which won’t bode well in January against quality opponents.
Anything can happen in the playoffs which is something that Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer knows. But what Zimmer must do over the final month of the season is to make sure that his team doesn’t get to down on themselves after suffering losses in games where they failed to announce themselves. Zimmer is in his second year with the Vikings and he’s made this team a contender, but there is still work that has to be done.
Teddy Bridgewater
The Vikings will continue to be committed to their running game and Peterson, but their potential trip to the postseason will be a quick one unless Bridgewater is able to make more impact passing plays from within the pocket. This season the Vikings have the 31st best passing offense in the National Football League while they only have 27 passing plays this year that have gained more than 20 yards while Bridgewater is just averaging 6.9 yards per pass completion.
Right now the Vikings offense is good enough to win in the regular season, but they are too predictable to have sustained success come January. And if the Vikings are unable to get more production out of their passing game, opposing defenses will simply stack the box with eight and maybe nine defenders to stop Peterson while forcing Bridgewater to beat them. Zimmer has done a good job of magnifying the Vikings strengths while attempting to minimizing their weaknesses. But in the postseason, there is no place to run and no place to hide. And unless the Vikings offense can get it going, they’ll have an early exit next month.
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