Are the 6-1 Minnesota Vikings the NFL’s most underrated group?
Simply how good are the Minnesota Vikings? It’s a matter of perspective, however sufficient to have NFC North opponents working for the hills.
In a league with 32 groups, typically it’s straightforward to bury the lede a little bit.
The Eagles are dominating headlines because the NFL’s final undefeated group, and rightly so. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Payments simply destroyed Aaron Rodgers’ Packers, and it’s getting all of the Sunday Night time Soccer glory it deserves.
However what concerning the 6-1 Minnesota Vikings?
By some means, there’s extra discuss concerning the frenzied 3-5 Packers than there’s about Kirk Cousins’ quiet transformation from air-balling in losses to balling out in wins. The Vikings wrapped up Week 8 with a 34-26 rating over the Arizona Cardinals, proof that the Vikings can get the yards and the win. Cousins even rolled out his wheels on Sunday, scrambling for a speeding landing.
Cousins didn’t even have his most spectacular day passing-wise, finishing 24 of 36 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, however the Vikings offense is dynamic this 12 months. Dalvin Cook dinner rushed for 111 yards and a landing, whereas Alexander Mattison made probably the most of 5 carries with 40 yards and a landing. Plus, Cousins unfold the ball round together with his receivers, focusing on Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen relatively evenly. It marks one other spectacular win in an sudden season, advancing a stat that Cousins owns completely.
However the query stays: just how good are the Minnesota Vikings? In truth, the true reply will solely be derived within the postseason, which the Vikings have a 96 percent chance of constructing at this level. However different statistical predictions are relatively telling: each the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys have almost double the possibility of profitable the Tremendous Bowl regardless of inferior information.
The Minnesota Vikings will be the NFL’s most underrated group, however for good cause
NFL Community’s Jim Trotter explored this query at size in a column printed after Inexperienced Bay’s brutal loss.
As Trotter succinctly put it, the 2022 Vikings “have been good, not nice.”
It’s true: the Vikings are dealing with comparable criticisms to what the surging NFC East groups have confronted in current weeks. Sure, the Eagles are undefeated, and that does should be recommended, however they and the Giants and Cowboys are all enjoying one another, too. Even the Commanders are 4-4. A fast take a look at the schedules sheds some mild on how that division appears to say three playoff spots.
The Vikings are usually not so totally different. Their solely loss was a 24-7 blowout to the Eagles, but it surely was a unique group than the one which embarrassed the Packers in Week 1. The Vikings haven’t had the hardest opponents, and most of their video games have ended inside one rating. For all of Jefferson’s spectacular yardage and Cousins’ enhancements, the Vikings nonetheless appear precariously near dropping.
A more true check of their mettle might be in Week 10 when Minnesota takes on the Buffalo Payments. The Vikings are all however assured to win the NFC North and push their playoff luck within the postseason. However to maneuver it alongside additional and eventually win that coveted Lombardi, they’ll want to return collectively and show they’re not good — they’re nice.
