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Minnesota Vikings schedule is about to get real tough

By Dan Zinski

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The Minnesota Vikings got to 4-2 despite starting off the season with a clunker against an allegedly beatable opponent.

The turnaround after the San Francisco debacle may have been impressive but in fairness it was aided by somewhat of a soft schedule (apologies to the Chiefs, Lions and Chargers).

The Vikings may have gotten help from the schedule-maker in the early part of the year, but that will no longer be the case for most of the rest of the season.

After the Vikings get done thumping the Bears in Chicago this weekend, things will get a whole lot tougher.

The stretch from week 9 to week 14 sees the Vikings playing a string of 6 straight playoff contenders.

Those six weeks see the Vikings hosting the St. Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks while traveling on the road to face the Oakland Raiders, Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to the rest of the NFL: Yes, the Oakland Raiders are contenders at 3-3. With Bill Musgrave running their offense.

Of the six teams listed above only one currently has a losing record: the Seattle Seahawks at 3-4.

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And I can pretty much guarantee you that the Seahawks will not still have a losing record when they come into TCF Bank Stadium on Dec. 6.

After week 14 the Vikings get one more breather against the Bears, then have to face the contending Giants and the Packers to finish out the year.

How tough is the remaining schedule for the Vikings? Via a formula that uses betting odds rather than win-loss record, the website NFLTradeRumors has determined that Minnesota will face the stiffest competition of any team from here on out.

Projecting into the future can be a little perilous, but then again, we are far enough into the season to have a pretty good feel for which teams are good and which teams aren’t.

There’s good reason to rank the Vikings as legitimate contenders, but the same can be said for most of their remaining opponents as well.

So if the Vikings do make the playoffs this year, they will have really earned it.

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