Minnesota Vikings close to Super Bowl contention via ESPN
By Adam Carlson
The Minnesota Vikings may have won their division and earned a playoff berth in 2015, but how far is this football team from playing in the Super Bowl?
With only the biggest game in professional football left in the 2015 NFL season, there is a lot of envy out there. Only one team from each conference gets to play on the biggest stage in the world, leaving 30 other teams sitting home and watching the game on their couch. It makes fans wonder just how far away their team is from appearing in a Super Bowl.
In the case of the Minnesota Vikings, there aren’t too many things left to fill in before the team can be labeled contenders. Under head coach Mike Zimmer, there has been improvement all over the field and potential has been realized with some players who just needed a little motivation.
Recently, ESPN asked their writers to rate their team based on how far they are away from playing in the Super Bowl. Ben Goessling was tasked with ranking the Vikings, which he gave a 7 out of 10. Here is what he said about what Minnesota needs to do to take the next step:
"“The Vikings need to fix their ragged offensive line. They need to add a dynamic receiving threat, and they need much more from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, so they’re not asking running back Adrian Peterson to account for nearly one-third of their yards again at age 31. But their defense should be one of the NFC’s best again next season, and in Mike Zimmer the Vikings have a coach who has quickly changed the identity of the franchise. A few good offseason moves should have them among the NFC’s contenders in 2016.”"
There is little denying that the Minnesota Vikings have an exciting young defense, but the big questions come on the offensive side of the ball. If they can fix the problems on the offensive line and develop a strong, effective passing game, Minnesota will be one of those teams that opposing squads will dread when they see them on their schedule.
While the jury is still out on whether or not Teddy Bridgewater is the long-term answer for the Vikings at quaterback, he’s shown enough maturity to give optimism that he will continue to grow and develop as a passer. Personally, the biggest question that remains pertains to how long the Minnesota Vikings can keep using Adrian Peterson like a workhorse, even if it means putting their young quarterback in tough spots behind a struggling group of blockers.
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Still, it’s great to see a Vikings team that is the closest that they’ve been to a Super Bowl since Brett Favre was the quarterback. Minnesota is building something special, and it will be interesting to see if they can put the final pieces into place to take the next step toward the big dance.