Brandt: Vikings’ 2017 defense is ‘absolutely championship-caliber’

NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt views the Minnesota Vikings and their talented defense as one of the top contenders for this season’s Super Bowl.

When a team starts a season by winning nine of their first 11 games, talks about Super Bowl potential are going to happen whether people like it or not. Well, this year the Minnesota Vikings are sitting with a 9-2 record after 12 weeks and many who cover the NFL are beginning to look at this team having the ability to make it all the way to the league’s final game of the season.

Last week, NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin surprised a few people when he picked the Vikings to come out with a win over the New England Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl. Well, now someone else thinks Minnesota’s 2017 team has championship potential.

NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt (and former Dallas Cowboys VP of player personnel) recently published a piece that listed eight NFL teams that he feels have the best chance at getting a victory in Super Bowl 52. Brandt has the Vikings listed fourth and he explained why.

"“The defense is absolutely championship-caliber, as the Vikings showed in Week 11’s big win over the Rams, when Los Angeles was held below 300 yards for just the second time this year while posting a season-low rushing total (45 yards). Minnesota Vikings The Viking Age 0d - 6 biggest draft steals in Minnesota Vikings history More headlines around FanSided: 1d - Former Vikings first-round pick could reportedly return to NFC North 1d - Bears analyst has extremely embarrassing Kirk Cousins take 1d - 6 Vikings who (maybe) won't make the 53-man roster in 2023 2d - Which teams could be drafting a quarterback next year? 2d - Predicting what the Vikings will do in the 2023 NFL Draft based on 2022 More News at The Viking Age The Vikings’ season comes down to this: How far can Case Keenum take you? Though his pro career has been a mixed bag, Keenum does have a history of succeeding at previous levels, and he’s playing very well (66.1 percent completion rate, 14 TDs, five INTs and a 96.2 passer rating).”"

Finishing ahead of Minnesota on Brandt’s list were the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles. His list seems to indicate that the Eagles are the only other team in the NFC that he thinks is playing better than the Vikings right now.

Even though Brandt highlights Minnesota’s defense as the best part of their team this season, the Vikings’ offense has been performing just as well recently. In three their last four games, Minnesota has scored 30 points or more and gained at least 405 total yards.

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If the Vikings’ offense and defense continues to lead the team to more wins this year, the thoughts of Minnesota becoming the very first team to play a Super Bowl at their home stadium will just continue to be even more common among those who cover the league for a living.