The Sporting News’ Tadd Haislop recently predicted what the regular season record will be for the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.
Despite the fact that the 2018 regular season schedule for the Minnesota Vikings and the rest of the NFL still has not yet been released, people who cover the league have still felt it necessary to predict the records for each and every team.
Although, making a record prediction before the schedule is released is basically like a waiter trying to convince someone how good a pizza is without mentioning what toppings are included. It’s just really hard to do.
But still, the Sporting News’ Tadd Haislop recently tried to take a stab at how the Vikings’ 2018 season may turn out. Spoiler alert, he doesn’t think it will be as good as 2017 was for Minnesota.
Haislop believes the Vikings will finish next season with a 9-7 record. He doesn’t give any indication of them making the playoffs, but one would think that would be pretty hard to accomplish with just nine wins in 2018.
Minnesota Vikings
His main reason for Minnesota’s lack of wins next season? The Vikings’ schedule outside of their division.
On Minnesota’s plate for 2018 are matchups with the Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles. All teams that made the playoffs last year.
Haislop also believes that teams like the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers could be much improved from a season ago and give the Vikings fits in 2018.
His main theory is that Minnesota’s play will likely remain similar next season, but a number of their opponents will improve.
So the Vikings’ are not going to be a better team in 2018 despite adding quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and returning a majority of their starters from a season ago? Okay, sure.
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Could Haislop be right? Yeah, maybe. Will he end up actually being right? Probably not.