What the Patriots can teach the Vikings about Super Bowl success

The New England Patriots are returning to the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. The Minnesota Vikings, who did not even make the playoffs in 2018, are at home. Is there anything the team can learn from this NFL dynasty?

I’m not here to tell anybody that the Minnesota Vikings can simply glean a technique, tactic, or even a player from the complete legend of the New England Patriots that will take them to a Super Bowl.

Considering there are only two men–Tom Brady and Bill Belichick– truly responsible for this nearly two-decade run at the top of the National Football League, replete with Lamar Hunt and Vince Lombardi trophies, it would be a facile argument to believe that their ilk could someday appear in Minnesota.

So let’s play the hand we are dealt. The Vikings are a very talented football team that did not consistently play good football in 2018. We certainly understand that. This team finished the year at 8-7-1, were swept by a division rival with a first-year coach (Chicago), and were beaten by teams they clearly had the ability to defeat.

But if the NFL is sometimes a poker game (and it is), we can take a look at the winning cards that the Patriots have played in just this year that have taken them to their ninth championship game.

In fact, we can simply look at the last game they played to see exactly how they put themselves in position to win their franchise’s sixth Super Bowl in Atlanta next week.

In that examination, the Vikings can learn several crucially important things to improve their team.