Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr recently commented on how he believes the team is capable of winning a championship this year.
Anthony Barr is one of the few that have experienced Mike Zimmer’s entire tenure as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Barr, Harrison Smith, and Adam Thielen are actually the only three players left from the Vikings’ roster in 2014 during Zimmer‘s first year with the franchise.
So the linebacker has been around for everything Minnesota has gone through during the last few seasons, including the Blair Walsh miss in the 2015 playoffs and the “Minneapolis Miracle” in 2017.
Since Barr has been with the Vikings during the entire Zimmer era, he is fully aware of the team’s bounce-back capabilities. This is something he believes should help Minnesota turn things around and have a much better season in 2021 after last year’s disappointment.
Anthony Barr thinks the Minnesota Vikings can win the Super Bowl in 2021
Last year was a letdown for the Vikings, especially after the improvements they made in 2019 to get to the divisional round of the playoffs.
During Zimmer’s tenure with the team, however, Minnesota seems to find a way to rebound after experiencing a poor season.
Since their current head coach was hired in 2014, the Vikings have won 10 or more games during the year that has followed a season in which they finished with eight or fewer wins. Minnesota has also made the playoffs in each of these years that they won at least 10 games.
We mentioned earlier that Barr has been around for Zimmer’s entire tenure with the Vikings, so he knows exactly what to expect from the team in 2021. This time, however, the Minnesota linebacker is setting his expectations for the squad as high as possible.
During a recent interview with Minnesota’s FOX 9, Barr shared how he feels about the Vikings heading into the upcoming season.
"“I really do believe that we have a Super Bowl-winning team this year. Obviously, there’s a lot of steps to get to that point, and I’ve been through good seasons and bad seasons with this team. But every time we’ve had a tough year, we’ve always bounced back. I really feel like this year is going to be special.”"
These are quite the expectations from the veteran linebacker. But this is exactly how the Vikings should want one of their defensive leaders to feel as the team heads into a very important season.
Barr was limited to just a game and a half last year due to injury. So it’s obvious that he’s hungry to return to the field and help Minnesota’s defense get back to being one of the best units in the NFL.
One thing is for sure. If Barr is able to help the Vikings win the Super Bowl next season, he will be able to say he helped the franchise accomplish something that no one in purple and gold has ever been able to do before.