In his first season as the head coach, can Kevin O’Connell lead the Minnesota Vikings to their first NFC North title since 2017?
The Minnesota Vikings have not made it to the postseason since 2019 and they have not won the NFC North since 2017.
How will Minnesota finish this season? Could they perhaps win their division?
After missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season in 2021, the Vikings moved on from head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
Even with a first-year head coach and general manager in Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Minnesota has a shot at making it back to the postseason in 2022.
Can the Minnesota Vikings capture the NFC North title in 2022?
At the moment, the Green Bay Packers should be the favorites to win the division again. The Packers have won the NFC North in each of the previous three seasons, and they still have a guy named Aaron Rodgers.
Yes, Green Bay did lose star wide receiver Davante Adams, but they still have a pretty good roster. Last season, the Packers finished with a 13-4 record compared to Minnesota, who went 8-9.
Maybe the Vikings could surprise some people this year and win only their third division title since 2009. At the moment, Minnesota looks like a wild-card team at best. But the NFL is a very unpredictable league, and the Vikings could perhaps get some solid contributions from their rookies.
The Vikings added some good players in free agency earlier this year with the signings of Harrison Phillips, Za’Darius Smith, and Chandon Sullivan. Fellow new addition, Chris Reed, could also end up starting at right guard next season.
O’Connell could end up being a very good head coach someday. Will it happen in year one with Minnesota? Most likely not. Growing pains will happen. But then again, maybe he will surprise everyone and be very good right away.
Barring major injuries, the Vikings should be better than the previous two years. The chances of Minnesota winning the division and making a deep playoff run in 2022 are not very high right now, but we will see.
Once again, it is a very unpredictable league. How many expected the San Francisco 49ers to nearly make it to the Super Bowl last season?
One thing is for sure. Changes were needed for this organization. Now, how well are the Vikings set up for the future with the new leadership? Minnesota’s fans are very excited to find out.