Vikings predicted to finish behind the Lions in the 2022 season

Not everyone is optimistic about the Minnesota Vikings this season as some recent predictions picked them to finish behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

In Week 13 last year, the Minnesota Vikings became the first team of the season to lose to the Detroit Lions. The Vikings only lost by two points, but it was a loss that was extremely preventable.

Results like this one played a big part in Minnesota deciding to move on from head coach Mike Zimmer earlier this year. Now, the Vikings are heading into a regular season without Zimmer as their head coach for the first time since 2013.

Despite the change in culture that has apparently taken place in Minnesota since the hiring of new head coach Kevin O’Connell, not everyone is on board with things automatically getting better this season.

Recent 2022 predictions have the Minnesota Vikings finishing behind the Detroit Lions

As the 2022 regular season inches closer, more and more predictions are starting to be released. Recently, Sports Illustrated’s Gary Gramling predicted how he believes each team in the NFC North will finish this year.

At the top of the division, Gramling has the Green Bay Packers sitting with an 11-6 record. No surprise there.

Then at second place in the NFC North, he has the Lions finishing the 2022 season with a 9-8 record. Next in the No. 3 spot is the Vikings with an underwhelming 7-10 record. And finally, sitting in last place in the division, Gramling has the Chicago Bears only winning three games this year.

So there are a few things to take away from this. First, if Detroit wins nine games this season, it will be their first time with at least nine wins since 2017. Nine victories are also more than the Lions have had in both of the last two seasons combined.

For Minnesota to only finish with seven wins this year, it seems like something would have to go terribly wrong. The Vikings have more talent on their roster than more than two-thirds of the NFL, so it would probably take some significant injuries for them to end the 2022 campaign with only seven victories.

At the same time, the NFL is as popular as it is today because of its consistent unpredictability. So while it would be nice to say that these predictions have zero chance of actually happening, they can’t be brushed to the side just yet.