Opinion Monday… On a Thursday: The Vikings only win 4 games in 2018

Hey everyone! This week due to some technical difficulties, my weekly Monday piece couldn’t be posted until Thursday. But still, here it is!

The 2017-2018 Minnesota Vikings finished 13-3 and won the NFC North, as well as securing the 2nd seed in the NFC. This season was the 2nd best in Vikings history, and nearly ended during the Divisional Round, but Stefon Diggs hauled in a pass from Case Keenum to win the game in what is now known as the Minneapolis Miracle. In today’s article, I will make the bold prediction that the 2018-2019 Vikings will finish with merely 4 wins and miss out on the postseason completely.  This is my explanation to this year’s 4-12 season and believe me this hurt to write.

Week 1 (0-0): San Francisco hasn’t lost a game since last November and will be coming in after a full offseason of Jimmy Garappolo and Kyle Shanahan working together. This team has been developing a young defense with players like Rueben Foster stepping up, and they added Richard Sherman this offseason. Not to mention they are solid at wide receiver and added Jerrick McKinnon, who we all know is a dangerous dual threat running back. This game could also show the growing pains of this offense, that is now in the hands of Kirk Cousins. Cousins will be protected by a line of young, unproven lineman and will be handing the ball off to a running back we haven’t seen since he tore his ACL in week 4 of last season. The Vikings new corners are also very unproven and could easily be burned or beaten if given an opportunity. The Vikings lose this game and start off the year 0-1.

Week 2 (0-1): This week the Vikings have to ride over to Green Bay to meet Aaron Rodgers and his Packers. This could be the first time the Vikings play the Packer with Aaron Rodgers healthy for 4 quarters in 2 years, and Rodgers has some new toys to play with.  More importantly, the Packers added 2 new corners and a new linebacker in the draft. Those 2 corners were the best in this year’s draft in my opinion, and that could be costly for the Vikings who’s 3rd string wide receiver could be the unproven Laquan Treadwell. Again, the Vikings will be depending on unproven Mike Hughes or 41-year-old Terrance Newman to cover the slot, and whoever lines up across from them could have a big day if they are off their game. Also, it’s a revenge game for Rodgers, so expect the Packers to treat this like their own Super Bowl.

Week 3 (0-2): This week the Vikings get their first win however. Buffalo had a quiet offseason, but they did add quarter back AJ McCarron. They also drafted Josh Allen. Either quarter back doesn’t strike much fear into me, and LeSean McCoy will be 30 by this point. The Vikings win this game and give some hope to all of us.

Week 4 (1-2): The Rams are the most loaded team in the NFL. Their coach just won Coach of the Year. Their quarter back showed the ability to learn and get better. Their running back almost took home the MVP. They have arguably the two best defensive tackles in football. They added arguably 2 of the top 5 corners in the NFL. And not to mention they kept their offensive intact. This team may steam-roll us if we aren’t careful, and in this scenario, they do. Rams win, BIG.

Week 5 (1-3): The Vikings play the Eagles this week and the last time we played, it wasn’t pretty. The Eagles replaced everything they lost, and maybe even upgraded. The Miami Hurricanes have a saying for their team: “We don’t rebuild, we reload.” That saying really defines what the Eagles have done this offseason. A team that was good enough to beat us 38-7 with their backup quarterback will beat us again, maybe worse.

Week 6 (1-4): The Cardinals come to town for this matchup, and they got the bargain of the draft this year. Josh Rosen fell pretty far down the board and the Cardinals ended up getting him. This team was very banged up last year, playing without possibly the best running back in the NFL and without their starting quarterback. They will have either Rosen or Bradford to play against us, and their defense isn’t anything to sleep on either. The Vikings lose this game and might be looking for some big trades near the deadline.

Week 7 (1-5): This week the Vikings do beat the Jets. While I think Sam Darnold is going to be a great quarterback, I don’t think the Jets are quite there in a lot of other places. The Jets just don’t have anything exciting about them except the Darnold pick, and he could be on the Bench behind McCown at this point. So, the Vikings win this game and move on to their next matchup.

Week 8 (2-5): The Vikings play the Saints now, and the Saints are definitely going to be upset about that playoff game. The Saints kept Drew Brees, they will have both of their running backs, and they added another talented corner in the draft to pair with Marshawn Lattimore. The Saints beat the Vikings and get some revenge for the miracle play from last year’s playoffs.

Alright so halfway through the season the Vikings are sitting at a not-so-good 2-6. I would like to point out that for this scenario to come true, the Vikings are going to have to have an implosion at offensive line, plus the defense is going to have to suffer some serious injuries, and maybe even some stars on offense get hurt as well. This is a very complete team that should be able to win low-scoring, defensive struggles, or win the shoot-out, offensive games. But hey crazy stuff happens, and we have a tough schedule this year. Let’s continue into the second half of the season.

Week 9 (2-6): My favorite team to play in the NFC North! The Lions! These teams seem to have a good game every time they play, and I see that trend continuing this season. However, this season the Lions added a defensive minded coach and drafted to fix their abysmal running attack. So, it appears that they are gearing up to play keep away with the ball and wear out defenses with lengthy drives consisting of aggressive running. The Lions’ defense was solid last season, and Matt Patricia should solidify it even more. The Vikings lose to the Lions.

Week 11 (2-7): The Vikings have trouble winning at Soldier Field, and they will continue to struggle this year. The Bears added Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Trey Burton on Offense. They drafted a line backer and added Aaron Lynch, so expect to see the Vikings lose a close one to the Bears.

Week 12 (2-8):  Again, we play the Packers, and this time Green Bay comes to Minnesota and re-asserts themselves as the kings of the NFC North.

Week 13 (2-9): This week we get the Patriots, in a game some people might want us to lose just to get better draft position. The Patriots added a running back in the first round of the draft, and they get back Gronk and Brady and Bellicheck. The Patriots system beats the Vikings talent as we lose to one of the better teams in the NFL.

Week 14 (2-10): Now we move on to Seattle, a game we again, lose. People are acting like every member of the Legion of Boom left or retired, but they lost Richard Sherman and no one else. This team will still have Russel Wilson and a good defense, which is a lethal combination in the NFL. The Seahawks beat down on the poor Vikings, adding to our season’s woes.

Week 15 (2-11): The Dolphins have a quarterback who can’t stay healthy, a mediocre defense, a bad running game, and they traded their best receiver. The Vikings win this game, because Jay Cutler might be playing for the Dolphins by this point! The game is close, and could be for the #1 pick in the draft.

Week 16 (3-11): Again, we play the Lions, and for the 2nd time in 3 years, we get swept by the Lions. Green Bay and Detroit are competing for the division and this game means everything to the Lions and little to us.

Week 17 (3-12): Vikings win! I can’t bring myself to say we go 0-6 in divisional play this season, and this will be the last time we see the Vikings for a year, so they put up big and leave us all wondering why they didn’t play like this all season. The Vikings trample the Bears and finish the year with a 4-12 record.

So, this sucked to write. This isn’t my opinion or what I think is actually going to happen, but it is a worse case scenario, bold prediction. Like I said earlier, a lot has to go wrong for this all to happen, including injuries, weird chemistry issues, and egos running wild all over the locker room. Let’s be honest, Mike Zimmer has a habit of not letting his players get egos and not letting drama develop, and the team seems to be a cohesive unit from what we’ve seen so far in OTAs and Mini Camp. The only thing that could completely derail this season is a bad case of the injury bug. So, let’s all hope and pray this team stays healthy. Once again this has been Opinion Monday, and SKOL!

 

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