Opinion Monday: The Vikings End the Season with the Best Record in the NFL
Jhawthorn16
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The 2018-2019 Minnesota Vikings have a tougher road to the post-season this year than they did last. Not only will the Vikings have to play a 1st place schedule this year, but Aaron Rodgers is coming back for a vengeance, and the “sub-par” teams we play have done work in the offseason to climb to the top of the NFL. In this article I will break down why the Vikings will crush the competition this year and rise to the top of the NFL with a 14-2 record.
Week 1 (0-0): This year the season kicks off with the 49ers coming to town. The 49ers haven’t lost a game since they put Jimmy Garappolo in at starting QB. That happened last November, so they had quite an impressive streak of wins. This team has been drafting defensively for 2 seasons and have added sneakily good wide receivers and a solid tight end as well. This team could be poised to break out this year, but I expect the Vikings defense to shut down Jimmy G and the offense, and Kirk Cousins to show the young 49ers defense, as well as the world, that this team is legit and expect Cook to have his second “coming out” party in this season debut.
Week 2 (1-0): This is the game that shows how this season goes. The Vikings with their shiny new quarterback, ride into Lambo Field to take on Aaron Rodgers and his shiny new collarbone. This is going to be an intense game. The Packers finally heard that old saying “defense wins championships” so they selected 3 defensive players in the first 3 rounds. Their first 2 picks were corners, and very, VERY good corners. They also added some new wide receivers for Rodgers to throw to. This team is going to be good, but if that defense lives up to the hype, they could win the big one. In this game I think we steal it from the Pack though. Their defense will be very young, and they will be taking on a good Vikings offense with threats at every position. The defense should be able to hold Rodgers and his young wide receivers in check, giving us this win.
Week 3 (2-0): This game should be a win. Buffalo will be coming in with a 30-year-old LeSean McCoy, questions at offensive line, and two quarterbacks who haven’t had much time to start in the NFL. They have a solid defense, but the Vikings have a solid offense and a better defense. This shouldn’t be flashy, but it should definitely be win.
Week 4 (3-0): This game should be the game of the year. The Vikings embarrassed the Rams last year, holding the league’s top offense to just 7 points. The Vikings put up 24 on the rams defense, and I really don’t know if they can do that again this season. The Rams should be the favorite to win it all this season. On paper, this team can’t lose. They were a playoff team last year, Jared Goff looked very good and should get better, they have the defending “Coach of the Year” award winner, and they just had themselves a shopping spree in free agency. Ndomakon Suh, Marcus Peters, Aquib Talib, Sam Shields, and Brandon Cooks are just the big-name signings. This team got stacked on both sides of the ball, and should be a serious contender this season, barring injury or ego getting in the way. These Rams are tough, and they will hand the Vikings the first loss on the year.
Week 5 (3-1): This is the week everyone is really waiting for. Let’s all be honest. The Vikings got embarrassed in the NFC Championship game. 38-7 is not something we will soon forget, and this is the big chance to get revenge. The Vikings are coming back to Philadelphia with Kirk Cousins, who is used to playing the Eagles, Dalvin Cook who was injured last time we met, Sheldon Richardson, Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, and most importantly, a chip on their shoulder. Philly got better, but they are not the team that embarrassed the Vikings. They will have a great team, but Wentz will start this game, Haloti Ngata will start, Michael Bennet will start, and some pieces from last year’s team won’t be there. Mychal Kendricks is a big loss, they lost 2 tight ends, and some depth players as well. I see this game as a statement win for the Vikings, who get the monkey off their back and move on from that horrible loss last season.
Week 6 (4-1): After playing against elite level teams in back-to-back weeks, the Vikings will get to play against the Cardinals. I think Josh Rosen will play in this game, and it could be his first start of his career if Bradford either plays poorly to start the year or gets injured as he has been known to do. The Cardinals managed to get 8 wins last season, and that was with a backup quarterback and without their best player, David Johnson. This game will see Xavier Rhodes matched up with Larry Fitzgerald, which I am very excited to see. I think the Vikings will take this team serious and hand Arizona a loss.
Week 7 (5-1): After playing the team that picked up one of our old quarterbacks in Sam Bradford, we will face a team that picked up one of our old quarterbacks in Teddy Bridgewater. Teddy probably won’t make the team, but he was still a Jet at one point. I think Sam Darnold will start this game, and that is a plus because the Vikings know bad things can happen when we play Josh McCown. This game is cut and dry, the Vikings win. The Jets may be on the rise, but the Vikings are on top.
Week 8 (6-1): This will be the third time the Vikings and Saints play each other on National TV, in only 2 years. The Saints will come back to U.S. Bank Stadium and look to get revenge for THAT play. The Saints look very similar to the team we beat twice last year, but they did add players in their secondary, acquiring a safety in Kurt Coleman and a corner in Patrick Robinson. This team kept Drew Brees and that is the biggest signing they made. Brees could lose some arm strength this year, but I think he will be able to do enough to compliment his 2 dynamic running backs and good defense to have a solid year. In this game however, I think we stuff the run, and jump out to an early lead, forcing the Saints to become one dimensional. The Vikings Beat the Saints, AGAIN, and move on to week 9.
Week 9 (7-1): It’s about time we get to play the Lions! The Viking are halfway through the year and are just now meeting up with Matt Stafford and company. These two teams have battled it out with one another these past few years, and the Lions have made this an exciting rivalry to watch. This year the Lions come into Minnesota first, and Matt Patricia will try and get his first win in this rivalry. This team is coming in with LeGarrette Blount, DeShawn Shead, and Christian Jones as new arrivals, and then a similar team as what we’ve seen in the past couple of years. The Vikings win a close one against the Lions and move onto a week 10 bye to rest up and get ready for the postseason.
Week 11 (8-1): The Bears got better this offseason. They added weapons for Mitchell Trubisky and added some to their defense. The biggest signing was Allen Robinson, but they also nabbed Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton. On defense they added Aaron Lynch ad drafted a linebacker. The defense will be a weak spot, but the offense could be trouble. The Vikings match up well, with a high-powered offense to attack the weak defense, and our defense has seen better and beaten better. So this should be a win in Chicago, a feat that isn’t easily achieved for the Vikings.
Week 12 (9-1): This is our next loss everyone. The Packers are still going to be angry and will probably be in the division/playoff hunt. Look for this team to pull some trick plays out and steal a win from us in Minnesota.
Week 13 (9-2): Well we have reached my predicted loss total already, so you know how the rest of this season goes, but let’s go into the rest of the year. This week the Vikings go up against the Patriots. The Pats will probably be 9-1 or 9-2 at this point, and this may be a Super Bowl preview. The Pats have Brady and Bellicheck, a combination that will always strike fear into opponents. The Pats had a very bad defense last season, and on offense they have a 41-year-old quarterback and their next best player is as bad as Sam Bradford in terms of injuries. So, this team can be beaten, and expect the Vikings to bombard this Patriot defense with points and the Vikings defense to hold firm in a sort of lopsided Vikings win.
Week 14 (10-2): The Vikings play the Seahawks who, while are dangerous because of Russel Wilson, lost quite a bit of their defense. Richard Sherman will be in San Francisco, Sheldon Richardson is with the Vikings, they released Cliff Avril, and Michael Bennet has found a home in Philly. So, I think Seattle is poised for a down year, and the Vikings will add to their downs. The Vikings roll over the Seahawks and put the NFL on notice that this team isn’t just a good defense, but an elite group all around.
Week 15 (11-2): The Dolphins are an interesting team. They have good players like Kiko Alonzo and Ryan Tannehill, but they haven’t been good for a while. They lost more than they gained, and I don’t see them having a good season. They lost Landry, Suh, and their center Mike Pouncey. They added Danny Amendola, Josh Sitton, and Frank Gore just to name some. This team put a band-aid on an amputation and they will also get trampled by these Vikings. The Vikings go on a 3-week rampage and heat up as the postseason approaches.
Week 16 (12-2): We play the Lions again this week, and I can’s say anymore than what I have. We sweep Detroit this year and stay hot for the playoffs and look onwards to clench the 1 seed.
Week 17 (13-2): Another year another season ending game against Chicago. Again, I don’t have much to say about the Bears that I didn’t already say. We win this game and sweep the Bears again and secure the number 1 seed and the best record in the NFL.
Well there’s my bold prediction for this Monday. These first two have been positive because I’m a glass half full kind of guy, but next week I think I’ll post a negatively bold prediction. The offseason is full of speculation and a lot of guessing about how teams will look. A lot of the teams I have said aren’t great or will be easy wins, could end up going deeper in the playoffs than we do! So take everything with a grain of salt and lastly, SKOL.