Within the NFC North: 2022 Minnesota Vikings Preview

We preview the 2022 Minnesota Vikings season as our NFC North preview continiues

Team two of three! I thought it would be fun to take a look at the other teams in the NFC North, and what we can expect from them this coming NFL season. You can read my preview on the Detroit Lions here.

Today, we do a deep dive on the Minnesota Vikings.

2021 Recap

Record: 8-9

vs Bears: 2-0

Memorable moments: well.

2022 Off-Season

Notable additions:

Head Coach Kevin O’Connell (Former Los Angeles Rams Offensive Coordinator)

Linebacker Za’Darius Smith (3 years, 42 million)

Linebacker Jordan Hicks (2 years, 12 million)

Major Losses:

Head Coach Mike Zimmer (74-59-1 in 8 seasons)

2022 Preview

vs Bears – Week 5 @ Minnesota, Week 18 @ Chicago

Since Minnesota lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2018 NFC Championship, they have been stuck in the mud as a middle-of-the-pack team. The Vikings are a combined 33-31-1 in their last four seasons, none culminating in a conference championship appearance.

Former head coach Mike Zimmer is out after eight seasons. Let’s just say, it was a mutual decision for both parties to leave. In comes Kevin O’Connell, the offensive coordinator for the last two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams, who won the Super Bowl in February.

Minnesota Vikings Offense

Their offense for the most part has been underwhelming, even with the amount of talent they have on that side of the ball. With O’Connell now in the picture, there is no excuse for them not to excel. Justin Jefferson put on a show last season, amassing 108 catches, 1,616 yards, and 10 touchdowns, and I only expect those numbers to be matched or increase.

Running Back Dalvin Cook, who rushed for 1,159 yards, should be expecting a bump in production. They still have Wide Receiver Adam Thielen, who is as dependable as anyone in the league when the ball goes his way, and Irv Smith Jr, a dependable pass-catching Tight End.

It’s all on the shoulders of Quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins, who recently signed a one-year contract extension worth 35 million dollars, still clearly has the trust of the new front office led by first-year General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensa to lead this team to a Super Bowl.

His numbers always remain very good (33 TDs, 7 INTs last season), yet you’d be hard pressed to find many people putting him in that category of elite quarterbacks.  It’s time for Cousins to finally take that next step and jump into that category if the Vikings have any shot at being legit contenders this season.

Minnesota Vikings Defense

Their secondary was torched consistently last season (4,300 passing yards given up last year to be exact), and whether they can stop teams in the air on third downs will determine how effective this unit can be. They drafted Safety Lewis Cine in the first round and used their second-round pick on Andrew Booth Jr. to address those issues while adding Za’Darius Smith and Jordan Hicks to their linebacking core and strengthening that front seven. Defensive end Danielle Hunter and Safety Harrison Smith are still there and their veteran presences should be a boost for both the young guys and their new free-agent signings.

Outlook

It feels like now or never with this particular core of Vikings players. While O’Connell will be here after this season, there’s no guarantee that all of their core players on both sides of the ball will be here this time next year. It’s put up or shut up time in Minnesota.

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