Back in April, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky named the Minnesota Vikings as his sleeper NFC team in 2022. Now, he’s taking things a step further and predicting for them to make the playoffs.
“The Vikings will be a playoff team this season,” Orlovsky posted on social media.
The season would be seen as a total failure if the Vikings failed to make it back to the playoffs for the first time in over three years. Many of the moves made by the team in free agency and the draft were aimed at giving them an opportunity to compete right away.
The Vikings are in win-now mode, not win-later mode.
The @Vikings will be a playoff team this season
-they were 8-9 last season
-had 1 loss by double digits
-5 of those 9 losses were by a total of 13 points.
-new HC, much improved OL—if young secondary plays improved ball-very good football team.— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) May 18, 2022
Orlovsky makes a lot of solid points, including the fact that the team was always knocking on the door to win games last season, despite dealing with a dysfunctional situation between coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
Kevin O’Connell has yet to coach a game, but he already feels like a better fit for what the Vikings are looking to become in 2022 and beyond. It doesn’t hurt that he also has an offensive super brain to pair with the likes of quarterback Kirk Cousins and an embarrassment of riches at the receiver position.
Meanwhile, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah rolled up his sleeves and went to work in addressing many of the defensive and offensive concerns through free agency and the draft.
One thing is certain: The Vikings didn’t give Cousins a one-year, fully guaranteed $35 million extension—topped with a no-trade clause sweetener—just so the team could fall flat on their faces for a third straight season.
It’s win-or-bust for this Vikings team.
