With the balance of power now leaning hard to the AFC’s side, the 2022 season is as good of a time as any for the Minnesota Vikings to stake their claim as a legitimate contender. Circumstance and opportunity compelled general manger Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to keep the band together for at least one final show.
Whether it’s a swan song or a reunion tour depends greatly on how things unfold this season.
One thing is certain: There has never been a better time to be an underachieving NFC team looking to hit their stride and finally break through as a contender.
The Super Bowl-winning Los Angeles Rams have had major turnover with the coaching staff—most notably with offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell leaving and joining the Vikings for a head coaching job. Standouts Von Miller and Darious Williams exiting has taken some steam out of the team’s vaunted defense, while the loss of Andrew Whitworth and Austin Corbett will cause some major reshuffling along the team’s offensive front.
That isn’t to suggest the Rams aren’t still a great football team, but the days of the seemingly unstoppable bully handing out wedgies on the playground are over. Rejoice, NFC quarterbacks, you no longer have to worry about one of the greatest defensive front tandems ever created, Miller and Aaron Donald, blowing up the offensive backfield.
Oh, and that “baaaad man” Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, will be without his best offensive weapon for the first time in nine seasons. As for a returning Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you can never count out the greatest quarterback that ever lived, but retirement is clearly on his mind, the Bucs defense can’t be trusted and Chris Godwin is coming off of a devastating knee injury.
Things are far from hunky-dory in Los Angeles, Green Bay and Tampa Bay.
Adofo-Mensah is striking while the iron is hot with the one-year extension to keep quarterback Kirk Cousins under center, along with the contract restructures of key leaders on the team like receiver Adam Thielen and safety Harrison Smith. They even paid the $18 million roster bonus of star pass rusher Danielle Hunter.
Granted, the option is still there to swing a trade, but at the very least, the Vikings have a premier pass rusher tied up for 2022.
Things are slowly but surely beginning to fall into place.
The offense remains one of the most explosive units on paper, and this time, they’ll be under the guidance of the same coach that had Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense humming like the late, great Whitney Houston.
There’s hope Cousins and company can make the same music with the same conductor. And the defense is getting a massive overhaul in philosophy with coordinator Ed Donatell overseeing things. Free agency isn’t over, and the upcoming NFL Draft is still on the itinerary for a Vikings team looking to add talent to the struggling unit.
This is as good of a time as any for the team to make a move in a conference with potential problems at every turn.
The Dallas Cowboys have been an accident waiting to happen, and the Arizona Cardinals are seemingly at odds with quarterback Kyler Murray. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers could be trading Jimmy Garoppolo and handing the reins over to Trey Lance for the first time of his career.
Is it really unreasonable to think the Vikings couldn’t find a way to slip through the cracks in the NFC playoff picture? For a guy that comes from an analytics background, Adofo-Mensah’s recent moves prove he likes their chances.
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