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One of the weirdest and funniest teams of all time is heading to the playoffs.
The Vikings went 13-4 this year under new head coach Kevin O’Connell, who has changed the team’s culture for the better. They won the NFC North. They are the No. 3 seed in the conference, and on Sunday he will start the postseason by hosting the 9-7-1 Giants. Usually, it’s the resumes of teams that aren’t Super Bowl favorites, but there’s a fair chance they’ll do a deep run.
To complicate matters, the Vikings are no ordinary 13-4 team. They had an unprecedented 11-0 record in one-score games, trailed by 33 or more points (one of which they won) on three separate occasions, and finished the year with a minus-three points margin. They were 27th in the DVOA and allowed more yards on defense than any team except the Lions.
Naturally, that means not many people take Vikings seriously as a threat to reach the NFC Championship Game. They were just 2.5-point home favorites against the Giants this weekend, winning them all at odds of 33-1, making him ninth-best out of a 14-team field.
Still, who knows what will happen? I’ve never seen a team like this before. The Vikings have an offensive arsenal that includes the best wide in football with his receiver, a tough, clutch-holding quarterback all season, a good head coach, and an elite left-handed tackle. On defense, they have star talent at all three levels and have produced big plays all year, from takeaways to his 3rd downs and Reds important stops in his zone.
If the Vikings finally manage to put it all together a few times, who can say what the ceiling is for this team? But if they can hang out with those teams, they’ll feel calm and confident in a late-game one-score situation because they’ve been there…all year.
We don’t know how this Vikings season will end, but we do know that it’s probably going to be chaotic.
Check out the pre-playoff power rankings to see what various analysts think of the Vikings’ chances.
MMQB Staff, SI.com: No. 8
The Vikings were tied with the Giants for the widest range of any playoff team, with 6th to 15th votes from SI’s eight-man panel.
The Vikings are one of the most polarized teams in the league, with a 13–4 record and a negative points margin. Our panelists agreed that this was a pretty good team, a tier below the true competition, but more comfortable than one hovering around .500.
Bo Wolf, Athletic: No. 8
Get ready for the inevitability of the Vikings playoff run. They intend to beat the Giants by one point at home on Sunday, when Greg Joseph will nail a 62-yarder as time expires. fumble the ball from behind the end zone when attempting the winning touchdown to win by four points. They then beat the Cowboys in his NFC Championship Game. Duck He found Prescott five yards He kneeled at the line and fielded the win He set up a goal, but Mike He realized McCarthy had forgotten that the team had run out of timeouts. Then they lose him in the Super Bowl by 45 points.
Dan Hands, NFL.com: No. 10
All Viking troubles can officially end. You can take them as seriously as most of his 13-4 division winners, or you can dismiss their success as the result of a fluke regular season. The truth is that it no longer matters. The postseason has a way to shake off the imposters from the contenders, and it all kicks off in Minnesota vs. the Giants on Sunday.The Vikings could be a one-off disappointment, or they could deliver elite playoff drama over multiple rounds. We are a great team. Our own version of Knives Out Mystery.
Austin Gale, The Ringer: No. 9
The Vikings defense could give the team a playoff chance. Since beating the Packers in Week 1, the Vikings have allowed only three teams—Miami, Washington and Chicago—to score less than 22 points. Opposing quarterbacks in those three games were Miami’s Skyler Thompson and Teddy Bridgewater, Washington’s Taylor Heinicke, and the Bears’ Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle. (They gave up 24 points to the Daniel Jones-led Giants when they played their final wild card opponent in Week 16.) Minnesota finished 29th in points allowed and yards allowed. finished the season in 31st place. Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson have done incredibly well in the closing stages of so many one-possession games this season, but the state of their defense just isn’t keeping up with the best of the conference.
Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: No.7
The Vikings should be happy to take the Giants in the wild card round.
Bleacher Report Staff: No. 7
No team is as tough as the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs this year. On the one hand, the Vikings are his 13-win division champions. Those 13 wins tied for the franchise’s most since his magical 15-1 campaign in 1998. Minnesota has set an NFL record with 11 wins per score this year, the seventh-best offense in the league in yards and the eighth-best offense in points. Meanwhile, the Vikings suffered heavy losses to the Packers, Cowboys and Eagles. Only the Detroit Lions were defensively worse in terms of yardage allowed going into Week 18, and only three teams allowed more points.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: No. 7
They bounced back from last week’s terrible show at Rambo and beat the Bears. Defense will be what determines whether they make it to the playoffs.
Vinnie Ayer, Sporting News: 6th place (2 ranks up)
The Vikings needed until Week 18 against the Bears team Shell to get their first explosive win since Week 1. They were battle-tested in their first season under offensive-minded Kevin O’Connell, but it doesn’t bode well that the Eagles and Cowboys were among the teams that routed them. Unstable from the card round.
Mike Florio, PFT: No. 6
Beat the Giants by 2-4 or lose by 20-40.
Nate Davis, USA Today: No. 9
Has a 13-win team ever been downplayed heading into the postseason? Probably not… although no 13-win team has ever won during a season.
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