The Minnesota Vikings were one game away from the Super Bowl last season and in the offseason, they decided to trade for Kirk Cousins to make him their starting quarterback with the expectation that he can lead them to this year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta.
Although the Vikings allowed all three of their quarterbacks from last season to walk away they are optimistic as they were able to trade for former Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Cousins’ passing numbers from the last three years are outstanding (over 4,000 yards passing in each of his last three seasons and a passer rating over 93.5) as he’s averaged a completion percentage of over 65 percent while passing for 81 touchdowns and completing 1132 passes.
Despite those spectacular numbers with the Redskins, Cousins did struggle in Washington as he only led them to the postseason once. During his time there he had problems with situational plays such as third-down offense, no-huddle offense to close out games and leading his team inside the red zone.
The Vikings excelled last year with both Sam Bradford and Case Keenum and that’s where they will need Cousins to excel this year if they are going to reach Super Bowl LIII this year, especially after awarding him a fully-guaranteed $84-million contract.
Last year the Viking had the number one defense overall in the NFL and were also ranked number in points allowed, and this year they are looking to improve their numbers with the signing of Sheldon Richardson.
Richardson, who spent last year with the Seattle Seahawks, is a versatile defensive tackle that’s capable of playing anywhere along the defensive front.
He joins an elite defense that has immensely talented players at each and every level of their defense, and are arguably the very best at their position in the NFL.
With what could border on essentially a Pro-Bowl defense the Vikings are a team that must be considered as one of the favorites to at least make the NFC title game once again.
On offense, the play of wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen provides Cousins with a deep-threat option, unlike anything he had in Washington. This tandem made things a lot easier for Keenum last year as they combined for over 2,000 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, so you can expect them to help Cousins, in the same way, this season.
Veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph is another player that can make key contributions inside the red zone and inside the tackles to help keep pressure off Cousins.
On the ground, running back Dalvin Cook will lead the attack and the Vikings hope that he can perform at the level he showed before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in his fourth game of the season. If he does that the Vikings rushing attack should be fine and will play a big role in the Cousins-led offense.
Expect the Vikings to make the playoffs as a wildcard as they will end the season with nine to 10 wins and finish second behind the Green Bay Packers.
Although they will not win the division there’s always a chance that they could have another deep playoff run as is not rare to see NFL teams getting hot to reach and even win the Super Bowl.
