By: Grant Schwieger

Mike Zimmer has alternated playoffs and non-playoffs seasons ever since becoming the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014. He has led his team to the playoffs in every odd-numbered year in 2015, 2017, and 2019 with each team having a different starting QB.

If that trend is to continue, that means the Vikings will find themselves in the playoffs come this January, though likely again with Kirk Cousins. The team surely has expectations for that to be the case, and with there being an extra playoff team in each conference similar to last year, they have a higher chance of reaching that goal. 2021 is the first NFL season with 17 regular-season games. One would think a record of 10-7, or better, would be enough to secure a spot in the postseason. Will Minnesota reach that benchmark? The start of their schedule looks to be much more favorable than the middle/end, so they will need to get off to a hot start. Let’s take a look at predictions for each game until the bye week in Week 7.

Week 1: @ Cincinnati Bengals. Prediction: W

There will be plenty of storylines heading into the Week 1 Vikings-Bengals matchup. Justin Jefferson against his college QB Joe Burrow, Burrow’s first game back from a knee injury that ended his rookie season, and Mike Zimmer coaching in Cincinnati for the first time since leaving the Bengals to become Minnesota’s head coach. The Vikings should have the advantage even on the road, and they enter as 3-point favorites. As woeful as the Vikings offensive line has been in years past, the Bengals may have had it even worse. Expect the Minnesota defensive line to feast, and the Bengals defense to be unable to get enough stops to give them a chance to win. The Vikings start the year off with a road W.

Week 2: @ Arizona Cardinals. Prediction: W

Minnesota starts its season off with back-to-back road games, with the second of the two being a tougher test. Arizona has good weapons on offense and a defense that should be improved from last year after the addition of JJ Watt. This will also be a revenge game of sorts for Patrick Peterson after he spent 2011-2020 in Arizona. Zimmer’s revamped defense will not be able to completely slow down Kyler Murray and company, but they should be able to do enough to give Minnesota’s offense a chance to pull it out. The Vikings’ schedule starts with some very vulnerable defenses, so look for Minnesota’s offensive weapons to start the year on a high note.

Week 3: Seattle Seahawks. Prediction: L

Russell Wilson has never lost to the Minnesota Vikings. He has often had the benefit of playing at home, though, and the Seahawks finally visit Minnesota for the first time since Blair Walsh went wide-left in the 2015 NFC playoffs. Will the Vikings finally playing Wilson at home give them the advantage they need to overtake him? Probably not. He has some elite weapons, and the Vikings can never seem to quite bottle him up. It might come down to how much Minnesota’s offense can keep up. A win against Seattle would be huge, but do not count on it. Minnesota should be happy to be 2-1 through 3 weeks, though.

Week 4: Cleveland Browns. Prediction: L

Week 4 brings another week full of storylines. The main one being former Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski returning to coach against Minnesota, fresh off the AP NFL Coach of the Year award in his first season as a head coach. Many people in Minnesota wish the Vikings had moved forward with Stefanski as their head coach after 2019. There are also debates over whether Baker Mayfield or Kirk Cousins is the better QB, and this game might give us a look into the answer to that question. While the QBs may be similar, the Browns boast a substantially better offensive line and a stronger secondary as well. These differences will prove to be the deciding factor as the Vikings fall to 2-2.

Week 5: Detroit Lions. Prediction: W

When the Minnesota Vikings need a bounce-back game, there is nothing better than a home game against the Lions. Kirk Cousins has yet to lose a game against Detroit while with Minnesota, and the last time we saw these teams square off we saw Cousins hitting the griddy in the endzone. The Lions do have a new head coach in Dan Campbell, so they could be much improved over their previous teams. Their roster does look like they are in for a long rebuild, however. Anyone reading this could likely start at receiver for the Lions this year. Detroit just has too many weaknesses to be able to beat Minnesota on the road. The Vikings get back on track with their first home win of the season.

Week 6: @ Carolina Panthers. Prediction: W

Minnesota goes back on the road in Week 6 to take on Sam Darnold and the Panthers. The Jets somehow managed to trick Carolina into trading second, fourth, and sixth-round picks for Darnold this offseason after he struggled mightily for three seasons in New York. Not only did Carolina make that trade, but it also made them pass on Justin Fields and Mac Jones in the draft. The Panthers have impressive skill players on offense in DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr, and Christian McCaffrey, but not much else to scare Minnesota. They paid former Viking Pat Elflein a good chunk of money immediately in free agency this offseason. Minnesota should put up a lot of points on a young Panthers team and head into their bye week at 4-2.

The post Predicting the Vikings record Weeks 1-6 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Grant Schwieger

Unlike in years past, the 2021 NFL preseason only has three weeks as opposed to four. This means that the Minnesota Vikings have just one last game to sharpen things up before the games start to count. Through two games, the Vikings have a plethora of things that they need to improve on in each facet of the game. While the defense performed much better against the Colts than they did against the Broncos, the offense has yet to score a touchdown through eight quarters.

The special teams performed much better in week 2 than in week 1 but have yet to perform perfectly. Is preseason performance a guaranteed indication of how the team will perform in the regular season? Absolutely not, but Mike Zimmer and his staff surely want to see their team execute at a much higher level against Kansas City this week. Here are 5 things that the team and fans should hope to see this Friday.

5. Solid LB play from those not named Eric Kendricks

Eric Kendricks is one of the best linebackers in football, hands down. He played 11 snaps this past week but should not need to play any additional snaps until the regular season. Minnesota knows what they have in him. The same cannot be said for the LBs behind him on the depth chart. Anthony Barr appears to be this year’s version of Danielle Hunter last year, where he is missing from practice, the coaching staff downplays his absence, and then his status for the start of the regular season is up in the air.

Whether Barr is ready for Week 1 or not, he will not be playing this Friday. That means the rest of the LBs on the roster need to step up, whether that be for depth positions on the final roster or potentially taking Barr’s spot on the defense should he miss time. Nick Vigil is the most experienced LB of those remaining on the roster and would replace Barr according to Adam Zimmer.

Cameron Smith was in line to potentially get some playing time after missing last season after having open-heart surgery. He sustained a concussion in the first preseason game and decided to retire in a move prioritizing his long-term health. That leaves Troy Dye, Chazz Surratt, Blake Lynch, Ryan Connelly, and Tuf Borland to fight it out for the third LB spot and backup positions. Getting positive play from any of those players would be an encouraging development for a team that was very weak at LB by the end of 2020.

Troy Dye has the only TD for the Vikings so far this preseason, albeit on a pass that was tipped up in the air right to him. He still made the play and owns the biggest highlight for the team thus far. Lynch, Surratt, and Connelly all made good plays last week as well. If the position group can continue on an upward projection that will be good news for the team in 2021.

4. Backup QBs showing something (anything?) positive

Through two preseason games, Jake Browning and Kellen Mond are a combined 23 of 53 (43.4%) for 227 yards. They both have one “Turnover Worthy Play” each per PFF with Browning’s resulting in an ugly pick-six.

During the first week of training camp, Browning found himself as the only QB available to practice and made the most of it. Coaches, players, and fans were all singing his praise after how he kept things afloat. Since he has had to face live competition, however, he has not been as successful.

Browning currently owns the 17^th lowest PFF passing grade among preseason QBs with 20% of dropbacks. Kellen Mond has the 11^th lowest. With the starting QB Kirk Cousins being unvaccinated, there is a chance that the Vikings’ backup QB position might be more important than it has before. In the third and final preseason game against the Chiefs, the Vikings need to see some positive play from Browning, Mond, or both to get a sense of who is capable of filling in if need be. Leading a touchdown drive would be a good place to start.

3. The Cameron Dantzler we saw to end the 2020 season

Justin Jefferson was easily the crown jewel of the Vikings’ 2020 draft class, but Cameron Dantzler’s performance in his rookie season gave Minnesota reason for optimism as well. Once he came back from a concussion, he was easily the team’s best cornerback and played well enough to rank among the best CBs in the NFL over that time.

What we have seen from him so far in the 2021 preseason, though, has not mirrored his performance down the stretch last year. At times he was splitting reps with Bashaud Breeland as the second outside CB opposite Patrick Peterson in training camp, but just last week saw Kris Boyd start the game against the Colts over Dantzler.

In the opening preseason game against Denver, Dantzler gave up an 80-yard TD to KJ Hamler where Dantzler looked like he did not even stand a chance. His athletic profile is the reason he slipped to the third round in 2020, so it was not pretty to see him get blown by so easily. He has shown he has what it takes to stick with NFL WRs, and the team needs to see more consistency out of him. Peak-performance Dantzler is a huge boost to this Vikings secondary. A good showing from him this week can help him secure the CB4 position, otherwise, he might be seeing most of his snaps on special teams this season.

2. Continuous OL improvement

The Minnesota Vikings offensive line will always be a hot topic for fans, and this year will be no different. So far this preseason, there have been some encouraging signs out of the OL play. The entire offensive line has only allowed 12 QB pressures through two games, with 5 of those coming from Blake Brandel against Indianapolis. Wyatt Davis has been facing mostly third-stringers, but he is PFF’s 6^th highest ranked guard so far this preseason. Backup center Mason Cole has been a top-five ranked center in overall grade, pass-blocking, and run-blocking so far.

Last week I outlined how the right guard would be Minnesota’s biggest wildcard on the OL, and on Saturday’s game against the Colts, all three RGs played well. This does not necessarily mean we should expect that to continue, but it is uplifting for fans and coaches alike to see the quality play come from the RG spot.

Garrett Bradbury and Dru Samia, two Vikings offensive linemen who have struggled in pass protection in the past, have yet to allow any QB pressures as well. Their competition might not resemble who they would face in the regular season, but you would much rather see them perform well against backups than poorly. There may not be high expectations for the Minnesota OL group, so any positive signs will be welcomed with open arms. Another quality performance from the Minnesota Moving Company this Friday will give them solid momentum heading into real games. Look specifically to see how they perform against Chiefs DT Chris Jones should he play at all.

1. First-team offense getting some rhythm

The Vikings’ first-team offense (or defense for that matter) did not play at all in their first preseason game. They then played for 15 snaps over 3 drives against the Colts. Those drives resulted in 3 total first downs, 2 punts, and a missed field goal.

The entire starting OL played, as did Irv Smith Jr, but Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson did not play, and Adam Thielen only played four snaps. Judging Kirk Cousins without his top-three weapons would be unfair, but it would be nice to see some more cohesiveness out of the top offensive unit on Friday should they get some run against Kansas City. The absolute number one priority for this team on all sides of the ball should be health, so if the first team ends up staying on the sideline, that would be a smart idea.

It is becoming more and more common across the league for teams to rest their starters throughout the preseason. The Vikings have not fully jumped on that train yet, however. The performance of Minnesota’s first-team offense in the preseason is not an indication of how they will play week one against the Bengals, but as is always the case, you would rather see successful play and execution over the opposite. The word out of training camp has been the starters on offense have not looked exactly sharp there, either. So, Minnesota collectively will let out a sigh of relief should the Vikings trot out Kirk Cousins and company on Friday and execute well, and maybe even lead the offense on a TD drive if we are lucky.

The post 5 things the Vikings need to see against Kansas City appeared first on Pro Football Mania.