2013 Minnesota Vikings
The story of 2012 was, of course, the amazing season of Adrian Peterson, who, coming off a torn ACL, came about four steps away from setting the single season record for rushing yards. He was named MVP of the league, deservedly so, and was able to break 2,000 yards against a lot of eight-man boxes. The Vikings had a mediocre quarterback, nonexistent receivers, a decent defense, and SOMEHOW managed to win ten games and earn a playoff berth. Many people doubt whether they can come close to matching last year’s performance, and I agree with the skepticism. Even though they added a few pieces on both sides of the ball, there are numerous things not pointing in their favor. For one, they still have Christian Ponder. Adrian Peterson, as good as he is, has almost no chance of repeating his dream season last year, and will come back to earth a little bit. They had to win their final four games just to get in the postseason chase. They still have Christian Ponder. And their division (and conference) is much more competitive. Cordarrelle Patterson should be good in the future, but I don’t know if he’ll have an impact this year. The Vikes do have studs at every level on their defense (Jared Allen, Chad Greenway, Harrison Smith), but they are not deep. So, in closing, in case you haven’t realized, I’m a little down on Minnesota this year.
Schedule
Week 1: L at DET
Week 2: W at CHI
Week 3: W vs CLE
Week 4: W vs PIT (Another stupid London game which is, like I said, stupid)
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: L vs CAR
Week 7: L at NYG
Week 8: L vs GB
Week 9: L at DAL
Week 10: W vs WAS
Week 11: L at SEA
Week 11: L at SEA
Week 12: L at GB
Week 13: L vs CHI
Week 14: W at BAL
Week 15: W vs PHI
Week 16: L at CIN
Week 17: W vs DET
The 2013 Minnesota Vikings will finish 7-9 this year, which isn’t terrible, but a bit of a dropoff from 10-6. Could they win ten games again? Of course. But I’ll believe it when I see it from Christian Ponder in a season when Adrian Peterson isn’t a robot.
Bold Prediction: Adrian Peterson will not have more than 1,600 yards rushing, but will break 200 yards in a game twice.
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