Another Voice Calls Vikings a Top-Tier Offense

The Draft Solved 3
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports.

The opinion of the 2022 Minnesota Vikings from a birdseye view is changing around the nation, at least on offense.

Last week, Jason La Canfora picked Minnesota to win the NFC North in 2022, a bold prediction as the Green Bay Packers have constricted a stranglehold on the division for five years. While more prognostications will funnel in this summer, La Canfora was the first notable personality to prophesize a division crown for the Vikings.

Also last week, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert declared the Vikings would make the playoffs. The choice wasn’t as bold as La Canfora’s but, you know, baby steps. Then, ESPN released its annual Football Power Index rankings where the Vikings were suddenly the 13th-best team in football — with the 9th-best offense. Most power rankings not involving numbers, to that point, classified Minnesota as the 21st or 22nd-best team in the NFL.

Then, analyst Dan Orlovsky did his thing, pounding the table for a Vikings playoff berth like Seifert.

And on Wednesday, Cynthia Frelund from NFL.com, a noted Green Bay Packers enthusiast, called the Vikings offense the 10th-best in all of the land. Frelund mentioned the Vikings new head coach, “The fit of Kevin O’Connell’s style with Minnesota’s personnel will help mask an offensive line that allowed the second-highest pressure rate last season.”

The Almighty Litmus Test for 2022 Vikings
Kevin O’Connell

Why is all of this significant? Well, the way the masses perceive the Vikings is changing.

It wasn’t long ago — like three weeks — that folks were berating the new general manager for trading with Lions and Packers. When the dust settled on that in-the-moment wackiness, cooler heads decided, “Well, maybe this team isn’t half-bad after all.”

One by one, the pundits, from all walks of media, are surmising the 2022 Vikings will be a formidable ballclub. Such was not the case one month ago. Frelund is merely the latest to join the party.

Interestingly, she also considers the New Orleans Saints a Top 10 offense, even placing Dennis Allen’s offense one spot ahead of Minnesota.

Per Frelund, the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles are the creams of the crop offensively.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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