How Many Wins Are Possible for the Vikings?

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Minnesota Vikings linebacker Za'Darius Smith (55) celebrates sacking Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers with teammate linebacker D.J. Wonnum during their football game Sunday, September 11, 2022, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Min. Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK.

So far, Year One under a new regime has gone pretty well for the Minnesota Vikings.

After finishing 8-9 last year, the Vikings moved on from head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.

They also brought in some new faces for the roster and are currently 6-1. Sure, the wins have not been very pretty, but they’re still wins. Last season, they were losing games they could have easily won.

Usually, it is best to just take things one game at a time, but it is sometimes hard to ignore what is ahead and what could potentially happen.

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Here is a look at the rest of Minnesota’s schedule:

– @ Washington
– @ Buffalo
– Dallas
– New England
– New York Jets
– @ Detroit
– Indianapolis
– New York Giants
– @ Green Bay
– @ Chicago

Next week at Buffalo will undoubtedly be the toughest game remaining on the schedule. Buffalo could very well win the Super Bowl this year. They look great.

While the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will be at U.S. Bank Stadium, they will not be easy games. Both teams are currently 6-2.

The rival Green Bay Packers are surprisingly 3-5, but winning at Lambeau Field, especially in the cold, is never easy. The Vikings have won the past two years at Soldier Field, but that has never been an easy place to win either, no matter what kind of a team the Vikings or the Bears have. Division games, in general, are slugfests.

So, how many wins are possible for Kevin O’Connell’s squad? If they can stay healthy for the most part (especially Kirk Cousins), they can win 12 or 13 games. They will lose at Buffalo. Write that down. Between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, one of them could be a loss. Maybe both will be wins. We will see. The game at Green Bay could also be a loss.

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While the Vikings have been a surprise, their wins, for the most part, have not been very impressive. Yes, wins are still wins, but they will need to play better if they want to win that many games.

The Philadelphia Eagles are currently 8-0 and beat the Vikings at home in Week 2 by a score of 24-7. It will be tough for the Vikings to pass the Eagles in the standings, especially since they do not have the tiebreaker over them. A lot can happen, though, between now and then for either team.

Minnesota has done better than most expected, but it do not look like a Super Bowl contender. Winning the division and winning a playoff game or two, however, under this new regime would certainly be a nice start and could be a great way to build toward the future. The addition of T.J. Hockenson earlier this week is a very good one and will undoubtedly help both this year and for years to come.

Only time will tell how the rest of the season will go for the purple and gold, but one thing is for sure. The fans love the start of the season, despite how nerve-racking all wins have been outside of Week 1.

This new regime with O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is giving fans reasons to be optimistic about the future. That could not be said at this time last year.


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