So far, so great for Vikings
But it’s still too early to say Minnesota on road to legendary status
WASHINGTON — The Minnesota Vikings are a very good team. They have made that much clear in their first five games of the season.
Are they capable of being a memorably great team, one that can make a run at an unbeaten regular season and one that can reach and win a Super Bowl? That remains to be seen. The fact those questions can be asked about the Vikings is amazing, given they have lost quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, tailback Adrian Peterson and left tackle Matt Kalil to injuries.
Initially, the Vikings’ hopes to build upon what they’d done last season, when they won the NFC North and suffered an agonizing playoff loss to Seattle on a missed field goal, rested on the prospect that Bridgewater would improve enough to make his pocket passing an effective complement to the running of Peterson and the team’s powerful defence.
Enter Sam Bradford, who has been a stabilizing force as Bridgewater’s replacement at quarterback since being obtained in a trade with Philadelphia eight days before the season started. The defence has done much of the rest and the Vikings are the NFL’s only undefeated team entering Sunday’s game against the Eagles in Bradford’s return to Philadelphia.
“I’m very surprised,” former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman said by phone this week. “The amount of success that Sam Bradford was able to come in and have in a short period of time, getting comfortable so quickly like that, I don’t think you could have expected that.”
Bradford, the former top overall selection in the NFL draft who was often hurt while failing to fulfil expectations in St. Louis and Philadelphia, is the league’s fourth-rated passer. He has six touchdown passes, no interceptions and a passer rating of 109.7. His best passer rating over a full NFL season is 90.9. He has been sacked a relatively modest eight times in four games with the Vikings, who started Shaun Hill in the season opener, and has connected on 70.4 per cent of his passes.
“The strength of this team has really been their offensive line,” Freeman said. “Adrian Peterson is unparalleled. But that’s a sturdy offensive line. When you lose your left tackle like that and don’t miss a step, that tells you something about your scouting department and your front office. Sam Bradford isn’t even getting touched. He’s not getting rattled. When you look at the other places he’s been, he was always getting sacked a lot and hit a lot.”
It is on defence, however, where the Vikings really excel. The Denver Broncos rode their defence to a Super Bowl triumph last season in a pass-happy league. Now the Vikings are attempting to do the same thing.
“I don’t know if it’s a Broncos-level defence,” a personnel executive with one NFL team said in recent weeks. “But it might be reasonably close.”
The Vikings are ranked first in the league in scoring defence and second in total defence (based on yards allowed). Their defence ranks fourth against the run and sixth against the pass.
There are playmakers all over on the Minnesota defence. Four players — tackle Linval Joseph and ends Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter and Brian Robison — have at least three sacks each. The linebackers have been productive and cornerback Xavier Rhodes has joined safety Harrison Smith as secondary standouts.
“Their front seven, they’ve been playing great since the second half of last season,” Freeman said. “When your front four can cause havoc, it makes it so much easier on your secondary. Your linebackers can make plays. It’s like the great Ravens defences back in the day that dominated up front. It’s like a house: If your interior is good, you’ve probably got a good product.”
The Vikings, at least for now, have established themselves as the team to beat in the NFC, just ahead of the one-loss Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. But few are ready to call Minnesota a prohibitive favourite in the conference just yet.
“It’s early,” Freeman said. “Those teams like Seattle, Arizona, Green Bay, they’re gonna be there in the end.”