2010 Minnesota Vikings Team Preview/Predictions
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2009 Record: 12-4
ATS: 9-6-1
There was so much to be thankful for if you were a Minnesota Viking fan last season. The 2009 campaign delivered a 12-4 record, an NFC North title and a 34-3 rout of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
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The NFC has, in recent seasons, witnessed a steady parade of competitive parity in which a different conference champion has emerged each year.
St. Louis claimed the NFC in the 2001 season; Tampa Bay won the conference in 2002; Carolina did in 2003; Philadelphia stepped up in 2004; Seattle answered the bell in 2005; Chicago did the deed in 2006; the New York Giants struck gold in 2007; and the Arizona Cardinals surprised the NFL by winning the NFC in 2008.
Minnesota had not established the track record of an elite team, as one can plainly see, so by all rights, an NFC title game appearance – win or lose – should have represented an accomplishment everyone could have lived with.
There was just one problem: it was the way the Vikings lost the NFC Championship Game that cast a pall over this snake-bitten franchise.
First of all, the Vikings lost on a field goal in sudden-death overtime, as the New Orleans Saints won the coin toss, got the ball first, and prevented Viking quarterback Brett Favre from having a chance to step on the field in the extra period.
The ending was so unsatisfying from a sports fan’s perspective that the NFL changed the overtime rules for playoff games in the 2010 season.
If one team wins the coin toss and kicks a field goal on its first possession of overtime in a playoff game, the other team will receive a possession. After the first possession of overtime, a field goal could be kicked in an attempt to win the game.
The second reason the loss was so bitter for Minnesota was that Adrian Peterson fumbled on numerous occasions precisely when the Vikings were on the verge of scoring a touchdown. Peterson’s spectacular implosion ruined what had been a very solid season for one of the NFL’s most dynamic running backs.
A third stomach-punch feature of the loss emerged from Favre’s late-game interception, a terrible decision-and-throw combination which denied the Vikings a chance to kick a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Minnesota’s ill-fated drive was not helped by poor game management from coach Brad Childress, who milked the clock instead of getting into comfortable field goal range for kicker Ryan Longwell.
The multitude of mistakes, combined with brutally bad luck, created a loss so shattering that the season’s good points were lost.
In 2010, it’s really rather simple: The Vikings – now a favorite to win the NFC – must make the Super Bowl. Brett Favre’s window of opportunity is closing quickly, and this franchise – gifted with exceptional skill position talent in support of its aging quarterback – must close the sale and deliver the goods.
The sting of the loss to New Orleans in the NFC title game should provide the Vikings with the hunger they need.
The defensive line is extremely solid with Jared Allen and Kevin Williams.
The secondary was solid against New Orleans in that NFC title tilt, and if Peterson learns to hang onto the ball, it’s not as though Minnesota’s defense is going to need to play off-the-charts football.
Vikings 2010 Outlook
This is a team that should roll up big numbers most of the time. If the Vikings can get home-field advantage throughout the NFC postseason, they should be able to find the roadmap to Super Bowl XLV in suburban Dallas.
Vikings 2010 Futures
Super Bowl Odds: +2550
Conference Odds: +725
NFC North Odds: +145
2010 Vikings Predictions
Place they’ll finish in NFC North: 1st
Place they’ll finish in NFC Conference: 1st
Over/Under Season Wins Prediction: Over 9.5 Wins
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Dave Golokhov has written for BETUS Sportsbook, Sportsfanmagazine.com, FOX, Askmen.com, Sports-central.org, and the FOXSports.com Funhouse.
