Last season, the Minnesota Vikings were the toast of the league for the month of September. Minnesota headed into its bye week at 5-0 and there were whispers that the Vikings could be a Super Bowl contender with how the defense was playing. However, things fell apart quickly after that. The Vikes lost their next four games following the bye week and finished the season at 8-8. It was an extremely disappointing finish based on how they started, but there is plenty of reason to be optimistic heading into 2017.
Super Bowl 52 Odds at BookMaker.eu
New England Patriots +310
Dallas Cowboys +1000
Seattle Seahawks +1100
Green Bay Packers +1200
Pittsburgh Steelers +1300
Atlanta Falcons +1500
Oakland Raiders +1500
Kansas City Chiefs +2000
Denver Broncos +2500
New York Giants +2500
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +2800
Carolina Panthers +3000
Houston Texans +3000
Arizona Cardinals +3500
Minnesota Vikings +3500
Indianapolis Colts +4000
Tennessee Titans +4000
Baltimore Ravens +4500
Philadelphia Eagles +5000
New Orleans Saints +5000
Cincinnati Bengals +5500
Los Angeles Chargers +6500
Miami Dolphins +6500
Detroit Lions +6500
Washington Redskins +6500
Jacksonville Jaguars +8000
Buffalo Bills +9000
Chicago Bears +12500
Los Angeles Rams +15000
San Francisco 49ers +30000
Cleveland Browns +30000
New York Jets +30000
Key Factors For Winning the Super Bowl
Sam Bradford becoming more comfortable in this offense – Virtually everyone was stunned when the Minnesota Vikings decided to roll the dice by trading two high draft choices for Sam Bradford a week before the start of the regular season last year. Bradford had never even posted a winning record as a quarterback, but the Vikings were desperate and believed they had a shot to win it all. He ended the season with the highest completion percentage in NFL history despite his relative unfamiliarity with the offense. With a whole offseason of practice and learn the system, Bradford should be better this year.
An effective running game – It was time for Adrian Peterson and the Vikings to part ways. Although he will go down as the best runner in franchise history, Peterson has missed virtually all of two of the last three seasons. The running game struggled to produce anything with Jerick McKinnon in his stead. Enter Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray. Murray was signed from Oakland this offseason and is an upgrade from McKinnon. However, the bigger addition is Cook. Cook left Florida State as the best running back in school history and could be phenomenal in this offense. His skill set is enough to make any coach smile and he should eventually take full control of the starting job. If Minnesota is going to make the postseason, Cook will be a big reason why.
A healthy offensive line – No unit was more banged up than Minnesota’s offensive line in 2016. The Vikings played 12 different guys along the offensive front and five different left tackles. That led to Minnesota ending the season with the league’s worst running game (75.3 YPG). The Vikes tried to shore up the unit by signing Riley Reiff to be the team’s new left tackle, but the most important thing is health. That would lead to some consistency along the offensive line and help the rushing numbers.
Defensive line dominance – This is the strength of the team. Minnesota is loaded along the defensive line and has just as much talent as it does depth. Although none of the Vikings defensive linemen are household names, every one of its members is among the league’s best at his position. The two best members are Linval Joseph and Everson Griffen. Joseph is essentially a nose tackle and is a great run stuffer. He has the body to occupy multiple offensive lineman and is hard to move. Griffen is a defensive end that can rush the passer and stop the run and is invaluable to this unit’s success. This unit got better in the offseason too with the addition of Datone Jones. If former first-round pick Shariff Floyd can live up to his talent in a contract year, this rotation could be terrifying.
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