Mike Zimmer was fired after eight years in charge of the Minnesota Vikings at the end of the 2021 season. Zimmer had a 72-56-1 record with the Vikes and never finished worse than 7-9, but this team only made the postseason three times under his watch. They hadn’t finished better than 10-6 in any of the past four seasons, so the front office made the move to part ways with Zimmer in order to bring in Kevin O’Connell.
O’Connell is the newest hot name coming out of the Sean McVay system. He spent five seasons in the NFL as a quarterback before getting into coaching, and he joined McVay with Washington in 2017. O’Connell was the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator for the last two seasons, so the Vikings are hoping that he can work his magic on this offense.
Minnesota Vikings Season Win Total
Over 9 Wins -115
Under 9 Wins -105
2022 Minnesota Vikings Schedule
| WEEK | MATCHUP |
| 1 | Vs. Green Bay Packers |
| 2 | @ Philadelphia Eagles |
| 3 | Vs. Detroit Lions |
| 4 | Vs. New Orleans Saints* (in London) |
| 5 | Vs. Chicago Bears |
| 6 | @ Miami Dolphins |
| 7 | BYE WEEK |
| 8 | Vs. Arizona Cardinals |
| 9 | @ Washington Commanders |
| 10 | @ Buffalo Bills |
| 11 | Vs. Dallas Cowboys |
| 12 | Vs. New England Patriots |
| 13 | Vs. New York Jets |
| 14 | @ Detroit Lions |
| 15 | Vs. Indianapolis Colts |
| 16 | Vs. New York Giants |
| 17 | @ Green Bay Packers |
| 18 | @ Chicago Bears |
Minnesota Vikings Offense
It’s become obvious that the Washington Commanders were right all along about Kirk Cousins. He is the type of quarterback that can make you competitive, but he can’t get you over the hump. Cousins now has a career record of 59-59-2 as he was 26-30-1 in six years with Washington and is 33-29-1 in four years with Minnesota.
His overall numbers with the Vikings haven’t been bad. Cousins threw for over 4,200 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2021. However, he has shown that he has questionable decision making that has not gotten better with age. Although he has had elite receivers during his time in Minnesota, this offense has continued to struggle.
Justin Jefferson has proved to be a fantastic receiver during his two seasons with the Vikings. Jefferson has more than replaced Stefon Diggs, as the LSU product was one of the top receivers last season with 108 receptions for 1,616 yards and 10 touchdowns. His skill set compliments that of Adam Thielen well, as Thielen is more of an underneath option. Both players are back in 2022 along with K.J. Osborn and tight end Irv Smith Jr.
This ground game should be one of the best in the NFL too provided Dalvin Cook stays relatively healthy. Cook ran for 1,159 yards and six touchdowns last year, averaging 4.7 YPC. However, he has missed at least two games in every season since he entered the league in 2017. Backup Alexander Mattison isn’t nearly as effective, but he is a decent receiver out of the backfield.
Minnesota Vikings Defense
The Vikings spent their first two picks in the NFL Draft trying to improve their secondary. Minnesota selected safety Lewis Cine out of Georgia with the last pick in the first round and cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. from Clemson in the middle of the second round. Cine is expected to start opposite Harrison Smith immediately, while Booth will compete with Cameron Dantzler to start along with veteran Patrick Peterson.
This defense was one of the best in the NFL from 2014 to 2019, but it has fallen on hard times the last two seasons. Minnesota hopes that bringing in Za’Darius Smith will help reinvigorate the linebackers, and Danielle Hunter is expected to play 3-4 linebacker in the new scheme for the Vikes. Dalvin Tomlinson will need to be strong up front at the nose though.
Prediction
Minnesota has been consistently mediocre in recent years, and the Vikings are likely to stay that way in 2022. They have added a coat of fresh paint with a new coach and new schemes, but the underlying issues still remain. The Vikings play in a weak division, yet they are still a better bet to go ‘Under’ than ‘Over’.
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