Vikings Territory: USA Today, Bleacher Report Predict Losing Record For Vikings

Press release from Vikings Territory:

Dustin Baker Dustin Baker

2021-09-02

Not much will change – say the masses about the 2021 Vikings.

By the end of the 2021 season, Minnesota’s front office will possess a four-year sample size with Cousins while his cap hit for 2022 astronomically balloons to $45 million. If the Vikings do not get back to the postseason – and probably win a game there – Zimmer and Cosuins will likely be tranisitioned to their next non-Minnesota gigs.

NFL predictions are dribbling into the national dialogue because the regular season starts in one week. Bleacher Report offered its team-by-team prognostications on Thursday, and Brad Gagnon assigned the Vikings an 8-9 record – one win more than last season.

Gagnon said about the 2021 Vikings and his 8-9 theory:

This sentiment was similarly echoed by USA Today, too. Brad Werner forecasted all NFL teams’ records, and Minnesota was an 8-9 ballclub for him as well. He wrote:

To a degree, this is parroting Vegas odds. Per sportsbooks, the Vikings are a supposed to win between eight and nine games, making these two predictions right in line with gambling probabilities. In terms of personnel, the 2021 Vikings are somewhat comparable to the last year’s team – Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith, and Cousins – so the temptation is to believe the Vikings are “running it back.” That’s true for the coach and quarterback – but not the bulk of the roster. Last year for most of the season, the Vikings were without the services of players like Danielle Hunter, Michael Pierce, Anthony Barr, and Eric Kendricks down the stretch. Teams always preach next man up in the face of adversity, but losing that many men on defense is a mammoth deal. And that’s probably why the Vikings defense sunk from fifth-best in the NFL during 2019 to fourth-worst in 2020. Aye caramba.

The 2021 Vikings are significantly more talented than the 2020 version. In the offseason 18 months ago, the Vikings subtracted players like Xavier Rhodes, Linval Joesph, Everson Griffen, and Trae Waynes. This offseason entailed the opposite trend. Spielman added dudes rather than cutting ties with long-term veterans (other than Kyle Rudolph).

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday along with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

This press release was produced by Vikings Territory .The views expressed here are the author’s own.