The Minnesota Vikings will move into their new stadium, the U.S. Bank Stadium, for the 2016 season, and will hope that they can carry over their good form from the TCF Bank Stadium to their new $1.1 billion home.

2015 summary

The Vikings had an excellent 2015, winning the NFC North with an 11-5 record, one win better than the Green Bay Packers. Vikings fans might have feared the worst when they lost to the San Fransisco 49ers in Week One, but they won seven of their next eight games to put them in a strong position. They had a rough stretch where they lost three of their next four, albeit against three very good teams in Green Bay, Seattle and Arizona, but they regrouped and won their final three games, including a Week 17 game in Lambeau Field to clinch the division.

Their reward was a home playoff tie against the Seattle Seahawks, a game played in sub-zero conditions. The weather had a huge impact on the game, which went right down to the wire. Trailing by one point with just seconds remaining, the Vikings needed to convert a chip-shot field goal to advance to the Divisional Round, but Blair Walsh pulled his kick, meaning the season was over.

Team strengths

Mike Zimmer is a fairly new head coach, but he, along with GM Rick Spielman, have put together and coached up a roster that is very competitive. Their main strength is their defence. They have studs like Linval Joseph, Everson Griffen and Anthony Barr in their front seven, backed up in the secondary by Harrison Smith, one of the best safeties in football.

Offensively, they still have Adrian Peterson. Logic says that he’s going to slow down one day, but I’m not going to predict when that will be. He’s clearly some type of machine created in a lab, so maybe he’ll never get old? With Peterson and a great defense, the Vikings can control the time of possession and wear teams down. It was a formula which worked very well last year.

Third-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will enjoy playing in a dome too. Whilst he doesn’t have a terrible arm, it’s not exactly a cannon either and with the dome shielding him from the Minneapolis weather, he should play better.

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Team weaknesses

When you have Peterson, your offensive line can be mediocre in terms of run blocking and you’ll get away with it because, like I mentioned earlier, he’s clearly a robot. However, in the passing game, they really need to help Bridgewater more. They did have injuries last year, but even so, giving up 45 sacks is really, really bad. They’ll hope that getting healthier, plus the additions of Alex Boone and Andre Smith, will improve things, but it’s still a huge question mark, especially at Left Tackle where Matt Kalil has been a disappointment.

Wide receiver could be an issue too. Whilst Stefon Diggs looks like a good player, I’m not sure he’s a number one receiver yet. Opposite him is Charles Johnson, who is good but not great, and first-round pick Laquon Treadwell looks like he’s still getting used to being an NFL wide-out, which is understandable.

The Vikings will be run-heavy, of course, but they’ll need more production from their receivers if they want to take a step from a ‘very good’ team to an ‘elite’ one.

Cornerback could be an issue too, they’ll hope that youngsters Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander can help out veteran Terrence Newman in the secondary, but it’s far from an established group.

Best case

The Vikings can win the Super Bowl. 100%. That pains me to say as a Packers fan, but it’s the truth. Teams who run the ball and play great defence always have a chance. If AD continues to be AD and runs teams into the ground, this team could easily go 13-3 and make a serious run at the Lombardi Trophy.

Worst case

Not counting for major injuries, because enough of those will derail any team, the worst case for the Vikings is that 31-year-old Peterson does hit the proverbial wall and his form drops off dramatically. Whilst Bridgewater is a decent QB, he doesn’t have the weapons to pass this team to victory on a regular basis. Whilst backup RB Jerick McKinnon is a decent player, he’s not Peterson. In this instance, the Vikings, playing a first-placed schedule, could fall to 8-8.

Prediction

I think AD continues to show that he’s made of nuts and bolts, not flesh and bones, and helps the Vikings to a 10-6 record, which will get them a wildcard spot at worst. Putting bias aside, I think the Packers weak schedule means they win the division, but that’s far from a certainty.

The NFC is loaded, so they might still be a year or two away from a Super Bowl but I think the Vikings win at least one playoff game in January.