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SI.com's Albert Breer: "Vikings are the most loaded team in the NFL"
#1
'The other day I got an email from one of our editors, the wonderful Bette Marston, reminding me that I needed to make my 2018 NFL season predictions. As I scrambled to pick this year’s playoff teams, I realized picking a Super Bowl LIII champion wasn’t going to be so easy.
Eagles? Patriots? Saints? Vikings? Rams? Jaguars? Steelers?
Going into the season most years, there’s a feeling that a select handful of teams can win it all. On Thursday, ahead of the 2018 NFL season opener between the Eagles and the Falcons, there certainly seems to be more teams than that. To simplify it, I asked myself, which team looked loaded this summer? And after visiting 22 camps and with 24 teams during the preseason, I didn’t have much trouble answering that one: the Vikings.
Minnesota is stacked, and the franchise knows it. When I texted Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph that I’d picked his team to win it all, he didn’t exactly shrink to the expectation.
“First off, thanks,” Rudolph responded. “Second, I’d say given that we got so close last year, we got a taste of success in January, and this team knows what it’s going to take to get back to that point, and further! Which all starts this week at home against a very talented 49ers team.”
Pressure?
“I don’t think outside pressure or expectations,” Rudolph answered, “will ever be greater than what we put on and have for ourselves.”
So there you have it, folks. Your Super Bowl LIII champions will be the Minnesota Vikings, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers to do it. And so you know, my prediction didn’t elicit the same reaction as Rudolph’s from everyone. One Vikings staffer’s response: “Sh-- LOL.
Side nugget from same article:
Minnesota Vikings: If there are problems here, it’s with depth on the offensive and defensive lines—and two rookies could be a part of the solution. Second-round pick Brian O’Neil (a tackle from Pitt) and fourth-round pick Jalyn Holmes (a defensive lineman from Ohio State) have been given every chance to get in that mix, and both could wind up being important in the fall.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/09/06/nfl-20...-game-plan





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#2
There's several loaded teams in the NFC. The Saints and the Rams really added some pieces along with us. I like our choices better then the Rams. The Saints can't be overlooked though. The Eagles remain strong. The Falcons are a team if I had to pick one of the playoff teams from last year to not return would be it. Followed by the Panthers. Norv will have that team playing 1990s ball in no time.
We added good players at postions of need. That's all you can do. Now comes the prove it time. All these good team are going to be mixing it up throughout the season. We got a shitty draw scheduling wise if you ask me. That will hurt us maybe. These teams are all so close home field in the playoffs could be the difference.
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#3
The Vikings ARE the most loaded team in the NFL. Now, that doesn't mean shit if we don't game plan well. I think Zimmer is one of the best coaches in the NFL in terms of designing a defense and teaching the fundamentals necessary to be effective in it, but I sometimes wonder if game planning for specific opponents might be his weakness. 
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#4
IMO, the Vikings now have a team that can compete legitimately with anyone in the league. But you still need to make plays and have a few lucky bounces along the way to get to the Superbowl. They'll need to stay healthy as much as a team can in a NFL season. But I think the window is open for the next 3 years for sure. 

Let's play some football!
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#5
Thank you Wilfs...

Now it's up to Zimsu, the players and football gods.


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#6
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
Thank you Wilfs...

Now it's up to Zimsu, the players and football gods.
Yes, thank you Wilfs. There are so many nut jobs among the NFL owners. It's nice to have a genuinely nice guy running the team. A guy who supports his team, gives them what they need and generally lets them do their jobs. The front office is sound.

We'll see how they turn out, but the Vikings have made a lot of tough decisions in the last year that indicate to me their taking shit very seriously. The Sloter signing. Not settling for the obvious OC in Stefanski and going the extra mile for Flip. And then not letting Stefanski interview. Not settling for "good enough" at QB and doing what it took to upgrade, same with punter.
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