So far Coach Mike Zimmer seems to like what he is seeing in his players. The Minnesota Vikings are in a very good place right now. Online NFL betting odds suggest that they have a very good chance of standing victorious at the end of the season.
And you do not even need to look at the odds to confirm that fact. The Minnesota Vikings have been performing splendidly, surprising friends and foes and rising to become the team to beat this season.
The team came out of the bye week with a 1-1 record; they have little time to ruminate on their mistakes thus far. They have a game against Philadelphia on Sunday, and how well they will do remains to be seen. Sure, Philadelphia has a lot going for it, but Zimmer is very confident in his team’s ability to come out ahead.
The Vikings reconvened on Monday for their first practice session since last Thursday, and they were a very different team from what Zimmer remembers in his first year. The Vikings lost 21-13 coming out of the Bye at Chicago in 2014; and when Zimmer gave them some much deserved time off, they returned seemingly having forgotten everything they had learned.
That wasn’t the case on Monday. Sure, there a few corrections that needed to be made. However, they seem to have retained so much more than Zimmer expected and that will determine how far Zimmer can take them before the Sunday game.
The Vikings are the only undefeated team in the entire league, and that is a big deal. More importantly, they are the leaders when it comes to scoring defense. Sam Bradford is turning out to be the most important trade that has been made all season.
The Vikings are the only team to hold each of their opponents under 20 points in 2016. Basically, they have everything going for them at this moment, with a decent defensive line and a very powerful offense.
Every decision for which Zimmer was criticized at the start of the season is quickly paying off. NO one expected the Vikings to do so well. It would be a mistake to impute the success of the Vikings to the players alone. Zimmer is responsible for guiding them down the path to victory this season, and he could very well give them the title they crave, shattering preseason betting odds and making analysts question everything they think they know.
Linebacker Anthony Barr admits that there is something special going on with the Vikings right now; it is difficult to understand why the players are so focused coming out the bye this year.
Clearly, they are determined to stay on point and to keep the momentum going for as long as possible, maybe even to the very end of the season. Zimmer had his staff on high alert during the bye-week as they worked to identify any areas that needed attention.
More than merely giving him a chance to resolve his team’s weaknesses, Zimmer is also happy that the bye week gave his players time to heal. They are more than ready to go toe-to-toe with Philadelphia.