The playoffs eluded the Minnesota Vikings last season with them finishing with a record of 8-7-1. Their season ended in disappointment after there were high expectations with the team signing Kirk Cousins to a large contract.
Fans in Minnesota immediately began thinking of their plans for the playoffs once they landed Cousins in free agency last year. Especially since the year prior, they witnessed their team make the NFC Championship game with Case Keenum under center.
Keenum left for the Denver Broncos while the Vikings seemingly upgraded at quarterback. All of that came crumbling down after the team started off slow to begin the 2018 campaign. As a matter of fact, Minnesota never seemed to get their footing throughout the whole season.
Even taking last year into consideration, it's hard not to include the Vikings as a team who can make the playoffs in the upcoming season. Undoubtedly, Mike Zimmer will have his team ready to make a push for the playoffs in 2019.
Here are three things that need to happen for the Vikings to make it back to the playoffs in 2019.
3. The Defense Needs to Continue to be Dominant
At the beginning of last season, the Vikings defense struggled to stop much of anything. Through the first four weeks of the season, Minnesota allowed a whopping 27.5 points per game and 381.5 total yards per game.
Although, those numbers are a bit inflated due to their Week 4 showdown with the high-flying Los Angeles Rams offense. In that game alone, the Vikings allowed 38 points and 556 total yards of offense.
The defense ended the year strong by allowing just 19 points per game after their bye week in Week 10. With all 0f the talent that resides on the defense, the Vikings have the potential of being the best defense in the NFL.
Minnesota doesn't necessarily need their defense to be the best defense in the NFL, but they'll need it to be very close to it if they hope to make the playoffs in 2019.
2. Kirk Cousins Has to Step Up
Last season was a great season in terms of stats for Cousins but his play in big games was crucial to the Vikings missing the postseason. On the surface, Cousins had a career-year in regards to touchdowns and completion percentage.
One of the knocks on Cousins throughout his whole career has been his inability to win games against the elite teams in the NFL. In 2018 alone, Cousins and the Vikings went 1-7 against teams who reached the playoffs.
Of course, football is the ultimate team sport so not all of the blame can fall on Cousins. With that being said, Cousins struggled in the majority of those games and has developed a pattern of doing that so far in his career.
In a division with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, there is little margin for error.
If Cousins is going to be paid like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he needs to deliver in games against the top-notch teams in the NFL.
1. Vikings Have to Establish a Running Game
One of the glaring issues for the Vikings in 2018 was their inability to get their running game going. In 2018, the Vikings were the 30th ranked team in the NFL in rushing offense.
Before the 2018 season, the Vikings hired John DeFilippo as their offensive coordinator after Pat Shurmur left for the New York Giants head coaching job. The offense took a bit to get on track under DeFilippo—especially the running game.
Thus, Minnesota decided to part ways with DeFilippo before he could even finish his first season with the Vikings. In a corresponding move, the Vikings hired Kevin Stefanski as their interim offensive coordinator.
Stefanski served as the Vikings quarterbacks coach before stepping into the offensive coordinator job. In the first week that Stefanski was given the job, the Vikings rushed for 220 yards en route to a 41-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Led by Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray, the running game looked rejuvenated with the new play caller. Murray departed in free agency but Cook figures to have a large role within the offense this season.
In today's NFL, you have to be able to run the ball with success despite it being a pass-happy league. Provided that, the eight teams who ran the ball the least in 2018 all missed the playoffs—including the Vikings.
Therefore, an effective running game will be crucial to the Vikings success in 2019.
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