NFL: Minnesota Vikings will be in the playoffs in 2014 if…

If: Zimmer can have an immediate impact on a defensive unit that has undergone some major changes, particularly up front.

This past season, no team in the league allowed more points than the Vikings (480), who also gave up both the second-most total yards as well as passing yards in the NFL in 2013.

Gone are veterans Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, mainstays of the team for a number of years and now with other clubs after not being re-signed by Minnesota. While the latter is now a member of the Seattle Seahawks, the Vikings now have to deal with Allen at least twice a season as the relentless pass rusher signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason.

Allen’s production will be hard to match, much less top. In his six seasons in the Twin Cities, he played and started all 96 regular-season games and totaled 85.5 sacks. That includes at least 11 sacks in each of his half-dozen years with the organization.

But that’s the past and the Vikings are looking to the future. Young performers such as four-year defensive end Everson Griffen and second-year defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd are now starters on Zimmer’s revamped line. The team ante-upped big time to keep Griffen from hitting the open market this spring and also gave big bucks to free-agent defensive tackle Linval Joseph (New York Giants), who hopes to secure the middle on this defense. Add in veteran end Brian Robison (9.0 sacks in 2013), free-agent pickup Corey Wootton (Chicago Bears) and promising rookie defensive end Scott Crichton, a third-round pick in May, and the pieces are in place for some very good things by this unit.