The Minnesota Vikings didn’t have a good season at all. Starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a ghastly knee injury eight days before the season opener in Nashville on a non-contact play. Minnesota quickly traded its 2017 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for starting quarterback Sam Bradford.
Bradford actually had a strong season. For a while, so did the Vikings and its once stellar defense. Interestingly, the Vikings were the last undefeated team in football at 5-0 heading into their Week 6 bye. Then the wheels feel off the wagon.
The Vikings offense became non-existent outside of a death by a thousand paper cuts via the Bradford passing game. Former offensive coordinator Norv Turner bailed on the team mid-season. Head coach Mike Zimmer had eye surgery and had to wear an eye patch, looking like a pirate for this Motley Crue. Let’s not forget that both starting offensive tackles and future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson missed most of the season due to injury.
The most snakebitten NFC franchise in the Super Bowl era had the most snakebitten season. We can think about all the things that the Vikings could have been, but weren’t. At the end of the day, this wasn’t a playoff team as soon as Blair Walsh’s kick sailed wide left in the 2015 NFC Wild Card round.