Minnesota Vikings have a chance to do damage in the NFC North

The Vikings have an opportunity to dominate the NFC North this season. 

Since the beginning of the 2010s, after Brett Favre had one glorious year wearing the purple and gold in the 2009 NFL season, the Vikings have struggled to win their division.

With the rise of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Minnesota has only been able to win their division twice over the past 10 seasons. And not surprisingly, the team that has kept the Vikings from winning the NFC North has mostly been the Packers, winning it six out of the last 10 seasons.

Last season, the Vikings were swept by the Packers, who went onto win the division, and Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins played horrible in both games. Green Bay is one of the best teams in the league, and losing out to them is nothing to be ashamed of, but it nonetheless reflects badly on the Vikings and Cousins.

Despite his occasional woes, Cousins is still a very capable starting quarterback who led Minnesota to an upset playoff win last year at New Orleans.

Along with Cousins, the offense will return wide receiver Adam Thielen and running back Dalvin Cook. On the other side of the ball, the Vikings should again have another talented defense, coupled with one of the best defensive head coaches in football in Mike Zimmer, which gives them a chance to rule their division this upcoming season.

Minnesota can also benefit from the weaknesses of their division opponents

In addition to the fact that the Vikings will return a very talented roster and coaching staff that has led them to the playoffs two out of the past three seasons, they may also benefit from the other NFC North teams’ faults.

It is clear that the Packers rely solely on Rodgers to lead them to victory. Just look at the 2017 and 2018 seasons where Rodgers was either sitting out or not playing at full capacity due to an injury, which caused Green Bay to miss out on the playoffs.

In Chicago, the Bears have practically no offense to speak of and quarterback Mitch Trubisky has not looked like a franchise quarterback so far.

And in Detroit, the Lions remain a total dumpster fire like they have been for most of the 21st century.

With all the other three teams in the NFC North either having major question marks or relying on a single player going into this years’ season, the Vikings now have a chance to win their division convincingly.