The Vikings' win over Carolina proves Minnesota's still a Super Bowl contender
The Minnesota Vikings’ season and Super Bowl dreams were supposed to go away when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season after tearing his ACL in a non-contract injury in the preseason.
The Vikings were supposed to go away, again, when Adrian Peterson tore his meniscus last week against the Packers.
The Vikings were supposed to regress, heavily, without their two best offensive players. They were supposed to look hapless with the ball. The season was supposed to be over.
So why did Minnesota look so good Sunday?
The Vikings posted their most impressive win of their undefeated start to the season Sunday, beating the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers 22-10 in Charlotte.
The Vikings offense wasn’t great. In fact, you could argue it was pretty bad — it gained only 211 yards and was 3-for-12 on third down — but it executed well when it needed to in the second half. The presumed regression might show up in the box score, but it wasn’t necessarily apparent on the field Sunday.
The Vikings’ defense, though, was great. It was downright dominant. Minnesota held Cam Newton’s offense to 4.3 yards per play, sacking the quarterback eight times and intercepting him three times. Kelvin Benjamin, who started the season as Newton’s favorite weapon, was a non-factor — he was targeted only once Sunday.
The Vikings have their formula — dominant defense and an adequate offense (even if the numbers don’t look adequate.)
That’s the formula that won the Broncos the Super Bowl last season.
(Outside of “who were two No. 1 overall picks?” trivia questions, this will be the only time where it’s appropriate to compare Sam Bradford and Peyton Manning.)
Three weeks into the season, the question has to be asked: Why can’t it work for the Vikings?
The Vikings offense will continue to improve as Bradford spends more time with the team, and while the duo of Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata are not Peterson, they do give the Vikings a few extra wrinkles in the offense Peterson could not provide.
The Vikings have the bedrock — a championship defense — and the weapons on offense to evolve.
Doubt if you must, but this is a team that will not go away.
