Posted in: NFL, Sports | Tagged: Case Keenum, entertainment, Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings, nfl, sports

NFL Post Mortem – 2017 Minnesota Vikings

Published Mon, 19 Feb 2018 15:25:48 -0600

The Minnesota Vikings were going into the 2017 season having gone through a lot of changes. They started out 2016 by losing their franchise quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to a catastrophic knee injury. They scrambled to trade and get Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles just before the season began. They also only got 3 games and 72 carries out of their start runningback Adrian Peterson. They won their first five games of the season, went into the bye and came out very different. They would lose eight of the next eleven games, ending the year with an 8-8 record and 3rd place in the NFC North. They were very active during the draft, making 9 trades and locking in runningback Dalvin Cook in the second round and center Pat Elflein in the third, both areas of need.

What Happened?

If any team was able to make the best out of a bad situation it's coach Mike Zimmer and the Vikings. After opening with a win, starting quarterback Sam Bradford went down in the second game, which they lost. The team turned to journeyman Case Keenum who has started 24 games in 4 years with the Texans and Rams. Keenum would start the third game and played the best season of his career, leading the team to a 13-3 season, a bye week in the playoffs and a victory over the Saints in the divisional round. They finally lost to the Eagles, who were lead by Keenum's former teammate Nick Foles who also started the season as the backup. Bridgewater would finally come of injured reserve and be healthy enough to play, but Keenum never slipped enough to justify making a change. Bridgewater took over the backup role for the final few games of the season.

What's Next?

The Vikings have to be considered strong candidates for the Super Bowl next season already, which is amazing since they don't currently have a quarterback under contract. Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford are all scheduled to be free agents when the new season begins. The team has all the other components needed to win, but a signal caller. Bridgewater has been out of the game for basically two years, Bradford has the most experience and is a former #1 pick but has been injury prone and Keenam had a great season, but how much of that was the team around him as he didn't have that level of success in Houston or St. Louis/L.A. And the answer may not be one of those three. Kirk Cousins will be coming free from Washington, A.J. McCarron is like to be a free agent as well. And they could go into the draft trying to find a rookie. But however they approach it, locking in a quarterback is definitely the teams top priority going into the new season.

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