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Can Minnesota Vikings fend off surging NFC North?

By Luke Sims

Jan 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) rushes with the football during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Minnesota won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) rushes with the football during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Minnesota won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Vikings are defending division champions for now. But they’ll have to work hard to fend off a surging NFC North that could send multiple teams to the playoffs in 2016.

There may not be a group of four teams that are better poised for success than the teams in the NFC North. The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are at the top of the heap, but the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions aren’t as far behind as it would first appear to the casual observer.

For The Win’s Steven Ruiz writes that both the Bears and the Lions as possible sleeper picks to get into the 2016 playoffs. It’s a bold proclamation, especially since the NFC North can only send three teams to the playoffs at most. It does, however, indicate just how tough the NFC North could be in the coming season.

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For now, the Vikings are at the top of a crowded division. Head coach Mike Zimmer didn’t win 11 games by accident and he was awarded ESPN’s NFC North Coach of the Year (per Brian Jones) in a division featuring three head coaches that have driven their teams to the Super Bowl in the past (multiple times in two cases). Zimmer has built something special in Minnesota. But their hold on the NFC North is tenuous at best.

Despite featuring hyper-accurate wunderkind Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, uber-consistent running back Adrian Peterson, and a defense stocked full of playmakers, the Vikings’ threats are external and outside of their control. Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, and Aaron Rodgers loom.

Nov 1, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears offensive tackle
Nov 1, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears offensive tackle /

It’s so threatening that ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, among others, is calling the Packers the kings of the division. While an 11-5 record would be a stranglehold on many NFL divisions, but not the NFC North.

Out-foxing the opponents in six games per season is difficult. The Lions were scarily close to a better-than 7-9 record last season, the Bears are in the midst of a rebuild headed up by head coach John Fox, and the Packers are certainly plotting their revenge. Zimmer’s best coaching will be needed to keep winning games and stay ahead of the surging NFC North pack.

What will it take to win the NFC North? Will 11-5 cut it again? Will 10-6 be too low to even get into the playoffs as a wild card team? Will the Vikings have to win more than 12 games? Is that even possible?

While other teams can get into the playoffs with 9-7 records (looking at you, Houston Texans and Washington Redskins in 2015), the Vikings don’t have that luxury.

They have to execute on each and every down in each and every game to stay ahead. They’re a well built team with plenty of talent from the coaching ranks to the skill positions to the trenches. They’ve done their homework and their preparations for the season.

Something Positive: 5 Reasons the Vikings Will Repeat as NFC North Champs

That, of course, is easier said than done. In a division with as many possible playoff teams as the NFC North, the Vikings will have to be on point to repeat as the NFC North champions. They can certainly do it, but expect a struggle through the season.

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