5 NFL teams poised for breakout years after Week 1
By Randy Gurzi
4. Minnesota Vikings
Last year, the Minnesota Vikings were supposed to be a very good football team. They were coming off a run to the NFC Championship Game and they made an upgrade at the most important position. In the offseason, they signed Kirk Cousins to a fully guaranteed three-year deal worth $84 million. In addition to adding him, the Vikings got Dalvin Cook back after he tore his ACL as a rookie.
However, the team never was able to put it all together. They had their moments where they looked strong but overall it was rather hard to watch. Their offense just never seemed to be on the same page and they even ended up firing their offensive coordinator during the season.
In their first game of the 2019 season, they looked much better. Kevin Stefanski is now the offensive coordinator and he had some help from offensive advisor Gary Kubiak. Together, they came up with a great gameplan as the offense literally passed the ball just 10 times but won easily by a score of 28-12 over the Atlanta Falcons.
Not only did they win by 16, but the Falcons put up all 12 points in the fourth quarter when the Vikings really took their foot off the gas. Led by Cook’s 111 yards and two touchdowns, the offense hardly even had to use their best weapons.
On defense, they seemed revitalized as they had two picks off Matt Ryan and made life miserable for the one-time NFL MVP. With Green Bay and Chicago looking a little bit off in Week 1 — and the Detroit Lions finishing in a tie with Arizona — the Vikings find themselves in great shape as they look to reclaim the North.