Vikings Look Underrated

After all, the Vikings are not among the largest media market teams and they haven’t been league darlings either, like the Packers often have been or the Lions in more recent years. Even the Bears, who are a large media market team, have generated more buzz the last couple years. The Vikings suffered from the second-worst quarterback performance in the league last season by PFF passing grade but still managed to go 9-8 despite that major flaw.

Apparently the national media is aware the Vikings acquired Kyler Murray, but find that to be largely a lateral move, as the Vikings currently have an 8. 5 over/under win total. The early verdict appears to be that the 28-year-old Murray is washed and won’t do enough to move the needle at quarterback for the Vikings.

The Ringer put it this way in ranking the Vikings 23rd in their most recent power rankings: The Vikings have upgraded at quarterback with the addition of Kyler Murray, who is expected to take the starting job from J. J. McCarthy.

But the rest of this team is in the same position as it was when it underperformed last season (or worse off than it was even then). The problem is that the rest of the NFC North is too talented for Murray to make up the distance himself. Murray will have enough talent around him to protect him from his worst habits when he’s under pressure, but he’ll have to be more effective under pressure and outside the pocket to create explosive plays when this offensive line breaks down (again).