NFC North Roundup for NFL Week 17
By Dean Holden
Minnesota Vikings
Dec 29, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel (16) passes against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings win 14-13. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Won: Vikings 14, Detroit Lions 13
You wouldn’t know it by looking at them, but the Vikings finished the season going 3-2-1 against quality competition.
Despite a disappointing season surrounding by an endless shuffle at quarterback, the Vikings’ late season push in an already lost season might just be enough to save Leslie Frazier’s job.
Still, this is a team with a number of questions in the offseason, and very few of them have anything to do with coaching. They need to figure out their quarterback situation, and to make myriad adjustments to the defense. They also have Adrian Peterson’s future to think about, and could use a couple new playmakers in the passing game.
That being said, if there’s one thing that went well for the Vikings this year, it was the Percy Harvin trade. With the ammunition the Vikings got from that trade, they were able to draft Cordarrelle Patterson, who looks to be every bit the player Harvin is. Patterson is just younger, healthier, and less of a headache (literally). He’s not quite as refined as Harvin is at this stage in his career, but he’ll be terrorizing the NFC North for years.
And the Vikings still have the Seahawks’ third-round pick in 2014.