Minnesota Vikings Pegged as a Top Team With Closing Playoff Window

The Chicago Bears know they'll have to deal with an ever more determined Minnesota Vikings team this coming season. They haven't forgotten the humiliating defeats handed to them last year. Especially the humbling loss on their own field to a Bears team with nothing to play for in the season finale. Hopes are high that a bolstered offensive line and tweaks to the coaching staff will be enough to get them back into the postseason.

They better hope so. This is not a team that can necessarily say their time is limitless in terms of competing for a championship. Conor Orr of the MMQB is of the belief that their window for going after a championship is closing rapidly. That same list of teams also includes Dallas, New Orleans, and Carolina.

However, he didn't need a lot of words to help illustrate just how big of a time crunch Minnesota is facing.

"If the all-in gamble on Kirk Cousins a year ago wasn’t clear enough (as well as the in-season coordinator firing later that season), this is a team that feels the pressure of an exceptional but aging defense and a tandem of skill position players who they’re desperate to maximize while they’re still in their primes."

Minnesota Vikings are battling both time and the division

It's true. Most of the core of the Vikings defense is on the downside of their physical primes. Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, and Linval Joseph have all reached the 30-years old mark. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes isn't far behind them at 29. As talented as they are, they can't be expected to carry the load forever. Their regression is inevitable. It's merely a matter of how long it takes.

Cousins, while an efficient passer who can put up solid numbers has continued to prove he isn't the sort of guy who can carry a team by himself. Even with two outstanding receivers in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs he wasn't able to get a team that was in the NFC championship the year before back to the playoffs. That's how drastically the division changed in such a short time.

It's not getting any better either. The Bears remain every bit as stacked as they were last year and some might say even deeper than before. Green Bay still has Aaron Rodgers and loaded up on defense this offseason. Detroit is Detroit but they have a tendency to surprise you if you're not careful. The Vikings will be handed nothing, and that could prove to be a problem.