Minnesota Vikings preview 2023: Over or Under 8.5 wins?

Sports Betting Writer

Wrapping up the NFC North, it’s time for the overacheivers from 2022 – the Minnesota Vikings. They are the 24th of our 32 NFL team previews, and the Vikings have an over/under win total set by our partners at Caesars Sportsbook at 8.5 wins. Bet.NOLA.com analyst and Dattitude Podcast host Jim Derry goes through the team and offers his thoughts on the additions and subtractions, as well as the schedule and whether the Vikings will hit the mark or fall short. And what is the best bet for this team in 2023?

It’s NFL team preview time, and today we’re looking at the Minnesota Vikings. Each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from July 25 through Sept. 8, we will take an in-depth look at each team in the NFL with a 7- to 10-minute video going through impactful additions and departures, last year’s rankings and strength of schedule in 2023.

Bet.NOLA.com analyst Jim Derry will then make a prediction on the team’s record this season and where they will finish in their respective division, along with the over/under win total, as posted by our partners at Caesars Sportsbook.

These stories are a brief summary of the accompanied preview videos – powered by the Dattitude Podcast (which will review each division every Friday until the season begins). The schedule for when each team will run is listed below with a link to each story and video that already has run.

Coach: Kevin O’Connell (2nd season)

2022 record: 13-4, 1st in NFC North; lost to New York Giants, 31-24, in wild-card round.

Last season in a nutshell: About as weird as it gets. With new coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings rolled to an 8-1 start, but that was about as fluky and misleading as an 8-1 start ever could be.

They soundly defeated the perennial division-winning Green Bay Packers in the opener, but were thumped, 24-7, by the eventual NFC-champion Philadelphia Eagles in the next week. They proceeded to win the next two games by four points or fewer and the five after that by a touchdown or less.

After losing to Dallas, 40-3, in Week 11, all their remaining victories except the Giants in Week 16 came against teams that finished with a losing record. Oh, and then they lost to the Giants in the playoffs.

In other words, many people who doubted the Vikings in the preseason, didn’t give them much credit for their gaudy record. That being said, they still found a way to win them, even if all but the finale had winning margins of single digits (which is an NFL record).

Kirk Cousins passed for 4,547 yards, which is second to Daunte Culpepper in 2004 for a single season, while receiver Justin Jefferson finished fifth in NVP voting with 128 catches for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns. Also, Dalvin Cook rushed for 1,173 yards, which also was the second most in his career.

Offense clearly wasn’t Minnesota’s problem. But their defensive mind had left the season before in Mike Zimmer. As good as O’Connell was for the offense, DC Ed Donatell led the team to a second-worst finish, including second-worst passing defense, and was fired.

2023 bye week: 13

2023 Draft: 1 (23rd overall) WR Jordan Addison, USC; 3 (102) CB Mekhi Blackmon, USC; 4 (134) S Jay Ward, LSU; 5 (141) Jaquelin Roy, LSU; 5 (164) QB Jaren Hall, BYU; 7 (222) RB DeWayne McBride, UAB.

Free-agent signings: TE Josh Oliver (from Baltimore), 3 years, $21M; CB Byron Murphy (from Arizona), 2 years, $17.5M; DE Dean Lowry (from Green Bay), 2 years, $8.5M; DE Marcus Davenport (from New Orleans), 1 year, $13M; WR Brandon Powell (from LA Rams), 1 year, $1.23M; LB Troy Reeder (cut); CB Joejuan Williams (cut).

What needs to go right: The obvious answer is they MUST play much better defense, and one would be foolish to think they won’t under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Still, playing better and being more effective won’t be enough if they only get that 31 overall ranking up to at least the middle of the pack.

It also will be interesting to see how the running game does without Cook and if Alexander Mattison truly is ready to take over lead duties, considering he has never had more than 134 carries in a season and had just 74 last year. (He also has never rushed for 500 yards in a season or had more than five rushing touchdowns.)

Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins, who continually gets bashed, is approaching THAT age for quarterbacks, just turning 35 and entering his 12th season in the NFL. Can he continue posting the type of new-school passing numbers? (He has thrown for more than 4,200 yards in three straight seasons.)

There’s no question the Vikings have one of the better receiving corps in the NFL with Justin Jefferson, KJ Osborn and rookie Jordan Addison, as well as tight end TJ Hockenson, whom they got in a really weird trade with NFC North rival Detroit.

Can they continue to win the close games and EVERY game they are favored in AND a few games they aren’t supposed to win? If they can, they’ll win a second consecutive division title.

Key moments in video:

0:00 Minnesota Vikings preview

1:05 Kevin O’Connell effect

2:49 Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson key

3:50 Can DC Brian Flores make a difference?

5:45 Dissecting a tough schedule

7:55 Predictions, best bet

AFC SOUTH

July 25: Houston Texans

July 26: Indianapolis Colts

July 27: Jacksonville Jaguars

July 28: Tennessee Titans

NFC WEST

Aug. 1: Arizona Cardinals

Aug. 2: Los Angeles Rams

Aug. 3: San Francisco 49ers

Aug. 4: Seattle Seahawks

AFC WEST

Aug. 8: Denver Broncos

Aug. 9: Kansas City Chiefs

Aug. 10: Las Vegas Raiders

Aug. 11: Los Angeles Chargers

NFC EAST

Aug. 15: Dallas Cowboys

Aug. 16: New York Giants

Aug. 17: Philadelphia Eagles

Aug. 18: Washington Commanders

AFC EAST

Aug. 22: Buffalo Bills

Aug. 23: Miami Dolphins

Aug. 24: New England Patriots

Aug. 25: New York Jets

NFC NORTH

Aug. 29: Chicago Bears

Aug. 29: Detroit Lions

Aug. 30: Green Bay Packers

Aug. 30: Minnesota Vikings

AFC NORTH

Aug. 31: Baltimore Ravens

Aug. 31: Cincinnati Bengals

Sept. 1: Cleveland Browns

Sept. 2: Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC SOUTH

Sept. 5: Atlanta Falcons

Sept. 6: Carolina Panthers

Sept. 7: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sept. 8: New Orleans Saints

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Contact Jim Derry at [email protected]. Follow all our Bet.NOLA sports betting coverage on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.

Sports Betting Writer