The Minnesota Vikings are a trendy offseason pick to make the playoffs in Teddy Bridgewater's second season.
Bridgewater closed out his 2014 Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Year campaign as Pro Football Focus' top-ranked quarterback for December, a motivated Adrian Peterson is taking aim at the rushing crown, Mike Wallace is onboard as a deep threat and the defense is loaded with young Pro Bowl-caliber talents.
Although Bridgewater is optimistic about the Vikings' chances, he refuses to get drunk on the hype.
"Right now, we're not as good as what we think," Bridgewater said, via USA Today's Tom Pelissero. "We know that the ceiling is very high and the expectation level is very high -- not only for the players, but from a coaching staff also. We know what's being asked of us, but we have a long way to go."
We're not ready to hand the NFC North to the Vikings, but it's the presence of Bridgewater that has us excited for Minnesota this season.
Coach Mike Zimmer saw enough promise in the former Louisville star to hand him the keys to the franchise by early December.
Bridgewater showed supreme accuracy, touch and pocket presence the rest of the way, completing 72.1 percent of his passes over the final five games.
If that strong quarterback play carries over to 2015, the Vikings will be playoff contenders.
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