2015 Vikings schedule

[dead_poet]

Hasan's take on the schedule:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2438 ... every-game

From the post: The Vikings have the toughest schedule of the season, per Football Outsiders' DVOA, and the coldest one as well.

[Mothman]

Hasan's take on the schedule:
From the post: The Vikings have the toughest schedule of the season, per Football Outsiders' DVOA, and the coldest one as well.

Great.

If I counted correctly, Hasan has them finishing 9-7 and finishing strong, closing out the season with 4 straight wins. Expecting the Vikes to score 30+ in 2 of their first 3 games seems a little optimistic to me but who knows?

I'm eager to see what the draft brings for the Vikes and the rest of the division. This looks like a very tough schedule to me.

[dead_poet]

I'm eager to see what the draft brings for the Vikes and the rest of the division. This looks like a very tough schedule to me.

Me too. But when was the last time a schedule was released and it looked easy?

[Mothman]

Me too. But when was the last time a schedule was released and it looked easy?

Um... good point.

It's certainly been a while. I think they tend to look easier when your favorite team is coming off a 12 win season than they do when they're coming off a 7 win season.

[dead_poet]

This was fun.

How many games would Vikings win with Batman and/or Superman on roster?

http://blog.startribune.com/sports/rand ... -on-roster

[chicagopurple]

I don't think its that brutal of a schedule. I also think that the Bears and GB have failed to really improve much. Detroit can be expected to implode as usual. finishing 10-6 might just take the division. It IS a rather Cold schedule tho.....every year it gets harder to motivate myself to go sit outside in Nov/Dec......getting too old for that crap. Only a CheeseHead is dumb enough to enjoy frozen beers.

[Superfreak84]

I don't think its that brutal of a schedule. I also think that the Bears and GB have failed to really improve much. Detroit can be expected to implode as usual. finishing 10-6 might just take the division. It IS a rather Cold schedule tho.....every year it gets harder to motivate myself to go sit outside in Nov/Dec......getting too old for that crap. Only a CheeseHead is dumb enough to enjoy frozen beers.

Exactly! The Lions 11-5 record counts a lot toward our "tough" schedule. There's no reason at all we can't beat them at least once.

[Grashopa]

Definitely watching the first game outside on the 12ft screen! the weather is going to be perfect, already super stoked! everyones welcome... bring a tent hehe (Grand Rapids, MN).

[mmvikes]

Nice to see a lot of optimism on here. That schedule looks brutal to me.

[dead_poet]

Zimmer on the schedule: http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/vide ... %20Tickets

[Cliff]

You never really know how these teams are going to play from one season to another. Green Bay and Seattle are the only teams on the list that I consider ‘consistent’. Denver with Manning at the helm I count as consistent as well. Arizona has been very good the last two years as well.

Otherwise, the 49ers lost some good players and a top coach. Detroit lost some big names and could easily drop back off. San Diego has consistently been an 8-9 win team for the last 5 years. Kansas City has improved over the last two years but was only 2 wins better than the Vikings last year. Chicago wasn’t stellar last year at 5-11. St. Louis was 6-10 last season. Atlanta was 6-10. Giants were 6-10.

So that’s what … 5 games where the Vikings are clearly underdogs? I wouldn’t say that for any of the other games.

[mondry]

definitely some tough teams on there but I also don't think SD, KC, OAK, ATL, or NYG will be much of a problem for us. Denver early in the year sucks, would hope to play them later after Peyton falls off like he always does so that's too bad. I don't think the 49ers will be a very strong team, Kaepernick is just a more athletic Ponder and have you guys seen how many of their good players just randomly retired?! We SPANKED st.louis last year and that will obviously be a different game but that should still be a win.

@Denver, @Arizona, @GB and home against SEA look like the most likely losses so I'll say 9-7 without Peterson, 11-5 with Peterson.

[PurpleMustReign]

19-0 boys and girls!!

Well, there are challenges on there just like every year. Some teams will struggle though, some unexpected ones because of injuries and whatnot. I expect the Raiders to be much better, and the Chargers will be tough.

[Texas Vike]

Definitely watching the first game outside on the 12ft screen! the weather is going to be perfect, already super stoked! everyones welcome... bring a tent hehe (Grand Rapids, MN).

Grand Rapids! Nice!

(Check your PMs)

[Mothman]

You never really know how these teams are going to play from one season to another. Green Bay and Seattle are the only teams on the list that I consider ‘consistent’. Denver with Manning at the helm I count as consistent as well. Arizona has been very good the last two years as well.

Otherwise, the 49ers lost some good players and a top coach. Detroit lost some big names and could easily drop back off. San Diego has consistently been an 8-9 win team for the last 5 years. Kansas City has improved over the last two years but was only 2 wins better than the Vikings last year. Chicago wasn’t stellar last year at 5-11. St. Louis was 6-10 last season. Atlanta was 6-10. Giants were 6-10.

So that’s what … 5 games where the Vikings are clearly underdogs? I wouldn’t say that for any of the other games.

In terms of being a clear underdog, that sounds about right, although I'd say it's probable they will be road underdogs against Detroit and Chicago. Depending on how everybody performs, it could obviously be more or less but I think they're probable underdogs in at least 7 games.

For me, one of the bigger reasons the schedule looks tough is simply that I'm still not convinced the Vikes themselves are very good. I hope they will be but flipping things around, at this point, how many games are on the schedule in which the Vikings would clearly be favorites? 3? 4? Quite a few of them could go either way...

As you said, we never really know how teams are going to play from one season to another so some of the tougher games on the schedule might be easy when they roll around and vice versa. That's part of the fun!