Dan Orlovsky
In March, former Detroit Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky called the Minnesota Vikings a “sleeping team.”
Now, the QB-turned-ESPN-analyst has extended the previous one, Announcing the 2022 Vikings as a playoff team. He defended his case on Twitter.
All of Orlovsky’s statistics are accurate, and to be honest, he sounds like a lot of optimistic Vikings fans who have decided, just like the team’s leadership this offseason, Coaching 2021 was a big problem for the company.
Otherwise, the new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had a license to reconstruct the depth chart. But he did not.
Orlovsky has played 26 games as a professional, 12 of which have started with organizations such as the Lions, Texans, Colts and Buchanan. He now works for ESPN and has become arguably more popular as an analyst than a backup quarterback.
In the 2021 Vikings, yes, the team was plagued by close play, defensive crashes towards the end of the half, and a period of mild offensive playfulness. In that case, if the new coaching staff, led by Kevin O’Connell, fixes everything in one wide stroke, Minnesota will really reach post-season.
But O’Connell and Gang actually need to make the change work. For now, it’s all good, anti-Zimmer thing O’Connell’s honeymoon To be able to Bring — Still, will he?
Orlovsky’s prediction comes at a time when public opinion courts about the 2022 Vikings are changing. Following the NFL Draft, pundits largely agreed that Minnesota was close to the 21st-best team in football, an irresistible title for a franchise “all in” to make the playoffs. Also, the oddsmaker estimates the Vikings will win eight or nine games.
Earlier this week, however, ESPN released its annual Football Power Index – a metric derived from numbers rather than an individual eye test – and the Vikings are surprisingly 13th. In fact, if the ESPN FPI is fruitful, Minnesota will arrive in the post-season as the sixth seed of the NFC.
No such announcement has been made about the Vikings until recently – with the exception of Orlovsky’s original “Slipper” tweet.
Minnesota starts the 2022 regular season at home on September 11 against the Green Bay Packers.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to her daily YouTube channel, VikesNow. She Hosts a podcast With Bryant McKinney, which airs every Wednesday Raun Sai And Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking Fandom dates back to 1996. Listed Criminal Pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos’ and The Doors (Band).
