Minnesota Vikings' Playoff Push Begins Sunday Against Rams

With five wins in their first seven games, the Minnesota Vikings have positioned themselves to make a serious run for the postseason in 2015. 

Now comes the tough part.

And it starts Sunday.

The Vikings host the St. Louis Rams in Week 9, a matchup kicking off a brutal final nine games for the NFC's current No. 6 seed. The 4-3 Rams sit in the No. 7 spot, making Sunday's showdown a potentially important one for seeding purposes later in the season. 

NFL teams always preach taking one game at a time, but the Vikings' schedule in the second half makes it hard to not put extra weight on every winnable opportunity. 

According to ESPN Stats and Information, via ESPN.com's Ben Goessling, Minnesota faces the NFL's most difficult schedule over the final nine weeks of 2015. The Vikings' final eight opponents (Minnesota plays the Green Bay Packers twice) have a combined winning percentage of .627. 

Among the final eight are the Packers (6-1), Arizona Cardinals (6-2) and New York Giants (4-4), three teams currently leading their respective divisions. The Rams, Oakland Raiders (4-3), Atlanta Falcons (6-2) and Seattle Seahawks (4-4) are all at .500 or better.

Minnesota's only remaining game against a team without a winning record is against the Chicago Bears (2-5) in Week 15. Two weeks later, the Vikings go to Lambeau Field to finish the season against the Packers.  

Date	Opponent	Record
Sunday	vs. STL	4-3
11/15	at OAK	4-3
11/22	vs. GB	6-1
11/29	at ATL	6-2
12/6	vs. SEA	4-4
12/10	at ARI	6-2
12/20	vs. CHI	2-5
12/27	vs. NYG	4-4
1/3	at GB	6-1

The gauntlet will either prove Minnesota as a legitimate contender or expose Mike Zimmer's team as a pretender. The head coach says it's all a process. 

"I talked to the football team a long time ago and I continue to talk to them about there’s four learns in football," Zimmer said Monday, per Vikings.com. "First you learn how to compete, then you learn how to win, then you learn how to handle winning and then you learn how to be a champion."

Zimmer thinks his team is somewhere between learning how to win and handling winning.

The Vikings are certainly winning—Minnesota has five wins in six games since losing by 17 points in San Francisco to start the season—but it hasn't always been pretty. The team's victories have come against teams with a combined 9-30 record, counting the 1-7 Detroit Lions twice. Minnesota beat the 3-5 Kansas City Chiefs by six points and the 2-5 Chicago Bears by three. 

The Vikings also nearly came back and beat the undefeated Broncos (7-0) in Denver. 

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

There are no style points and no moral victories in the NFL. 

"You look at it both ways, but the most important thing is we’re winning and that’s all that matters," quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said Wednesday, per Vikings.com. "I know that there’s some opportunities that we’re leaving out there that we have to take advantage of."

Minnesota's tough schedule can also be viewed two ways.

The Vikings will likely need five wins over the final nine games to feel comfortable about a playoff spot. While the quality of their opponents won't make it easy to reach the 10-win mark, facing the Rams and Seahawks—two teams currently behind the Vikings in the standings—will provide a chance to get a win over two clubs likely to compete with Minnesota for the two wild-card spots in the NFC. 

Shooting too low? Two matchups with the Packers—who have won the division four years running—give the Vikings a real opportunity to take the crown from the NFC North kings. 

Either the Vikings will embrace the challenge of playing a few of the league's top teams or crumble under the pressure. 

The Rams might not be considered one of the NFL's heavyweights, and Minnesota beat St. Louis on the road by 28 points in Zimmer's first regular-season game as a head coach last September. But there figures to be nothing easy for the Vikings on Sunday.

Rookie running back Todd Gurley has ignited the Rams offense, and the St. Louis defense features difference-makers at every level. Zimmer sees some of his own team in the Rams. 

"They’re a good football team, similar to us I think in some ways," Zimmer said. "They’re very good defensively, they run the ball extremely well, put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, so it’ll be a good test for us."

The Rams are allowing 17.9 points per game, including just 12 total over the last two games. St. Louis also has 26 total sacks. The challenge will be the Minnesota offense's most difficult since playing the Broncos' No. 1-ranked scoring defense in early October. Bridgewater had this to say about St. Louis:

"

They’re similar to Denver, but each team is different. Those guys have a ton of depth up front. Like I said, they’re playing some sound football right now. They have guys who can come in off of the bench and make plays for them, get around the quarterback. They’re great in their run fits. We know that this is a stingy defense.

"

A win Sunday would knock the Rams back to .500, keep Minnesota within the top six in the NFC and put more pressure on the Packers, who must go on the road to play the unbeaten Carolina Panthers. By day's end, the two teams could be in a dead heat at 6-2 in the NFC North. 

A loss wouldn't be the end of the world, but Minnesota can't afford too many slip-ups, especially at home. The Vikings finish with five of nine games at TCF Bank Stadium, where Minnesota is 3-0 this season. 

The first seven weeks have revealed the Vikings as a good football team. Winning five games in seven tries isn't easy. But the jury remains out on just how good Zimmer's club is in 2015.

Sunday's showdown with St. Louis should be the start of the answer. The Vikings' push to the postseason officially begins now. 

Zach Kruse covers the Vikings for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2