8 Things the Minnesota Vikings Must Do to Make the Playoffs

The Minnesota Vikings finished in the basement of the NFC North last year, but the year before the Vikings were in the NFC Championship game and had the taste of the Super Bowl in their mouths. With the exception of a certain No. 4, most of the key players are still intact from 2009, so some hope still remains for the Vikings.

The NFC North is one of the toughest divisions in football and even finishing last didn't give the Vikes a cupcake of a schedule, but there are just a couple of things the purple need to do to return to the playoffs.

You Really Got a Hold on Me

The Minnesota Vikings had seven fumbles last year and only one fell out of the hands of Adrian Peterson. In 2009, Peterson had six fumbles, which led all running backs in fumbles. In 2008, he had nine fumbles, which led the whole league. Peterson must hold on to the ball like he did last year if the Vikings want a chance to make it back to the playoffs.

Flashing Lights

The Vikings scored 281 points last year. Only the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers scored fewer. To put it in perspective, the New England Patriots led the league with 518 points.

I don’t know if it means that the purple need to give the rock to Peterson more, air it out to Percy Harvin more or have Antoine Winfield block more fields goals and run in them in more, but the Vikes need to find a way to put more points on the scoreboard.

Get Your Head in the Game

Percy Harvin is to migraines what the Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau is to concussion-like symptoms: They always seem to have them. If the Vikings want to return to the playoffs Harvin needs to stay on the field—both the game field and the practice field (because practice does make perfect).

Now that Sidney Rice has up and gone to the Seattle Seahawks, it looks like Harvin will be more of a focal point of the offense, and with his explosiveness he should be. He just has to stay healthy.

Skip a Rope

Jared Allen is known for his calf-roping celebration after he records a sack, but he didn't get to celebrate as much last year. Allen had 11 sacks, his lowest title as a Viking and his lowest since 2006 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

If Minnesota wants to make the playoffs, Allen must return to form and get back to the 14.5 sacks per season he had in his first two years in purple.

Throw It Up

Sidney Rice is gone and so is the Vikings' main receiving threat. Someone must step up to be the deep threat to lead this team to the playoffs. Be it Percy Harvin’s coming out party, Bernard Berrain finally proving himself, or new-addition Michael Jenkins—someone must be the go-to wideout.

Flaunt It

Tight ends aren't something a team usually brags about, but the Vikings definitely should. The Vikings already had Visanthe Shiancoe and Jimmy Kleinsasser (the longest tenured pro athlete in the Twin Cities, he’s played with the Vikings since 1999), but the Vikings still thought they could upgrade by drafting Kyle Rudolph.

If the Vikes want to make the playoffs they need to be accustomed to two tight end sets, using the abilities of Shiancoe and former Notre Dame TE Rudolph’s abilities.

Get Back

The Vikings had a drop-off at quarterback last year, going from the best year of Brett Favre’s career to one of his worst. Donovan McNabb had probably the worst year of his career, too. If the Vikings want a shot at the playoffs McNabb needs to play a lot closer to the 104.7 QB rating he had in 2004 than the 77.1 he had last year.

To put it another way, McNabb has to be closer to leading the Vikes to the Super Bowl than holding a clipboard.

Back to December

Vs. Denver, at Detroit, vs. New Orleans, at Washington.

That’s the Vikings' opponents in the month of December; the Vikings must go 3-1 if they want to secure a playoff spot. The Vikings should be able to beat the by-then-probably-led-by-Tim Tebow Broncos and the Washington Redskins, but the middle two games are rough.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT, sleep on the Detroit Lions.

Celebration?

If the Vikings can accomplish all of these things—and with a little help from the football gods—the Vikings may be celebrating a NFC North Division Championship.

Possibly more? Probably not, but hey, who thought the Metrodome would collapse?