What Vikings Can Study from This 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl Groups

The 17-2 Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and the 17-3 Philadelphia Eagles will meet in Tremendous Bowl LIX on February 9 in New Orleans.

Two years in the past, these two groups performed within the large recreation in an thrilling Tremendous Bowl, and the Chiefs received 38-35. The Chiefs are searching for a first-ever Tremendous Bowl three-peat, whereas the Eagles have reclaimed the NFC title after a late-season hiccup final 12 months that noticed them lose six of their final seven video games, together with Tampa Bay’s elimination within the wildcard spherical.

What Vikings Can Study from This 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl Groups

The Vikings fell brief within the postseason after an excellent 14-win common season. What can the Vikings be taught from the Chiefs and Eagles’ 2024 season success as they attempt to return to the playoffs in 2025 and make a postseason run?

Classes for the Vikings to be taught from this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl groups:

1. Elite and cell quarterback play is required in stress video games: Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have been each excellent within the postseason, particularly within the convention title video games. Mahomes threw for 245 yards and one landing and rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns in opposition to Buffalo. He doesn’t run loads within the common season, however he undoubtedly does within the postseason to generate first downs and touchdowns. He’s nice at scrambling to purchase time after which discover a receiver.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports activities.

Hurts handed for 246 yards, one TD, and three dashing TDs in opposition to Washington. He had 70 dashing yards with one TD within the divisional spherical win over the Rams. He has ranked among the many prime dashing QBs in recent times (4 straight seasons with over 600 dashing yards and double-digit TDs—primarily by way of the Tush Push).

So, it’s not solely about passing productiveness within the playoffs. It’s additionally in regards to the quarterback’s means to purchase time to throw and his operating for key first downs and touchdowns.

After a superb common season (till the Detroit finale) that earned him a Professional Bowl choice with a 102.5 passer score, 212 dashing yards, and 23 first downs on the bottom, Sam Darnold produced a poor passer score of 77.6 as he took 9 sacks and rushed for less than 19 yards within the wildcard spherical loss to the Rams. That adopted a awful recreation with the No. 1 seed and NFC North title on the road in Detroit when Darnold persistently was late and inaccurate on his throws and ran for less than 10 yards.

After Darnold’s late-season flop, 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy will seemingly take over subsequent season. He was a clutch QB as a passer and runner at Michigan when he led the Wolverines to the 2023 nationwide title. The Vikings want him to remain wholesome, step up and turn into an elite QB who wins within the pressure-filled playoffs a la Mahomes and Hurts.

2. Robust offensive line play: Kansas Metropolis’s O-line led the way in which for a 135-yard dashing day, permitting solely two sacks in opposition to the Payments.

Denny Medley-Imagn Photos.

The Eagles have one of many league’s finest offensive traces to open holes for the league’s finest again—Saquon Barkley. Within the NFC title recreation, the Eagles had 229 dashing yards (6.4 common) with 118 yards, three TDs by Barkley, and a playoff record-tying seven dashing TDs. The road additionally protected Hurts effectively sufficient, with solely two sacks allowed.

Philly has invested a number of excessive draft picks within the offensive line, as have the Vikings, however Minnesota’s success has come at offensive sort out, with first-rounder Christian Darrisaw and second-rounder Brian O’Neill.

The Vikings’ drawback space is the inside O-line, the place an excessive amount of stress was generated—particularly within the final two video games—in opposition to guards Dalton Risner and Blake Brandel and middle Garrett Bradbury (who was a first-round decide in 2019 however is a mean middle at finest and infrequently struggles in opposition to robust inside move rushers, as was the case in opposition to the Rams). Ed Ingram, a second-round guard benched this season, seems headed towards bust standing.

The Vikings will need to have their wonderful tackles keep wholesome (they ended the Rams recreation with out each Darrisaw and O’Neill). The group should clearly fortify the inside offensive line by way of free company with their estimated $70 million in wage cap room this 12 months and presumably with their first-round decide (No. 24 general, the place there ought to be some wonderful guards to select from). It additionally will assist if their quarterback doesn’t maintain the ball too lengthy, as was the case with Darnold in opposition to the Rams, and may run successfully in opposition to playoff defenses (which they hope McCarthy is a quarterback who can try this).

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Photos

3. Win the turnover battle in playoff video games: after an everyday season by which the Vikings led the league with 33 takeaways and 24 interceptions, they got here up empty in opposition to the Rams whereas Darnold turned it over twice with an interception and misplaced fumble returned for a game-changing TD.

The Eagles’ protection pressured 4 Washington turnovers (one interception and three fumbles), whereas the Philly offense had no turnovers. That plus-four ratio was the important thing to a 55-23 blowout victory.

The Chiefs truly have been minus 1 on turnovers in opposition to the Payments with a Mahomes fumble early sufficient within the recreation that the Chiefs may overcome it. Kansas Metropolis had no turnovers of their divisional-round win over Houston.

Subsequent Week, I’ll make my Tremendous Bowl decide and provides a number of ideas on how the sport will go. I’ll additionally proceed with my Vikings offseason blueprint for a 2025 season that ends with a playoff run. Over the previous couple of weeks, I’ve made a number of observations on the keys to a greater end subsequent season, beginning with clutch quarterback play that was absent from Darnold’s final two video games.

Bob Donnan-Imagn Photos

I’ll get extra in-depth subsequent week as we study the various selections dealing with GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Coach Kevin O’Connell. Many key gamers will probably be heading to free company in the event that they’re not re-signed by March 12, the primary day of the 2025 league 12 months. I’ll additionally talk about potential targets for free-agent signings and the first-round decide.