Can'ts

The Minnesota Vikings have established a few "can't" in the last few years.

-They can't win division games.
-They can't win road games.
-They can't win games in prime time.
-They can't make the playoffs because they can't win the above games.

It's a rough road to success when you can't do any of the above. The Vikings hired Mike Zimmer after the 2013 season to change all of that. He started with the defense, his specialty, and that unit changed immediately. The Vikings defense was historically bad in 2013. That sad defense was better than respectable in 2014. It was much better than that last season. That defense went a long ways in turning the "can'ts" into "cans."

The most obvious change in the Vikings last season came in their division games. Instead of being pushed around by their division foes they did the pushing. They were the bullies. The Vikings swept the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. The Vikings split their two games with the reigning bully Green Bay Packers. Each team won at the other's house. The Vikings won the season finale in Lambeau to take the division title. They won a division game on the road. The sort of win for the sort of title that had been inconceivable in recent seasons. The Vikings were 5-1 in division games. They won the NFC North.

The Vikings were 5-3 on the road in 2015. They were 2-6 in 2014. That turnaround went a long way in bringing home the division title. In the previous five seasons it often seemed like the Vikings had lost before they even stepped on a field other than their own. That wasn't the case last year. They weren't intimidated.

Prime time games have mostly been ugly affairs for the Vikings in recent years. A prime time road game. Forget about it. Those games were often such disasters that many Vikings fans didn't even bother watching them. As with division games and road games prime time games were a different story in 2015. The Vikings were 2-2 in nationally televised prime time games. One of those losses was actually one of their better played games of the season. A hard-fought 23-20 Thursday night loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. The Vikings were in position to tie or win at the end of the game. In previous recent seasons they were often out of prime time game, especially prime time road games, before halftime.

The Vikings season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the one game that simply didn't fit with the rest of the season. A 20-3 loss and the game was much worse than the score. The Vikings played the game as if they thought that it was an extra preseason game. They didn't look ready for the game or the season. It was actually a little scary. Prime time road game. Was 2015 going to be more of the same? Can't do this. Can't do that. Fortunately the Vikings put that game behind them and 2015 became something different from the rest.

The Vikings have shown that they can win division games. They can win road games. They can win prime time games. They can win the NFC North. Their 2015 success will probably earn them more prime time games so they better win those games. There's still one "can't" that's followed the Vikings like a nasty, dark cloud for nearly a half century. They can't win a Super Bowl. That's the big "Can't" and this Vikings team has to show that they can. Repeatedly.