It’s been a long road, and the 5-10-1 Purple haven’t been looked upon kindly most of it.
As the 2013 regular season ends, the final rankings of the year are no different.
NFL.COM: No. 25 – “Finishing 5-10-1 hurts, but this is a team I can see rebounding in 2014. The young pieces in the secondary and at wide receiver are only going to get better, while Adrian Peterson, Kyle Rudolph and Harrison Smith — the nucleus — should come back healthy. Say this about former coach Leslie Frazier: He handled himself with class all the way. He has an interesting story, with his promising playing career as a starting corner for perhaps the greatest defense in NFL history cut short in Super Bowl XX thanks to a freak injury. He’s the real deal in terms of his overall NFL résumé; things just didn’t work out in Minnesota.”
ESPN: No. 24 – “Leslie Frazier is gone, but the Vikings still need a quarterback and a defense. Minnesota has had the worst Total QBR allowed since 2011 (67.4).”
CBS SPORTS: No. 24 – “Leslie Frazier is gone. Now what? Who plays quarterback?”
PRO FOOTBALL TALK: No. 25 – “They’re reportedly interested in the Broncos offensive coordinator. We didn’t know Peyton Manning wanted to go into coaching.”
YAHOO! SPORTS: No. 25 – “They’re starting over with a new coach, but there needs to be some urgency too. Adrian Peterson’s prime won’t last forever.”
That’s all for the power rankings, and we’re not too upset about it. So long depressing lists telling us how bad the Purple are, we are rid of you for nine months.
