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The loss of Percy Harvin is a major blow for this team. Add that to Adrian Peterson needing to follow up his record season with the team again on his back, and you have a recipe for a few steps backward. Both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers continue to be playoff caliber teams and Detroit, if they can ever find consistency, can hang with any team in the league when they play up to their talent level. See my full analysis below, after this funny video starring Adrian Peterson and other NFL greats.
22. Minnesota Vikings (2012 Record: 10-6)
The Vikings absolutely slayed it on draft day, getting tremendous value and talent with each of their first four picks. By all accounts, they should be an improved football team ... and they are. The thing is, Adrian Peterson carried this team well beyond their actual talent level last year and I sincerely doubt he will come anywhere near his level of beastliness for a second consecutive season.
Which means, the slack will need to be picked up by Christian Ponder. I think Ponder had a pretty good season in 2012 as he was able to check down his way to a 62% completion rate. However, the biggest question mark is how will he do when teams don't have to put nine players in the box to try and stop a man possessed every down?
Add that to being in one of the more competitive divisions and I think the Vikings drop a few more games in 2013 than they did the year prior.