The Vikings are one of seven NFL teams without a victory in its division. But they'll have plenty of chances to correct that problem coming out of this week's bye.
"I think four of our next seven are division games," said General Manager Rick Spielman, who thought correctly. "So it will be interesting to see where we were when we played those division games early and how much our team has progressed as we head into this last stretch of the season."
The Vikings come out of the bye with NFC North games at Chicago and back home against Green Bay. They play at Detroit on Dec. 14 and finish the season at home against the Bears on Dec. 28.
The Vikings are 4-5 with a two-game winning streak, but went 0-2 while being overmatched in division losses to the Packers (42-10) at Lambeau Field and the Lions (17-3) at home in Weeks 5-6. Christian Ponder and Teddy Bridgewater were sacked a total of 14 times in the two losses.
"I know the potential and how much more growth this team has just because of the youth on this football team," Spielman said. "You're seeing those steps taken week in and week out. We're improving, but we're not anywhere near where we're potentially going to be down the road."
The other teams without a division victory are the Jets (0-2), Jaguars (0-2), Raiders (0-1), Bears (0-1), Buccaneers (0-3) and defending champion Seahawks (0-1).
THIRD-AND-2
Three observations
• With four wins, the Texans have doubled last year's victory total. Cleveland and Washington have matched or exceeded their totals, while the Vikings (4-5) and Bills (5-3) each need one to match.
• With five defeats, the Panthers have surpassed last year's loss total of four. The Jets (1-8), Seahawks (5-3) and 49ers (4-4) have matched their totals from last year.
