Believe it or not, we are a little over two months away from getting our first real glimpse of the 2015 Vikings in their preseason opener.
The Vikings, as you surely recall, will be kicking off the preseason against the Steelers in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 9. And that means they will get an extra preseason game this year, playing five instead of four.
While an extra game means 60 more minutes during which injuries can occur, the Vikings think the extra preseason game is a good thing. General Manager Rick Spielman said at the scouting combine in February that getting that fifth game will be especially beneficial for young players.
"We thought it was a great opportunity for this team to go down to Mankato a week early and get an opportunity for those guys to play an extra preseason game because mostly you're going to play your starters minimal at most," he said. "It I think really aids in their development."
But how have teams that recently played in the Hall of Fame Game (then four other preseason games) fared in the regular season?
I took a look at the 20 teams that played in the Hall of Fame Game over the past decade. Not many have gone on to have great success that season.
Those teams averaged 7.3 wins. Only four of them made the playoffs, with no one accomplishing that feat since the Colts in 2008. In fact, only one team, the 9-7 Bills last season, has had a winning record since those Colts.
In those teams' previous seasons, they won an average of 8.4 games. Six teams, including Mike Zimmer's 2010 Bengals, went from a playoff team the previous season to plummeting out of playoff contention the next.
