Do they control their destiny? That's a little metaphysical. Can they control making the playoffs? Yes. In fact, nothing less should be acceptable for the folks at Winter Park.
It was easy, and proper, to offer Mike Zimmer and the Vikings excuses at this time last year.
They had lost their Hall of Fame running back, starting tight end, planned starting quarterback and free-agent defensive tackle to, respectively, a 15-game suspension, injuries and a gunshot wound.
They were forced to spend Zimmer’s first year as head coach developing a rookie quarterback they hadn’t intended to take while installing new offensive and defensive systems on a team that had finished 5-10-1 the previous year.