MINNEAPOLIS -- The outlook for Minnesota Vikings' 2016 season, at least in these pristine months before injuries and agonizing defeats can take their toll, is as optimistic as any the team has had since the previous decade. That flows, to some extent, from the projected opening of U.S. Bank Stadium -- the Vikings' $1.1 billion home in downtown Minneapolis -- this August. But it also stems from the hope that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater can take a real step forward in his third season and help revitalize the league's 31st-ranked passing game.
Those two threads might be more closely linked than one would think.