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The Vikings went to the NFC Championship Game after the 2017 season and then signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a big contract last offseason in a move that was seen as an attempt to take the final step up the ladder to the Super Bowl.

Things did not work out that way. The Vikings missed the playoffs and fired their offensive coordinator in the middle of the season after complaints from head coach Mike Zimmer about the lack of a capable run game. Kevin Stefanski became the offensive coordinator and the Vikings added former Broncos and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak to the staff last month as another offensive mind.

Stefanski said last week that he believes Kubiak’s history with Mike and Kyle Shanahan could help Cousins, who was drafted by Washington when Mike was the team’s head coach. The elder Shanahan agrees that it will be a good partnership, but said the Vikings need work elsewhere to make strides in 2018.

“Both guys are very easy to work with, both are extremely bright, have great work ethics and I think both will work together perfectly,” Shanahan said, via Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You have the right [quarterback] there. Not everybody can see that, but hopefully when they get him a supporting cast, people will see that.”

Shanahan called the offensive line one area that needs to improve and that view is shared by plenty of others that watched the Vikings in 2018. They’ll get a chance to start addressing that area when the new league year gets underway next month.