Before the 2015 NFL season began, the Vikings were picked by many as a surprise playoff team.

Those kinds of sleeper picks often disappoint, but the Vikings are 10-5 with their playoff slot already clinched. Not only do they have a wild-card spot locked up, they have a chance to win the Black and Blue Division for the first time since 2009 with a head-to-head matchup Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

The Vikings are winning because they are built as a complete team at every level of the organization.

Look at the quarterback performances from last weekend.

Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers was trounced by Carson Palmer, 38-8. Ben Roethlisberger, who leads the league in passing yardage, was defeated by Ryan Mallett, who was out of football until just two weeks ago. Four-time Super Bowl champion and two-time MVP Tom Brady lost to journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick. And, as we all saw, two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning lost to Teddy Bridgewater.

The moral of the story is simple: Teams win, individuals do not. It’s a myth to think that quarterbacks are the end-all, be-all of football, the ultimate team sport.

I didn’t play in any championship games in my first six years in Minnesota or during the five years I spent in New York. But when I returned to the Vikings in 1972, everything changed. We won six straight division championships, went to three Super Bowls — and should have gone to five — and generally had great success by any measure.

I was the same quarterback, just a little older — and in the right situation, playing for a great team. The Vikings had a great defense, a great offensive line, great coaches, a great organization, a great culture. Everything was in sync from the owners to the equipment manager, Stubby Eason.

A lot of the focus for the Vikings’ successes and failures is put on Bridgewater, and while he’s certainly making great progress — especially these past few weeks — he could not be playing at this level without the great team around him. He has great running backs, a defense playing out of their minds and great coaches.

The organization is stable and has ownership that hires football men to run the team and gives them the power to build the roster and coach the team the way they see fit. That’s not true of every team in the NFL, yet it’s a winning formula.

So as we head toward the playoffs, we all want to know who will win the Super Bowl. Obviously nobody knows for sure. It’s not a lock for anybody. I think Arizona may be the favorite right now, but why not us?

Winning requires being strong in all the fundamentals. You have to run the ball well on offense, stop the run on defense. You have to protect your quarterback and knock down the other one. Who is better than the Vikings in those areas? I think they match up favorably with any team.

The Vikings have met, if not exceeded, the expectations of most of the “experts” this year, but that doesn’t mean they should be content with just a wild-card appearance or even a division championship. This team has all the pieces in place — the talent, the culture, the organization, the overall sense of team — to do a lot more than that. Why can’t they win some playoff games? Why can’t they advance to the Super Bowl?

Why can’t they win the whole thing?

In sports, you can’t write the script. Nobody can predict the ending. But why not us?

This Vikings team is built to last. They’re good now, and they have the foundation to get better for a long time. Skol Vikings.

Fran Tarkenton is a Minnesota Vikings analyst for TwinCities.com and the Pioneer Press. A former Vikings quarterback and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is the founder and CEO of Tarkenton Companies and the author of the new book “The Power of Failure.” Follow him at twitter.com/Fran_Tarkenton.