Former Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph was a part of some solid teams during his 10-year stint with the team.

Rudolph was one of the steadiest contributors during his tenure with the Vikings, posting two Pro Bowl bids (2012 and 2017) with the last one coming during a season in which Minnesota advanced to the NFC Championship Game. The season is best known for the “Minneapolis Miracle” which saw the Vikings win on a walk-off play in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The former veteran tight end is seeing something similar unfold in Minnesota this season with the 11-2 Vikings.

“No, I’m not surprised,” Rudolph says in a one-on-one interview when asked about the team’s success this season in their first year without Kirk Cousins. “When you look at the way they’ve built that team, a couple years into a new regime with a new GM, a new head coach, ultimately you have to go out and build things a certain way.

“The Vikings roster is just not built to have a $45 million quarterback,” Rudolph continues to say. “And to go out and get their guy in Sam Darnold, who Kevin O’Connell believed in and knew could get his best football out of him, is a perfect fit for that.”

Rudolph actually teamed with Cousins to help lead the Vikings to their last playoff win back in 2019. Minnesota had actually missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons, leading to the Vikings moving on from their four-time Pro Bowl quarterback after six seasons with the franchise.

He also makes sure to give compliments to the defensive unit led by Brian Flores. They entered Week 14 ranked fifth in the NFL in points allowed per game and second in turnovers forced.

“When you add high quarterback play to all of the skill players they have on offense, a really good offensive line and then a defense that I’ve played against before — Brian Flores defenses — it’s a nightmare to go against,” says Rudolph. “You don’t know if they’re coming, if they’re going, if they’re dropping in coverage, if they’re bringing everybody.

“He just makes it so difficult on offenses and when you look at that defense, you see the pieces they’ve added,” Rudolph continues to say. “Now in Brian Flores’ second year as the coordinator, he’s able to put these pieces together and they’re really playing at a high level.”

The Vikings have clearly been overshadowed by the 12-1 Detroit Lions, who have the best record in the NFC and are seen as the best team in the NFL. It also doesn’t help that Minnesota came up short in their 31-29 loss to the Detroit back in Week 7 for their first loss of the season.

Rudolph reveals the key to the Vikings enjoying a deep playoff run — winning the division to get a home playoff game.

“It’s getting that NFC North championship to have a home playoff game,” says Rudolph. “I think that is the key for them this year to make a deep run. I think if you have to go on the road as a wild card team, you’re going to go either the NFC South or the NFC West. Neither one of those divisions are really scary all that much.”

The 35-year-old former tight end says the Vikings could get a win as a wild card in the first round, but then they’re essentially toast if they have to go on the road against either the Lions or the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles.

“I think you get a win in the first round, but then now you have to turn around and go to Detroit or you go to possibly Philly,” says Rudolph. “I think having that where you get a home playoff game and then you go to the higher seed of the two, you don’t have to turn around and go to the one seed coming off of a bye. I think that’s what important for them to make it deeper.”

The former two-time Pro Bowl tight end stresses that the Vikings need to remain within a game of the Lions before traveling to Detroit for the Week 18 season finale.

“I think when you look at it, they need to stay within one game of the Lions, because they go to Detroit later this month,” says Rudolph. “You certainly would much rather have the opportunity maybe in the first round by having a home playoff game instead of going on the road in the NFC. You look at the NFC with the Eagles and Lions and the Commanders are tough. The NFC is just very top heavy and you don’t want to go on the road and have to go through these opponents multiple weeks in a row.”

Rudolph will obviously be rooting for his former team to clinch their division and advance deep in the playoffs. He actually had the opportunity at a recent home game — the team’s 23-22 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 — to cheer them on. During their “Salute To Service Game,” Rudolph surprised two local veterans with Polaris RZRs during halftime at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Polaris RZR is also featured in Season 01 of Call of Duty: Warzone. Current Vikings players such as Pat Jones II and Ivan Pace Jr. actually played the game with the two veterans that Rudolph surprised with Polaris RZRs.

“To see these guys, who are ultimately huge gamers too, and the Polaris RZR is in Call of Duty, they got to go play video games with a couple Minnesota Vikings players talking about how cool the game was,” says Rudolph. “You see their guys hopping in the RZR on the game, and then ultimately, for the Vikings guys to come on and tell both of these men, ‘Hey, turn around, there’s the RZR right there, and it’s yours.’ It was super cool to see the look on their face, the sheer disbelief that it was theirs, that they were getting to take them home. It was really special.”

Rudolph details just how emotional the two Marines became when they found out they were taking home the Polaris RZRs.

“To see two Marines that are the baddest dudes on the planet get emotional over the fact that they got something so cool around the holiday season, It was really special for me to a part of,” says Rudolph.