2021 Vikings Season Thread

[Mike Sixel]

47 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

That's really, really surprising.

Not because the front seven are playing well, just because the secondary is getting roasted so badly I don't know why the other team would ever bother running the football.

Blessed if you do, blessed if you don't!

[cHawk]

If there isn’t a turnaround this season, Spielman needs to walk. He’s the reason the team is in the position they’re in.

And frankly, I don’t trust him hiring the next HC, when the time (likely) comes.

[nicksaviking]

Seems like most teams who hit it out of the park with their head coach end up doing so with the hot-shot du jour. But the odds of nailing the choice is no better than 50/50. But looking at the recent successful hot-shot du jours, almost all are innovative offensive coaches. Or at least offensive coaches. Vrabel in Tennessee seems to be the only defensive focused coach to do well in his first stint as a HC. Though his team's defense isn't any good and their offense now looks questionable since his OC left.

[TheLeviathan]

6 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Seems like most teams who hit it out of the park with their head coach end up doing so with the hot-shot du jour. But the odds of nailing the choice is no better than 50/50. But looking at the recent successful hot-shot du jours, almost all are innovative offensive coaches. Or at least offensive coaches. Vrabel in Tennessee seems to be the only defensive focused coach to do well in his first stint as a HC. Though his team's defense isn't any good and their offense now looks questionable since his OC left.

It's why I am riding the Dabol bandwagon.  I love everything about his resume.

[Vanimal46]

Daboll will no doubt be the most coveted HC candidate after this season. I’d prefer a young offensive mind as well. Joe Brady from Carolina is going to be a HC soon with a solid resume.

If they do go with a defensive HC, I wouldn’t mind Todd Bowles who has turned the Bucs into a powerhouse. Teams just give up attempting to run the ball against them. I think he should get a 2nd chance at HC since no one succeeds as the Jets coach. 

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Daboll will no doubt be the most coveted HC candidate after this season. I’d prefer a young offensive mind as well. Joe Brady from Carolina is going to be a HC soon with a solid resume.

If they do go with a defensive HC, I wouldn’t mind Todd Bowles who has turned the Bucs into a powerhouse. Teams just give up attempting to run the ball against them. I think he should get a 2nd chance at HC since no one succeeds as the Jets coach. 

I like Daboll. I dunno about Bowles, he flunked out in his first try with the Jets. While the organization made him look worse than he really was, he still strikes me as a guy who is best used as a defensive coordinator, like Zimmer. I'd rather opt for offensive stability by hiring an offensive-minded HC.

I wouldn't be completely close-minded to a defensive-oriented HC - a good example is the Chargers' Brandon Staley, who got the job over Daboll. He's ensured their offense has been as aggressive as humanly possible, and it's working. And it's not like the up-and-coming OC is a surefire hit, as we could easily get trapped with the next Matt Nagy.

[Vanimal46]

10 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I like Daboll. I dunno about Bowles, he flunked out in his first try with the Jets. While the organization made him look worse than he really was, he still strikes me as a guy who is best used as a defensive coordinator, like Zimmer. I'd rather opt for offensive stability by hiring an offensive-minded HC.

I wouldn't be completely close-minded to a defensive-oriented HC - a good example is the Chargers' Brandon Staley, who got the job over Daboll. He's ensured their offense has been as aggressive as humanly possible, and it's working. And it's not like the up-and-coming OC is a surefire hit, as we could easily get trapped with the next Matt Nagy.

Bowles won’t be the top candidate to go after, but I like how he’s revolutionized the Bucs defense. Their stars are at LB and they wreak havoc on opposing offenses. 

If we do go offensive coordinator types, they need to have experience calling plays. I think Bienemy may be another Matt Nagy/Brad Childress type of coach. We could go really young and lock in Kellen Moore from the Cowboys. Only 33 years old! 

[Mike Sixel]

Does Zimmer know you can go for it, and not kick short field goals?

[cHawk]

14 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Does Zimmer know you can go for it, and not kick short field goals?

Eh, it was early in the game. Take the points. Also, Carolina has a really good DL.

[Mike Sixel]

46 minutes ago, cHawk said:

Eh, it was early in the game. Take the points. Also, Carolina has a really good DL.

Not me. Be aggressive or go home. Plus, it's a pattern..... No matter the d

[nicksaviking]

I’m disappointed in the O Line.

For about the 150th game in a row.

[cHawk]

38 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I’m disappointed in the O Line.

For about the 150th game in a row.

The penalties have been far too many.

[cHawk]

How many penalties has Udoh had? Holy ****.

[nicksaviking]

Unbelievable. Why can’t the offense and defense ever both operate at a professional level at the same time?

[Mike Sixel]

Cousins did his job, again. If everyone played as well as him, this team wouldn't lose. 

[cHawk]

Zimmer can’t be fired fast enough!

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, cHawk said:

Zimmer can’t be fired fast enough!

Two years too late for me. 

[TheLeviathan]

I'm still not sure what to make of this team.

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

I'm still not sure what to make of this team.

Great QB, RB, WR. Mediocre everything else. 

[Danchat]

What an infuriating game, 570 yards of offense, yet they had to win in overtime. The Panthers' offense was an abomination, with Darnold making continuous mistakes and his receivers somehow playing even worse. Getting to 3-3 after starting 0-2 is nice, but our schedule is as tough as needles going forward. They must play better than this if they want to stay in the playoff picture.

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, Danchat said:

What an infuriating game, 570 yards of offense, yet they had to win in overtime. The Panthers' offense was an abomination, with Darnold making continuous mistakes and his receivers somehow playing even worse. Getting to 3-3 after starting 0-2 is nice, but our schedule is as tough as needles going forward. They must play better than this if they want to stay in the playoff picture.

who wins if the Panthers' best player plays? I don't know....but it sure helped.

[Vanimal46]

Great teams don’t continue putting themselves in this kind of spot blowing leads late in the 4th quarter. I give Kirk a lot of credit for leading the charge and setting the team up for another game winning FG… which Joseph shanked to the right. 

Weird, we finally started our 1st round LT and it looked like he belonged. Must be because we “eased” him in last week eh? Maybe next week Wyatt Davis will get a chance to wear a uniform and take Udoh’s spot. 

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

who wins if the Panthers' best player plays? I don't know....but it sure helped.

I think they do, since he probably draws many targets that their awful WRs dropped. Their offense is a different unit when he's out there.

[cHawk]

24 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Great teams don’t continue putting themselves in this kind of spot blowing leads late in the 4th quarter. I give Kirk a lot of credit for leading the charge and setting the team up for another game winning FG… which Joseph shanked to the right. 

Weird, we finally started our 1st round LT and it looked like he belonged. Must be because we “eased” him in last week eh? Maybe next week Wyatt Davis will get a chance to wear a uniform and take Udoh’s spot. 

Would much rather see him take Bradbury’s spot

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

What an infuriating game, 570 yards of offense, yet they had to win in overtime. The Panthers' offense was an abomination, with Darnold making continuous mistakes and his receivers somehow playing even worse. Getting to 3-3 after starting 0-2 is nice, but our schedule is as tough as needles going forward. They must play better than this if they want to stay in the playoff picture.

Here's the thing, if you ignore that last drive for 96 yards.....the defense played a damn good game.  They created turnovers, pressured the QB, and generally played ok run defense.  That last drive was infuriating for sure, but overall the defense continues to do it's job to help a team win.  And yet....there they were nearly blowing it on the last possession.

The offense moves the ball at will some drives, sputters too often inside the 10, still puts up a bunch of points, but also went 3 and out too often and wasted opportunities.  It's a good unit most of the time....and yet....they can't seem to engineer that drive that puts things away until the last moment.  That game should've been over several times had they finished it.

Special teams cost us 7 today but also had a nice return, some really nice punts, but also missed FGs..  

They are so bi-polar I can't get a read on what to expect of them.  They should be 4-2 or even 5-1, but 3-3 seems fitting considering how hard they make it on themselves.  I really like by Christmas they are probably a 7-7 team with the same frustrations.

That said, there is a lot of weirdness out there in the NFL.  

[nicksaviking]

13 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Here's the thing, if you ignore that last drive for 96 yards.....the defense played a damn good game. 

 

Yeah, except playing well until the last drive is becoming common place with this team. 

And if you're running a conservative offense and won't run the score up on anyone, that's a pretty big problem.

[Vanimal46]

I don’t think the Vikings are a special team, but 6 weeks in I think they are a wild card team. I still think Tampa Bay is the class of the conference. Arizona and LA look like solid contenders to take down TB. Green Bay is winning on smoke and mirrors, and Dallas is always prime for a late season melt down. 

Then there’s a bunch of flawed 3-3 and 2-4 teams. Honestly, Minnesota looks the best out of that bunch (Panthers, Bears, 49ers, Falcons, Eagles, WFT). 

[TheLeviathan]

5 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, except playing well until the last drive is becoming common place with this team. 

And if you're running a conservative offense and won't run the score up on anyone, that's a pretty big problem.

Yeah, it's annoying and I've always hated how Zimmer's defenses, even when good, never feel dominant.  Nevertheless, they kicked that offense's ass for 3 and 3/4 quarters.  Short of a bunch of stupid special teams and turnover issues that game never would've been close.

[LVTwinsfan]

Having a kicker would help, misses field goals and ep’s every week. 2 field goals and an ep missed against the Panthers. Still, with that offensive performance they should have scored 50 points.

[cHawk]

I think we’re seeing rn just how hard it is to sustain consistent dominance for years like Brady and Belichick did. We all thought KC would. They now look like a Divisional Round loss at best with that defense.