2021 Vikings Season Thread

[RpR]

Now I could not watch the game last night as the other half actually decided to watch TV so we watched the Yellowstone final and a repeat of 1883 preview.

From the stats. I have seen, and I did have the computer on watching the ESPN site for for after the fact live stats, during the second half., and please do start on the , I hate Mannion , drivel that sounds silly, WHERE was the running game.

Mannion was top Vikings rusher, and Zimmer thinks they should have run MORE, (I am guessing he did want any touch-downs at all.); did Zimmer have Mannion throwing any long passes before the game was out of hand?

With the defense the Viking seem to have, they should have started the Taxi squad.

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

I think keeping Cousins will be a big slap in the face to the fans and the remaining players. I think they just bite the bullet and cut him. The cap isn't going to be an issue if they are rebooting this thing anyway.

They’re not cutting Cousins when his salary is 100% guaranteed, leaving $45M dead on the salary. 
 

I do think there will be some interest in Cousins on the trade market, as I think we’ll see a lot of musical chairs moving at the QB spot. With Rodgers looking more likely to stay in GB, that drives up the demand for teams like Denver and Cleveland. Even Carr and Garoppolo could get moved for something. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

They’re not cutting Cousins when his salary is 100% guaranteed, leaving $45M dead on the salary. 
 

I do think there will be some interest in Cousins on the trade market, as I think we’ll see a lot of musical chairs moving at the QB spot. With Rodgers looking more likely to stay in GB, that drives up the demand for teams like Denver and Cleveland. Even Carr and Garoppolo could get moved for something. 

They're paying him either way though. If he's just going to be a distraction, why would they want him around messing with the rebuild when they clearly aren't going to do anything meaningful next year?

Carr and Garoppolo may not be as good as Cousins (maybe), but from the sound of it, teammates really like those guys. Why would any team want Cousins, who's only minimally better (again, maybe) instead of those kinds of QBs who are far, far cheaper and less of a head case?

[Mike Sixel]

18 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

They're paying him either way though. If he's just going to be a distraction, why would they want him around messing with the rebuild when they clearly aren't going to do anything meaningful next year?

Carr and Garoppolo may not be as good as Cousins (maybe), but from the sound of it, teammates really like those guys. Why would any team want Cousins, who's only minimally better (again, maybe) instead of those kinds of QBs who are far, far cheaper and less of a head case?

Why is Carr moving on? 

[TheLeviathan]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

And doesn't complain about abandoning the running game when the other team has nine defenders in the box all game long.

It's way worse than that.  Green bay frequently had 7 in the box and Kenny Clark was singlehandedly blowing everything up.  At one point, Collinsworth even stopped to show that GB was inviting them to run and they still couldn't do it. 

I'm pretty sure they could've played 1 DL and 10 DBs and still shut down the run the way he was playing.  Zimmer whining about not running enough was so inexplicable given what was happening on the field.  So he wants to run us into a 3rd and 12 where we have to pass?  The hell?

[TheLeviathan]

23 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

They're paying him either way though. If he's just going to be a distraction, why would they want him around messing with the rebuild when they clearly aren't going to do anything meaningful next year?

Carr and Garoppolo may not be as good as Cousins (maybe), but from the sound of it, teammates really like those guys. Why would any team want Cousins, who's only minimally better (again, maybe) instead of those kinds of QBs who are far, far cheaper and less of a head case?

Cousins gets a lot of vocal support from his teammates.  For whatever that's worth.

[RpR]

I finally did some searching for threads on the Vikings and see that once again penalties stopped the Vikings when it seemed they might get some traction; if Zimmer is back next year it will be same old, same old but the Vikings have a lot more problems than Zimmer or quarter-back.

Way back in the sixties, Bud Grant once said -- Offense brings in fans, Defense wins games .

[nicksaviking]

10 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Why is Carr moving on? 

I would guess he's not, but both Rodgers and Wilson have shown interest in playing in Vegas.

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, RpR said:

I finally did some searching for threads on the Vikings and see that once again penalties stopped the Vikings when it seemed they might get some traction; if Zimmer is back next year it will be same old, same old but the Vikings have a lot more problems than Zimmer or quarter-back.

Way back in the sixties, Bud Grant once said -- Offense brings in fans, Defense wins games .

Pretty sure the world has changed since the 60s. When did a team with a bad offense last dominate for year after year? But yes, many problems in addition to the coaching, imo.

[gunnarthor]

Having seen Bradbury's play, I'm not sure letting him play TE, blocking FB, etc isn't a bad idea every now and then. Faster than i would have thought. 

 

 

[Vanimal46]

What was your favorite Kyle Sloter moment? Also, who’s going to play tackle now?

[Mike Sixel]

12 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

What was your favorite Kyle Sloter moment? Also, who’s going to play tackle now?

Can they forfeit? Maybe cancel the game and call it a tie?

My son needs a MN win or SEA loss to win a bet (not sure what happens with the oppo.....then they have the same record). But, I just can't root for a MN win given draft position value....

[gunnarthor]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

What was your favorite Kyle Sloter moment? Also, who’s going to play tackle now?

Good grief. Hopefully, they can get through protocols in time. Slotting in three new O-Line starters against the Bears would be really, really bad. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

What was your favorite Kyle Sloter moment? Also, who’s going to play tackle now?

You say that like Left Tackles don't grow on trees.

[RpR]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Pretty sure the world has changed since the 60s. When did a team with a bad offense last dominate for year after year? But yes, many problems in addition to the coaching, imo.

Well -- from their first year to this year, when they have won 10 or more games; 14 times they allowed from, at worst 7th least to number 1 least points; 6 times they allowed from 10th to (holy-moly Rocky) 24th fewest points allowed.

2017 was most recent time they were 1st in defense for fewest points allowed.

[TheLeviathan]

Losing on Sunday is absolutely imperative.

[RpR]

15 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Losing on Sunday is absolutely imperative.

Yeah, draft picks have done them so much good; if they cannot beat Chicago this time they are worse than has been insinuated all season by many writers.

I saw on one sight Zimmer said he did not start Mond because he has not looked good all year including pre-season and he was not going let him play in a game like this; he let him in because he had to.

[TheLeviathan]

55 minutes ago, RpR said:

Yeah, draft picks have done them so much good; if they cannot beat Chicago this time they are worse than has been insinuated all season by many writers.

I saw on one sight Zimmer said he did not start Mond because he has not looked good all year including pre-season and he was not going let him play in a game like this; he let him in because he had to.

10 spots in the draft are an enormous difference regardless of the rest of that tangent ridden first paragraph.

If they were that worried they should have dressed Sloter.  Putting Mond in for one series of three step drop patterns is just plain stupid.

[LVTwinsfan]

On 12/2/2021 at 6:18 AM, LVTwinsfan said:

I think the Lions get their 1st win on Sunday, plus the Vikings will split with the Bears, lose to the Packers and the Rams, giving them 10 losses. And Zimmer keeps his job. I could be wrong, they might lose to the Steelers too.

Like a fine wine

[cHawk]

25 minutes ago, LVTwinsfan said:

Like a fine wine

Zimmer won’t be keeping his job

[cHawk]

Zimmer is gone. No question.

Spielman has some upsides and some downsides. I like the idea of giving him a “promotion” so that he has influence on the team in some ways but not in other ways.

Cousins. I would try to trade him or, if there are no takers, bite the bullet and cut him. His decisions caused him to miss a win-or-go-home game. That’s enough. I don’t have any issue with seeing what Mond can do. However, he needs better coaches that can use his strengths.

All in all, this team absolutely needs new leadership.

[nicksaviking]

9 minutes ago, cHawk said:

Zimmer is gone. No question.

Spielman has some upsides and some downsides. I like the idea of giving him a “promotion” so that he has influence on the team in some ways but not in other ways.

Cousins. I would try to trade him or, if there are no takers, bite the bullet and cut him. His decisions caused him to miss a win-or-go-home game. That’s enough. I don’t have any issue with seeing what Mond can do. However, he needs better coaches that can use his strengths.

All in all, this team absolutely needs new leadership.

Yeah, even if there were no fault for Spielman and Zimmer, things eventually get stale and you have to start over at some point. This team has been stale for three years now.

And of course there is plenty of fault to be found with both men.

[Vanimal46]

This eliminates any reason for me to watch the meaningless game. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

This eliminates any reason for me to watch the meaningless game. 

What a terrible approach by the coach.

[nicksaviking]

Why wasn't Zimmer already politely told his services were no longer needed if this is his attitude?

Spielman needs to step in then. His job should absolutely ride on LOSING the game against Chicago. If he can't competently position the team to gear up for the future, both by getting young players experience and by getting better draft position, than Spielman has no business returning next year either.

I mean, neither of these guys can seriously think their jobs will be safe with an 8-9 record, but they'll be fired if they finish 7-10 do they?

[RpR]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

This eliminates any reason for me to watch the meaningless game. 

Even in a season where a win just improves the standing a hair, fans do not pay for tickets to watch a team get blown out by forty points, good for Zimmer.

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

This eliminates any reason for me to watch the meaningless game. 

Disagree.  This gives me even more reason to root for the Bears.  What a stupid approach.

[Mike Sixel]

28 minutes ago, RpR said:

Even in a season where a win just improves the standing a hair, fans do not pay for tickets to watch a team get blown out by forty points, good for Zimmer.

How is playing rookies, which other teams do, going to do that? Like, giving Davis (when the OGs suck already) some playing time is going to do that? Seriously. How?

[cHawk]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

How is playing rookies, which other teams do, going to do that? Like, giving Davis (when the OGs suck already) some playing time is going to do that? Seriously. How?

It’s hard to be as bad as Udoh has been.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, cHawk said:

It’s hard to be as bad as Udoh has been.

If Cleveland is out with Covid, it's not even as good as Udoh.  It's playing Wyatt Davis instead of Dakota freaking Dozier.

There is no sane argument for Dakota Dozier over a third round pick.  None.