2023 Vikings Regular Season Thread

[gunnarthor]

11 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I actually am beginning to think they and Detroit are the three best teams in teh NFL.....and the Cowboys are also good, and GB is trending right. At the same time KC and Buffalo and Cincy are not....

Yeah, right now, SF and Detroit look great. But things change so much, just week to week. Detroit almost blew the Saints game and nearly lost to the Bears. SF looked lost a month ago. Dallas is pretty good but can't seem to get past Philly. 

I dunno. I expect KC to make the AFC championship game but maybe this is Baltimore's year. SF/Baltimore would be a good super bowl. 

[nicksaviking]

A team with a non-HOF caliber QB wins the Super Bowl about every five years or so. We could be due for a San Fran or Detroit victory, but even as an underdog, I'd probably still bet on a Mahomes, Jackson, Hurts led team.

Or I suppose Purdy might end up being one of those guys eventually.

[Parfigliano]

What happened to Jake Browning that he plays like this now?  Is the explanation as simple as he got out of the Vikes organization/system?

[Aggies7]

Welp the jags are toast as Trevor Lawrence just broke either his leg or ankle/foot. Not even sure who their backup is

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Welp the jags are toast as Trevor Lawrence just broke either his leg or ankle/foot. Not even sure who their backup is

That looked very bad. Yikes.

[Aggies7]

6 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

That looked very bad. Yikes.

CJ Beathard time!

[Parfigliano]

19 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

That looked very bad. Yikes.

Painful too

[Parfigliano]

13 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

CJ Beathard time!

Didnt know he was still playing

[Parfigliano]

16 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

CJ Beathard time!

Boy is he slow

[Aggies7]

Beatherd vs browning. The matchup espn always wanted 

[Danchat]

4 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

What happened to Jake Browning that he plays like this now?  Is the explanation as simple as he got out of the Vikes organization/system?

Yeah, that's a tricky one. He was basically gifted the backup job in 2021 because he was vaccinated, but then when he played in the preseason games he was so inaccurate that they felt they were forced to bring Mannion back. They didn't even want him back on the PS. Instead, he spent 2 years on Cincy's practice squad and in Year 3 he won their backup job.

Part of it seems to be that he needed more time, but the accuracy thing... usually you got it or you don't. Sometimes it can be coached up, but clearly the old regime had zero ability to develop young QBs. They needed finished products.

[gunnarthor]

12 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

That looked very bad. Yikes.

Apparently it's "only" a high ankle sprain. I thought it was going to be much, much worse. He'll still probably miss a game or two but the Jags got really lucky. 

[nicksaviking]

2 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Apparently it's "only" a high ankle sprain. I thought it was going to be much, much worse. He'll still probably miss a game or two but the Jags got really lucky. 

Probably knock the Jags out of contention for the #1 seed, but even with a high ankle sprain, he'll probably be back for the playoffs. Even if much less mobile.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Apparently it's "only" a high ankle sprain. I thought it was going to be much, much worse. He'll still probably miss a game or two but the Jags got really lucky. 

Dang, I would have guessed Knee blown out and ankle injury. Hopefully he's back for the playoffs (i Just like healthy teams and humans).

[Mike Sixel]

With Dobbs at QB, I'm going with 3 turnovers in the first half.....

[Vanimal46]

It’s fair to see how Dobbs does with a healthy Jefferson back in the mix. I just hope the leash is short if he starts to struggle. 

[Aggies7]

Hall must be total a** for the coaches to continue to not give him a shot. 

[Mike Sixel]

30 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Hall must be total a** for the coaches to continue to not give him a shot. 

Nah, trust the veteran is the issue....I doubt this is about Hall much at all.

[Mike Sixel]

Also, both backup QBs will be on the game day roster, which says a lot about their confidence in Dobbs (and Hall being available).

[Aggies7]

31 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Nah, trust the veteran is the issue....I doubt this is about Hall much at all.

Maybe, but he wasn’t good enough to be ahead of Mullens last week. Emergency only. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Aggies7 said:

Hall must be total a** for the coaches to continue to not give him a shot. 

I mean they did start him over Manion, who was familiar with the system.

[nicksaviking]

Sounds like the game plan will be different:

 

Which would beg the question, why didn't they change anything mid-game last week when the old game plan wasn't working? Other coaches are able to change tactics mid game. Heck, O'Connell and Dobbs basically just winged it in his first game.

[Aggies7]

16 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I mean they did start him over Manion, who was familiar with the system.

That’s not saying very much at all

[Mike Sixel]

to be clear, I have no idea if Hall can play or not....but I have a pretty good idea about Dobbs.

[Mike Sixel]

16 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Sounds like the game plan will be different:

 

Which would beg the question, why didn't they change anything mid-game last week when the old game plan wasn't working? Other coaches are able to change tactics mid game. Heck, O'Connell and Dobbs basically just winged it in his first game.

Ya, this is a bit of an indictment of themselves....

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ya, this is a bit of an indictment of themselves....

Yeah, I'm quite critical now, though I think the 'safe' play, and the one to shield them from the most criticism, would have been to start Mullins (gross), so I suspect they do have something up their sleeves. Most likely something to do with Dobbs' ability to use his legs. I'm quite curious to see what exactly will "help Josh thrive". It's going to hilariously blow up in their face if they're wrong.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, I'm quite critical now, though I think the 'safe' play, and the one to shield them from the most criticism, would have been to start Mullins (gross), so I suspect they do have something up their sleeves. Most likely something to do with Dobbs' ability to use his legs. I'm quite curious to see what exactly will "help Josh thrive". It's going to hilariously blow up in their face if they're wrong.

Hard to see anything helping him thrive given the last few years .....

I really, really, want to be wrong here....

[nicksaviking]

19 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Hard to see anything helping him thrive given the last few years .....

I really, really, want to be wrong here....

Moving him out of the pocket and letting him run at will worked to begin with. The last two teams stopped that, but maybe the coaches think they found away to stop them from stopping it.

Either way,  no QB means no deep playoff run, so I'm already at the point where I'm as amused by the shenanigans as I am with winning a game against an average team. This is the one away game I go to each year, and whether the Vikings win or not probably doesn't meet my top ten priorities, and I'm not really a Vegas kind of guy. I still love the team, but I've already happily resign myself to an anxiety-free end of season at this point.

[gunnarthor]

I don't think Dobbs is a great QB but he's better than the four interceptions showed last week. He's allowed to struggle, that's why he's a journeyman. But the NFL is full of journeymen right now at the QB position. By adjusted QB rating (take it for what it's worth), he's been better than Mayfield, Burrow, Wilson, and Sam Howell. Frankly, right now, I think there are only ten or eleven (healthy) good QBs in the league. All the rest are varying levels of competence, mostly depending on the system. It doesn't make sense to make a change while we have a playoff spot. If he continues to struggle, the seat gets warmer. But Hall or Mannion or whomever isn't going to be better. 

What we have to hope for is improved play calling from KOC (which I think could happen) that plays to Dobbs strengths, including letting the o-line run block a bit. 

[Aggies7]

9 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

I don't think Dobbs is a great QB but he's better than the four interceptions showed last week. He's allowed to struggle, that's why he's a journeyman. But the NFL is full of journeymen right now at the QB position. By adjusted QB rating (take it for what it's worth), he's been better than Mayfield, Burrow, Wilson, and Sam Howell. Frankly, right now, I think there are only ten or eleven (healthy) good QBs in the league. All the rest are varying levels of competence, mostly depending on the system. It doesn't make sense to make a change while we have a playoff spot. If he continues to struggle, the seat gets warmer. But Hall or Mannion or whomever isn't going to be better. 

What we have to hope for is improved play calling from KOC (which I think could happen) that plays to Dobbs strengths, including letting the o-line run block a bit. 

What’s the old saying, if you have two (or three) quarterbacks, you really have none? 😂