2023 Vikings Regular Season Thread

[Mike Sixel]

Sticking but my statement they should have blown it up, not that you can after that many wins....

[Aggies7]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Sticking but my statement they should have blown it up, not that you can after that many wins....

They might not have had to intentionally do anything to get a high draft pick. Look at the schedule. How many wins do you see now that today was blown? 5? 6? Obviously it’s the nfl and anything can happen but I’m not thinking this is a playoff year. 

[Mike Sixel]

30 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

They might not have had to intentionally do anything to get a high draft pick. Look at the schedule. How many wins do you see now that today was blown? 5? 6? Obviously it’s the nfl and anything can happen but I’m not thinking this is a playoff year. 

Trading veterans was not done.....I have no idea, other than they'll lose in the playoffs if they get there, I'd guess. 

[Parfigliano]

28 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

They might not have had to intentionally do anything to get a high draft pick. Look at the schedule. How many wins do you see now that today was blown? 5? 6? Obviously it’s the nfl and anything can happen but I’m not thinking this is a playoff year. 

They will win 7-8 games.  Enough to have the 17th-21st pick.  

[Aggies7]

16 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

They will win 7-8 games.  Enough to have the 17th-21st pick.  

No way will they be that low. They will be underdog in probably 10 of their 16 games. 

[Aggies7]

I like mattison and he had a great effort on the TD, but how about 41 team rushing yards? YUCK

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

I like mattison and he had a great effort on the TD, but how about 41 team rushing yards? YUCK

Definitely wasn’t good today. But I’m not pressing the panic button yet. Tampa was the #1 rush defense by a wide margin last year and brought everyone back. 

[Vanimal46]

3 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Oh, almost forgot about the offsides on the FG that led to a TD instead of a FG. 4 point swing. Lost by 3

If the NFL had a metric like WPA this specific play would have the largest negative number for Jay Ward. Just inexcusable to do that and give them a free first down. 

[Aggies7]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Definitely wasn’t good today. But I’m not pressing the panic button yet. Tampa was the #1 rush defense by a wide margin last year and brought everyone back. 

My expectations weren’t super high because of the defense, tough schedule and the balancing out of all the luck last year. I did expect this to be a win though. At home against a QB barely hanging on in the NFL.
 

I’m finding myself caring less and less. This organization had wasted so many years of generational talent. Now it appears that JJ’s prime will be wasted by a mediocre roster and then an unknown QB situation after this year (if he’s even here). Guy had like 150 yards in the first half and we had ten points. 
 

Thursday night is going to be ugly. Let’s just hope it goes quickly.

[Aggies7]

Giants getting obliterated 40-0 with 10 minutes still to play. Still can’t believe they came to MN and won last January 

[Vanimal46]

46 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

My expectations weren’t super high because of the defense, tough schedule and the balancing out of all the luck last year. I did expect this to be a win though. At home against a QB barely hanging on in the NFL.
 

I’m finding myself caring less and less. This organization had wasted so many years of generational talent. Now it appears that JJ’s prime will be wasted by a mediocre roster and then an unknown QB situation after this year (if he’s even here). Guy had like 150 yards in the first half and we had ten points. 
 

Thursday night is going to be ugly. Let’s just hope it goes quickly.

I also expected this to be a win. The next month is tough sledding and we’ll have to steal a win from the Chargers or Chiefs at home. It’s going to be a rocky start… Who knows what Kwesi pivots to if we end up 1-6 to start the year. 

[Aggies7]

Rodgers badly injures ankle on the 4th play of the game. How cruel for Jets fans. Cook has looked good in the little I’ve see. 

[Vanimal46]

Rodgers was a pain in our side for many many years. That’s not how I wanted his Jets’ tenure to go. Brutal. 

[Mike Sixel]

I never want to see a human injured, but I'm also not super sad. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

The legacy of 2022 for the Vikings will be a season that puts the franchise back about 3 years.  The odd decision to not rebuild immediately upon brining in a new GM AND coach was inexplicable, and the giant horseshoe that was last year disguised the fact that this is not an organization set up to win anything of note anytime soon.  That fed Kwesi Kupcake's ego, leading him to double down on going for it now, rather than starting the painful, but necessary process of pivoting to the future.  So to sum up;

• They'll have (projected) only $35M in cap space, and that's before an extension for either JJ or Darrisaw
• When Kirk becomes a FA after the season, the QB situation will be the worst in the league, fixable only by having a high enough pick to get a top draftable QB, or re-signing Kirk (who has proven he can't carry a team anywhere come playoff time)
• Jefferson will need a new contract, unless you want to piss him off for a second straight year with no long-term deal.  If you do, you might have to trade him.
• The O-line still won't be good, and only has 4 players under contract for 2024; to improve it, you'll either need a lot of money (which the Vikings don't have) or you'll have to nail a pick or two in the draft (not holding my breath given the Ingram pick).
• The D-line has minimal ability to generate a pass rush, and that's with Hunter on board--he's gone after this year, and I see almost no scenario in which he resigns with the Vikings.  Davenport will also be gone, meaning the Vikings will have 3 DEs on roster with a combined 19.5 CAREER sacks.

It would appear that if the Vikings do extend Jefferson and Darrisaw, they'll have almost no cap space (unless they push incredible amounts of those deals down the road), and will still have glaring needs at QB, LG, RG, LDE, and RDE.  They'll further have somewhat of a need at RB, WR3, DT, and S.  It appears to me the Vikings will probably be bad this year, terrible next year, and employing a new GM and coach in 2025, who will need to rebuild.  All of that could have started last year.  But hey, at least we're allocating 10% of our cap to Tight Ends!

[Cap'n Piranha]

On 9/7/2023 at 11:25 AM, Parfigliano said:

Vikes O seemed to get better after he showed up.

They got better, but not by a lot.  The completion percentage stayed essentially the same (66.5% before TJ, 66.7% after), but due to attempting 2.6 more passes a game, they got 1.8 more completions a game.  Passing yards definitely went up, by about 45 yards a game, and the offense was more efficient when passing (7 yds/attempt with TJ, as opposed to 6.2 without).  However, since the offense only averaged 6 yds/attempt when TJ was targeted, I don't think you can credit him for that increase in efficiency.  FInally, in the one metric that truly matters, the offense did score slightly more with TJ (25.1 pts/game compared to 24.7); I personally don't think a second round pick and 8 figure cap hits in 2024 and 2025 (years it seems like the team is unlikely to compete) are worth .4 points a game--the equivalent of one more touchdown a season.

[Mike Sixel]

Darrisaw trending to NOT playing tonight. So, ya, hope Kirk survives. 

[Vanimal46]

44 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Darrisaw trending to NOT playing tonight. So, ya, hope Kirk survives. 

Sucks for tonight, but Darrisaw is way too important to rush back from injury. 

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Vanimal46 said:

Sucks for tonight, but Darrisaw is way too important to rush back from injury. 

Agreed. 

[Mike Sixel]

Only 31 teams that started 0-2 have made the playoffs since 1990....239 did not....

[Mike Sixel]

Udoh out for the year? Yikes. 

[Aggies7]

Watching the early games…the lions and the packers (surprisingly) are much better than the Vikings are currently.

Its time for a rebuild.

[RpR]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

Watching the early games…the lions and the packers (surprisingly) are much better than the Vikings are currently.

Its time for a rebuild.

LOL, didn't the Vikings just do that over and over.

[Mike Sixel]

Vegas punting down three TDs on fourth and three.... Just walk off the field and forfeit....

[Mike Sixel]

32 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Watching the early games…the lions and the packers (surprisingly) are much better than the Vikings are currently.

Its time for a rebuild.

It was fine two years ago ... Pretty hard to do that after winning thirteen games last year, so I get it. 

What would you need to get back to deal Hunter? Not sure who else I trade? Osborn?

[Aggies7]

Lions and packers may well end up losing, however 

[Aggies7]

Lions remembered who they are after all

[Vanimal46]

All 4 NFC North teams lost this week. Win next week vs. LA Chargers of Anaheim and they’re right back in the mix. 

[Vanimal46]

21 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Lions remembered who they are after all

It’s a different beast winning games when there are expectations to win. They went on their winning streak last year after they started 1-7 or something close to that. 

[Mike Sixel]

32 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

All 4 NFC North teams lost this week. Win next week vs. LA Chargers of Anaheim and they’re right back in the mix. 

Truth.