Bavarian

A little surprised that Twins fans were booing an opposing player for lack of hustle. Brutal.

@Badsmerf Right, playing it safe by running the ball when the opponent can't stop you while running down the clock is boring and unsustainable and somehow not going for the jugular. Okay. Maybe when you elevate to head coach, you can show us all how it's done. I am absolutely certain that if Cousins got hurt (while sacked) while up 28-0 and slinging the ball, fans like you would second-guess and ask "why were we passing"? I love to see these armchair QB's post as if they know better than everyone else. Such criticism is misguided IMO. But feel free to call Mike and explain to him his faults in that game. Explain to him that you're the revolutionary who thinks that running the ball up four scores is unsustainable to winning. Ha! That's a good one. Once again, disagree with you 100%. At least you're consistent.

I'm confused by the statement that they were too run heavy yet not enough time elapsed. Those are contradictory statements. You want excitement and thrilling finishes? Watch the Saints and their pinball last possession wins mentality. I like the grind-it-out physicality that was on display as they essentially choked out the Falcons. Boring. Geez, leave it to Viking fans to find something wrong with that win. Beyond the pale. There are some really bad fans in Minnesota. Sense of entitlement or something. I don't know.

Nice showing from the Vikes. Shut down running lanes early - I think Shamar Stephen has something to do with that. Forced predictable passing downs and brought the heat...Barr was used as a weapon (finally!). They will miss Alexander at slot for a while but maybe Hughes is soon ready to step in. I was impressed by Waynes despite the late TD toss. Liked his presence and physicality. He's starting to play more like a 1st rounder IMO. Didn't have to throw on offense as they found success running and kept on pounding it. Great first game. And they didn't even show very much leading into the GB game - one target to the TE's and little to the backs out of the backfield. GB has little to prepare for on defense.

Looks like we can scratch him off of our list of potential free agent signings next year. Coming off that earlier injury, this substance likely enhanced his recovery. I can understand his temptation to take this product - it could've translated into a big deal next season. Now? Not so much. A calculated risk. I see a lot of condemnation but if you had a shot to earn tens of millions for taking a substance to speed up recovery, you might think long and hard about it.

@Badsmerf, who said they were "fascinated" with Spielman? I've seen nothing but fair commentary pointing out the good and bad. Reasonable people can disagree with you on this. And to claim that the only barometer for success is your team's playoff record is missing the boat IMO. Many other factors to judge a body of work. I agree with the notion that you may be regret what you wish for. One thing is certain, I always disagree with your posts. Just saying.

I'm just not in favor of cutting the cord as the body of work and everything he's built is in the middle of their window for success. When you keep changing leadership, the direction gets lost. I'm just not ready. I don't see the rush in moving him. A lot of QB injuries have prevented this team from finding more success than they have had with the current talent base. I'm not placing the entire blame on Rick for a fluke injury to the franchise QB Bridgewater and a sudden degenerative knee issue for Bradford. Combined with sudden injuries to the OL with Kalil, Sullivan, Fusco and Easton among others with tough luck on Shariff Floyd...those are bad breaks. Has he had some swings and misses? Yeah, too many in the 1st round although three were busted due to injury. Patterson and Treadwell come to mind. But a lot of hits too. Rudolph, Cook, Bradbury (hopefully), Rhodes, Diggs, O'Neill, Hunter, Weatherly, Kendricks, Barr, Smith, Alexander, (Hughes?), with low-round and UDFA hits in Fusco, Thielen, Wilson, Harris among others. He's also been aggressive in FA while not overpaying. I still rank him as a better than average GM all considered. I'm not in a rush to see him booted. You guys will have to do more than provide their playoff record to convince me.

I think one needs to expand their field of vision thinking Spielman should be on the hot seat for one pick in Ponder. He's built an entire team through good drafts and key FA signings with very few players leaving the core he has built. One cannot ignore the amount of talent on this team. Are there misses? Of course, name a team that doesn't.

I just got 3-1 odds on a hangnail keeping him out for more than 5 days.

I visualize Arraez as a #2 hitter able to move the leadoff guy along and setting the table for 3-5. I also project Buxton as leadoff despite his comfort at 9. I don't so Arraez as a prototypical leadoff merely because he isn't the most fleet at foot. Ideally, I'd like someone (like Buxton) to stretch out from 1st to 3rd on a single to right.

A lot of good points raised above. It's hard to know what team we should expect to see. Is the defense declining or was it a result of poor offense led by poor play-calling and OL play? How much of an aberration was the 13-3 team vs the 8-7-1 team? Lots of questions and many should be answered early this season with tests vs ATL, GB & CHI. I don't have a strong opinion either way but was questioning the "certain" defensive decline. I don't think one season was a big enough body of work considering a top 5 overall finish prior to a top 2 finish in 2018. I'm personally watching the CB's very closely. It seems to me that Holton Hill was eating into Wayne's playing time as the season wore on. Rhodes looked awful and he's saying all the right things regarding his 2019 approach but they're just words. Hughes' health could loom large.

No one said they're getting better. Although I'd expect an improvement over last season based on our defensive pedigree and the core player's knowledge of the system. I'm simply asking why all of you believe they are regressing. I might even agree but give me something to chew on. Based on roster age? Again, not good enough. Look at Adrian Peterson. Tom Brady. Drew Brees. Many of those players on defense are in their prime, not over the hill. If they are in such decline, then point out who they should be cutting or moving. Stand behind your claims and justify your position. Cite some analysis...which is impossible considering they haven't played a regular season game. Kinda my whole point. Explain WHY I should believe the defense is in decline. Give me facts. Point out trends. Show me something. Throw me a bone. Historical age decline? Huh? Again, who's over the hill? If this were a case, it would be thrown out of court already. No evidence, your honor.

What I'm objecting to this notion of a decline and would kindly ask for some evidence to this belief (not fact). Game one has not even started and some of you are carrying on as if the defense has long eroded. To me, that's laughable to the extreme and to clarify, I'm asking for you to justify your position a little deeper than 30 years old's aren't as fresh as 20 year old's. Let's have that conversation. Because you will lose that argument when discussing reality here in that the core of this defense knows Zimmer's situational communications better than any 20-something could process. Historically, the team has led the league in 3rd down and red zone defense. This is spreading to the 2nd-3rd string players as witnessed this preseason, if you hadn't noticed. This isn't simply about age. Come on, you guys can do better than that. Seriously.

From what I'm reading, I'm supposed to believe that last year's admitted underachieving defense that still wound up as the #4 overall defense is in rapid decline with half the defense being past their prime. Interesting folly as far as I can tell. Should be returning the same starters other than Richardson who most here believe walked on water. BTW, look who he had his sacks against. Most against teams the Vikes were way up on in garbage time. He was not a factor. If you have have trouble remembering an impactful play that he made last year it's because he didn't. He was a sieve at the point of attack as teams consistently ripped of chunk yardage on obvious running downs. I hope for that to change with "over-the-hill" Shamar Stephen back. But according to the experts on this site, that's not going to matter much. Seems like this season is over. We'll see about that.

Wow, some real Debbie downers here. What are we basing this decline on exactly? They're too old? They're in their prime. The door shuts in 2020? I only see one player named - Griffen. Is he done? Based on what? They haven't even played a game yet. I really hope you're not basing this off of preseason. If you guys are basing all these dire predictions on last year's team, that's not good enough. They were great in 2017. Historically good on 3rd downs. In preseason thus far, they are forcing FG's vice TD's with the 2nd/3rd string. Where's the trending data? The offense had low time of possession in 2018 which directly affected the defense. Granted, teams ran on the defense with success compared to 2017 but Sheldon is gone and Stephen returns. Joseph had three surgeries so we know he wasn't himself. My personal opinion is that we saw a poorer result from the defense as the offense sputtered often. No running game to speak of to rest the defense and a lot of 3-and-outs which again, didn't rest the D. Add to that a lot of playing from behind. When Shurmur was moving the chains and the offense was scoring, this made the defense doubly effective as they could take chances and were fresh. We have roughly the exact personnel we did in 2017 and IMO, not one of them is playing past their prime. I'm certain Zimmer has done his studying this offseason to see how those prolific offenses with LA Rams and Chicago attacked his defense last year. I expect to see a bounce back.