Minnesota Vikings????

It really helps a QB to have a number 1 WR that strikes fear into the opposition. It opens the field right up, and means guys like Thielen, Patterson, Rudolph and even the RB's are more likely to have space in the passing game.

The defence has been lights out. They haven't been playing bad of fences either.

Looking at our schedule, there isn't a huge pile to fear outside of the divisional games. No gimmes, but a lot of winnable games.

The bye week comes at a nice time, giving us a bit of time to prepare for the high-powered er....Eagles.

Welcome. This is the thread alright, but I think we are all a little bit worried.

Our O-line is in danger of derailing our season. Matt Kalil may not have been our best player, but he was a serviceable part of an already poor unit.

But it was not just the pressure from Chicago, it was also that his receivers didn't get open, there were a couple of drops and more than a few dodgy throws.

A really bad night for the defence, and Howard shredded our defence.

markc91 wrote: »

Yeah I watched the first half and couldn't believe how quickly the bears were getting the ball back, would I be right in thinking AP is a big loss considering our position 30 for rushing this season? Any timeframe on his return?

As a Bears fan, but also an AP fan, I would say that looking at yesterday, I don't think AP would have made much difference while the Oline is that bad. But the big worry for the Vikings is probably the regression of Sam Bradford. Sure he was under pressure last night, but he really struggled to cope with limited time to pass. The Vikings are probably still going to make the playoffs, but he is not going to take anyone to a Superbowl IMO.

But the Vikings were never about the O this year, ye just needed enough competence to let the D dominate. But yesterday they just couldn't get anything done. Now, a lot of that is that they seem to have come in underestimating what we might be capable of, and we called and played a better game than we have all year. But the failure to stop the run was shocking from what is supposed to be a dominant D, one of the best in the league. Could just be a bit of a mid season slump, and certainly losing to the Bears should be a major kick in the ass for some of these guys who were probably a little complacent about this game.

But there again the Vikings didn't seem in any rush towards the end in terms of getting the ball snapped, or kicking an onside kick to try and win. There was something a bit defeated in the play late on that I would be very angry about if I was a fan of the team. A lack of urgency, and a lack of hunger. It was a strange performance, and I don't think AP will solve it, there are much more pressing problems before they can return to the form they showed earlier in the season.

D9Male wrote: »

AP is categorically not the solution. He'd only help marginally. It'd be like trying to win the Tour de France on a BMX. No running back could succeed behind that O line.

Supposed no chatter in here just seen today the offensive coach norv resigned, could it end up improving the OL

I just spent 15 minutes with a long breakdown of our problems and I lost it. Aaargh.

Long version shortened.

Nothing is going wrong with our D. It is conceding just 14.1 points per game in regulation time. Keep that up and we should get playoffs so long as our offence is average. Which it hasn't been. Reasons our offence has been crap:

- O line is terrible, but it was actually a bit better v Detroit. Tight ends seemed to help out a bit.
- Running backs are terrible. Not helped by a porous O-line, but they are still muck. Asiata running on 3rd down in the red zone is one of the most depressing sights. More of Hillman please.
- Bradford seems to be regressing a bit. He is still a quick thinker, but opposing defences have cottoned on to the fact that he is throwing quick to the WRs. So they get tight quickly, knowing that the deep ball is less of a threat as the pocket won't stay clean long enough. That said, he missed a couple of throws v Detroit when he had time (one to Cordarelle in particular)
- Passing receivers are okay. Diggs is good, as is Rudolph, and Thielen is improving, but we are kidding ourselves if we think our options are anywhere close to good enough for a typical playoff contender. We need more here.

I am sure the other lads (Magico, Hulk and others) can break it down a lot better than I can.

The following just arrived today...

Megager wrote: »

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2016/12/22/14053000/lets-talk-about-adrian-peterson-minnesota-vikings

What do Vikes fans feel? ready to cut Peterson loose? 18 million would go a long way....

Not a Viks fan but the O line is not good and everyone knows it, they could improve it by letting AP go, but McKinnon and Asiata are average runners who won't be massively improved with a better O line, Vikings will need a new running back too and a really good one at that to replace AP.

It's a tough call but I can't see how they can count on AP much longer, better now and start the rebuild.

Very quiet here recently, draft started last night no 1st round pick for ourselves though, 3 picks tonight where are we going to strengthen?

So here we are. 1-1. I think that is the type of team we are. We will be 3-3, 5-5 and ultimately 8-8.

Our defence remains good/very good. With the potential to be great.

Our playmakers have improved on offence. The O-line has improved, hopefully it can be close to average. But we are reliant on Bradford getting fit again.

On a side note, good to see Teddy continuing to get healthy.

So lads can we have a bit more life in here now that were Playoff bound???

D9Male wrote: »

So here we are. 1-1. I think that is the type of team we are. We will be 3-3, 5-5 and ultimately 8-8.

Our defence remains good/very good. With the potential to be great.

Our playmakers have improved on offence. The O-line has improved, hopefully it can be close to average. But we are reliant on Bradford getting fit again.

On a side note, good to see Teddy continuing to get healthy.

How wrong I was!

Not a Vikings or Saints fan but saw the game.
Massively entertaining and enjoyable. RedZone presenter did a Mick McCarthy

Marcus Williams is the name.
Managed to do the only thing that would enable Vikings to win.
Flattened his own player as well.

Can't wait for the game this weekend... going to be massive.

I know.... just need to focus on Philly first. Not do what the Steelers did last weekend

So with the new season starting up next week, what are peoples predictions this season? I think were well able to go at least one game better than last season and get to SB53!