***OFFICIAL*** 2013 MINNESOTA VIKINGS SEASON THREAD (1 Viewer)

[snogger]

On a rainy day I think the returner has the advantage over the defense. He makes the move and others need to react. Hester is all world so that advantage is magnified.

Which is why I can't figure out why it took until the last kick in the 4th quarter for the Special Team coach to pull his head out and decide "hey, maybe we shouldn't kick DIRECTLY to Hester"..

 

[jason12vb]

On a rainy day I think the returner has the advantage over the defense. He makes the move and others need to react. Hester is all world so that advantage is magnified.

Which is why I can't figure out why it took until the last kick in the 4th quarter for the Special Team coach to pull his head out and decide "hey, maybe we shouldn't kick DIRECTLY to Hester"..

Agreed on both accounts...but Hester set a personal record with return yards yesterday suggesting it was more than just weather related.

Locke and the punt return team did a great job.

Side note on the Vikings punt that went out the back of the endzone. I will never understand why more players on the receiving team don't push the ball or the defensive player into the endzone after the kicking team bats it back into play....even if the Vikings would have recovered it in the endzone it would have been a touchback. Heck, from what I understand, even if the Bears pick it up and run with it for 30 yards and then fumble the ball away to the Vikings, the Bears would still retain possession.

 

[Donnybrook]

I would like to see the Vikings add a pass catching running back to the roster and develop that position. A Danny Woodhead type player. Toby Gerhart is simply not quick enough in the open field to make anyone miss. They could cut John Carlson right now and no one would miss him.

It would be nice to have Ponder check down to a player that can do something other than crash straight ahead in to defenders.

 

[BigJim®]

I tend to agree with what Chip Scoggins said on the KARE11 recap last night. Basic gist, when you lose a game after you've created 4 TOs, and returned both a kick and TO for TDs, it just emphasizes how narrow the margin of error is for this team to win.

It wasn't a bad game by any stretch, but JMHO the team will need to be able to perform some facet of the game 'great' to expand its margin of error. Last year, that thing was obviously running the ball effectively (which cumulatively helped us reach 10 wins overcoming a lot of errors). I'm a little worried that teams are looking at the GB game plan from the 1st week of the 2012 playoffs and clogging the box, which not only hurts our rush attack but has secondary impact on the short passing game. Seems like teams are willing to give us some moderate success medium passing routes and we still lack the long pass threat (or pass blocking) to really discourage the approach. Hopefully Cordarrelle can earn trust sooner rather than later, because he's shown he could be key in busting these defenses.

 

[Biabreakable]

The Vikings emphasis on causing turnovers. I saw glimpses of this. The TD Bell jumped over the line for was very close to being a turn over. Sanford lined up the ball well on that play.

Actually if you go back and watch some replays, it was Henderson that knocked that ball out at the goalline. I think only one of the replay angles show it, but it clearly shows it was #50.

I just watched it again 3 times. I agree that Henderson filled the gap which caused Bell to go airborne. But the ball does not pop out until Sanford hits the ball cleanly and pops it out. The score keeper credits the forced fumble to Sanford as well.

Of course this is all for naught because the ball crossed the plane of the end zone and the fumble was overturned.

Did you see the replay angle from the back right of the endzone? I've been looking for it but I can't find it and don't have DVR.

Not that this conversation is a big deal...you were encouraged with EJ after week 1 and I just wanted him to get the full credit he deserved because I'm positive if you can find that replay angle you'll see his fist knocked it out and it then bounced off Sanford.

Yes. The ball does not pop out until Sanford hits it. If it had been Erin Henderson causing the fumble then the ball never would have crossed the plane of the goal line still in Bell's possession. They did review the play and rewarded Bell the TD.

That is if we are talking about the same play. I believe we are.

 

[Biabreakable]

CHICAGO -- Jay Cutler came through just in time again.

Cutler threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett with 10 seconds left to lead the Chicago Bears to a 31-30 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Minnesota's Blair Walsh had just kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3:15 remaining when Chicago took over at its 34. Cutler, who led the Bears back from an 11-point deficit in a season-opening win over Cincinnati, struck again.

A 23-yard pass to Bennett along the sideline put the ball on the 16. Cutler then spiked the ball before connecting with Bennett in the front corner of the end zone. Robbie Gould kicked the go-ahead extra point and Chicago (2-0) remained unbeaten under new coach Marc Trestman despite committing four turnovers.

Cutler completed 28 of 39 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. But he was also intercepted twice and got stripped by Jared Allen on a sack, leading to a 61-yard touchdown return for Brian Robison in the second quarter.

Devin Hester returned five kickoffs for a Bears-record 249 yards -- including a 76-yarder and an 80-yarder.

Bennett had 76 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Brandon Marshall had seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. Matt Forte chipped in with 71 yards receiving and 90 yards rushing.

Minnesota's Cordarrelle Patterson returned the opening kickoff 105 yards to tie a club record. Christian Ponder threw for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception after getting picked off three times in a season-opening loss to Detroit. Adrian Peterson ran for 100 yards, but the Vikings (0-2) remained winless at Soldier Field since 2007.

They looked as if they might pull this one out after two 13-play drives led to 28-yard field goals by Walsh, turning a 24-21 halftime deficit into a 27-24 advantage in the fourth quarter.

The first came after Chicago's Isaiah Frey recovered a fumble by Jarius Wright in the end zone, only to have it overturned on a replay review.Harrison Smith set up the second when he intercepted a long pass from Cutler to Marshall at the 12 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Peterson kept the drive going with a 4-yard run to the 14 on fourth-and-1, only to be hit with a 13-yard loss on the next play, and Walsh booted the go-ahead field goal with just over 8 minutes left.

Letroy Guion stripped Forte of the ball near midfield on Chicago's next possession. That led to Walsh's 22-yarder that made it a six-point game, but Cutler and the Bears had one more rally in them.

The late theatrics capped a game that featured no shortage of big plays in the early going.

Patterson got this one off to an explosive start with that huge return to start the game, taking advantage of some big holes and sprinting past a lunging Gould on the way to the end zone. The 105-yarder matched the club record set by Percy Harvin last year and was the first kickoff return for a touchdown by a Bears opponent since 2007.

After Patterson's big return, Hester returned the kickoff 76 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the 32. That led to a 1-yard TD catch for Bennett.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Vikings_lose_3130_to_Bears_on_Cutlers_TD_pass_with_10_seconds_left091513

Marcus Sherels is the guy who wiffed on his tackle attempt of Hester on that 1st return. For the most part coverage teams made too many errors, plus Hester is a very good returner. Considering how well our special teams coach has done, I think this will be corrected. Perhaps a change at gunner is in order. Griffen has done well as the gunner before, did not see him playing it against Chicago but perhaps I missed some. I just don't think it should be Sherels. He is not so good.

I would not be calling for Mike Priefer's head however. He has done an excellent job as ST coach. Maybe give the other team some credit instead of thinking the Vikings have full control of everything. Hester is a potential hall of fame returner.

 

[Biabreakable]

Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier

Good afternoon guys. Injury wise we came out fairly well. The only guy that is in danger of maybe not practicing on Wednesday is Rhett Ellison who hyperextended his knee, so we’ll monitor him throughout the week and see how he progresses. John Sullivan turned out to be just a contusion, a bump on his calf rather than a strain, so that was encouraging. Everybody else, a few bumps and bruises but nothing that will keep them from work so we are relatively healthy in that way. The game itself, tough, tough game, loss. After looking at that tape and going through it a number of different times, when you’re in a close game like we were yesterday, there are a lot of things you’ll look at and say maybe this, maybe that, but at the end of the day our guys fought extremely hard on the road and put us in a position to have a chance to have success. We just came up short. You can’t fault the effort, the perseverance and the resiliency they showed in just battling and battling and overcoming situations. The way our defense continued to come up with turnover after turnover, scoring on defense, the kickoff return by Cordarrelle (Patterson), just a terrific job by him and the guys that were up front blocking for him, the way our offense came on, especially in that second half and our offensive line really began to get some movement against their defensive line. I saw some things that hopefully we can build on. The red zone issues that we had definitely affected our day, down there three different times and to come away with just field goals definitely could have affected the outcome of the ball game. The two-minute situation that I referred to yesterday where we had some chances and just couldn’t get it done and I mentioned to you yesterday that I kind of kicked myself on that. That was an opportunity for me to interject and maybe help in a way like I do with our offense, like I do with our special teams. I’ve just got to do things better from my standpoint in those situations. But the overall effort by our guys and that attitude of not giving in when things don’t go right I think gives us a chance going forward and that’s exactly what we’ll have to be able to do is go forward. Today we’ll rehash this ball game this afternoon with our players and then we have to move on. As much as you’d like to go round and round and round and talk about it and second guess this and second guess that, after today, this will be it for us talking about this ball game.

Q: What was it that you saw on that last defensive series?

A: You know we had a couple of opportunities to maybe make some plays. The one I’m thinking about more is when they had the holding penalty on Jared (Allen) and they ended up coming up with a big completion that gained quite a few yards and put them closer to scoring range. There were some things that we could have done differently, that I could have done differently in that situation helping to prepare our coaches and players in that situation. There are some things, we practiced that situation a number of different times going back to OTAs and training camp. We’ve just got to do a better job and I know what it is that we need to do. It’s hard to talk about that publicly because we’re going to find ourselves in that situation in the future, but just got to handle it a little bit differently.

Q: Is it something you wish you would have done differently during the week or the play calling in the game?

A: Not during the week because it’s a situation we cover quite often as I mentioned. We’re hitting those type of situations throughout OTAs, throughout training camp, during practice during the week we hit those situations. We kind of got away from some things that we would ordinarily do in that situation. But that’s nothing to do with our coaches, that’s more to do with me because that’s something that if it’s our offense, if it’s our special teams, I’m on the headsets and I’m saying, “Let’s do this, let’s do that, whatever,” and I could have helped with some strategy there.

Q: When do you step in to make those types of decisions and override Alan Williams?

A: Well both he and Bill (Musgrave) along with (Mike) Prief(er) we have a great relationship so they understand and when I step in and say, “Let’s do this versus that,” but there is a balance. We talk about so many things prior to the game. You don’t want to wait until game situations to be the first time you ever get a chance to go through some of these things. We have a plan but to answer your question it’s a fine line but we’re able to get it done, we’ve been able to get it done.

Q: What was going on before the final touchdown of the game? Did some players not know what the call was or were some of them out of position?

A: It was a call we made in the first half when we were on the goal line. We called it back-to-back when they tried those fade balls, so it’s the same call, we just didn’t execute it as well and it cost us. It’s something we worked on, it’s something that we executed well in the first half but we didn’t get it executed there.

Q: On the Bears big first down play on the final drive, was that a busted coverage?

A: Not necessarily a bust, but there are some things that have to happen for that defense to be effective in that situation and part of it is there’s some things I need to talk to them about even before that play occurs and there was time to do that, that was right after penalty. But they handled it the right way, just some things I needed to talk through with them as well as the coaches. It was something we actually worked on during the week but it’s something we’ve got to handle a little bit better when we get in that situation again.

Q: Is that something you see live or when you go back on tape then second guessing yourself?

A: No, when it occurred I knew just from being in those situations before kind of what’s going to unfold and you anticipate it. Sometimes you can get it to the players through the headsets ahead of time or right before the play begins. I could have handled that one a little better.

Q: Would you have called a timeout in that same situation on that last play?

A: Possibly, if I could turn the wheels of time back.

Q: When Erin said he was surprised by the play call and said you hadn’t practiced it. Did he mean on that play or in the two-minute drill?

A: Well we work on it in that area of the field often. We used it a season ago as well and we used it in the first half as well. So it’s a defense that we’ve run before we just didn’t get it executed in that situation. We had a few different things that we will do with 20 seconds left, with 10 seconds left in a game. We have a couple of different calls but we have a go to call that they know that we like.

Q: Do you think when after you scrutinize this one more time that you’ll have to gather Alan Williams and maybe some of the players, if not trust but continuity that you have to rebuild after this?

A: Not at all. I don’t. I do not. They played some very good football. They played winning football. Our defense, without their effort yesterday it could have been a long, long day. The play by Kevin Williams on the one-yard line to get that batted ball, Harrison Smith, the interception, the sack-fumble by Jared, the recovery by B-Rob (Brian Robison), the play by Letroy Guion. Our defense, wow, they played good football, so no. We’re talking about a sequence that was a very important sequence during the course of the game but you can’t take away all of the good things that our defense did yesterday. There are just some things from my standpoint that I have to manage better, that’s all, they did a terrific job. Alan and our defensive staff, they had our guys prepared. They played well, they played hard. We’re going to win our share of close games as time goes on, I really believe that.

Q: Was the call that you made the go to call or a different one?

A: That remains to be seen.

Q: By saying that you need to manage things better, are you saying that you need to take over the play calling?

A: No, Alan has done a great job, Bill has done a great job for us on offense, and so has Prief(er). No, not at all. As I mentioned, our defense was well prepare, they did a great job to do the things they did to allow us to be where we were in that ball game. They played on short fields a number of different times yesterday. Who knows if you have to make that team drive 80 yards on a consistent basis what difference it might make. So no, I don’t foresee a situation like that. Alan and our defensive staff, they’ve done a very good job and they did a good job a season ago, they’re doing a good job now.

Q: In a two-minute situation, how much time do you have to override a call? Is there time to override calls if you don’t like them?

A: I do it with our offense, I do it with our special teams, and with our defense at time times. I’ll say, ‘Nope, we’re going to do this,’ or ‘Yes, that’s a good call,’ I have time.

Q: Is there a reason why you’re a little more hands off with the defense?

A: Not hands off, I’m very involved. Much more involved. I’m involved.

Q: Cordarrelle Patterson only played one more snap than last week. What does he have to do to get on the field more?

A: We’re going to get that rectified. He definitely deserves to be on the field more. He’s shown that in the few snaps he’s gotten in the first two ball games. Hopefully, everything being equal, that should not be a part of the conversation next week. We want to get him on the field. He’s one of our explosive players for sure. We see what he does when he gets the ball in his hands so we have to get him on the field.

Q: How does he get lost in game that he starts off with a 105-yard kickoff return?

A: He doesn’t get lost. We’re well aware of his talents, even on the smoke screen when we threw it out and he got 14 yards. We’re well aware of his talents. He doesn’t get lost. We’ll get it rectified.

Q: Are you comfortable with the play calling sequence on the last drive? Or would you like to have seen other things attempted?

A: We tried a pass after a run on second down and came so close to getting it done there but we came up a little bit short so we came back with a run believing that there was an opportunity there for us. With the run that we had called we had success with it earlier thinking we may have had them set up for a potential pass on the third down situation. It didn’t work. It didn’t work. It’s easy to go back and say we should have passed it, but if we passed it and its incomplete or it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to, maybe in hindsight we say. ‘Should have ran it,’ we decided to run it and we didn’t get the touchdown and ended up kicking the field goal.

Q: With giving up so many big plays and big yards, is there a misunderstanding on the defensive side?

A: When you look at numbers, you have to sometimes look behind the numbers and when you look at yesterday’s situation when it comes to points, and you never want to make excuses, but there’s some factors that go into some of those numbers that you have to look at beyond just the raw data. Our defense is doing some good things. I really believe they’re heading in the right direction and from my perspective I have to be able to see the bigger picture sometimes. Numbers can lie.

Q: Was Devin Hester’s returns a product of bad kicks, great returner, some breakdowns? Or a little bit of everything?

A: We did not do a good job of covering kicks, bottom line. I think he set a record for return yardage. We have to do better. We know he’s a great returner. He’s had great returns in our league for a long time. We thought we had a good plan and obviously it didn’t work. At the end of the game we tried a different strategy where we popped up a little bit. It’s fine line, you try not to give them too good of field position and then you kick it to him and they get great field position. Our strategy didn’t work and it’s something that we’ll have to take a look at as we get ready for our next opponent and make sure that we have something that will hopefully do better. It didn’t work.

Q: Seemed like Blair Walsh had a tough time planting. Was that part of the reason he couldn’t kick them deep?

A: That along with the rain and the surface also affected the kickoffs. The climate wasn’t the greatest. We’ve seen him booming the ball through the end zone, but the conditions yesterday, for both kickers, wasn’t conducive to that.

Q: What happened on the interception Ponder threw? Did the ball come out late or did Simpson not come back or run the wrong route?

A: We had a go route called. He was trying to put the ball on a spot and just didn’t get it where he wanted to get it and Tim Jennings ended up making a nice play on the ball and came up with a pick six. Just a good play by their defensive back and we’ll try to get the location of the ball in a better place.

Q: What are your thoughts on Adrian Peterson throughout the first two weeks?

A: I really like the way he came on yesterday. We kept giving him the ball. Our offensive line, as the game went on, got better and better at opening up holes and getting people moved. I thought Zach Line did a good job at fullback as well, but Adrian really began to come on. Early on, the surface messed with him a little bit. He and I were just talking about that before I came in here. He was a little concerned about the surface, but once he settled in, he began to get some of those runs that we all have grown accustomed to. But part of some of the issues he dealt with yesterday was trying to hit that home run on every single run and that’s not always going to be the case. But overall in these first two games, he’s done well. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. We just have to make sure we get him some holes.

Q: What did you see in the offense after that interception? Seemed like that they found some rhythm?

A: Yeah it was good to see. It was really encouraging. We started putting together some first downs. I don’t think we ever had a three-and-out the entire day. The only time we got stopped was when we had the turnovers after earning first downs. We were moving the ball and we really began to move it after the interception. We got a rhythm going and you could see everybody’s confidence grow, Christian began to play even better so we have to build on that. That’s the way we should be. There shouldn’t be a lot of punts and a lot of three-and-outs by our offense. That’s a good defense that Chicago has and we were moving the ball effectively. We just weren’t finishing those drives with touchdowns and in our league if you’re just kicking field goals, that’s a win for the defense so we know we have to finish those drives with touchdowns.

Q: How was it seeing Christian struggle early then bounce back?

A: That was one of the encouraging parts of the game, the fact that he finished as well as he did. I went over to him after the interception just to make sure everything was where it needed to be and when I looked in his eyes and he communicated back to me and I felt good about it. He went on and he took off. That was really encouraging for me and I’m sure for his teammates as well. His play picked up and it kind of rubbed off on the rest of our offense. You saw it, guys really took another step forward so we have to build on that and get better and hopefully it will happen throughout this week in practice and we get to Mall of America Field on Sunday and keep growing as an offense and put the ball in the end zone and score touchdowns.

Q: What did you say to Christian when you went up to him after the interception?

A: I just wanted to make sure we were putting that play behind us and ready to go back out and get going. It was still at a point in the game where there was plenty of time to do the things we needed to do as a team and I was just wanting to make sure he wasn’t letting that one play interfere with what we had to do going forward.

Q: Was it good to see Matt Kalil bounce back yesterday?

A: It really was. We need Matt to play well for us in order for our offense and offensive line to do a good job. It’s good to see him bounce back blocking (Julius) Peppers and some of the guys they have up front aren’t an easy task. He didn’t a good job yesterday and we need that from him.

Q: There are only three teams in the NFC that are 2-0. Does that make it easier to swallow being 0-2?

A: No, you don’t want to be 0-2, but with that being said, we know where we are. Coming home this week at Mall of America Field and it’s a long season. We need to get our first win this weekend, but I’m not looking at what other teams are doing. I’m not looking at what’s happening around the NFL other than what we’re doing. I just know we need to get on track and get it going this week.

http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/Frazier-On-Red-Zone-Play-Calling-Defense-on-Bears-Final-Drive-and-More/cdd4b434-d585-466f-a70f-7144c865c535

Hopefully Ellison can play. Zach Line needs a year in the strength conditioning program before I think he will really be ready as a lead blocker. Not that he is terrible, but the Vikings need some better lead blocking than they have gotten from him thus far.

 

[Donnybrook]

Leslie Frazier says the same thing every week. Nice guy but he is not innovative and lacks the passion to motivate his players.

 

[Donnybrook]

I got to say I am worried about the Vikings getting beat by a team that everyone seems to think is tanking. That is how much confidence I have in the Vikings coaching staff.

 

[snellman]

I got to say I am worried about the Vikings getting beat by a team that everyone seems to think is tanking. That is how much confidence I have in the Vikings coaching staff.

If they lose this weekend, I will be for the rest of the season. In fact, I told my wife last night that if they do lose, I will be selling all of my purple gear and will swear off them. Oh, I also picked them in my survivor pools this week.

 

[Funkley]

Feelin it this week....38-17 Vikings :skol:

 

[Biabreakable]

Expectations are so low on the Browns right now that it does worry me this could be a trap game. Hopefully our defense is prepared to defend the pass better than they have. Jordan Cameron and Josh Gordon could certainly light us up. I would expect more screen game as well. Teams should really try to follow the Lions blueprint until the Vikings can prove they should do otherwise.

I am expecting some Vikings fans to be disappointed with a win if they do not blow the Browns out, when the Vikings game plan is more likely to try to control the clock.

 

[snogger]

say what you want about him but Alex Smith and KC are now 3-0..

 

[jason12vb]

I think this is going to be a very telling week as to how the rest of the season will play out. If the 0-2 Vikings come out flat and not looking to beat up on a Cleveland team already playing for next year, then Ziggi and Spielman should start looking for a replacement coach immediately. We've got 2 teams playing terrible football coming up, a bye, then two more teams who've yet to win a game and lost some bad ones, Panthers and Giants. Since those two teams play each other this week it's feasible that the Vikings will make it to week 8 only playing one team with a win on the season...and that team may only have 1.

This season is not over, 4-2 is in reach going into the GB game...but if we are not ready to kick the crap out of this Browns team and get some swagger back then a change needs to be made.

Edit to add...I was wrong, the Bears had a win week 1.

 

[jason12vb]

Cleveland's players can take that trade one of two ways this week.

1) They can come out with a chip on their shoulders and try to show the fans and management that they're not going to roll over and tank this season.

or

2) They can accept that management doesn't care about winning games this year and play completely uninspired/lifeless football.

My money is on #2 and I think the Vikings are good enough to stomp this team into the ground. 34-10...with their 7 coming on a non-offensive play and the field goal resulting from a drive that starts on our side of the field.

 

[jason12vb]

say what you want about them but Alex Smith, Andy Reid and KC are now 3-0..

Fixed...lots of Vikings fans wanted nothing to do with Reid either.

I loved Smith for this team...he's a smart guy that doesn't turn the ball over...he's the ceiling that I hope Ponder can turn into and I would have been ecstatic for him to have been our QB this year. With him at QB I think we would have been looking at a 5-1 start...or better.

 

[Biabreakable]

Alex Smith is basically the same thing and Christian Ponder with a few more years of seasoning.

Would that be preferable to trade away a premium rookie pick for Alex Smith or use that pick on other parts of the team when we already have Ponder who can be as good as Smith with more experience?

It just does not seem very helpful to be talking about this because it did not happen and honestly I do not think it was ever really an option even if it would have been better for the short term. I have my doubts about that. But it is pretty pointless to speculate either way.

Just try to remember how much you wanted Alex Smith while you are talking about giving up on Ponder too early. Smith was garbage until Harbaugh got to work with him. Having a coach who is good with QBs is really important. That is an area where the Vikings could look for improvement, but the whole philosophy is not geared towards the QB or passing game. If that is what you want? To be like the rest of the league? Then maybe you think we should just tear down everything the Vikings have been working on for the past 5 years and longer then and rebuild like Cleveland is doing.

So glad the Vikings are not that bad.

 

[Donnybrook]

say what you want about him but Alex Smith and KC are now 3-0..

I am guessing Ponder might be capable of handing the ball off to Charles and throwing a third down screen pass to Avery.

Most impressive part of KC was their defense. I was expecting an improved Vikings D but they have given up a ton of soft yards and TDs.

 

[Biabreakable]

Baby steps. Xavier Rhodes looks like he is going to be a good one. Will just take some time for him to develop. We are already seeing teams going after Cook more than trying Rhodes. That is a good sign.

The linebackers are the main problem. Greenway has not played as well as he usually does up to this point.

A lot of opportunity to draft LB and DB was traded away for Patterson. I think ultimately this may be worth it. The Vikings LB and coverage will likely continue to struggle though.

 

[FunkyPlutos]

Baby steps. Xavier Rhodes looks like he is going to be a good one. Will just take some time for him to develop. We are already seeing teams going after Cook more than trying Rhodes. That is a good sign.

The linebackers are the main problem. Greenway has not played as well as he usually does up to this point.

A lot of opportunity to draft LB and DB was traded away for Patterson. I think ultimately this may be worth it. The Vikings LB and coverage will likely continue to struggle though.

I really think Mauti is the future in the middle as long as his knees hold up.

 

[JMon348]

I hate to say this, he's probably my favorite player of all time, but...........what do you think we can get for Peterson? 1st round pick? more, less?

Do the Vikings even entertain it? We aren't going anywhere until we solve our ####### QB situation. By the time that happens, AD might not be the player we are still watching.

It really sucks that Ponder sucks, offensive coordinator sucks, and we can't seem to get the right pieces around him to make a legit run.

Do we try and find a way to recreate what we did in 2009 with Favre and sign or trade for a vet?

####### FRUSTRATING IF ADRIAN IS HERE AND WASTED FOR ANOTHER 3 YEARS!

 

[encaitar]

Ponder sucks, sure, but we would've sucked with Alex Smith as a QB as well. Bill Musgrave got fired as the OC of the Jacksonville Jaguars. There was a reason he was never made OC of the Falcons. We now know why.

 

[BigJim®]

say what you want about him but Alex Smith and KC are now 3-0..

I am guessing Ponder might be capable of handing the ball off to Charles and throwing a third down screen pass to Avery.

Most impressive part of KC was their defense. I was expecting an improved Vikings D but they have given up a ton of soft yards and TDs.

Meh, there's just a different composure that Alex Smith has. Sure, he has shortcomings as a reluctant downfield passer, but he does what he does with no panic or lack of confidence. He does stand in the pocket and scan his options before checking down (always).

 

[Funkley]

AP is awesome but he's a RB in a QB league, would be expensive to acquire, comes with a substantial cap hit, isn't a great receiver and isn't a kid anymore though still at peak. I bet it's not a lot more than they got for Harvin.

 

[The Kuhn]

I hate to say this, he's probably my favorite player of all time, but...........what do you think we can get for Peterson? 1st round pick? more, less?

Do the Vikings even entertain it? We aren't going anywhere until we solve our ####### QB situation. By the time that happens, AD might not be the player we are still watching.

It really sucks that Ponder sucks, offensive coordinator sucks, and we can't seem to get the right pieces around him to make a legit run.

Do we try and find a way to recreate what we did in 2009 with Favre and sign or trade for a vet?

####### FRUSTRATING IF ADRIAN IS HERE AND WASTED FOR ANOTHER 3 YEARS!

Personally, I don't think this team can afford to cycle another offensive weapon. Losing Harvin turned out for the best given his injury, but the Cleveland model shouldn't be considered an example for success yet.

I'd love to see whatever needs to be done happen to get Kirk Cousins from the Skins. Does that mean the Vikes lose Allen or Harrison Smith? Maybe...but the problem is the margin of error is way too thin for this team. You need to be able to count on the offense for more than 1-2 scores a game. Could Alex Smith have made a difference? He protects the ball better, but it's still a limited vertical offense which doesn't help reduce/eliminate stacked boxes for Peterson to run against (and Peterson isn't quite the pass catcher that Charles is).

Call me crazy, but I might even be able to buy into the possibility of Vince Young. He looked OK in preseason, and he would at least be a little different type of QB behind Ponder. If/when a switch happens, Cassel is pretty much the same guy, so I don't expect a different result.

 

[jason12vb]

yeah, anyone should be expendable for the right QB...but if you trade Harrison Smith I might cry a little bit. He's a difference maker and the best safety we've had since Joey Browner ... I love watching this kid play.

 

[Biabreakable]

Huh some of you guys seem to think that the Vikings should follow the plan of every other team and put all eggs in a basket to get an elite QB.

Remember when the Vikings signed Favre? They tried that. Almost made it to the Super Bowl also. Then the next season he totally fell off.

So do not say the Vikings have not tried to get a QB good enough to win with. What you need to realize is that there are just not many opportunities to do so.

The last time the Vikings drafted a QB who worked out it was Daunte Culpepper. I bet most of you guys hated him to. He was perfect for the Vikings offense at that time however and played very well. It helps having elite WRs to work with when developing a young QB.

What has Ponder had to work with? Percy Harvin is a RB/WR hybrid, not a true receiver. Still most everyone seems to want to pull the plug.

I remember when Vikings fans were calling for Gino Torretta to get the start. <_<

I also do not like the talk about wasting Peterson's career. The guy just came very close to breaking Eric Dickerson's record, the team is built around him, to make him as successful as we can, yet people still are saying that we are wasting his career. They did try to win it all by adding Favre, they are doing the best they can to develop Ponder, now finally getting him some quality WR to work with. It has only been 2 weeks. These things take time.

Ponder is not even what I would call a good QB yet, but he is what the Vikings have and no the Vikings have not had better options that they just passed on. It is not as easy as you guys seem to think to get a franchise QB. And no Alex Smith would not qualify.

What Cleveland did is no guarantee they will get a franchise QB either. Even if they go 0-16 and get the 1st overall pick there is no telling if that guy will pan out or not.

 

[Funkley]

No need to rehash the same Ponder arguments but the "waste" could be sticking with Ponder too long. And fwiw, I thought Culpepper was great. Shame he got hurt.

 

[griff321]

You know it's a tough season when fans are worried about loosing to the browns at home. SHOW ME SOMETHING VIKES!

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Not my fault this week. I stopped watching at halftime.

 

[mr roboto]

My list of faults on this team, in order...

1. Staff/play calling

2. O-Line

3. Ponder

4. 4th quarter Defense

 

[snogger]

With all the Talk about Gardy possibly being let go in a couple of weeks.. Could Minnesota be one of the first states where both their MLB Manager and their NFL Coach were fired in the same week?

With any luck, the Wilfs are on the phone right now with Cower.. Frasier can be let go after London and they can then use the Bye week to bring in a completely new Coaching staff and prepare for the rest of the season.. Please??

Ponder also needs to be the clipboard holder after London..

At this point the only redeeming factor for watching the Vikings the rest of the year is to see what McLeod has in him and what a new coaching staff can bring..

 

[mr roboto]

With all the Talk about Gardy possibly being let go in a couple of weeks.. Could Minnesota be one of the first states where both their MLB Manager and their NFL Coach were fired in the same week?

With any luck, the Wilfs are on the phone right now with Cower.. Frasier can be let go after London and they can then use the Bye week to bring in a completely new Coaching staff and prepare for the rest of the season.. Please??

Ponder also needs to be the clipboard holder after London..

At this point the only redeeming factor for watching the Vikings the rest of the year is to see what McLeod has in him and what a new coaching staff can bring..

McLeod has been inactive. If Cassell starts Ponder will be the backup. How would he get in a game?

 

[snogger]

With all the Talk about Gardy possibly being let go in a couple of weeks.. Could Minnesota be one of the first states where both their MLB Manager and their NFL Coach were fired in the same week?

With any luck, the Wilfs are on the phone right now with Cower.. Frasier can be let go after London and they can then use the Bye week to bring in a completely new Coaching staff and prepare for the rest of the season.. Please??

Ponder also needs to be the clipboard holder after London..

At this point the only redeeming factor for watching the Vikings the rest of the year is to see what McLeod has in him and what a new coaching staff can bring..

McLeod has been inactive. If Cassell starts Ponder will be the backup. How would he get in a game?

wait.... what

Nothing in my post stated this game.. I clearly stated that after London, they need to bench Ponder..

Whether it is Cassell or McLeod that plays the first week... but at some point might as well give McLeod a shot and see what he has as we prepare to draft Bridegewater

 

[mr roboto]

With all the Talk about Gardy possibly being let go in a couple of weeks.. Could Minnesota be one of the first states where both their MLB Manager and their NFL Coach were fired in the same week?

With any luck, the Wilfs are on the phone right now with Cower.. Frasier can be let go after London and they can then use the Bye week to bring in a completely new Coaching staff and prepare for the rest of the season.. Please??

Ponder also needs to be the clipboard holder after London..

At this point the only redeeming factor for watching the Vikings the rest of the year is to see what McLeod has in him and what a new coaching staff can bring..

McLeod has been inactive. If Cassell starts Ponder will be the backup. How would he get in a game?

wait.... what Nothing in my post stated this game.. I clearly stated that after London, they need to bench Ponder..

Whether it is Cassell or McLeod that plays the first week... but at some point might as well give McLeod a shot and see what he has as we prepare to draft Bridegewater

I never said this game either. I just don't see how he would even be the #2 on game day barring an injury.

 

[snogger]

With all the Talk about Gardy possibly being let go in a couple of weeks.. Could Minnesota be one of the first states where both their MLB Manager and their NFL Coach were fired in the same week?

With any luck, the Wilfs are on the phone right now with Cower.. Frasier can be let go after London and they can then use the Bye week to bring in a completely new Coaching staff and prepare for the rest of the season.. Please??

Ponder also needs to be the clipboard holder after London..

At this point the only redeeming factor for watching the Vikings the rest of the year is to see what McLeod has in him and what a new coaching staff can bring..

McLeod has been inactive. If Cassell starts Ponder will be the backup. How would he get in a game?

wait.... what Nothing in my post stated this game.. I clearly stated that after London, they need to bench Ponder..

Whether it is Cassell or McLeod that plays the first week... but at some point might as well give McLeod a shot and see what he has as we prepare to draft Bridegewater

I never said this game either. I just don't see how he would even be the #2 on game day barring an injury.

You mean like Hoyer just did to beat the Vikes??

 

[CowboyFan]

F-U Vikings, there goes my survivor pool

 

[mr roboto]

Well personally, I'm glad that I can just relax and watch any game I want.

 

[snogger]

F-U Vikings, there goes my survivor pool

Crap.. Way to make it worse then it already was for me ..

 

[Herb]

WTF happened to the OL? Somehow, without changing personnel or suffering any known injuries they go from being one of the top 5 units to being completely inept.

"Let's get slaughtered for Bridgewater!!!"

 

[Donnybrook]

I got to say I am worried about the Vikings getting beat by a team that everyone seems to think is tanking. That is how much confidence I have in the Vikings coaching staff.

If they lose this weekend, I will be for the rest of the season. In fact, I told my wife last night that if they do lose, I will be selling all of my purple gear and will swear off them. Oh, I also picked them in my survivor pools this week.

I feel OK because I knew there was a good possibility of a loss this week. I hope you aren't taking it too hard.

 

[snogger]

Tony Dungy or Bill Cowers please pickup the white courtesy phone..

 

[Andy Dufresne]

On the plus side the Vikings sabotaged the Browns' master plan for rebuilding their franchise.

 

[Stryker]

Tank for Teddy? Suck for Johnny? Suck for Hundley?

This team has more problems than just the QB, but Ponder is definitely THE reason for our struggles. Every team has issues, but many teams can mask them with a good QB, something the Vikings do not have. The defense can't get off the field, the offense can stay on the field. I think Frazier and Musgrave must go also.

 

[FunkyPlutos]

I think the offensive and defensive lines are going to be strengths...and if they are strengths, your team should be good. They will be better than people think.

Well, I was wrong...offensive line is terrible! That is the source of our 0-3 start!!

 

[jestertj]

Let's hope the old GM is smart enough to sell off Jared Allen and/or Kevin Williams before the trade deadline when the team is obviously dead in the water. Extra 2nd and or 3rd round picks could come in handy as the rebuild continues...

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

Ponder is terrible. He is gutsy in his running but he is a careless passer and unable to make the big throw. He is a backup.

Still, they should have won. On 3rd down and 2 with the game tied they decide to fool themselves and not give it to the best back in the game and take a sack.....again. They settle for a field goal instead of taking 2 downs to get 2 yards with the best back in the game.

They then let Cleveland march down and on the td play, single coverage with no help the guy who already has 2 tds in the game to get beat by his 3rd.

They deserved to lose, it's a gutless way to play football.

 

[ratpfink]

Let's hope the old GM is smart enough to sell off Jared Allen and/or Kevin Williams before the trade deadline when the team is obviously dead in the water. Extra 2nd and or 3rd round picks could come in handy as the rebuild continues...

I can count the number of teams that have right defense, cap space and possible need for Jared Allen on one finger. 2nd or 3rd? How about a ham sandwich?

 

[Tool]

On the plus side the Vikings sabotaged the Browns' master plan for rebuilding their franchise.

Good point. The browns may have to go back to Weeden.

 

[Raider Nation]

‏

@AdrianPeterson

So my daughter is laying here under me and just out the blue she says... I can't believe you lost to the Browns Daddy!