What a fun season so far, so take some time to bask in it while we can.  Have a great Holiday, and safe travels.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, Longshippers!

IMO best QB on the roster when healthy...fwiw

As Vikings players milled about in a jubilant visitors’ locker room at Lambeau Field early Sunday morning, the two quarterbacks who’d once carried the team’s fortunes were already dressed and ready to file out of the locker room.Teddy Bridgewater, Case Keenum’s backup in the second half of the season, smiled and sang “Jingle Bell Rock” to himself as he walked toward the team bus. Shortly behind him was Sam Bradford, who began the season as the centerpiece of the offense, transformed into an enigma and has resurfaced in recent weeks as a more visible presence.
Bradford, who was placed on injured reserve Nov. 8 after having surgery to clean up his bothersome left knee, is technically eligible to practice now, and could be activated from injured reserve in time for the playoffs. The quarterback twisted his knee in the Vikings’ season opener, and after it turned into an ailment that limited him to two ill-fated quarters the rest of the season, he had surgery in part because, as coach Mike Zimmer said, “Nothing else was working. We had to try something.”
It didn’t exactly sound as though the Vikings knew an operation would work at the time, and given the fact Bradford had suffered two torn ACLs in his left knee, he could have knee issues the rest of his career. “I’m not going to say the knee was weakened,” head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman said on Oct. 10. “That’s probably not accurate, but certainly it has to do with having had two ACLs in that knee, so certainly that’s a contributing factor.”
Still, it’s interesting that Bradford has been more visible in the locker room and on the sideline in recent weeks, especially after how rarely he was seen around the team before and after his surgery. It comes around the time he’s able to return to the practice field, and while he’d take far from the most orthodox path to a playoff roster, he could potentially be a quarterback option to the Vikings, should they need one.
http://www.startribune.com/sam-bradford-...466272043/

But started reading and had to finish it. Kudo's to coach and family, but even more so to the kid 

North Carolina high school QB finds a home with his coach

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/23/us/north-c...index.html

Jon Gruden - C - Free Agent

  NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports Jon Gruden has "reached out to possible assistants."
Gruden has been linked to the Bucs as the top candidate to replace Dirk Koetter. Unlike previous years, Gruden is serious about returning, and Tampa looks to be his preferred destination. With Gruden in the stages of putting together a staff talks could heat up over the next week. The Bucs will likely need to make Gruden one of the highest paid coaches to get him out of his ESPN deal.

 Related: Buccaneers

  This would be great news, simply the best news ever, not only in the history of broadcasting, but the entire NFL, maybe even the world, no universe...

Since Griffin injured his foot in London, our pass rush has not been the same after the team returned
from the bye week. It's great that we are still beating teams, but I believe we will need that dominate
Pass Rush to regain its form in the Playoffs to make our SB run. Our Sack numbers are down, QB Hits
are down, and there appears to be a noticeable lack of pressure on the QB the past several weeks putting
more responsibility on our secondary and linebackers to make plays in coverage. On a positive note, the
defense forcing turnovers has been excellent over that same period, especially interceptions. 

Is this all a grand plan by Zimmer focusing his game strategy more on coverage, or is this something we
need to be concerned about when we start our playoff run in January? 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21863...s-released

Forfeiture of multiple draft picks would also suffice...

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/2018/


 60+ million in cap space under your aluminum pole...

https://twitter.com/PeteBercich/status/9...6860891136

https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-viki...-112699419

Doesn't say for how long, but getting that bye wouldn't hurt...

so I tune in to NFLN to see the highlights / any interviews after beating GB....
theres Meion....talking to Packer Fan "Lil Wayne".... and other nonsense...nothing on our game...nothing on the earlier game.
Sure would be nice if the NFL Netwrok actually discussed the NFL instead of watching Meion be-boppin' around.

not sure who is the worst to listen to Buck or Meion or Irvin