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I was looking at our TC schedule, and we only have 12 total practice days (5 with no pads /6 with pads) plus two Joint Practice days to end camp. man things have changed over the years. I remember much longer TC's etc. The Players Union has done a great job reducing the TC practices. A lot of playbook information to absorb in a short time - as well as player evaluations. No wonder the first four weeks of the season are so unpredictable - No one has had enough practice!! Man Im old I guess.
i heard some old timer the other day ( I think it was Rosen ) talking about TC being like 6 weeks back in the day. Of course back in those days the players had other full time jobs and there were no OTAs or minicamp to factor in. while they are still a ways away from 6 weeks of hell from the early days, the current schedule doesnt really leave them that far behind in terms of learning time since they get their playbooks and some stuff months ahead of when they would in the past.
personally I think the lack of contact in the time they do get is not enough.
It's not just less practices. The starters don't play in the pre-season anymore.
After the starters didn't play at all in the pre-season last year, this was the result in the opener against the Bengals, which they lost.
From the Viking's website.
"Minnesota was called for 12 penalties for 116 yards on Sunday. And 10 of them came in the opening two quarters, with the offense being the culprits for nine of those innfractions. C.J. Ham was called for a false start before the very first snap of the season. Tyler Conklin followed with one of his own before Ham was called for another false start, all on the opening drive.
Minnesota's offensive line also endured a rough first half. Rashod Hill was called twice for holding, while Garrett Bradbury and Olisaemeka Udoh were also flagged for holding in the opening half. Brian O'Neill was whistled for a false start.
Udoh was called for an unnecessary roughness flag in the third quarter, and Ezra Cleveland was called for holding in the fourth quarter as every lineman drew at least one flag in the season opener."
I'm torn how much to play the starters in meaningless games...
This year with all new systems in place, they're going to (for sure) have a steeper learning curve to get it mentally and physically right.
The offenses playbook in particular sounds daunting....
Quote: @"jargomcfargo" said:
It's not just less practices. The starters don't play in the pre-season anymore.
After the starters didn't play at all in the pre-season last year, this was the result in the opener against the Bengals, which they lost.
From the Viking's website.
"Minnesota was called for 12 penalties for 116 yards on Sunday. And 10 of them came in the opening two quarters, with the offense being the culprits for nine of those innfractions.C.J. Ham was called for a false start before the very first snap of the season. Tyler Conklin followed with one of his own before Ham was called for another false start, all on the opening drive.
Minnesota's offensive line also endured a rough first half. Rashod Hill was called twice for holding, while Garrett Bradbury and Olisaemeka Udoh were also flagged for holding in the opening half. Brian O'Neill was whistled for a false start.
Udoh was called for an unnecessary roughness flag in the third quarter, and Ezra Cleveland was called for holding in the fourth quarter as every lineman drew at least one flag in the season opener."
Yep, and some of us pointed this out all preseason and going into game 1 with those results. Other's said no big deal and we were being alarmists for even questioning the great Zimmer.....until about mid-season and pretty much everyone jumped the ship and started tocome to Jesus and rationalize why they still supported Zimmer. Now we will hear about how close we were in many games and how we are not that far off from a serious playoff team. Rinse...Repeat 
We are going to have a huge learning curve this year, new coaches, whole new schemes like a 3-4 on D, at least 8 new starters (= a lot), and first time play calling Head Coach!
I do love our schedule on paper of course. It is very favorable early for us to maybe even overcome some of the expected steep learning curves. The key to every season is how are you playing in the last few games and did you learn and build a more cohesive unit on the march to the playoffs.
Quote: @"minny65" said:
@"jargomcfargo" said:
It's not just less practices. The starters don't play in the pre-season anymore.
After the starters didn't play at all in the pre-season last year, this was the result in the opener against the Bengals, which they lost.
From the Viking's website.
"Minnesota was called for 12 penalties for 116 yards on Sunday. And 10 of them came in the opening two quarters, with the offense being the culprits for nine of those innfractions. C.J. Ham was called for a false start before the very first snap of the season. Tyler Conklin followed with one of his own before Ham was called for another false start, all on the opening drive.
Minnesota's offensive line also endured a rough first half. Rashod Hill was called twice for holding, while Garrett Bradbury and Olisaemeka Udoh were also flagged for holding in the opening half. Brian O'Neill was whistled for a false start.
Udoh was called for an unnecessary roughness flag in the third quarter, and Ezra Cleveland was called for holding in the fourth quarter as every lineman drew at least one flag in the season opener."
Yep, and some of us pointed this out all preseason and going into game 1 with those results. Other's said no big deal and we were being alarmists for even questioning the great Zimmer.....until about mid-season and pretty much everyone jumped the ship and started tocome to Jesus and rationalize why they still supported Zimmer. Now we will hear about how close we were in many games and how we are not that far off from a serious playoff team. Rinse...Repeat
We are going to have a huge learning curve this year, new coaches, whole new schemes like a 3-4 on D, at least 8 new starters (= a lot), and first time play calling Head Coach!
I do love our schedule on paper of course. It is very favorable early for us to maybe even overcome some of the expected steep learning curves. The key to every season is how are you playing in the last few games and did you learn and build a more cohesive unit on the march to the playoffs.
Definitely a huge learning curve. A lot of ifs and the odds stacked against them. 28% of teams with new head coaches make the playoffs, which is higher than I thought it would be.
The defense is going to make or break this team. They have added some nice pieces and best of all, got rid of Breeland. So I do have some hope, though it is tempered by all the new unknowns.
I don't expect them to win the Superbowl. I do expect to see a team that appears to have an upward trajectory by the end of the season. Playoffs would be an unexpected bonus.
Every team plays with the same rules so obviously some teams
can make it work. I kind of question how
much value preseason has when they don’t run any of their normal plays and just
play super vanilla. It always felt like
Zimmers teams took a couple weeks to find their groove, and it seemed like we
were starting with a deficit by not taking the first couple games seriously.
Quote: @"medaille" said:
Every team plays with the same rules so obviously some teams
can make it work. I kind of question how
much value preseason has when they don’t run any of their normal plays and just
play super vanilla. It always felt like
Zimmers teams took a couple weeks to find their groove, and it seemed like we
were starting with a deficit by not taking the first couple games seriously.
especially when it was new OCs every year trying to get into some sort of rhythm with their new offenses.
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