03-27-2023, 01:02 AM
Quote: @Wetlander said:
That's fine and dandy but everyone and their grandmothers knew Donatell was a shit hire, so how did KOC miss the memo? And why was he not fired earlier after we went a full month giving up 500 yards a game on defense with no answers or adjustments in sight? Pettine was also a shit hire, so my confidence in KOC knowing what he is doing with his coaching staff is shaky at best. I hope things improve under Flores but he's never been a DC before and I'm extremely leery of coaches from the Belichick coaching tree.@supafreak84 said:
O'Connell did what a lot of young offensive minded first year HCs do... bring in a veteran DC to run the defense so he could focus on installing his offense. He also brought in a former HC in Pettine to help him navigate all HC duties and be a sounding board to minimize rookie mistakes.@Wetlander said:
I really think that's where the unraveling started to happen was the decision to bring Cousins in at the sacrifice of losing some of those players you mentioned in 2019-2021. I think there was a philosophical difference in roster construction for the first time between the two of them with that one move because prior to that they were aligned in rolling with Bridgewater before the injury. The Cousins acquisition was ultimately the demise of the Spielman/Zimmer era.@supafreak84 said:
Rick was canned because him and Zimmer stopped talking. For as good as Spielman was in the draft most years, he had a few stinkers and missed on too many 1st round picks (Bradbury, Hughes, Gladney, Treadwell, etc) before he hit it big on Darrisaw and JJ. Also, he gave up way too much for Bradford and stopped catering towards his HCs bread and butter (defense) the past couple years. When you look at the guys we jettisoned in 2019-2021, who did we get to replace those guys? Bust draft picks and FAs that weren't good. When you have a defensive minded HC who had a blue print that worked to win, you keep drafting and building your team that way. The Ravens are a classic example of this... They know what they want to be offensively and defensively and drafted accordingly.@MaroonBells said:
Which is why I still don't understand why Spielman was let go. This is a hit and miss business and nobody bats 1000. They wanted to move on from Zimmer because his message was stale and the players no longer responded, fine, but we won 13 games last year on the backs of the talent and roster that Rick Spielman had assembled. Kwesi added nothing in the way of key additions or talent to the roster last season and we still have no idea what we have in him as a talent evaluator as he has had more misses then hits to this point. This upcoming draft will be very telling in my opinion for everybody's favorite whizz kid.@comet52 said:
Also Viking fans: This team doesn't have the "balls" to move up and get their QB. Sometimes moves like this work--Rashad, Carter, Shelley, sometimes they don't. Howie Roseman was the best GM in the NFL before he drafted Reagor ahead of JJ. Then he was a laughing stock. Then he drafted Hurts and now he's the best again. It's almost as if every GM in the NFL makes a series of good and bad decisions.@supafreak84 said:
Viking fans have always had this weird idea that putting some other team's trash in purple will turn shit into gold. "Let's grab Zach Wilson when the Jets toss him on the scrap heap!!"@MaroonBells said:
Can we now finally get rid of Reagor? He should've been cut the minute after he failed to complete his route against the Colts. Not the next day, the next play. Take him off the field, get his playbook and escort him to the parking lot. Can we escort Kwesi out too while we are at it since we will still be paying off the Reagor trade NEXT YEAR (2024) in the form of a 4th or 5th round pick?
What's worrisome is if we have a g.m. who believes that nonsense. Let's hope he learned his lesson.
Bottom line, the core talent we had in 2022 was a better fit for KOC than Zimmer. Also, I'd say KOC's coaching elevated the team. It wasn't a product of Spielman. We were much better situationally in the final 2 minutes of each half and his culture was a big reason in getting wins in the 4th quarter.
It was time for a change at HC and in the FO. I'm super high on KOC and what he's done with the players. Not as confident in Kwesi as GM, but we'll see what he does in this draft. If he makes a move for a rookie QB and nails it, it'll be something Spielman never did and I'll be his biggest fan.
And yeah, I think more of a "feel good" culture helped win games, as well as health and some other factors, but ultimately if we are giving KOC credit you also have to acknowledge that his beyond terrible decision to bring in Ed Donatell to oversee the defensive overhaul and scheme transition was the downfall of our season. I'll wait and see on KOC before I anoint him the second coming of Bill Walsh. I was off the Adolpho-Mensah bus from the outset, and he has done nothing to prove me wrong to this point as the amount of misses he's had in one season is staggering. This is a huge offseason for him in proving whether he belongs in the position he was given.
McVay did this with Wade Phillips when he was first hired and LaFleur did it too when he was in GB. Unlike LaFleur, O'Connell realized he made a mistake and quickly corrected it. LaFleur waited too long to fire Pettine and it cost them a shot at a Super Bowl and then compounded the problem by hiring Barry who's defenses all sucked wherever he went.
