This will be Cousin's eighth season in the NFL; fifth as a starter. His best season (four years ago) was 9-7, and he's only won that many once. Sadly, I fully expect to see 8-8 or at best 9-7 for 2019.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
p.s. If the Viking's offensive line is putrid AGAIN this season, what a colossal waste of cap money and Cousins's prime years.
that could be said about many of the teams players. I cant recall when the team ever had so many quality players in their prime at the same time since the early years.
There's just one guy that has a fully guaranteed contract, the first of its kind in NFL history. Some fans may not want to admit it, but the Cousins signing is teetering on the precipice of full blown failure....and a chunk isn't Cousins' fault. No excuses this season.
i dont think there are too many that are going to say its on Cousins. He had a few WTF moments last year, but the shell shocking he took at times from opposing defenses getting home quickly, without having to bring more than 4, was certainly an indicator of where the failure was stemming from. As far as players wasting players in their prime as well as cap space... again that could be said about a lot of players on the team if they arent going be able to protect better and run the ball more efficiently early in the games.
I was actually shocked at how good he was. I wasn't expecting that. There were times early on where he was just spectacular....
...and then he wasn't. I don't have the resources to know why, but that's my prevailing concern: is there merit to this big-game, big-moment tendency to fail? I don't know, maybe. I do have the benefit and perspective of being old, and so I remember all of those coaches, players, etc. who were said to be afflicted by the same thing...until they weren't. Elway was one. "Can't win the big one..." Until he did. So we'll see.
My reason for optimism isn't as much about Cousins or a better cast of offensive linemen. It's about doing what we needed to do a long time ago. And that's get rid of this half-power, half-zone, half-ass blocking scheme run by a half-ass coordinator who may or may not know what the hell he's doing, and very clearly wanted to play Chiefs and Rams football instead of Zimmer football.
A lot of us said it last year. Everything was in place. The only question mark was our new OC. Does he have a feel for calling plays? That's a talent even some of the most brilliant minds struggle with. The answer was a very definite no.
There are still questions (how do Stef and Kubiak co-exist?), but at least we know what we are. We're an outsize zone team with two outside zone runners, outside zone blockers and a play action QB who came from this offense. And we're going to run the fuck out of the football.
That, more than anything, will help us answer the questions about Cousins.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
p.s. If the Viking's offensive line is putrid AGAIN this season, what a colossal waste of cap money and Cousins's prime years.
that could be said about many of the teams players. I cant recall when the team ever had so many quality players in their prime at the same time since the early years.
There's just one guy that has a fully guaranteed contract, the first of its kind in NFL history. Some fans may not want to admit it, but the Cousins signing is teetering on the precipice of full blown failure....and a chunk isn't Cousins' fault. No excuses this season.
i dont think there are too many that are going to say its on Cousins. He had a few WTF moments last year, but the shell shocking he took at times from opposing defenses getting home quickly, without having to bring more than 4, was certainly an indicator of where the failure was stemming from. As far as players wasting players in their prime as well as cap space... again that could be said about a lot of players on the team if they arent going be able to protect better and run the ball more efficiently early in the games.
I was actually shocked at how good he was. I wasn't expecting that. There were times early on where he was just spectacular....
...and then he wasn't. I don't have the resources to know why, but that's my prevailing concern: is there merit to this big-game, big-moment tendency to fail? I don't know, maybe. I do have the benefit and perspective of being old, and so I remember all of those coaches, players, etc. who were said to be afflicted by the same thing...until they weren't. Elway was one. "Can't win the big one..." Until he did. So we'll see.
My reason for optimism isn't as much about Cousins or a better cast of offensive linemen. It's about doing what we needed to do a long time ago. And that's get rid of this half-power, half-zone, half-ass blocking scheme run by a half-ass coordinator who may or may not know what the hell he's doing, and very clearly wanted to play Chiefs and Rams football instead of Zimmer football.
A lot of us said it last year. Everything was in place. The only question mark was our new OC. Does he have a feel for calling plays? That's a talent even some of the most brilliant minds struggle with. The answer was a very definite no.
There are still questions (how do Stef and Kubiak co-exist?), but at least we know what we are. We're an outsize zone team with two outside zone runners, outside zone blockers and a play action QB who came from this offense. And we're going to run the fuck out of the football.
That, more than anything, will help us answer the questions about Cousins.
Big difference between the question marks of last season and this season. Kubiak/Dennison have been there and done that. I agree MB, at least we have a plan to run the damn ball. And a QB that excels off the play action.
I kinda refuse to be compared with Dan Snyder dumpster fires. Since he bought the foreskins Redskins, they've found essentially every way to champion mediocrity possible. If Cousins will be judged by his record there, then it's fair to also consider a team that's been basically midpack since their last SB win in 1992.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
I was actually shocked at how good he was. I wasn't expecting that. There were times early on where he was just spectacular....
...and then he wasn't. I don't have the resources to know why, but that's my prevailing concern: is there merit to this big-game, big-moment tendency to fail? I don't know, maybe. I do have the benefit and perspective of being old, and so I remember all of those coaches, players, etc. who were said to be afflicted by the same thing...until they weren't. Elway was one. "Can't win the big one..." Until he did. So we'll see.
My reason for optimism isn't as much about Cousins or a better cast of offensive linemen. It's about doing what we needed to do a long time ago. And that's get rid of this half-power, half-zone, half-ass blocking scheme run by a half-ass coordinator who may or may not know what the hell he's doing, and very clearly wanted to play Chiefs and Rams football instead of Zimmer football.
A lot of us said it last year. Everything was in place. The only question mark was our new OC. Does he have a feel for calling plays? That's a talent even some of the most brilliant minds struggle with. The answer was a very definite no.
There are still questions (how do Stef and Kubiak co-exist?), but at least we know what we are. We're an outsize zone team with two outside zone runners, outside zone blockers and a play action QB who came from this offense. And we're going to run the fuck out of the football.
That, more than anything, will help us answer the questions about Cousins.
The only thing you forgot was the "BOOM" at the end... :-D
Totally agree with you, Maroon.
Quote: @ArizonaViking said:
Another point was during the 2018 draft, the Vikings were set to start adding pieces to better the offensive line. But we all seen the run on offensive linemen in that first round of the draft. For the Vikings, picking in the 30th spot left the cupboards bare. With the except of O'Neil taken in the second run, but was still considered a project at the time.
Good point, and another is that we lost our 2017 first-round pick in trading for Sam Bradford, taking away another chance to improve the OL. That trade might be remembered for sinking this Viking era as badly as the Herschel trade did the Burns period.
I really want to join the optimism bandwagon that's fueled by Kubiak/Stefanski/outside zone scheme - but here's what I keep remembering: Mike Zimmer has had a new offensive scheme or coordinator/guru EVERY SEASON since 2015. Why is this one real?
Quote: @Jor-El said:I really want to join the optimism bandwagon that's fueled by Kubiak/Stefanski/outside zone scheme - but here's what I keep remembering: Mike Zimmer has had a new offensive scheme or coordinator/guru EVERY SEASON since 2015. Why is this one real?
I think Shurmur would have been here for awhile if he hadn't gotten another Head Coaching opportunity. The reason he got that opportunity was for the excellent work he did with the offense in 2017. That was completely out of Zimmer's control... the only OCs Zimmer has had issues with was Norv who ran the ball too much (unbalanced) and DeFelippo who passed too much (unbalanced).
The Kubiak hiring is actually in the same vein as when he hired Shurmur. Former HC known for his offensive mind that is brought in to help the offense. The best part about Kubiak is he doesn't have any inclination to be a HC again... this could actually help the Vikings gain some consistency in scheme, playbook, etc. on offense for awhile.
I don't agree that we "fell in a trap". We're in a pit for over 2 decades. We have not had the same QB named opening day starter for a 3rd straight season since Culpeper. We forever been looking for a long term solution. How can you fall into a trap when your still trying to crawl out of a pit? We may still be in that pit/trap. We didn't just fall in it because of Kirk.
Blame Cousins all you want... but the difference between last season and the season before it... had nothing to do with the QB. The defense regressed noticeably. But, yeah: blame the QB for that (re: wins and losses).
Quote: @HappyViking said:
This will be Cousin's eighth season in the NFL; fifth as a starter. His TEAM'S best season (four years ago) was 9-7, and his team has only won that many once. Sadly, I fully expect to see 8-8 or at best 9-7 for 2019.
Fixed it for you.
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