This is supposedly the 2023 Viking's schedule

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@Wetlander said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

The offense needs to know that when the D is struggling to limit their 3 and outs,  or at least quick 3 and outs,  there were to many times last year the D was gassed and the O play calling and execution was suspect at best. KOC needs to be thinking about the D at times when deciding how to approach a series of downs.

We can cut him a little slack though right?  First time HC and all that?  The positives KOC brought to this team (culture, leadership, situational football improvements, etc) far outweigh the negatives (hiring Donatell and getting too pass happy at times). 

And the two negatives have been taken care of after 1 season.  He didn't compound his mistake by keeping Donatell, he fired him after one season.  He also made it a priority to add some guys who can help them run the ball better.

Wasn't attacking him,  simply pointing out that on a bunch of occasions last year the coach and offense put the D in bad positions which led to the D looking even worse when it could have been prevented with better play calling and execution. 

The narrative has been constantly it was the defenses fault and that was not always the case.  Yes Ed was a clueless clown,   but thats on KOC and KAM for allowing him to continually screw the pooch and not making a change sooner. 

I was happy with the hire for HC and have been mostly happy with what I've seen,  and totally understand a learning curve,   but some of his coaching errors weren't getting corrected and that is concerning a little.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

As long as the offense becomes more efficient.  How?  More consistent running game.  I believe we had a historic number of runs for no gain or losses last year.  Better play calling on 3rd and 4th and short.  We were terrible at times and it cost us the @Det game, almost cost the Buffalo game.

The defense received a lot of hate but the offense was historically bad in the 3rd quarter last year and for a majority of games would be terrible for half.  

There were many games that should not have been 1 score games because the offense couldn't sustain drives.  That needs to change this year.

[Guest]

@pattersaur said:
Win week 1 and we're on our way to 10+ wins I think. Lose v TB and blow it all up ha.

Yeah that Tampa game is big. Very winnable, but if we somehow drop it, 4 of the next 6 are against playoff teams. 

[Guest]

@Skodin said:

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

As long as the offense becomes more efficient.  How?  More consistent running game.  I believe we had a historic number of runs for no gain or losses last year.  Better play calling on 3rd and 4th and short.  We were terrible at times and it cost us the @Det game, almost cost the Buffalo game.

The defense received a lot of hate but the offense was historically bad in the 3rd quarter last year and for a majority of games would be terrible for half.  

There were many games that should not have been 1 score games because the offense couldn't sustain drives.  That needs to change this year.

I think that religion was pretty pervasive in Eagan this year. Hence the Oliver signing. He's not a cure-all, but a big cog in fixing some stuff that needs fixin. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:

@Skodin said:

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

As long as the offense becomes more efficient.  How?  More consistent running game.  I believe we had a historic number of runs for no gain or losses last year.  Better play calling on 3rd and 4th and short.  We were terrible at times and it cost us the @Det game, almost cost the Buffalo game.

The defense received a lot of hate but the offense was historically bad in the 3rd quarter last year and for a majority of games would be terrible for half.  

There were many games that should not have been 1 score games because the offense couldn't sustain drives.  That needs to change this year.

I think that religion was pretty pervasive in Eagan this year. Hence the Oliver signing. He's not a cure-all, but a big cog in fixing some stuff that needs fixin. 

Plus our line returning in tact for the first time in a decade should help. Still, the Vikings should've been better running the ball than they were last year. While our IOLs struggled sometimes in pass pro, their run blocking grades were 90, 80, 72, 63, 78, which in context with the rest of the league is pretty remarkable. 

Mundt may have been the biggest culprit. I can't find his run blocking grade, but I did read somewhere that it was pretty bad. Oliver graded very high in both run blocking and pass blocking. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:

@Skodin said:

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

As long as the offense becomes more efficient.  How?  More consistent running game.  I believe we had a historic number of runs for no gain or losses last year.  Better play calling on 3rd and 4th and short.  We were terrible at times and it cost us the @Det game, almost cost the Buffalo game.

The defense received a lot of hate but the offense was historically bad in the 3rd quarter last year and for a majority of games would be terrible for half.  

There were many games that should not have been 1 score games because the offense couldn't sustain drives.  That needs to change this year.

I think that religion was pretty pervasive in Eagan this year. Hence the Oliver signing. He's not a cure-all, but a big cog in fixing some stuff that needs fixin. 

Plus our line returning in tact for the first time in a decade should help. Still, the Vikings should've been better running the ball than they were last year. While our IOLs struggled sometimes in pass pro, their run blocking grades were 90, 80, 72, 63, 78, which in context with the rest of the league is pretty remarkable. 

Mundt may have been the biggest culprit. I can't find his run blocking grade, but I did read somewhere that it was pretty bad. Oliver graded very high in both run blocking and pass blocking. 

...and just like that Clay releases his OL rankings. 

https://twitter.com/MikeClayNFL/status/1...90661?s=20

[Guest]

@Skodin said:

@StickyBun said:
Defense needs to be aggressive and more unpredictable, I think Flores will bring that. I think guys like Cine, Booth, Davenport, Blackmon will be helpful to him. Offense will have a more rugged aspect to it with Mattison running the ball and Oliver in there as a great blocking TE. Can the offensive line make incremental improvement by being intact and the continuity being there? 

Minnesota was often at a disadvantage and limited by that horrible D last year. It infiltrated both sides of the ball and optimal play calling. If the D can even be 30-35% more effective, the ripple effect on a gameplan will be huge. 

As long as the offense becomes more efficient.  How?  More consistent running game.  I believe we had a historic number of runs for no gain or losses last year.  Better play calling on 3rd and 4th and short.  We were terrible at times and it cost us the @Det game, almost cost the Buffalo game.

The defense received a lot of hate but the offense was historically bad in the 3rd quarter last year and for a majority of games would be terrible for half.  

There were many games that should not have been 1 score games because the offense couldn't sustain drives.  That needs to change this year.

This is the key point. We need positive runs on first and secind down so its not all Kirk and pass pro on 3rd down. I dont know how much Cookies shoulder limited him last year, but he has never been a big finisher on short runs. he runs a little upright looking for the home run instead. Sometimes you gotta settle for the 3 yard gain especially on inside zone or man. 

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Blitzing defenses, in particular Flores defenses, tend to be more effective against young, inexperienced QBs. There are quite a few on the schedule. 

Baker MayfieldJalen HurtsJustin HerbertBryce YoungPatrick MahomesJustin FieldsTrey Lance, Brock Purdy or Sam DarnoldJordan LoveDesmond RitterDerek CarrRussell WilsonJustin FieldsJimmy GJoe BurrowJared GoffJordan LoveJared Goff

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They play the Bolts on my birthday