The dog days of NFL summer are here

[purplefaithful]

Man, would I be bullish on the Vikings this year if they had healthy KC, healthy JJ + Turner and some of the D Free Agents...

[MaroonBells]

Man, would I be bullish on the Vikings this year if they had healthy KC, healthy JJ + Turner and some of the D Free Agents...

And don't forget the biggest factor...at least in my opinion: Year 3 in KOC's offense. I'm a broken record on continuity but I think it's a much bigger factor than most think. Oh well....water, bridge and all that.

[Zanary]

For all the Kirk Cousins fans out there, I believe you will forget all about him by week 5. You may not believe this now but we have upgraded the QB position. 
Don't believe me, just watch! 
Regulators, mount up, we're coming!

In a couple of previous threads, I voiced my hopes that Sam would respond to having the last real chance be his best chance...but I don't know 'til I see at least some preseason action.

In my perfect scenario, Sam balls out for 1-2 years, the Vikings have at least deep playoff success, and that Sam gets too expensive to keep as JJM is ready to step up.

I rarely forget about any notable Vikings QBs. In Kirk's case, I'll always wonder what if...we'd had an IOL and/or a less hateful coach and/or a comparable defense some of those years...because the guy, while he did get paid well, got mauled while being very productive for us. His hater club is just...bizarre.

Similarly, if only Kramer had been on better teams overall, ditto for Wilson, Gannon had developed more quickly, the defense had been just a bit better during Moon's time, DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT 
98, Culpepper hadn't been all thumbs, Tice hadn't been as stupid as he was smart, TJack had be developed under a much better coach, we'd had a real O-Line for Ponder, Teddy, etc....

[FLVike]

Well according to the pro-Cousins crowd, with the exception of injury,  the Falcons should be playoff bound and most likely the division winner. We shall see.

[StickierBuns]

Well according to the pro-Cousins crowd, with the exception of injury,  the Falcons should be playoff bound and most likely the division winner. We shall see.

Atlanta was only 2 games from tying for the NFC South last year, its not a tough division. The winner won 9 games, lol. You don't have to be 'pro-Cousins' to understand that some decent QB play would make the Falcons favorites, especially considering its a middling division anyway. Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinecke started last year for them. Baker Mayfield, Bryce Young and Derek Carr he'll be up against. Whoop-de-doo. 

If the Falcons don't win that division this year, its because Kirko has a bad year.....and it would have to be pretty bad to not be competitive.

[MaroonBells]

Well according to the pro-Cousins crowd, with the exception of injury,  the Falcons should be playoff bound and most likely the division winner. We shall see.

Falcons didn't improve their defense much. It's still going to be a middle-tier group. This is why so many were shocked they took Penix ahead of Dallas Turner. 

But their offense should be dramatically improved with Cousins, assuming there are no set backs with his achilles. I think they're probably the favorites in the South this year.

[Zanary]

Falcons didn't improve their defense much. It's still going to be a middle-tier group. This is why so many were shocked they took Penix ahead of Dallas Turner. 

But their offense should be dramatically improved with Cousins, assuming there are no set backs with his achilles. I think they're probably the favorites in the South this year.

It was pointed out on another site that their IOL is rated something gaudy like 4th in pass protection...basically the opposite of most of Kirk's time in Minnesota.

TB will be tough, but I think it'll be down to them vs Atlanta as things stand now.