Vikings a "legit" 8-2

[MaroonBells]

At this point two years ago, the Vikings were also 8-2. But...

"There's just no comparison between those teams," said Aaron Schatz, the creator of DVOA who is now the chief analytics officer of FTN Fantasy and a contributor to ESPN. "The 2022 team was close to the strangest year I've ever seen. This year is a completely different situation. The Vikings this season are playing like an 8-2 team. There's no luck involved here. They have played that well."

More at link. 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4248...-jefferson

[NorseFeathers]

Upgrades at linebackers and a huge upgrade in defensive coordinator. This is a better team.

[purplefaithful]

Yes, I think this is better than KOC's first team. Its because of BFlo for the most part.

Not sure how good they are though. We all know what Parcells says, but I aint a buyer on this years squad yet.

They have 7 straight NFC games coming-up, that will tell the tale of 24 and Sam I Am.

[StickierBuns]

Not sure what legit means in the context of wins and losses if you 'are what your record says you are'. Games to go to separate the men from the boys.

[JR44]

I think the 2022 team was a better team, while Sam has played well, Cousins was a much better QB that year. We also had a better running game with Cook and our #2 WR was much more productive and consistent, also we had a healthier version of TJ. The defenses were actually similar in personnel, but this defense has played better as a unit.

I do not think the quote above is fair regarding winning with "luck" as that team found ways to win games. This team finds ways to not lose games, 5 of the wins Giants, Jets, Titans, Jags and Colts. I like this team and they have been a great surprise to watch, but I believe the 2022 team would have beaten them.

[MaroonBells]

Yes, I think this is better than KOC's first team. Its because of BFlo for the most part.

Not sure how good they are though. We all know what Parcells says, but I aint a buyer on this years squad yet.

They have 7 straight NFC games coming-up, that will tell the tale of 24 and Sam I Am.

I think they are what they are this year. They're a clean 8-2. A very good team, certainly a playoff team, but probably not quite as good as the Lions. DVOA supports that: they've beaten good teams, they've beaten the teams they're supposed to beat and their only two losses were to good teams they took to the wire. 

It's not a perfect team and they've been spotty at times. But so have the Lions. Lions have some massive blow outs on their resume, but Goff was bad against the Bucs in a loss earlier in the season and then again throwing 5 picks against the Texans. No doubt that is the team to beat though.

[Montana Tom]

Yes, I think this is better than KOC's first team. Its because of BFlo for the most part.

Not sure how good they are though. We all know what Parcells says, but I aint a buyer on this years squad yet.

They have 7 straight NFC games coming-up, that will tell the tale of 24 and Sam I Am.

I believe last year was an anomaly for both KOC and BFlo.
The injuries at QB and revolving door at that position clearly put us at a disadvantage.  But it was more than that, lest we forget:

Cam Akers went on IR with a blown Achilles after week 9
Mekhi Blackmon out the last game
Cousins after week 8
Marcus Davenport after week 6, but he was only listed as a full participant for two games
Troy Dye out the last game
Jordan Hicks out for four weeks starting week 10
TJ Hockenson out the last two games
Justin Jefferson out four weeks starting week 6, (and then questionable for the next three weeks)
Malik Knowles, William Kwenkeu and James Lynch...all on IR for the entire season (backups)
Dean Lowry out after week 11. 
Theo Jackson out the last two games
Backup QB Nick Mullens on IR for five weeks after week 5
Byron Murphy out the last three games of the season
Jalen Nailor on IR for weeks 3-6 and then out for the last four games of the season.
Kene Nwangwu out for games 1-5 and 8
Oli Udhoh out for the season after game 1
DJ Wonnum out for the last two games

There are more that were out for one or more individual games for injury, but you get the point.

This is not a commentary about whether or not our roster is better or not.  This is who we had on the roster and how injury-riddled we were.  I don't think that BFlo's defense was able to get enough consistency to matter last season.  For the record, I do think this year's roster is better, but I think fewer injuries (so far), more familiarity and consistency has been the key in the defense's ability to perform at a high level.

[medaille]

I think this team is a little more legit than the first KOC team. I think if you were to replay that earlier teams season like a hundred times, they probably are averaging closer to 9-10 wins rather than 13. You look at strength of schedule and we’re playing easier teams this year, and we’re winning with less miracles/heroics needed. I think we’re probably one to two extra games in the playoffs better than the 2022 team, but still not going all the way caliber. The 2022 team probably shouldn’t have lost that Giants game, but they probably weren’t playing in 3 playoff games very many times. This season, we really should have a good chance of winning our first game or two without fanfare, and there’s a reasonable chance that we could beat the best teams on any given Sunday, and there’s less top tier teams in our way.

[Mattyman]

2024 schedule Games 1-5 were tough opponents, no way anyone could look at those games and say the Vikings hadn't played anyone.

Vikings went 5-0 and were trailed and trailed 3? minutes total......

the lucky/fortunate/ smoke and mirrors conversation was neatly settled.

[MAD GAINZ]

I think the 2022 team was a better team, while Sam has played well, Cousins was a much better QB that year.  We also had a better running game with Cook and our #2 WR was much more productive and consistent, also we had a healthier version of TJ.  The defenses were actually similar in personnel, but this defense has played better as a unit. 

I do not think the quote above is fair regarding winning with "luck" as that team found ways to win games.  This team finds ways to not lose games, 5 of the wins Giants, Jets, Titans, Jags and Colts.  I like this team and they have been a great surprise to watch, but I believe the 2022 team would have beaten them.

I'm not sure about that.  The biggest difference is the defense this year.  They are legitimately a top 5 defense if you look at traditional metrics and analytics.  Teams can't run on us.  Sure some teams will pop an 8-10 yd run every now and then, but we're not giving up explosive runs and get a lot of TFLs and short gains.  Our secondary is opportunistic and our pass rush is way better than 2022.

Agree, Cousins is better than Darnold...  but I'll take Aaron Jones over 2022 Dalvin and our receiving corps is better.

The 2022 had some magic to it and I loved all the thrilling wins, but this 2024 squad is a better team.  Love our trajectory in the next 3 years with the young core on defense and JJM leading this skilled group of offensive playmakers.