It's that time of year, that kind of year...

[purplefaithful]

O’Connell, as head coach, and Adofo-Mensah, as general manager, didn’t just trend toward perfection these past 12 months. They achieved it.


The praise received by General Manager Jim Finks and coach Bud Grant for turning around the Vikings in the late ‘60s and making the Purple into the powerhouse of the NFC for nearly a decade was never-ending and well-deserved.

This could be done with a small coaching staff, a limited scouting staff and also control of the roster thanks to the lack of significant free agency and no salary cap.

Finks feuded with co-owner/president Max Winter and left to run the Chicago Bears before the 1974 season. The foundation was such that there were two more Super Bowl appearances (making it four in eight seasons) after the 1975 and 1976 seasons.

The other team in the current 16-team NFC to not reach a Super Bowl in the past 47 seasons is Detroit. The Lions have never been there, and figure to miss again since they now can’t stop opponents with a defense ravaged by injuries.
.
It isn’t a news bulletin that putting together and keeping together an NFL team is infinitely more complicated than when we were praising the organizational skills of Finks and Grant.

We might be a moment away from all decisions being made by artificial intelligence. And when that happens, who are the fans and sportswriters (if there are any) going to aim their commentary at? 

So, while there is still time, and for the first time in decades of expressing skepticism toward media and public pampering of the Vikings, this begrudging conclusion must be offered:

What the Vikings have done since the end of the 2023 season until now, with General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell as the central parts in a massive football operation, has been perfect.

Not close to that. Perfect.

Kirk Cousins had been here as the quarterback for six seasons and with this administration for the past two. He had received $185 million, had one playoff victory and would be turning 36 during 2024 training camp. He also was rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon.

Common sense screamed there wasn’t a chance the Vikings wanted him back. Then again, the segment of the Purple fan base that had earned a title as “the Kirkies” wasn’t blessed with that quality, so O’Connell strung them along with pro-Cousins quotes.

Put me in front of the reporters’ tape recorders? It would have been, “Kirk? Goodbye and good riddance,” but then I’ve gotten a bit cranky in old age.

Cousins was officially gone on March 11, signing a contract with Atlanta that carried a minimum guarantee of $100 million. Rumor had it owner Arthur Blank believed Cousins could be the missing quarterback piece to get the Falcons back to a Super Bowl.

Blank was turning 82 and you can’t blame him for being haunted by his Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in a Super Bowl played on Feb. 5, 2017, but Arthur — you should have asked your general manager, Terry Fontenot, to be more candid with his Cousins opinion.

If Fontenot had $100 million worth of faith in Cousins, why would he 45 days later use the No. 8 draft selection to take Michael Penix Jr., a quarterback?

Now the Falcons are 7-7, Penix is getting a start and Cousins was saying, “It is what it is. You roll with it.”

Here in Minnesota, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell signed Sam Darnold for $10 million. And on draft day, they took J.J. McCarthy two spots below Penix as their young quarterback of choice.

Darnold: a way better athlete and playmaker than Cousins, and way cheaper. McCarthy: knee surgery, so far unseen, but if O’Connell is convinced he has the goods, that’s way better than Blank’s opinion on a quarterback.

Getting out from under Cousins was the jump start toward the Vikings’ perfection in making choices for this season.

Next, it was deciding not to pay the freight for Danielle Hunter, an exceptional pass rusher with an injury history. He signed a free-agent contract with Houston for $49 million, and he’s making plays for the Texans.

In his stead, the Vikings have Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman and the Brian Flores Platoon making plays. The platoon is made up of guys you’ve never heard of who Flores, O’Connell’s defensive genius, has tapped and turned loose.

And then there’s Dallas Turner, the rookie from Alabama. It was when the Vikings did the 180-degree turn from Rick Spielman and decided a difference-maker is worth all the sixth- and seventh-rounders you can corral that my worldview of the Vikings started to change.

I saw maybe 50 plays for Alabama last season, and Turner was in the middle of 15 of them. Took a while to figure out NFL complexities, but Turner still will be making plays here when Danielle Hunter is enjoying a well-earned retirement.

Just as Darnold is still making plays after Cousins has been benched, and for a 10th of the guaranteed millions.

Still whining about the 2022 draft? Forget it. That was a slow start on a build to perfection. And it’s been done while creating mucho salary cap space for 2025.

source: startribune

[Montana Tom]

You need to understand what a 180 degree flip this is from Patrick Reusse, long-time Strib sportswriter. He has been historically cranky over lame moves (and on-field performances) by the Vikings. This is the highest of high praise for the Vikings top brass, and he admits it.

[MaroonBells]

You need to understand what a 180 degree flip this is from Patrick Reusse, long-time Strib sportswriter.  He has been historically cranky over lame moves (and on-field performances) by the Vikings.  This is the highest of high praise for the Vikings top brass, and he admits it.

True, but he still finds a way to pat himself on the back.

[StickierBuns]

Ruesse, lol. The King of the Curmudgeons.

[purplefaithful]

Ruesse, lol. The King of the Curmudgeons.

100%. I would really like to see the old guard fully retire. Kloubuchar passed away a while ago as did Sid. Walters, Souhan and Reusse are it and Reusse is probably out any year now. 

Back to the Vikings, the stakes do feel higher now, a lot higher. Moving the division games to year end was a brilliant NFL move. I enjoyed the Raven/Steelers a bunch yesterday. That rivalry matches Vikes/Pack or Pack/Chi. 

Cue John Vacenda and that NFL music we grew up with...its that time of year. 
==================================================


The Vikings face a three-week test of their resistance to the franchise’s earned reputation. The path to playoff rewards is steep but clear.

They are heading into the mists of Seattle and, perhaps, history.

They are embarking Sunday on a three-week journey to culminate what could become the most endearing season in the long and unconsummated legacy of Minnesota Vikings football.

They will play in perhaps the most atmospheric stadium in football. The Seattle Seahawks’ home field is now named Lumen Field, and by late Sunday afternoon, as this important game is being decided, it will feel and look like a skillful director’s movie set.

This game will be won or lost in the gloaming, with misting rain either existent or threatening, coating the scene in sepia tones.

The Vikings have been here before, geographically and emotionally. This is the place where Russell Wilson pilfered seeming victories from them, where the weight of one of the loudest outdoors stadiums and most passionate fan bases can make the fourth quarter feel like a grunge mosh pit with a goal line. A member of Pearl Jam may appear at any time, and so might a fourth-quarter collapse by the visiting team.

NFL games in September and December don’t feel different merely because of the heightened importance of a playoff race. They also look different, especially in outdoor stadiums.

The light will fade as the plays become more vital. Every play will inspire a collective flinch, or cheer, or groan from millions.

This will begin a three-week test of the Vikings’ resistance to their own franchise’s earned reputation. The path is steep, but clear.

Win three straight, and they will reach 15 victories for the first time since 1998, and win the best division in football, and most likely earn a bye the first weekend of the playoffs.

Win three straight, and they will transform themselves from objects of curiosity to acknowledged championship contenders.

Win three straight, and their fans will begin to mouth the words “Super Bowl” without hiding their lips behind mittens.

Vikings players keep parroting the necessary clichés, saying that they will focus only on this week’s game, that they will “be where our feet are,” as tight end T.J. Hockenson said.

The rest of us can specify that their feet are on a path that could lead to one of the most entertaining and consequential three-game stretches in recent franchise history.

First, Seattle, a team that looked dangerous until last week, when the Packers bludgeoned the Seahawks, leaving them dealing with a multitude of worrisome injuries.

Then Dec. 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Packers, meaning that the biggest regular-season event in Minnesota sports, contested at what might be the best football stadium in existence, could impact NFC playoff seeding and the NFC North standings, as well as Monday morning office moods.

To finish the regular season, the Vikings head to Detroit’s quaint Ford Field, where Lions fans may be sneering at their Vikings counterparts for complaining about their lack of championships.

The Vikings lack a Super Bowl title. The Lions have been to just two NFC title games: in 1992, when they were blown out by Washington in their bid to make it to the Metrodome Super Bowl, and last year, when they lost at San Francisco by three points.

Detroit has never hosted an NFC championship game. And the Lions' take-a-number-please trainer’s room indicates that their dream of doing so this year may no longer be realistic.

The Lions may have been the best team in the NFC weeks ago. Now they have 16 defensive players and star running back David Montgomery, the personification of toughness, unavailable because of injuries.

Seattle’s mist, noise and desperate team.

U.S. Bank Stadium twixt the holidays with the Packers.

Ford Field, with two of the NFL’s best stories and coaches bringing it all to a close.

The Vikings’ feet? They’re on a steep but clear path, their footprints possibly preserved for history.

[Montana Tom]

100%. I would really like to see the old guard fully retire. Kloubuchar passed away a while ago as did Sid. Walters, Souhan and Reusse are it and Reusse is probably out any year now. 

I respectfully disagree.  While I was introduced to Jim Klobuchar when I was delivering the Minneapolis Star via my trusty bicycle in corn and soybean farm country small town Minnesota almost 60 years ago, there is a steadying perspective that these guys you mentioned have earned.  The current Strib sportswriters as a group are pretty good, and I include Reusse the curmudgeon, and Souhan the cynic.  "My close personal friend" Sid was actually entertaining when you got past the annoyance of his self-importance, and eventually understood his independent antics and you were able to appreciate his backstory with the original Minneapolis Lakers and his constant following of a story across all the professional leagues.  He turned out to be a Minnesota treasure.

I'm fine with these guys and am glad they're still sharp enough to pen their opinionated coverage.  Perspective and decades of experience has earned them the right, and we are the benefactors of agreeing or disagreeing with their opinions.  I have found in particular Souhan and Reusse seem to be unwilling to jump on any bandwagon, until the tidal wave of proof (winning a World Series, an NBA or NHL playoff series, an NFL divisional championship, a Top 25 ranking by the Gophers, etc), allows them the leeway to say something positive.  

I also appreciate Souhan in particular for writing about non-major sports stuff, like his occasional recognition of Minnesota native Lindsay Kildow (raised on Buck Hill) who became Lindsay Vonn, or Minnesota's own 2-time XC skiing World Cup Champion Jessie Diggins.  Hardly mainstream sports (alpine and cross-country skiing), they are emblematic of how Minnesotans don't fear winter, they celebrate it.  From Bud Grant in shirt sleeves to thousand of ice-fishing shacks on Lake Mille Lacs (at least there used to be).  It's a big world outside the seven-county mosquito control district of Minnesota and those mentioned have not only discovered it, they have provided proof positive that Minnesota is not some media small market backwater, but the home of the likes of natives like these gals, Blake Cashman, Dave Winfield, Joe Mauer and on and on and on.

Remember the George Michael Sports Machine that was aired on TV before ESPN?  It was a half-hour syndicated show hosted by an enthusiastic former disc jockey who found a niche as a sports reporter and grew his show in the pre-digital days of broadcast media to airing weekly in 320 markets. He took a fancy to rodeo (he and his second wife were avid Paint Horse breeders), and he was the very first to show rodeo as a sport, which ultimately has led to the televised NFR, PBR and more.  He actually had a cameo in the movie "Eight Seconds" playing himself as he was interviewing the famous bullrider Lane Frost.  He is recognized today as the pioneer who included rodeo as a major sport worth televising.  (Footnote:  I never met the man, but his ex-wife was my wife's natural mother, we found out years later...as they were able to meet before she passed).

The older I get, the more I appreciate sportswriters/sportscasters who don't tell the bandwagon stories that we all want to read, but take a more measured approach to any story.  That is the definition of a good journalist.

[MaroonBells]

I respectfully disagree.  While I was introduced to Jim Klobuchar when I was delivering the Minneapolis Star via my trusty bicycle in corn and soybean farm country small town Minnesota almost 60 years ago, there is a steadying perspective that these guys you mentioned have earned.  The current Strib sportswriters as a group are pretty good, and I include Reusse the curmudgeon, and Souhan the cynic.  "My close personal friend" Sid was actually entertaining when you got past the annoyance of his self-importance, and eventually understood his independent antics and you were able to appreciate his backstory with the original Minneapolis Lakers and his constant following of a story across all the professional leagues.  He turned out to be a Minnesota treasure.

I'm fine with these guys and am glad they're still sharp enough to pen their opinionated coverage.  Perspective and decades of experience has earned them the right, and we are the benefactors of agreeing or disagreeing with their opinions.  I have found in particular Souhan and Reusse seem to be unwilling to jump on any bandwagon, until the tidal wave of proof (winning a World Series, an NBA or NHL playoff series, an NFL divisional championship, a Top 25 ranking by the Gophers, etc), allows them the leeway to say something positive.  

I also appreciate Souhan in particular for writing about non-major sports stuff, like his occasional recognition of Minnesota native Lindsay Kildow (raised on Buck Hill) who became Lindsay Vonn, or Minnesota's own 2-time XC skiing World Cup Champion Jessie Diggins.  Hardly mainstream sports (alpine and cross-country skiing), they are emblematic of how Minnesotans don't fear winter, they celebrate it.  From Bud Grant in shirt sleeves to thousand of ice-fishing shacks on Lake Mille Lacs (at least there used to be).  It's a big world outside the seven-county mosquito control district of Minnesota and those mentioned have not only discovered it, they have provided proof positive that Minnesota is not some media small market backwater, but the home of the likes of natives like these gals, Blake Cashman, Dave Winfield, Joe Mauer and on and on and on.

Remember the George Michael Sports Machine that was aired on TV before ESPN?  It was a half-hour syndicated show hosted by an enthusiastic former disc jockey who found a niche as a sports reporter and grew his show in the pre-digital days of broadcast media to airing weekly in 320 markets. He took a fancy to rodeo (he and his second wife were avid Paint Horse breeders), and he was the very first to show rodeo as a sport, which ultimately has led to the televised NFR, PBR and more.  He actually had a cameo in the movie "Eight Seconds" playing himself as he was interviewing the famous bullrider Lane Frost.  He is recognized today as the pioneer who included rodeo as a major sport worth televising.  (Footnote:  I never met the man, but his ex-wife was my wife's natural mother, we found out years later...as they were able to meet before she passed).

The older I get, the more I appreciate sportswriters/sportscasters who don't tell the bandwagon stories that we all want to read, but take a more measured approach to any story.  That is the definition of a good journalist.

Agree with the bold. I think that is a cultural thing in Minnesota. They call Missouri the "show me" state, but I think it's more Minnesota. Yes, if you're a journalist, be objective, be realistic, but the sneer that comes through their writing is palpable, from TJH "parroting cliches" to suggesting that KOC's desire to keep Cousins was fake, they take their cynicism to an unnecessary level and it comes across as mean-spirited.