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My SKOL brothers and sisters,
There has been alot of angst at how this season has played out. I share in your frustration. Clearly we have not performed up to our abilities... and certainly not up to our expectations.
That being said, we ought to remember a couple of things:
1. Of the 4 teams that were in conference championship games last year, only 2 are in playoff contention: New England and us. Not only are Philly and Jax out of the playoffs (Philly's chances are slim and none... and slim is about to ride out of town), but also the next 2 best teams from last year (Pittsburgh and Atlanta) are struggling, too. Atlanta is garbage. And Pittsburgh may lose 2 of their next 3 (vs. NE and NO) and miss the playoffs, too.
2. Of all of those teams that I just mentioned, none of them started over with a new coordinator and a new QB.
3. Of all those teams, none of them had a key coach die just before the season. What has been our team's biggest weakness? O-Line. And the coach of that unit died. That can't have done anything but make our greatest weakness even weaker.
I could probably come up with a couple more things to mention, but my point is this: For whatever reason, repeating greatness is hard. Alot of things broke our way last year... and they're not breaking our way this year. New England is the only team that manages to remain great year after year. And we ain't them. No one is. But we have a very good chance of making the playoffs, despite all of the challenges listed above. Maybe things will click (like they did for the Giants a few years ago)... and maybe they won't. But I do happen to believe that the future is still bright with this team. There are things we need to do to become more consistently good (improve the OL, revamp our coaching staff), but we already have the potential to be good this year. All we need is to put it all together. Maybe someone can bring in a cardboard cut-out of Ziggy and peal off a piece of his clothing each time we win another game?
No doubt that some things broke our way last year and I think some fans are really forgetting that. I think it may have given the illusion the team was better than it actually was.
We'll see: 3 game to get to the playoffs and the switch to Stefanski. Will we see improvement or not?
Quote: @StickyBun said:
No doubt that some things broke our way last year and I think some fans are really forgetting that. I think it may have given the illusion the team was better than it actually was.
We'll see: 3 game to get to the playoffs and the switch to Stefanski. Will we see improvement or not?
It wasn't an illusion. We certainly weren't the only ones who thought the Vikings went into the year with one of the more talented rosters in the NFL. We were a very popular Super Bowl pick back in August. But as we all know, it doesn't always work out. I remember several years ago the Eagles put together what many called a "dream team." And they were awful that year.
We've had injuries, some bad luck and a coordinator who was clearly out of sync with his players. I don't know if Stef can turn it around, but I do expect improvement. I know I always hated going into the playoffs having to play "that team" that was better than its record, the team you knew was extremely talented but underachieved for the most part. Those are the teams that can bite you in the ass. We were that team in '87 and came within a Nelson drop of the Super Bowl. Maybe we'll be that team this year. Maybe not. And if not, we'll fix the offensive line and try again next year.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ StickyBun said:
No doubt that some things broke our way last year and I think some fans are really forgetting that. I think it may have given the illusion the team was better than it actually was.
We'll see: 3 game to get to the playoffs and the switch to Stefanski. Will we see improvement or not?
It wasn't an illusion. We certainly weren't the only ones who thought the Vikings went into the year with one of the more talented rosters in the NFL. We were a very popular Super Bowl pick back in August. But as we all know, it doesn't always work out. I remember several years ago the Eagles put together what many called a "dream team." And they were awful that year.
We've had injuries, some bad luck and a coordinator who was clearly out of sync with his players. I don't know if Stef can turn it around, but I do expect improvement. I know I always hated going into the playoffs having to play "that team" that was better than its record, the team you knew was extremely talented but underachieved for the most part. Those are the teams that can bite you in the ass. We were that team in '87 and came within a Nelson drop of the Super Bowl. Maybe we'll be that team this year. Maybe not. And if not, we'll fix the offensive line and try again next year.
Or that team like the Eagles last year with a new QB and a new offensive scheme. There was no film and that makes it hard to prepare for them.
We may have that this year with Stephanski.
Quote: @pumpf said:
My SKOL brothers and sisters,
There has been alot of angst at how this season has played out. I share in your frustration. Clearly we have not performed up to our abilities... and certainly not up to our expectations.
That being said, we ought to remember a couple of things:
1. Of the 4 teams that were in conference championship games last year, only 2 are in playoff contention: New England and us. Not only are Philly and Jax out of the playoffs (Philly's chances are slim and none... and slim is about to ride out of town), but also the next 2 best teams from last year (Pittsburgh and Atlanta) are struggling, too. Atlanta is garbage. And Pittsburgh may lose 2 of their next 3 (vs. NE and NO) and miss the playoffs, too.
2. Of all of those teams that I just mentioned, none of them started over with a new coordinator and a new QB.
3. Of all those teams, none of them had a key coach die just before the season. What has been our team's biggest weakness? O-Line. And the coach of that unit died. That can't have done anything but make our greatest weakness even weaker.
I could probably come up with a couple more things to mention, but my point is this: For whatever reason, repeating greatness is hard. Alot of things broke our way last year... and they're not breaking our way this year. New England is the only team that manages to remain great year after year. And we ain't them. No one is. But we have a very good chance of making the playoffs, despite all of the challenges listed above. Maybe things will click (like they did for the Giants a few years ago)... and maybe they won't. But I do happen to believe that the future is still bright with this team. There are things we need to do to become more consistently good (improve the OL, revamp our coaching staff), but we already have the potential to be good this year. All we need is to put it all together. Maybe someone can bring in a cardboard cut-out of Ziggy and peal off a piece of his clothing each time we win another game?
I generally agree with everything you said, but just for clarity Philly has a new OC, new QB coach and their QB who made a lot of things happen with his legs is returning from an ACL injury. A couple years ago, Atlanta looked amazing on offense, lost their OC and then went in the tank. I think it just further adds to the point that it's just really hard to be consistently good in this league. When something is working really well your best coaches get promoted to other teams or your players need to get paid too much money and leave. Or players get injured and drop down from elite to mortal.
Quote: @medaille said:
I generally agree with everything you said, but just for clarity Philly has a new OC, new QB coach and their QB who made a lot of things happen with his legs is returning from an ACL injury. A couple years ago, Atlanta looked amazing on offense, lost their OC and then went in the tank. I think it just further adds to the point that it's just really hard to be consistently good in this league. When something is working really well your best coaches get promoted to other teams or your players need to get paid too much money and leave. Or players get injured and drop down from elite to mortal.
What you say about Philly is- technically- true (and probably did have some effect); but Pederson was their play-caller last year and continues to be this year. So, while you are correct, it's not quite apples-to-apples. But it probably did have *some* effect; to what extent, I don't know.
Quote: @medaille said:
@ pumpf said:
My SKOL brothers and sisters,
There has been alot of angst at how this season has played out. I share in your frustration. Clearly we have not performed up to our abilities... and certainly not up to our expectations.
That being said, we ought to remember a couple of things:
1. Of the 4 teams that were in conference championship games last year, only 2 are in playoff contention: New England and us. Not only are Philly and Jax out of the playoffs (Philly's chances are slim and none... and slim is about to ride out of town), but also the next 2 best teams from last year (Pittsburgh and Atlanta) are struggling, too. Atlanta is garbage. And Pittsburgh may lose 2 of their next 3 (vs. NE and NO) and miss the playoffs, too.
2. Of all of those teams that I just mentioned, none of them started over with a new coordinator and a new QB.
3. Of all those teams, none of them had a key coach die just before the season. What has been our team's biggest weakness? O-Line. And the coach of that unit died. That can't have done anything but make our greatest weakness even weaker.
I could probably come up with a couple more things to mention, but my point is this: For whatever reason, repeating greatness is hard. Alot of things broke our way last year... and they're not breaking our way this year. New England is the only team that manages to remain great year after year. And we ain't them. No one is. But we have a very good chance of making the playoffs, despite all of the challenges listed above. Maybe things will click (like they did for the Giants a few years ago)... and maybe they won't. But I do happen to believe that the future is still bright with this team. There are things we need to do to become more consistently good (improve the OL, revamp our coaching staff), but we already have the potential to be good this year. All we need is to put it all together. Maybe someone can bring in a cardboard cut-out of Ziggy and peal off a piece of his clothing each time we win another game?
I generally agree with everything you said, but just for clarity Philly has a new OC, new QB coach and their QB who made a lot of things happen with his legs is returning from an ACL injury. A couple years ago, Atlanta looked amazing on offense, lost their OC and then went in the tank. I think it just further adds to the point that it's just really hard to be consistently good in this league. When something is working really well your best coaches get promoted to other teams or your players need to get paid too much money and leave. Or players get injured and drop down from elite to mortal.
So to have a Patriot like run, we have to find Bilicheck's secret sauce. If only all our coordinators that got head coaching jobs would bomb, then nobody would want them.
I look at it more of who won their division last year and who isn't this year.
Pats ✓
Chiefs ✓
Steelers ✓
Jags nope this is a wow jags 1st to 4th texans 4th to 1st
Eagles nope but just as many wins as MN how are they not in contention? (OP)
Rams ✓
Vikings nope
Saints ✓
One change. Instead of pulling off a piece of clothing, how about with each win the put ON another piece of clothing on the Zygi cutout?
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