I'm less optimistic this year then I was last. I started seeing the warning signs too late last year. There were issues last season no doubt. Oline coach dies. Losing badly to Buffalo at home should have been a wake up call. Then hear Grif had a breakdown that week. Team captain down for weeks. OK Flip was a poor replacement for Pat. That was obvious. Oline turned out worse then expected. Still all that said we had a chance to play our way into the playoff with a win at home in the final. Nobody showed up for that. Wasn't a big enough moment for them? That was one of thee most disappointing performances in years for me. It's the main reason for pessimism this year. I'm questioning their heart.
My biggest worry is the coaching won't make it better. I don't think we're any better talent wise. I get the excitement over Kubiak but keep thinking. Who's running this new offense? Isn't Kevin the OC? Are there going to be too many cooks in the kitchen? We've seen what coaching staffs not being on the same page can do. Add to that we know who's running the defense however some of Mike's comments last year seem like he was questioning if he was still getting through to them. Tie it all together with the pressure of what could be a must win season or else.
More worry then excitement unlike last season. Good news is when we expect less we often get more.
To me it all comes down to cycles. Vikings opened their window in 2016. They're still in it. So I'm as optimistic about our chances this year as I was in 16, 17, and 18. Like every year, I see reasons why they may not improve (3T, Cousins) and reasons why they might (Kubiak and OL). But whether we win 8 games or 16 will have more to do with luck and injuries than anything else.
It looks to me, either the Vikings are will be first in the division or end up last...this won't be a season for middle ground for them.
It’s way too early to tell.
We had a functional OLine in 2017.
We performed well. We had an abysmal
OLine in 2016 and 2018. We performed
about .500. We’ll have about as
identical a team as you can get to 2018, outside of the draft and offensive
coaching, so I think how we draft and how much improved our offensive coaching
staff is will be the prime differentiators in how we perform. I expect a coaching staff with Kubiak as a
mentor to be notably better than JDF without a mentor, but not good enough to
make a huge difference if we don’t improve our OLine talent. I think if we come out of the draft with 2 potential
day 1 starting caliber interior lineman, I will feel much more confident in us
going deep in the playoffs. If we draft
1 potential day 1 starter, I think that gives us a 50-50 chance of going deep
in the playoffs because we wouldn’t be resilient against OLine injuries or that
particular individual struggling to adapt to the NFL. If we draft 0 potential day 1 starters, I
will be very pessimistic and think we’ll probably be a .500 team yet again and
I would fire Spielman immediately.
Losing to the Bears @ home in the fashion we did really disappointed me...So much at stake and our best players didn't even show.
Shameful?
Quote: @jargomcfargo said:
@ BlackMagic7 said:
Two seasons ago, our defensive backfield was lights out phenomenal. Last season it seems like something was up with Rhodes playing so off...
I wonder if we go as far as our secondary takes us. Probably a little backwards than usual - where the pass rush makes the secondary look better - I think we need to make QBs hold the ball a bit longer and that we'll go as far as we can make that happen.
Why would you ever have one of the top notch man coverage players in the league play off coverage. It was Zimmer's ,in game calls. Less double A gap blitzes and more zone coverage. Zimmer built a defense that was excellent at man coverage and pressure, then played a lot more zone. I hope they get back to their strengths this year, because they are damn good at it. He has the players, he just needs to let them do what they are born to do.
If Joseph can hold his position at the line of scrimmage, and not be pushed backwards, this defense is as good as any other.
On the other hand, the offense, well we shall see. If they can run the ball, this could be much more than the 8-8 team they are now.
Look around the League last year. Offenses were torching Defenses with all the rub routes and misdirection leading to mismatches in man coverage.
So what happened? Teams started playing more zone. Makes sense, right? Who cares where each WR in a 3 Bunch look is going to go if I'm guarding a zone instead of a man. Same with pick plays to a lesser extent.
Admittedly, that's a gross oversimplification of what happened. But Defenses started slowing down those high-powered Offenses the 2nd half of the season and using a lot more zone-based looks was a big reason why.
I will say this....I don't bet on the NFL (unless you consider fantasy betting), but if I did, I would look for talented teams (or players in fantasy) who underachieved the previous year for one or two specific reasons that may no longer exist: health, scheme, cast, etc. Vikings are definitely one of those teams this year.
Its an unpredictable league and almost always is year to year. Its the thing giving me a little hope that the Vikings could be better than last year...... because logic doesn't dictate that.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
To me it all comes down to cycles. Vikings opened their window in 2016. They're still in it. So I'm as optimistic about our chances this year as I was in 16, 17, and 18. Like every year, I see reasons why they may not improve (3T, Cousins) and reasons why they might (Kubiak and OL). But whether we win 8 games or 16 will have more to do with luck and injuries than anything else.
Well shoot.
If it comes down to luck I think we spent this decades worth of it on one play in 2017.
I certainly feel better about the changes made to the coaching staff. I just have to see it 1st.
I only felt good about 1 of those 3 years you mentioned and it was the only one I didn't have great expectations before. So I hope that means something.
I'd be cautiously optimistic. Maroon said it best that a lot of the factors that led to them under performing in 2018 will likely be gone in 2019. But simply put, if the offense can be at least average and sustain drives the Vikings can easily win 10+ games.
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