Posts: 4,765
Threads: 3,552
Joined: May 2013
Reputation:
834
Or ---
Dayum, team has managed to go .500 without its starting qb 3/4 games.
Are you glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty?
As a fan, I'm still gut-punched losing Cook for the year. 0/3 vs Detroit the last 3 games is unfathomable to me.
We've got to get Sam back or I can't see us going even 6/6 the rest of the way. Let alone 7/5 which would net a minor one game improvement over last season.
Lots of season left - got to go 2/0 next two division games.
Cook's injury was DEFINITELY a punch to the gut... but I'm still optimistic this is a playoff team. However, that's assuming we will have Bradford under center for the rest of the season. If Keenum has to start too many more games, I would expect us to be a 6-7 win team. Everyone was pretty high on him after a great game against Tampa Bay... unfortunately we all saw his floor again against Detroit.
Yes, I am quite bummed about Dalvin. It's to the point where I'm not all that enthused about the rest of the season, primarily because having an actual running game (and a good one, at that) I believe is the only way we're going to sniff the playoffs. If we can't run the ball it's going to be open season on our QB (whoever that ends up being) once again and then we're back to the same thing as last year. Our pass D needs to improve and the run D isn't there yet either. This defense isn't the sort that can be on the field for long stretches and having a good running game keeps them on the sideline. Color me dubious at best.
That said, I don't want to slam the door shut on what Murray can potentially bring to the offense. He's been a good player in this league. I'm just concerned about his ankle and whether or not he's going to be able to stay healthy for the rest of the season. I don't want us having to trot McKinnon out there as our starter again this season.
Losing Cook was a gut punch, knee to the groin, girlfriend left you, dog died moment...but, if Murray can shoulder the load, I might watch more than half the game Monday...830pm start is just brutal...add to that the nonstop nonsense being spewing from Gruden's wing hole and I have really grown to loathe MNF...cmon Vikes, give me a reason to go into work on 4 hours of sleep!
I think Keenum gives the team an oppertunity to grow a bit; everyone needs to step their game up right now to compensate for the QB. Keenum has shown he can win a game with the guys, and that he can lose games with the guys. If guys want to win, they need to grind.
I think it could be a good thing when Bradford gets back. Much like Keenum's game against Tampa, Bradford's game against New Orleans probably isnt the norm for Bradford. Guys can't expect to ride Bradford to wins on spectacular performances all of the time. Its a good reminder to keep grinding.
...
I hope Murray gets it going. I don't believe we've seen anything that he can do yet. He's been very limited for obvious injury reasons; he missed OTAs and a part of training camp. Both Cook and Murray were new to our playbook. Ome got a lot of reps, the other didnt...
I always kind of figured Murray would end up easing into reps as he got more familiar with what we do. With the time he missed, he has ended up extending his practice time in a way. Cook has shown a RB has a ton of roles and accountability in this offense, Murray's first time doing anything with the offense for real was practically in the middle of camp. He didnt get any low pressure time to ease into this... he got healthy enough to go and thrown into the camp mix...
But were at Week 5 now... the light bulb should be starting to flicker. He hasnt really been asked to do much with how well Cook was beyond running the ball. He's got to get protections down to stay on the field...
Quote: @BlackMagic7 said:
I think Keenum gives the team an oppertunity to grow a bit; everyone needs to step their game up right now to compensate for the QB. Keenum has shown he can win a game with the guys, and that he can lose games with the guys. If guys want to win, they need to grind.
I think it could be a good thing when Bradford gets back. Much like Keenum's game against Tampa, Bradford's game against New Orleans probably isnt the norm for Bradford. Guys can't expect to ride Bradford to wins on spectacular performances all of the time. Its a good reminder to keep grinding.
...
I hope Murray gets it going. I don't believe we've seen anything that he can do yet. He's been very limited for obvious injury reasons; he missed OTAs and a part of training camp. Both Cook and Murray were new to our playbook. Ome got a lot of reps, the other didnt...
I always kind of figured Murray would end up easing into reps as he got more familiar with what we do. With the time he missed, he has ended up extending his practice time in a way. Cook has shown a RB has a ton of roles and accountability in this offense, Murray's first time doing anything with the offense for real was practically in the middle of camp. He didnt get any low pressure time to ease into this... he got healthy enough to go and thrown into the camp mix...
But were at Week 5 now... the light bulb should be starting to flicker. He hasnt really been asked to do much with how well Cook was beyond running the ball. He's got to get protections down to stay on the field...
We've seen Keenum and the league has too.
He's good for 2/3 games. We need Sam back - asap and before its too late. Tired of wasting this marvelous D with these offensive ineptitudes.
"Tired of wasting this marvelous D with these offensive ineptitudes"
Truth...
Quote: @BlackMagic7 said:
But were at Week 5 now... the light bulb should be starting to flicker. He hasnt really been asked to do much with how well Cook was beyond running the ball. He's got to get protections down to stay on the field...
All this talk about Murray "getting up to speed" and light bulbs needing to go on is giving me Cordarelle Patterson deja vu. It sure seems like we often get reports suggesting players need a PhD to understand how to play football for the Vikings. Murray played in the NFL for 4 years before coming here, and we've seen RBs for other teams get signed and play productively a week later.
Do the Vikings run especially complicated systems - or is "getting up to speed" just a euphemism they throw out for players with other issues (or some guys being surprisingly dumb)? I know Murray has been hurt, and that's a different matter, but it isn't clear if injury is his issue.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
@ BlackMagic7 said:
But were at Week 5 now... the light bulb should be starting to flicker. He hasnt really been asked to do much with how well Cook was beyond running the ball. He's got to get protections down to stay on the field...
All this talk about Murray "getting up to speed" and light bulbs needing to go on is giving me Cordarelle Patterson deja vu. It sure seems like we often get reports suggesting players need a PhD to understand how to play football for the Vikings. Murray played in the NFL for 4 years before coming here, and we've seen RBs for other teams get signed and play productively a week later.
Do the Vikings run especially complicated systems - or is "getting up to speed" just a euphemism they throw out for players with other issues (or some guys being surprisingly dumb)? I know Murray has been hurt, and that's a different matter, but it isn't clear if injury is his issue.
i would imagine it depends on the system, if they have played in it before then they can get to speed quicker, if they havent it will take longer. if everybody ran the same thing it would be easier for players to move around, but it would be a damn boring game to watch.
People are overstating Cooks importance to our success. We no longer have a team that is based around
the running back. I know it’s very vivid
in people’s minds of AD singlehandedly driving our entire offense through the
rushing game despite a horrific OLine and a horrific passing game. That is not who we are now. We’ve built an OLine that is more than solid
in both pass blocking and run blocking. We’ve got a passing game that is flourishing that
goes 4 deep in receiving threats. The
key thing to both of our losses was our mistakes and playing top level defenses
with a backup QB. If we play a clean
game, which we know we can, and we get slightly better QB play, that is enough
for us to consistently win. And it will
help to not play top 5 scoring defenses all the time.
|
