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Now that Case Keenum has led the Vikings to seven straight victories coach Mike Zimmer can't play games with his most important position, not even to appease Teddy Bridgewater. – Case Keenum is becoming Gluten-Free Favre: He provides all of the offensive nourishment of the original, with turnovers reduced for your digestive health.
With another tasty-yet-nutritious performance on Thursday, Keenum engineered the Vikings’ most important divisional victory of the season, a 30-23 decision over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field that turned the two most intriguing questions of the season into afterthoughts.
Can the Vikings win the NFC North? They just did.
Will Keenum hold on to the starting job? He’d have to mimic a man falling down a staircase with a box of scissors to lose it now.
“Yeah,’’ Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “It’s simplified.’’
Zimmer was the one who raised the possibility of Teddy Bridgewater playing this season, after Keenum threw two unsightly interceptions against Washington. Now that Keenum has led the Vikings to seven straight victories Zimmer can’t play games with his most important position, not even to appease Bridgewater.
The Vikings are 9-2 and competing for one of the top seeds in the NFC, and since those two interceptions in Washington, Keenum has played as well as any quarterback in the league. Thursday, he completed 21 of 30 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns, and ran seven times for 20 yards and a touchdown.
He also moved like a breakdancer in the pocket, avoiding most rushers and standing in the pocket and taking hits when there was a big play to be made.
http://www.startribune.com/by-now-you-d-...459652623/
Keenum has thrown 14 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. In the past three weeks he’s beaten Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford, who makes $25 million a year more than Keenum. Keenum’s ability to outplay Stafford is the key factor in the post-Aaron-Rodgers-injury portion of the season.
If the Vikings were planning to turn to Bridgewater, either as a strategic move or a tryout, starting him in Atlanta after a 10-day break would have made sense. Keenum has taken that move off the table the past two weeks.
Now that it’s obvious to everyone that Keenum has to remain the starter until or unless something strange or disastrous happens, the ghosts of Vikings quarterbacks past become Keenum’s most worrisome opponents.
To believe in Keenum is to embrace the moment and blind yourself to history. Which might be the way to go. For all of the money and time NFL teams spend on planning and evaluation, at some point shrugs win the day. Keenum’s playing great? Cool. Roll with it.
That seems to be Keenum’s motto. At 29, he’s playing better than he ever has before, and doesn’t seem surprised. “I’m ultra-competitive,’’ he said. “I want to be great.’’
I asked Keenum whether he has improved, or whether his improvement is due to circumstance — playing for a better team at just the right time. In the mode of most modern NFL players, he talked for a while without coming close to an answer.
Maybe because it doesn’t matter. Keenum is playing like a star, whether he is one or not.
I think the only way we see Teddy now is either injury or the wheels completely fall off...maybe against Chicago if we have home field wrapped up...
Injury is the only way Keenum exits this job. And not a bad Plan B to have Teddy ready to go....so beneficial to have all this time to get back up to speed if needed.
Yep, case is improving each week. The offense is rolling and we have ourselves a contender.
im proud of case and glad that he is playing well. he is making the decision easier because of his good play and frankly his competetive energy.
however, in any game going forward if we are losing at half time and Case is average or less, i think Zimmer would pull him for Teddy.
the original goal was a NFC north crown, Where they are sitting right now I think they have to be eyeing home field advantage. If Case continues to be the man... absolutely he should be the starter, but I wouldnt hesitate to make a move in a game if Case were to come out really flat in the first half as long as the game was still within reach. Each game going forward is still just as important in a SB run IMO as yesterdays was. I dont care who is on the field, or who thinks they have earned anything... I just want to see the winning continue. Lightning in a bottle.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
the original goal was a NFC north crown, Where they are sitting right now I think they have to be eyeing home field advantage. If Case continues to be the man... absolutely he should be the starter, but I wouldnt hesitate to make a move in a game if Case were to come out really flat in the first half as long as the game was still within reach. Each game going forward is still just as important in a SB run IMO as yesterdays was. I dont care who is on the field, or who thinks they have earned anything... I just want to see the winning continue. Lightning in a bottle.
You can also completely mess with the team, their rhthym, and their confidence by making major and unnecessary changes.
So if Teddy was the starter and had a bad half at this point in the season, you would be in favor of pulling him for the backup?
Quote: @SFVikingFan said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
the original goal was a NFC north crown, Where they are sitting right now I think they have to be eyeing home field advantage. If Case continues to be the man... absolutely he should be the starter, but I wouldnt hesitate to make a move in a game if Case were to come out really flat in the first half as long as the game was still within reach. Each game going forward is still just as important in a SB run IMO as yesterdays was. I dont care who is on the field, or who thinks they have earned anything... I just want to see the winning continue. Lightning in a bottle.
You can also completely mess with the team, their rhthym, and their confidence by making major and unnecessary changes.
So if Teddy was the starter and had a bad half at this point in the season, you would be in favor of pulling him for the backup?
if they come out and there is no rhythm what are you risking? you would rather take a loss than replace a player that is having an off day? I didnt say it had to be a season long change, but if Case is looking flat and the O isnt being productive its likely a loss anyway, why not use it as an opportunity to see what Teddy has to offer? Maybe the team still loses, maybe they dont, but its an opportunity to get a look before we would have to buy.
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