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We are 5-3-1 heading into the bye week. The rest of the schedule does not look very daunting. (I know it's the NFL and blah, blah, blah). But Cook is back. Reiff is back. So is Griff. X should get better with 2 weeks of rest. Don't know about Barr, Compton, or Sendejo. Compton is not great but is clearly better than Isidora. Would like to get Barr back. We do not really need Sendejo. And Reiff's injury may have accelerated O'Neill's ascent into the starting unit. Forget about Easton and Hughes. Get everyone else back healthy and here is what we have left:
Chicago. Chicago. Lions. Packers. Seahawks. Dolphins. Patriots.
If the Vikings truly claim to be among the elite in the NFC, then we should win 6 out of the final 7, with a toss-up at NE. Trubisky is not that good. He is more runner than passer. Lions are a joke and we play them indoors. Need to beat the Packers at home. The Dolphins at home?, please. Seattle is basically a dome game and they are a marginal team. Not bad, but a team that good teams need to beat. That leaves the Patriots in NE.
That's it. We do this and we win the division easily and host a playoff game.
If the Vikes go 6-1, then they are among the elites again this year. I'm just not sure how good this team is. The only "good" team we've beaten is Philly, and their record is 4-4.
I'm sure I'll be in "All In" mode with a sweet, dominating win in Chicago, but I have to see them do it first.
I actually think Chicago is a good team. Mack will probably be back by the time we play them. In their house on SNF is a tough game. I hope we can pull it off.
I'm already a believer in this team but if we beat the Bears then I'll reeeeally be feeling good. It's a huge game.
@ New England is a loss. @ Seattle is tough. But win the other 5 and we'll be division champs I think.
if we win at Chicago, this team loses ONLY 1 down the stretch 11-4-1, which was a Carlson kick from 12-4 (which i think is a succesful season with everything considered)
lose at Chicago and I believe we will be in a dog fight to the end, but ending up in the playoffs regardless
Bitch is, barring a complete collapse from LA or NO, we will be #3 seed.
Luckily with Cousins willing to engage in a shoot out, we should have an opportunity to exact revenge on both if necessary
Of the 3, LA and NO offesnively are equal and ahead of us (due to injury), but defensively we are overall better than both. Let us hope the old addage of defense in January wins football games
I know Chicago is good, and that is primarily because of their defense, mostly, but not exclusively, Mack. The Vikings have a very good defense, too. So long as we avoid killer turnovers - strip sacks, pick 6s - the defenses pretty much even out. The difference is on the other side of the ball. I like our offense better than Chicago's.
And bottom line is, I think we have to beat them to consider ourselves elite.
Methinks some of you have only watched highlights of the Bears. There is zero.zero percent chance Minnesota kicks their butts in Chicago.
Howard and Cohen are a great 1-2 punch. And they both line up anywhere as receiving threats with Cohen having true Home Run potential if he's covered by a LB. Barr has been a disaster in coverage this year and Kendricks has noticeably regressed.
Trey Burton is athletic. Taylor Gabriel can run right by you. Allen Robinson is a cagey veteran. Their O-Line is good. Trubisky is killing Defenses with designed runs and ad libs,
But Nagy is their biggest weapon. He's running a ton of misdirection that's scheming guys wide spanking open. And that is helping mask Mitch's accuracy issues.
Everything they do well Minnesota has struggled with.
This team has historically struggled on Soldiers Field, including under Zimmer, against far weaker Bears teams than this one.
Frankly, I'm penciling in a loss. The Vikings need to win out at home and beat both the Lions and the SeaHags on the road. Not sure I'd bet on either happening.
Quote: @FSUVike said:
Methinks some of you have only watched highlights of the Bears. There is zero.zero percent chance Minnesota kicks their butts in Chicago.
Howard and Cohen are a great 1-2 punch. And they both line up anywhere as receiving threats with Cohen having true Home Run potential if he's covered by a LB. Barr has been a disaster in coverage this year and Kendricks has noticeably regressed.
Trey Burton is athletic. Taylor Gabriel can run right by you. Allen Robinson is a cagey veteran. Their O-Line is good. Trubisky is killing Defenses with designed runs and ad libs,
But Nagy is their biggest weapon. He's running a ton of misdirection that's scheming guys wide spanking open. And that is helping mask Mitch's accuracy issues.
Everything they do well Minnesota has struggled with.
This team has historically struggled on Soldiers Field, including under Zimmer, against far weaker Bears teams than this one.
Frankly, I'm penciling in a loss. The Vikings need to win out at home and beat both the Lions and the SeaHags on the road. Not sure I'd bet on either happening.
Chicago will be a dog fight... but I think you're overhyping the Bears offense. Howard isn't being used in the receiving game this year... he has like 10 catches all season and 5 of them came in Week 1. Cohen is the guy they are moving around in space and kicking out into the slot. Rhodes can matchup with Robinson and Trae Waynes has the speed to cover Gabriel. That said, the Bears will give us problems if we can't keep Trubisky in the pocket and get fooled by their mis-direction plays and screen game.
You also fail to mention what problems the Bears defense will have with our offense... Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, and the best WR duo in the league aren't exactly chopped liver. We also have a very good defense. I'm throwing out the first couple weeks and looking at the past 5... the Vikings defense is back and might be better than last year (better on 3rd downs and in the red zone).
It could go either way and will likely be decided by which defense can get the big stop/turnover late in the game.
I get that Chicago is good, and I am not necessarily predicting any result. They're good. But they are not elite. I just think if we cannot beat them twice, then we are not that good. And maybe that's how it is.
Their line is good, but I think they just put Long on IR. Howard is OK. He's a run-of-the-mill RB; not special. Cohen can beat you with speed. That's his talent. OK, he has to have something. Gabriel is like our Aldrick Robinson. Allen Robinson is not as good as either Diggs or Thielen. Trubisky is not as good as Cousins.
We are going to lose to Trubisky, a QB who is mostly a good athlete? And we lose to Brees and Brady who are not good athletes. We should have little chance against Rodgers, who is like Brees and Brady, but a much better athlete.
I'm not saying we definitely win. But if we can only beat teams where we are superior at every position, what does that say about our coaching contributing to wins? If misdirection catches us by surprise at this stage of the season, someone should punch Zimmer in the neck.
The Bears' biggest problem is Trubisky, and he won't have an easy time against this defense. Except for maybe Fitz M(tr)agic in Tampa, there isn't a QB who is playing farther behind his hype.
Former GM, Michael Lombardi seems to agree...“You couldn’t get me to buy Mitchell Trubisky if you had him on a discount rack at Filene’s Basement,” Lombardi said. “There’s no chance. There’s no chance. He can’t throw the ball inbounds half the time.”
“It’s a joke. I was in Chicago this week and all I saw was Trubisky jerseys. I was thinking you people are crazy! You’re going to be selling them in three years.
“When they have to play somebody tough, I think it’s a real problem…I think the Bears are overvalued.”
Handle awful and spiraling Jets and Lioms teams. Beat an entirely mediocre Eagles team. Get 'moral victories' by hanging in against the Rams and Saints.
But a division foe with a better record is overrated?
Sorry. The Defense has done its job against lesser talent of late and certainly did well against the Saints and all their skill. But that was one game. At home. Not enough of a sample size against quality Offenses for me to view them as back. Not when I've seen them tank in LA and hold of for dear life in Green Bay.
As for the Offense, well, a 3rd Quarter TD would be nice. But more than that it's the sheer inconsistency. Turnovers. Drive killing penalties. Wonky playcalling at times.
I'm just not there yet. Love them beating who they are supposed to beat. Don't think that's enough to give me confidence when they have such a hard time in Chicago.
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