Mid Season Rook's & Stuff

@"purplefaithful" said:

Cronin assess Vikings in midseason report

The Vikings didn't make any moves at the trade deadline, which signified their belief that they can remain competitive and fight to get into the playoff picture. We'll determine whether Minnesota is back by how it closes out this three-game stretch of NFC North opponents with a Week 10 showdown against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Monday night.

I don't believe this is true. Minnesota just didn't get anything but bottom feeder offers for guys so why trade them? They know they have to rebuild. But that doesn't mean they aren't trying to rebound, play better and maybe sneak into the playoffs. I know this fanbase and board well enough to understand that if the Vikings get beat by the Bears, its going to be back to doom and gloom. From this point on, they are only as good as their last game.

4-5 with a win on MNF and things would be looking up on a 3 game win streak against the NFCN. The Bears won't be easy to run on so its probably going to be up to Kirk Cousins. 

Vikings midseason report: Offensive line hitting its stride with Cleveland aboardThe offensive line grown into a more confident, cohesive group since desperation forced them to insert Ezra Cleveland into the starting lineup at right guard three games ago.

Preseason expectations
The sense of improvement in Year 1 of line coach Rick Dennison’s zone-based scheme was tempered some by the line’s ineptness in the ugly playoff beatdown in San Francisco. Further diminishing expectations was an entire offseason and preseason lost to the global pandemic. Grand plans for what General Manager Rick Spielman called a “wide-open” competition at guard were scuttled with no hands-on training and a quick ramp-up to the regular season. The Vikings just plugged Dozier – a career backup – in at left guard and tried to sell the notion that moving incumbent right guard Elflein to his more natural spot at right guard would be rejuvenating for a player who has been a disappointment since his rookie season. Spielman’s top offseason investment – selecting Cleveland as the left tackle of the future in the second round – had no chance of overtaking Reiff or adjusting to guard quickly enough to contribute right away. The Vikings still used Cleveland’s presence to get Reiff to take a $4 million pay cut to make room for defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, whom the team traded away weeks later.
Where they are
They’ve grown into a more confident, cohesive group since desperation forced them to insert Cleveland into the starting lineup at right guard three games ago. With the same five starters the past three weeks, the Vikings have won two straight games with overpowering performances by Dalvin Cook and his blockers. Cook won consecutive NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He had 226 yards from and four touchdowns on 32 touches from scrimmage in the stunning upset of the Packers at Lambeau Field. Then he pounded Detroit with 252 yards and two touchdowns on 24 touches. Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins has gone two straight games without a turnover while being sacked only twice. He completed 67.6 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and passer ratings of 138.1 and 141.7.
Player to watch
Cleveland. Reiff, Dozier, Bradbury and O’Neill have started every game. But it’s Cleveland’s reliable emergence that’s most encouraging, not only for this season but for the future. It took an injury to Elflein before Week 2 and four awful starts by Samia for the Vikings to have no other choice but to throw the rookie into the arena when they went into their bye with a 1-5 record. Being able to move inside and hold up physically in his first three starts is a great sign that Cleveland was worthy of a second-round pick. His progression this season is vital to this team’s future. With a full, normal COVID-19-free offseason, Cleveland should be able to take his experiences this year and move to left tackle, where the hope is he and O’Neill would be bookend tackles for several years to come. Bradbury, last year’s first-round pick, would anchor the inside as the Vikings looked to bolster the guard positions to continue getting the most out of Cook’s prime.
Notable number
448: Combined rushing yards by the Vikings’ offense during the current two-game winning streak against the Packers (173) and Lions (275). That is the most rushing yards in a two-game span by the Vikings since they rushed for 478 yards in the 11th and 12th games of the 2013 season. In those two games, they ran for 232 yards at Green Bay and came back with 246 against the Bears at home
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-midseason-report-offensive-line-hitting-its-stride-with-cleveland-aboard/573057401/

I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

Agreed. This is not a playoff team to me. 

@"StickyBun" said:

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

Agreed. This is not a playoff team to me. 

Just looking at this rookie class for the Vikings is impressive, and even more impressive is the job Zim and the staff has been able to do remain competitive starting so many rookies and young players at key positions. Jefferson, Gladney, Cleveland, Dantzler, Wonnum, Lynch, Dye, have all have all come in and are either starting or contributing in rotation. All the playing time and learning on the job is going to be invaluable next season when we are full strength again and have another draft class under our belt. 

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

AfterI watched KC and Ravens opening night my pipe dream purple shaded kool aid dream of a Viking  Superbowl took a major dose of reality.

I am enjoying seeing Justin Jefferson. I wish he would get the ball more. Major kudos for Cleveland playing out of position and on the opposite side. The defensive rookies are starting to hit their stride a bit. Glad to see Dantzler was ok after being hauled out on a stretcher. And Wonnum's sack of Rodgers was awesome.

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

Well, they do have to get rid of salary. And I agree that what they've been able to do the last couple of weeks is not sustainable. But that's part of why I have hope that the Vikings can win most of their remaining games and compete for the playoffs. 

It's because we've been able to do what we've done without much help at all from Kirk Cousins. Now, yes, Cousins is mental weakling who can't be consistent and who doesn't show up often in big games. But he CAN, and will again, have a handful of games where he plays out of his mind. I'm expecting a few of those games coming up. Maybe not against Chicago's defense, but it will happen. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

Well, they do have to get rid of salary. And I agree that what they've been able to do the last couple of weeks is not sustainable. But that's part of why I have hope that the Vikings can win most of their remaining games and compete for the playoffs. 

It's because we've been able to do what we've done without much help at all from Kirk Cousins. Now, yes, Cousins is mental weakling who can't be consistent and who doesn't show up often in big games. But he CAN, and will again, have a handful of games where he plays out of his mind. I'm expecting a few of those games coming up. Maybe not against Chicago's defense, but it will happen. 

@"Vikergirl" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"Vikergirl" said: I am not buying that they are going to make the playoffs. If they do, they won't go far. Their game plan is not sustainable. They have got to get rid of salary.

Well, they do have to get rid of salary. And I agree that what they've been able to do the last couple of weeks is not sustainable. But that's part of why I have hope that the Vikings can win most of their remaining games and compete for the playoffs. 

It's because we've been able to do what we've done without much help at all from Kirk Cousins. Now, yes, Cousins is mental weakling who can't be consistent and who doesn't show up often in big games. But he CAN, and will again, have a handful of games where he plays out of his mind. I'm expecting a few of those games coming up. Maybe not against Chicago's defense, but it will happen. 

Do you honestly see him turning on another gear when the pressure is on? I don't. He is great at handing the ball off. He can go bananas with stats when everything is lined up but if things go off script, he gets rattled easily. I want to be optimistic and generally I am but I am not feeling too confident if he has to be in charge. Until he proves otherwise, he is a game manager.