Wins

@"MaroonBells" said:

I like the winning, but Vikings have to start playing better. 

@"MaroonBells" said: I just can't over how different this year is from last year. Not just different, the exact opposite. From 1-3 and playing very well to 3-1 and playing like shit.

The narrative last year at this time was that the Vikings were much better than their record. And it was true, especially as we came to realize just how good the Bengals and Cards were. That narrative would remain through the season. This year it's that they aren't as good as their record...at least it is for me. And I sure as hell hope that narrative doesn't remain. 

I like the winning, but Vikings have to start playing better. 

Now it's a new offense, switched to a 3-4 defense...  it's going to take time for our team to get comfortable.  That said, the talent is here and I've been impressed with O'Connell's situational coaching.  It's definitely helped get wins in some tight games.

As we fans we just need to divide the season up into quarters.  First quarter, we went 3-1 and showed some good things and have some things to work on offensively and defensively.  But we saw flashes from both sides of the ball.  Special teams has been excellent so far.  The next 4 games will be telling, hopefully we see more consistently good performances in all 3 phases.  If so, that will set us up nicely for the second half of the season.

@"Wetlander" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: I just can't over how different this year is from last year. Not just different, the exact opposite. From 1-3 and playing very well to 3-1 and playing like shit.

The narrative last year at this time was that the Vikings were much better than their record. And it was true, especially as we came to realize just how good the Bengals and Cards were. That narrative would remain through the season. This year it's that they aren't as good as their record...at least it is for me. And I sure as hell hope that narrative doesn't remain. 

I like the winning, but Vikings have to start playing better. 

I think that is coaching though...  the players were basically playing in the same offense and defense for years under Zimmer (offense was similar from Stephanski to Old Kubiak to Young Kubiak).  

Now it's a new offense, switched to a 3-4 defense...  it's going to take time for our team to get comfortable.  That said, the talent is here and I've been impressed with O'Connell's situational coaching.  It's definitely helped get wins in some tight games.

As we fans we just need to divide the season up into quarters.  First quarter, we went 3-1 and showed some good things and have some things to work on offensively and defensively.  But we saw flashes from both sides of the ball.  Special teams has been excellent so far.  The next 4 games will be telling, hopefully we see more consistently good performances in all 3 phases.  If so, that will set us up nicely for the second half of the season.

Ingram is going to be a very good guard, but he's had just a few assignment mistakes. Once he was supposed to be ready to help on a double team with Bradbury and he kind of left him alone, slid over to help O-Neill (who didn't need the help) and it allowed pressure up the middle. He knew he messed up because he kind of kicked the turf, angry at himself. Blitz pickup has been rough to watch.

@"supafreak84" said: We are 3-1 and I'm still not sure if we are a good team or not. Beat a depleted Packers team week 1, barely beat a depleted Saints team today and we clearly have some issues on both sides of the ball. Those couple plays a game we've been coming up short on the last couple years under Zimmer are going our way so far this year, so at least there is that 

I don't expect a Lombardi, just steady improvement over the course of the season.
Right now, Green bay looks shaky and the Vikings are positioned to be Kings of the North.
We shall see.

@"1VikesFan" said: They are winning games they lost last year and that works for me. 

we actually literally won the last two games because our opponent played “Zim Ball”, w/ them playing not to lose, how refreshing is that…!  B) 

#Vikings offense Week 4 PFF grades top 5 (min. 15 snaps)
1. Darrisaw 75.3
2. Ingram 70.2
3. Jefferson 69.0
4. Thielen 68.6
5. Cousins 67.5

Bottom 3:
3. Cleveland 49.7
2. Bradbury 45.8
1. Mundt 28.2

— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) October 3, 2022

@"StickyBun" said: https://twitter.com/eric_j_thompson/status/1576977543982219267

Three PFF standouts from yesterday's #Vikings win:

- Dalvin Tomlinson: 89.8 grade, 3 pressures, 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble

- Cameron Dantzler: 85.9 grade, 5 tackles, 3 PBUs

- Christian Darrisaw: 75.2 grade, 0 sacks allowed, 89.0 grade on true pass sets

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 3, 2022

Ingram, man. He's going to be really good. Tomlinson is a true NT in the 3-4. Played it in college also.

@"StickyBun" said: Ingram, man. He's going to be really good. Tomlinson is a true NT in the 3-4. Played it in college also.

2017 Berger
2018 Remmers
2019 Kline
2020 Cleveland
2021 Udoh

@"StickyBun" said: https://twitter.com/eric_j_thompson/status/1576977543982219267

We’re clearly not seeing a cohesive finished product.  I think we can all see that there’s untapped
potential that we could potentially grow into. 
That said a lot of coaches aren’t ever able to get all the potential out
of the players, so it’s certainly not a given, but I think our offense will be
more consistently good as Cousins continues to get reps in the system and KOC
continues to get familiar with the players and what he can and cannot ask them
to do.  That said, he’s got a plethora of
talent on offense, so we shouldn’t be limited by talent.  On defense, it’s much more murky to me what I
can reasonably expect out of this team.  It
doesn’t look like a great defense to me, but I think there’s some room for
letting the players develop into the system. 
Overall, I’m happy to keep getting wins while they’re figuring things
out, and I’d like to keep a few more seasons with Jefferson, Thielen, and
Osborn before it gets broken up.

@"Caactorvike" said:

@"Tyr" said:

@"supafreak84" said: We are 3-1 and I'm still not sure if we are a good team or not. Beat a depleted Packers team week 1, barely beat a depleted Saints team today and we clearly have some issues on both sides of the ball. Those couple plays a game we've been coming up short on the last couple years under Zimmer are going our way so far this year, so at least there is that 

The team is definitely not elite at this point, but the fact that they are winning the kind of games that tormented them last season is a really good sign. I feel like O'Connell has managed the end of halves a lot better than Zimmer did. Up until today, they were keeping penalties under control. The offense is a lot more aggressive. It doesn't always work, but they are going for TDs to finish off games and are not just trying to run down the clock in the 3rd quarter. The D while not great is better than last season and they've come up with some big plays to get the other team off of the field. There is a still a lot of room for growth. The D only has the talent to be OK this year, but the offense has a chance to be special, but they really need the other skill players to step up and take advantage of the mismatches that Jefferson creates. Special teams is looking a lot better this year & I love that they already have a blocked field goal and have come close on others and converted a fake punt.

Agree with both takes.  We have been lucky so far but maybe it’s our turn to get lucky. God knows we haven’t had much of that in the last few years.  The Cine injury is a scary one.  Seeing that respirator in his mouth when he was carted off was chilling.

I don’t know how the local reporters have talked about the team but I have yet to hear any national announcer state what is so clear—the last two minutes of the first half and the last two minutes of the games last year were nightmares. This year has has seen a total change. Enormous difference.

@"MaroonBells" said: I just can't get over how different this year is from last year. Not just different, the exact opposite. From 1-3 and playing very well to 3-1 and playing like shit.

The narrative last year at this time was that the Vikings were much better than their record. And it was true, especially as we came to realize just how good the Bengals and Cards were. That narrative would remain through the season. This year it's that they aren't as good as their record...at least it is for me. And I sure as hell hope that narrative doesn't remain. 

I like the winning, but Vikings have to start playing better. 

@"StickyBun" said: So hear me out. Yep, I was bitching and complaining for most of the game. Lots to worry about. Saints made some opportune penalties. Vikings should have put the game away long ago. I can do a laundry list of shit that bugged the crap out of me during that game. I'm with you. But.....

Loved the fake punt and pass for a 1st down. Loved it. The pass drop in the bucket to JJ from Cousins, awesome. But here's what I like even more: KOC has had more good, lucky shit happen to him in the first 4 games of his career than I've seen in the last 4 years of Viking's football. Could this be the dude that squashes the Viking's curse of late game collapses? Is he the guy that pulls rabbits out of his hat? I'll take these kinds of wins all day long because I see other teams do it ALL THE TIME. But not in Vikingland. Until this year.

Wins: its the only thing that matters. Gritty, hang around and make plays wins. A little luck. Hard play. Are you going to tell me you didn't expect Lutz to make that FG? Of course you did. But he bonked it around and missed. Very un-Vikinglike. Totally awesome. 

Also was thinking the same about KOC.  These 3 wins have had more lucky bounces than I can remember in a decade.  Not sure what it means, but I like it.

@"greediron" said:

@"StickyBun" said: So hear me out. Yep, I was bitching and complaining for most of the game. Lots to worry about. Saints made some opportune penalties. Vikings should have put the game away long ago. I can do a laundry list of shit that bugged the crap out of me during that game. I'm with you. But.....

Loved the fake punt and pass for a 1st down. Loved it. The pass drop in the bucket to JJ from Cousins, awesome. But here's what I like even more: KOC has had more good, lucky shit happen to him in the first 4 games of his career than I've seen in the last 4 years of Viking's football. Could this be the dude that squashes the Viking's curse of late game collapses? Is he the guy that pulls rabbits out of his hat? I'll take these kinds of wins all day long because I see other teams do it ALL THE TIME. But not in Vikingland. Until this year.

Wins: its the only thing that matters. Gritty, hang around and make plays wins. A little luck. Hard play. Are you going to tell me you didn't expect Lutz to make that FG? Of course you did. But he bonked it around and missed. Very un-Vikinglike. Totally awesome. 

Was thinking along the same lines.  Loved that fake punt, and having a former QB as a punter now has one more wrinkle.  you want to come after the punt, he can just pull it down and throw a decent pass.

Also was thinking the same about KOC.  These 3 wins have had more lucky bounces than I can remember in a decade.  Not sure what it means, but I like it.