That offense though

Video game numbers

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/912477392022642688

@dalvincook's favorite play from yesterday...

...came in pass protection.

The #Vikings connected on 3 40+ yard passing plays on Sunday.

FILM: http://mnvkn.gs/X9pU3P 

Diggs-Thielen Duo Evolving Into One of the NFL's Best Video: http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/videos/Diggs-Thielen-Duo-Evolving-Into-One-Of-The-NFLs-Best/4754151d-facc-41f7-a2fb-3a5ee6296288

@casekeenum7's 94.6 QBR was the highest in the NFL in Week 3.

The #Vikings are the only team with multiple players ranking in the top 10 for scrimmage yards.

They have three (Cook, Diggs and Thielen).

That last statistic above is just crazy.  This offense is completely on fire right now.

Top Tandem
Through three games, Thielen has 299 receiving yards, and Diggs has 293, which are two of the top five totals by a Viking to start a season. Gene Washington (397 in 1969) has the record, and Diggs had 325 in his first three games of 2016. Thielen and Diggs are now bookending Hall of Famer Cris Carter, who totaled 297 in his first three games of the 1997 season.

It's all nice for now...Hope it can sustain at a high level for a long time.

Next 3 games vs NFCN should give us a better measuring stick of whether this is real or a function of playing the Saints D and beat-up Bucs. 

@"SFVikingFan" said: That last statistic above is just crazy.  This offense is completely on fire right now.

It is. I would never have predicted this kind of start for the offense. This new offensive line is allowing Shurmur to run a very diversified and unpredictable offense. Great 3 game start to the season, let's hope it continues.

Air Purple?

I don’t want to sound too pessimistic, because I’m very bullish
on our offense, as I have been this whole offseason as long as the OLine performs
decently, but I think we’re outperforming our long term expectations right now,
due to two great games against abysmal defenses and maybe a little bit of them
not having tape on us.  That said we have
a lot of good things that will continue against better defenses.  Diggs, Thielen, Rudolph and Floyd have long
term track records of good performance. 
Cook looks good enough that he should be productive against most
defenses.  I still think our offense will
go as far as our OLine will take us, and I’m excited to see Bridgewater thrown
in the mix.  With Bradford, Keenum, and
Bridgewater, that is a group of QBs that should be able to get us into the
postseason and hopefully deep into the playoffs even if Keenum returns to earth
against better defenses.

@"medaille" said: I don’t want to sound too pessimistic, because I’m very bullish on our offense, as I have been this whole offseason as long as the OLine performs decently, but I think we’re outperforming our long term expectations right now, due to two great games against abysmal defenses and maybe a little bit of them not having tape on us.  That said we have a lot of good things that will continue against better defenses.  Diggs, Thielen, Rudolph and Floyd have long term track records of good performance.  Cook looks good enough that he should be productive against most defenses.  I still think our offense will go as far as our OLine will take us, and I’m excited to see Bridgewater thrown in the mix.  With Bradford, Keenum, and Bridgewater, that is a group of QBs that should be able to get us into the postseason and hopefully deep into the playoffs even if Keenum returns to earth against better defenses.

That is a great point.  We have a new offense this year with the coach having extra time to implement it.  So our offense doesn't have much film on it yet.  I suspect that by week 8, defenses will start to find some tendencies and weaknesses. 

But the good news, our o-line should be gelling by then so we will have an advantage with that going forward.

@"medaille" said: I don’t want to sound too pessimistic, because I’m very bullish on our offense, as I have been this whole offseason as long as the OLine performs decently, but I think we’re outperforming our long term expectations right now, due to two great games against abysmal defenses and maybe a little bit of them not having tape on us.  That said we have a lot of good things that will continue against better defenses.  Diggs, Thielen, Rudolph and Floyd have long term track records of good performance.  Cook looks good enough that he should be productive against most defenses.  I still think our offense will go as far as our OLine will take us, and I’m excited to see Bridgewater thrown in the mix.  With Bradford, Keenum, and Bridgewater, that is a group of QBs that should be able to get us into the postseason and hopefully deep into the playoffs even if Keenum returns to earth against better defenses.

I definitely don't think the current output is sustainable, but it does feel good to be talking about the offense in a positive light for a change.  I never would have imagined Dalvin Cook or the changes to the offensive line working out as well as they have so far.  They are a great pairing: Cook helps take out some of the pressure that does get through, and the line has done a great job allowing Cook to get to the second level on many of his runs, especially late in games.

It's clicking now because all the ingredients are there to achieve true balance. You can't stack the box because Diggs and Thielen are talented enough to make you pay. You can't focus too much on Diggs, because Thielen is just as dangerous. You can't ignore the run because Cook is capable of taking it to the house on any given play. You only need moderately capable OL and QB play to make this all work. And they've been outstanding. Against the Bucs, we ran 33 times and we passed 33 times. You can't get more balanced than that. Denver radio was complaining about the Broncos' lack of balance this morning and used the Vikings as the perfect example of a truly balanced offense. 

But it's a long season. We'll have clinkers here and there. And we'll probably have an injury or two. So hopefully that defense starts playing better. They've been good, but they should be playing better. 

Oh please let them continue this run on Sunday against Detroit!  My first game in five years, and first at the new stadium. Puhleeze.