Too Much Purple Koolaid?
The win vs the Bucs was fun, and pretty dominant. No one lie, the Case Keenum performance was surprising to all but his Mom.
But, the win vs the Texans was dominant too last year, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
If anyone thinks the Lions are predominantly the shitty Lions of the past 3 decades, look again. Stafford is Pro Bowl level and can give fits, and the defense is adequate. That does not mean that the Lions are a 12-4 team, but doesn't mean they are a 6-10 team either.
I have never been a big Jim Caldwell fan, but his team does play for him, and I applaud him for how he accepted a defeat last week with a clock runoff that had to be hard to take - he has some class.
It is an NFL North contest, and rarely are those easy "W's" I hope Keenum is the 369 QB, not the 167 yard QB we saw in Pittsburgh. We all want the Vikings to win, but we beat a bad Saint team on a record night for our QB, lost to what looks like an average Pittsburgh team (could have been distracted by all the "will same play or won't he" talk). How are the Bucs? Hard to say.
Maybe we blow the doors off of the Lions, but until we do, this team has proven nothing other than when the defense plays well and the offensive line blocks decently, we can win, and sometimes dominate. Let's see more from this sample size before we fire up the printing press for our playoff T-shirts.
These three weeks are critical. We must pull 2 of the 3, or were fudged
@"Vanguard83" said: These three weeks are critical. We must pull 2 of the 3, or were fudged
and it really needs to be the Lions and Packers.
@"ThunderGod" said:@"Vanguard83" said: These three weeks are critical. We must pull 2 of the 3, or were fudgedand it really needs to be the Lions and Packers.
I think we are going to have to run the table at home to be in serious playoff contention at years end.
Defensively it comes down to one thing. Pressure Stafford. Can't do that then you can't win this game no matter what you get out of Case.
I would add Cook, Diggs, Thielen, Bradford and Keenum to that equation. We expect a lot from the defense because there is so much talent there. And the OL has shown signs of life which has helped our offensive weapons perform well. And to be fair to Keenum, everyone shit the bed in that game in Pittsburgh. Preparation time and lack of mental errors made the difference against Tampa Bay. I am enjoying what I am seeing so far. Only time will tell how it continues to play out. Winning on the road is going to be key. Winning in Chicago is way overdue. But the team is building and growing. Shurmur is making things happen. We'll see where we are at come the bye week.
I am a Viking fan. It generally takes me about 5 games to know how good this team is.
If we are 4-1 ... I suspect we are going all the way.
@"Mike Olson" said: Defensively it comes down to one thing. Pressure Stafford. Can't do that then you can't win this game no matter what you get out of Case.crazy to say this about stafford, but IMO you need to contain him first and then squeeze him. he has remade his body and his game with this new found mobility.
take it game by game but we are in position to win the next 3.
the two toughest games, are at home versus currently battered teams
the road game, is against the weakest team whom will be starting either a rookie QB or a QB who ia playing bad at best
just looking ahead, doing what this team should do. we could be 5-1 with 3 wins upcoming, which with GB playing at Dal, at Min, vs NO, and Det. that monday after the GB game the division could be
Vikings 5-1 (Det, Chi and GB)
Green Bay 3-3 (losses at Dallas, at Minnesota)
Detroit 4-2 (loss at Minn, with victories over Carolina, New Orleans)
the following 3 weeks:
Minneota, home versus Baltimore, at Cleveland in London, bye week
Detroit, home vs Pittsburgh, bye, road at Green Bay
Green Bay, home versus Saints, home versus detroit, bye week
my prediction after 8 games:
Vikings 7-1
Detroit 4-4
Green Bay 5-3
@"ThunderGod" said:@"Vanguard83" said: These three weeks are critical. We must pull 2 of the 3, or were fudgedand it really needs to be the Lions and Packers.
And kick the Bears ass on the road for good measure.
God I hope the Vikings do get a rookie QB in his first start.... that is just a recipe for disaster IMO.
@"JimmyinSD" said: God I hope the Vikings do get a rookie QB in his first start.... that is just a recipe for disaster IMO.Well, they have 11 days to prep him for the Vikings game. That should at least help him even if its only one game.
Stafford is 27th in the NFL with a 6.34 yards per attempt and is dinking and dunking like Sam had to do all last year. He did not have a good game last week vs Atlanta. The defense with 3 Int's and a pick 6 is what kept the game close.
I see the same old Stafford so far this year which is a guy who starts slow usually for a whole half. His stats for the 3Q jump up and he usually gets his team back in games in the 3rd quarter but that is somewhat because he has put them behind with very average play for a half.
We contained him in both of our games last year and he had less then 6 yards per attempts and about 85 QBR's. Our offense and poor clock management handed the Lions both victories. But I think Zimmer has learned from his mistakes and that our offense is much better this year.
I think we win going away and with the late prevent stats and TD that make the game look closer then it was like the Saints/Buccs games.
Agreed Minny. I think Zimmer's D has Stafford's number. He has been hit, harrassed and taken out of his game so often by us. I think our defense will have a good plan. We may bend a bit early as we figure out the offense, but will turn up the heat after a drive or 2.
Get Stafford rattled is one of the keys to the game. You get in his head and don't allow him to get into a rhythm, then you can dictate the pace. Those games against Detroit last year sucked. Being defeated by the clock killed. Pressure Stafford but don't play too far off the receivers. And of course the crowd noise could help and draw a few false starts. Keep their offense of the field as much as possible and don't let them sustain drives. Our offense needs time of possession and to move the chains. I am looking forward to this one. It's an important test.
@"greediron" said: Agreed Minny. I think Zimmer's D has Stafford's number. He has been hit, harrassed and taken out of his game so often by us. I think our defense will have a good plan. We may bend a bit early as we figure out the offense, but will turn up the heat after a drive or 2.
He might have Stafford's number but didn't the Kitties sweep the Vikes last year? It's going to take a whole team effort to win Sunday.
@"1VikesFan" said:@"greediron" said: Agreed Minny. I think Zimmer's D has Stafford's number. He has been hit, harrassed and taken out of his game so often by us. I think our defense will have a good plan. We may bend a bit early as we figure out the offense, but will turn up the heat after a drive or 2.
He might have Stafford's number but didn't the Kitties sweep the Vikes last year? It's going to take a whole team effort to win Sunday.
The at home loss was late in the season and the D seemed to by struggling/feeling hopeless/spent at that point. As Minny said, the offense shot ourselves in the foot in both games IIRC.
Man this is good, looking forward to a game, the off-season is starting to wear off.
Don't know who's thinking about printing playoff shirts, overlooking the Lions and thinking this division game is going to be a walk in the park, but there is plenty of evidence to indicate that this game is most likely a W for the Vikings. Keenum lit up the lions last year, The Vikings defense was embarrassed last year and I'm very confident that they will make it known on Sunday that no team is going to come into USB stadium and embarrass them again. The offensive line is giving the Viking Qb's time something that they did not have last year and given time The WR's are going to get open and if not the Lions have shown they are vulnerable to the RB catching a pass. And blowing the doors off the Lions won't mean much either because going to Soldier field and facing the Packers the next two weeks will say more of where the Vikings are at.
@"greediron" said:@"ThunderGod" said:@"Vanguard83" said: These three weeks are critical. We must pull 2 of the 3, or were fudgedand it really needs to be the Lions and Packers.
And kick the Bears ass on the road for good measure.
Something we never seem to be able to do, no matter how bad the Bear team is
Edit Post (mod action — author will see a notice)
Warn Poster
Suspend User (3 days)
The user will be suspended for 3 days and will receive an email with the reason and information about how to appeal.