Message to the Wilfs...

comet52 wrote:

Once was nice.  Twice...are asking me for a date?  Soft music and candlelight would be my preference. ;)

I think this team is on the verge of several 3-5 win seasons.  But I could be wrong.

Not a winning org as I see it but we disagree.  Nothing personal buddy.  Have a good day!

Sadly I dont see more than 2 more wins (max) looking at the schedule...

So...Do we take a swing on a QB again? Or go for a stud on D with that top 10 pick?

I dont agree with all of this...It's also what many have been preaching here for weeks now...Hey, I was a supporter thinking JJM would be at least serviceable yr1.

I am as shocked as anyone the regression at QB happened. 

=================================================

How’d the Vikings get here? It started with a bad plan.

The Vikings’ brain trust miscalculated in its pairing of unproven QB J.J. McCarthy with an expensive, veteran roster constructed to contend immediately.

Training camp began with a nebulous but optimistically sounding concept. General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah noted the organization devoted its offseason to “building the idea of the 2025 Vikings.”

What has become clear is that the brain trust miscalculated the pairing of an unproven quarterback with an expensive, veteran roster that, in theory, was constructed to contend immediately coming off a 14-win season.

At 4-7 after Sunday’s deflating 23-6 loss in Green Bay, the Vikings carry a 1% probability of making the postseason, according to NFL.com’s playoff simulator.

This cannot be a scenario the Wilf family ownership envisioned when agreeing to spend more than $300 million in free agency to bolster the infrastructure around J.J. McCarthy.

The owners might want answers as to why the plan went sideways.

McCarthy is regressing as a first-year NFL starting quarterback and is now in the concussion protocol after experiencing symptoms after the Packers game. His performance in the second half Sunday looked hopeless. The game continues to move at warp speed for him, leaving him indecisive in the pocket and overmatched in trying to operate a functional offense.

Six games is not enough time to declare a verdict on his career, but the results and optics so far support the notion that he needed more developmental time.

Coach Kevin O’Connell spent the past month publicly discussing McCarthy’s mechanics and fundamentals in depth. The incessant focus on that area gave the impression that work being conducted daily was almost rudimentary in nature. McCarthy described the process of retraining his mechanics to fit O’Connell’s system as “rewiring neurological pathways.”

Does that sound like a guy ready to run an NFL offense?

If his mechanics required this level of overhaul, on top of all the other intense challenges that young quarterbacks encounter, what convinced O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah that McCarthy should be given the keys in a season that clearly carried high expectations based on other personnel moves?

I supported the organization’s decision to not re-sign Sam Darnold because of the cost and performance red flags that appeared in his final two games last season.

Daniel Jones would have been a perfect bridge, but he sought a better opportunity to start in Indianapolis and obviously made the correct bet.

Aaron Rodgers wanted a job here, but leadership elected to start McCarthy’s clock rather than sign Rodgers or some other veteran who could have provided one more season of developmental time for McCarthy behind the scenes.

If the Vikings were positioned in a classic rebuild, the path they chose would have carried less scrutiny and more wiggle room. Their circumstances were different.

The team won 14 games last season, went to the playoffs, then added a group of veteran players who are either in their prime or exiting it. The expectation was to not just make the playoffs but to win a playoff game, something that is missing from the current regime’s résumé.

The Wilf family doesn’t believe in rebuilds. They are fans as owners. They want to win and be in the mix every season. Two summers ago, I mentioned the notion of tanking to Mark Wilf in a conversation, and he immediately shook his head.

“That’s not what we’re about,” he said. “We know what goes into these games. We’re about winning and winning the right way.”

Adofo-Mensah hit the jackpot with his free-agent signings last season. In the NFL, that’s more an anomaly than a realistic blueprint. Draft mistakes necessitated another big swing in free agency to give McCarthy the best chance to succeed, but splashy signings on paper have proven to be expensive miscalculations on the field.

McCarthy’s play is the most glaring problem but not the only problem. The Vikings have lost four of five games since the bye, and frustration is mounting. The locker room in Green Bay was nearly silent as players dressed for the flight home.

Ownership made a substantial financial commitment to a plan that hasn’t materialized in the way that it was intended. Barring dramatic improvement in the final six games, the season autopsy will require some hard conversations.

Strib

purplefaithful wrote:

Sadly I dont see more than 2 more wins (max) looking at the schedule...

So...Do we take a swing on a QB again? Or go for a stud on D with that top 10 pick?

I dont agree with all of this...It's also what many have been preaching here for weeks now...Hey, I was a supporter thinking JJM would be at least serviceable yr1.

I am as shocked as anyone the regression at QB happened. 

=================================================

How’d the Vikings get here? It started with a bad plan.

The Vikings’ brain trust miscalculated in its pairing of unproven QB J.J. McCarthy with an expensive, veteran roster constructed to contend immediately.

Training camp began with a nebulous but optimistically sounding concept. General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah noted the organization devoted its offseason to “building the idea of the 2025 Vikings.”

What has become clear is that the brain trust miscalculated the pairing of an unproven quarterback with an expensive, veteran roster that, in theory, was constructed to contend immediately coming off a 14-win season.

At 4-7 after Sunday’s deflating 23-6 loss in Green Bay, the Vikings carry a 1% probability of making the postseason, according to NFL.com’s playoff simulator.

This cannot be a scenario the Wilf family ownership envisioned when agreeing to spend more than $300 million in free agency to bolster the infrastructure around J.J. McCarthy.

The owners might want answers as to why the plan went sideways.

McCarthy is regressing as a first-year NFL starting quarterback and is now in the concussion protocol after experiencing symptoms after the Packers game. His performance in the second half Sunday looked hopeless. The game continues to move at warp speed for him, leaving him indecisive in the pocket and overmatched in trying to operate a functional offense.

Six games is not enough time to declare a verdict on his career, but the results and optics so far support the notion that he needed more developmental time.

Coach Kevin O’Connell spent the past month publicly discussing McCarthy’s mechanics and fundamentals in depth. The incessant focus on that area gave the impression that work being conducted daily was almost rudimentary in nature. McCarthy described the process of retraining his mechanics to fit O’Connell’s system as “rewiring neurological pathways.”

Does that sound like a guy ready to run an NFL offense?

If his mechanics required this level of overhaul, on top of all the other intense challenges that young quarterbacks encounter, what convinced O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah that McCarthy should be given the keys in a season that clearly carried high expectations based on other personnel moves?

I supported the organization’s decision to not re-sign Sam Darnold because of the cost and performance red flags that appeared in his final two games last season.

Daniel Jones would have been a perfect bridge, but he sought a better opportunity to start in Indianapolis and obviously made the correct bet.

Aaron Rodgers wanted a job here, but leadership elected to start McCarthy’s clock rather than sign Rodgers or some other veteran who could have provided one more season of developmental time for McCarthy behind the scenes.

If the Vikings were positioned in a classic rebuild, the path they chose would have carried less scrutiny and more wiggle room. Their circumstances were different.

The team won 14 games last season, went to the playoffs, then added a group of veteran players who are either in their prime or exiting it. The expectation was to not just make the playoffs but to win a playoff game, something that is missing from the current regime’s résumé.

The Wilf family doesn’t believe in rebuilds. They are fans as owners. They want to win and be in the mix every season. Two summers ago, I mentioned the notion of tanking to Mark Wilf in a conversation, and he immediately shook his head.

“That’s not what we’re about,” he said. “We know what goes into these games. We’re about winning and winning the right way.”

Adofo-Mensah hit the jackpot with his free-agent signings last season. In the NFL, that’s more an anomaly than a realistic blueprint. Draft mistakes necessitated another big swing in free agency to give McCarthy the best chance to succeed, but splashy signings on paper have proven to be expensive miscalculations on the field.

McCarthy’s play is the most glaring problem but not the only problem. The Vikings have lost four of five games since the bye, and frustration is mounting. The locker room in Green Bay was nearly silent as players dressed for the flight home.

Ownership made a substantial financial commitment to a plan that hasn’t materialized in the way that it was intended. Barring dramatic improvement in the final six games, the season autopsy will require some hard conversations.

Strib

I find the comment "the owners might want answers as to why the plan went sideways" hilarious. Hey you two dolts, you want answers as to why things went sideways? Look in the mirror. Your poor decision to hire a GM with zero scouting or relevant football experience of any kind is the reason your plan "went sideways."