Somehow the Vikings turned into...

We all could see this coming on offense i believe if we were being honest with ourselves.  

The D?  Its mostly  as simple as ever, if you dont make todays upper tier QB’s uncomfy, they will take you apart.  

Combine that with a little stagnation in the System, a few consistent underperformers-Barr, Alexander and all of a sudden you are average

i think its a bit telling that the 2 goats on the D -Barr and Alexander,  are the two that didnt get paid and are on the final years of their deals.  typically you expect to see a monster year to inflate those numbers,  but in this D people playing for stats will make the rest of the D look shitty.   

i dont think you can point your finger at 1 thing,  this is death by paper cuts,  but it certainly is alarming.

@"Bullazin" said: We all could see this coming on offense i believe if we were being honest with ourselves.  

The D?  Its mostly  as simple as ever, if you dont make todays upper tier QB’s uncomfy, they will take you apart.  

Combine that with a little stagnation in the System, a few consistent underperformers-Barr, Alexander and all of a sudden you are average

Exactly. Our downfall coincides with our disappearing pass rush from last season that has carried over into 2018. I would rather take my chances with a heavy blitz scheme than continue to sit back in a soft zone while we can't get home with a 4 man rush and get picked apart by every QB we face. Zimmer has got to come up with some wrinkles for Philly or Wentz and Pederson will continue the carnage. The other thing I would add is that we are not good at taking the ball away and creating turnovers. Even when we do have an opportunity, the other team always seems to come up with the loose ball. In Hockey terms, we don't seem to have any "puck luck" with this defense. 

Others have said it before me... and I think that they were right: you cannot create a winner (in today's NFL) by trying to win with defense and a ball-control offense.  Sportrac kinda makes our this problem clear as it breaks down our team salary by position:  https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/positional/

For example, we're spending $27M on our offensive line... and $37M on our defensive line (9 roster spots for each).   Even with the "huge" Cousins' signing, we're still spending about $10M more on our defense than our offense.  Is that part of the problem?  I don't know... 

we have injuries to Easton and the late entry of elflein, a death to sporano, and the fact our D has no ID this year. That is our problem. We are looking for ourselves. With EG losing his mind, BRob and Newman gone, and suddenly going from ball control to passing 50+ times a game, we have no ID. However, we are still in every game (except for the game we SHOULD'VE WON!!!).
The Bears are figuring it out faster than us. They have LT-Mack and a red-hot Trubisky going nuts to start. GB isn't in any better shoes than us and they have used up all their home games.

@"pumpf" said: Others have said it before me... and I think that they were right: you cannot create a winner (in today's NFL) by trying to win with defense and a ball-control offense.  Sportrac kinda makes our this problem clear as it breaks down our team salary by position:  https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/positional/

For example, we're spending $27M on our offensive line... and $37M on our defensive line (9 roster spots for each).   Even with the "huge" Cousins' signing, we're still spending about $10M more on our defense than our offense.  Is that part of the problem?  I don't know... 

in fairness,  its not like there are that many guys out there worth spending on in the OL dept.  quality OL help is so hard to find and takes so long to develope.   

we have 6 home games left and 6 road games left. we have to win all six at home and 4 on the road. easy peasy and we will be fine......maybe :)

2 of the road wins have to be the bears and lions

@"JimmyinSD" said: i think its a bit telling that the 2 goats on the D -Barr and Alexander,  are the two that didnt get paid and are on the final years of their deals.  typically you expect to see a monster year to inflate those numbers,  but in this D people playing for stats will make the rest of the D look shitty.   

i dont think you can point your finger at 1 thing,  this is death by paper cuts,  but it certainly is alarming.

Agreed. Mac is miscast as a Slot Nickel anyways. Might rebound as an Outside Corner with some other team.

Barr did so many non-stat things last year that help make Zimmer's Defense what it is, and he's doing none of them this year. His coverage skills seem to have eroded, although Mike getting out schemed and forcing Barr to cover WRs is not Anthony's fault.

But he just looks stiff and slow out there. Almost...sulky. 

Not sure if I'd do anything drastic going into the Philly game but if things don't improve I would personally bench Alexander and start rotating Wilson in for Barr to see if it lights a fire under his ass.

@"FSUVike" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said: i think its a bit telling that the 2 goats on the D -Barr and Alexander,  are the two that didnt get paid and are on the final years of their deals.  typically you expect to see a monster year to inflate those numbers,  but in this D people playing for stats will make the rest of the D look shitty.   

i dont think you can point your finger at 1 thing,  this is death by paper cuts,  but it certainly is alarming.

Agreed. Mac is miscast as a Slot Nickel anyways. Might rebound as an Outside Corner with some other team.

Barr did so many non-stat things last year that help make Zimmer's Defense what it is, and he's doing none of them this year. His coverage skills seem to have eroded, although Mike getting out schemed and forcing Barr to cover WRs is not Anthony's fault.

But he just looks stiff and slow out there. Almost...sulky. 

Not sure if I'd do anything drastic going into the Philly game but if things don't improve I would personally bench Alexander and start rotating Wilson in for Barr to see if it lights a fire under his ass.

@"Neptizzle" said: we have injuries to Easton and the late entry of elflein, a death to sporano, and the fact our D has no ID this year. That is our problem. We are looking for ourselves. With EG losing his mind, BRob and Newman gone, and suddenly going from ball control to passing 50+ times a game, we have no ID. However, we are still in every game (except for the game we SHOULD'VE WON!!!). The Bears are figuring it out faster than us. They have LT-Mack and a red-hot Trubisky going nuts to start. GB isn't in any better shoes than us and they have used up all their home games.

And let's remember, at this time last year we were 2-2 and I was fully expecting us to finish 8-8 if we were LUCKY.

I'd rather have growing pains right in the beginning and then - as people have stated - "find ourselves" in the middle of the season and get hot like I know we're capable of.

Our only hope is that during the off-season, Zim identified what NO and Philly were doing and it's still taking the D time to learn the adjustments.
I really can't see any other explanation for the D downturn that leaves us with hope.