My thoughts on the season...

I agree re: Sparano.  People probably don't realize how much of an impact that had.  Of course, it didn't have much to do with the defensive struggles, but it does explain some of the OL struggles.
I disagree re: Waynes, though.  I think he is - at least- above average.  He may not be great, but he's better than average.  
I agree re: the lines.  We are weak- especially on defense.
I disagree (sort of) re: Cook.  Yes, our offense was good when he was running well.  But that's because the only time he COULD run well was when we were playing terrible teams.  It might sound crazy, but I think Cousins has to be the focal point- AND I think he has to have the leash taken off.  Somewhere along the way, I think Zimmer told him to to play "safer".  Prior to that, he was a "gunslinger".  After that, he was Captain Check-Down.  Let your "star" QB play.  If it turns out that he's not a star, then we are only stuck with him for 1 more season (if they let him "play" next year).  And we still have Sloter waiting in the wings.  But if Zimmer is always going to tell our QBs to "be careful", we'll never have a good QB; they'll always be "game-managers".

@"supafreak84" said: Incredibly disappointed like all of us, but wanted to hit on a couple things:

- The death of Tony Sparano hurt this team badly. He did an incredible job last season with the offensive line and this years version wasn't even close. This is a coaching position that should be reevaluated this offseason.  Remmers and Compton have to go. Journeyman players who cant hold up against this Bears line that we will be facing for the forseable future. Akiem Hicks has become the new Clay Mathews who feasts on our line like a Thanksgiving turkey every time we play them.  Offensive line help has to be the priority this offseason (once again). 

-  How many draft picks have we invested in this weak ass secondary again? How is it we still cant cover anybody?  Rhodes is overrated and always, I mean always, dinged up. Waynes is nothing special.  Hughes was our best guy and he blew his knee out. Piss poor performance this season from a unit that should be the least of our worries. 

- To me this team played soft along both lines this season. Defensive line was feast or famine as far as getting pressure, but was susceptible to being gashed against the run.  Anthony Barr had a down year and I'm not sure he is worth bringing back for what he will want in free agency. 

- Jon Defillipo was a disaster. I think this teams has to make Dalvin Cook the focal point of the offense, despite Thielen/Diggs/Cousins. Zero balance sans a couple games this season and the offense flowed when Cook was cooking. 

- I don't think this team is that far off. One good offseason adding a couple players should have us competitive and in playoff contention once again.

Good observations. The soft charge is really worrisome as it has appeared - at least at times - in earlier seasons. As for JDF, everyone seemed happy the first 6-7 games, when the passing game was clicking. Did he regress, or the schedule toughen, or other coaches interfere? I'm not sure, but we better be careful about crowning Stefanski after 3 games.
I hope you are right about being not far off from contending. I have been reading comments about all the players who are aging or leaving or took a step backwards (Griffen, Rhodes, Barr, Richardson, Joseph, Murray, every OL aside from O'Neill all discussed) and I worry this team missed its window.

I think the secondary is the strength of the Vikings defense.  But the pass rush was all but non-existent against the teams they played that were over .500.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned much, when comparing this season to last season, was the loss of Shurmur as OC. That guy turned chicken feathers into chicken salad. He was truly a gifted OC. I would rank as the Vikings third best behind Billick and Burns.
They had a pretty bad O-line last year too. Shurmur still found ways to be productive.
Stefanski was stuck with Flip's offense so it's difficult to judge his game planning and play calling ability. I didn't see a lot of creativity in his play calling in the three game run. So I'm a little nervous about keeping him on as OC.