All Things 2020 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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short ornery norwegian said:
Can't remember where I read this, but apparently Cousins grades out the highest on play-action passes.

Play-action doesn't work without the threat of a running game. take Cook out of the equation, and defenses will play Cousins differently.

If you don't have a RB who is a legitimate threat, then you need a mobile QB who can make plays with his feet. That ain't Kirk.

Beyond that, the Vikes' whole system is based on a run-first offense with play-action passing. If you get rid of Cook, then Cousins probably has to go, followed by Zimmer - because Zimmer is the one pushing for the run-first offense.
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I buy this
 

Uh oh ... kiss of death?? :(

https://www.startribune.com/vikings...-best-chance-to-reach-the-playoffs/573305521/

Outside the NFC East, four teams are 5-6: the Vikings, Bears, 49ers and Patriots. Each supposedly has a 13% chance of making the playoffs in Year 1 of the 14-team format.

At least that’s what the computers say. Let’s use our eyes and human brains instead to come up with the 5-6 team that appears most likely to make the playoffs.

Elimination No. 1

Sorry, Chicago. You’re out. Of the four 5-6 teams, you have the easiest remaining schedule with only one team with a winning record. But you’ve lost five straight and your quarterback and offense are hopelessly lost. Try again next year. With a new quarterback.

Elimination No. 2

New England. The Patriots obviously have the coaching advantage. And you can never rule out Bill Belichick. But there are two things working against the Patriots after Sunday’s game against the woefully coached Chargers: a three-game stretch at the Rams, at Miami and home vs. Buffalo; and they’re one of the four 5-6 teams in the AFC. In the NFC, 5-6 puts you a game behind Arizona for the seventh seed. In the AFC, 5-6 puts you two games behind two 7-4 teams with two 6-5 teams in between. Sorry, Bill. It was a nice run without TB12.

Elimination No. 3

San Francisco. This is a tough one. The 49ers have been very well coached through a season that’s seen their roster decimated by injuries. They’re also coming off a season sweep of the Rams. But they’re 1-3 in their past four games. And they face three teams with winning records, including 8-3 Buffalo on Sunday and 8-3 Seattle in Week 17.

Winner: Vikings

They have the most momentum and should win their last two home games — against the Jaguars (1-10) and Bears (5-6) — and a Week 17 trip to Detroit (4-7). That’s eight wins with trips to Tampa (7-5) and New Orleans (9-2).

Can the Vikings split those two difficult road games to reach the nine wins they’ll probably need? Who knows?

The Bucs are hardly dominant. And if there’s one team that knows not to underestimate an underdog Vikings team, it’s the Saints.
 

Well that was one ugly win. Cousins/Cook cause a bad pick 6. Cook fumbles on the goal line. Bailly misses to EPs and a game winning FG and Vikes still win because...Jacksonvill.e
 


Is it just me or are the Baker Mayfield Progressive ads better and more humorous with the Brownies being 9-3?
 



howeda7 said:
Well that was one ugly win. Cousins/Cook cause a bad pick 6. Cook fumbles on the goal line. Bailly misses to EPs and a game winning FG and Vikes still win because...Jacksonvill.e
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Shades of Blair Walsh out there
 

I really want to back into the playoffs this year. There’s no greater feeling than losing and still getting in. I think we have to beat TB this week to strengthen our tie breaker situations. :)
 

howeda7 said:
Well that was one ugly win. Cousins/Cook cause a bad pick 6. Cook fumbles on the goal line. Bailly misses to EPs and a game winning FG and Vikes still win because...Jacksonvill.e
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Would have been really frustrating to have the Over at 51.5, though it got back to 51 at kick. Push...
 




Cousins drives me crazy. He can find the open receiver at times, and other times he looks lost out there. He can have very good stats, but he rarely beats good teams. His mobility is less than average, and when he is under pressure, he stops looking down-field and looks like he just wants to get tackled and not get hurt. Diggs, and Thielen, were both ticked off by him last year, and yesterday he gets in Cook's face. You rarely hear about Vikings players saying good things about him.
 

From what I read, Cousins claimed the pick-6 was because Cook didn't turn and look for the ball. and on the sidelines, Cousins was clearly trying to blame Cook for the bad exchange. Dude is always looking for someone to blame. that may be one of the reasons why Diggs wanted to get the heck out of Dodge.

If this team sneaks into the playoffs, they'll be lucky to win a game.
 

This team would be 9-3 with Cousins at QB if the defense could stop anyone in the 4th quarter.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
From what I read, Cousins claimed the pick-6 was because Cook didn't turn and look for the ball. and on the sidelines, Cousins was clearly trying to blame Cook for the bad exchange. Dude is always looking for someone to blame. that may be one of the reasons why Diggs wanted to get the heck out of Dodge.

If this team sneaks into the playoffs, they'll be lucky to win a game.
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Cousins threw it behind him either way. They both fucked up.
Their LBs were playing well, I would say bad play call to.
 

While the Vikings snuck one out again yesterday, I would buy on the Jaguars' future, especially if they can grab a franchise quarterback among their several high draft picks next season. They've lost by a combined 12 points to the Titans, Packers, Browns, and Vikings this season and outside of the Steelers game, haven't really been blown out by anyone. They found a nice running back in UDFA James Robinson, they have a nice core of wide receivers if they can find someone to consistently deliver the ball to them, and they're young, having jettisoned many of the vets for draft picks. Shades of the Dolphins from last year.
 

coolhandgopher said:
While the Vikings snuck one out again yesterday, I would buy on the Jaguars' future, especially if they can grab a franchise quarterback among their several high draft picks next season. They've lost by a combined 12 points to the Titans, Packers, Browns, and Vikings this season and outside of the Steelers game, haven't really been blown out by anyone. They found a nice running back in UDFA James Robinson, they have a nice core of wide receivers if they can find someone to consistently deliver the ball to them, and they're young, having jettisoned many of the vets for draft picks. Shades of the Dolphins from last year.
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Now just move the franchise to a metro that actually deserves to have an NFL team.
 

howeda7 said:
Well that was one ugly win. Cousins/Cook cause a bad pick 6. Cook fumbles on the goal line. Bailly misses to EPs and a game winning FG and Vikes still win because...Jacksonvill.e
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Our guys just hate playing at home, I guess? Might as well make a 1-10 team look like a playoff team.

They played like they wanted to lose. Reminded me of the previous two weeks.
 


Just not Jacksonville, FL. That’s like having an NFL team in Little Rock or something.
 

Fire the entire coaching staff and the entire front office.
Since Spielman has been in charge of personnel, the Vikings are 123-111-2 and 3-6 in the playoffs.
Just over a 52% winning percentage in the regular season (I counted ties as a loss...because its a friggin' non-win, deal with it).
3-6 in the playoffs.
Talk about "accepting average"
The Vikings sneaked by a 1-11 team that gave up 4 turnovers and a safety and needed two possessions in overtime to do so.
With 1:08 left in the game and two timeouts, Jacksonville kicks off to the Vikings.
If the Vikings had Mahomes, Brees, Brady, Wilson, Rogers, Allen, Watson, Murray...et.al. You would worry about scoring too early. Missed 51 yard FG.

$33MM this year for that.

This team is broken. An additional draft class won't cure it.

The Wilfs have no reason to demand improvement. They will still fill the stadium when fans are allowed back, they'll still get their TV revenue, and will still sell merch.
 

howeda7 said:
Eh. I think Bailley is fine. They seemed to have pressure on both EP's. The Special Teams overall are a mess though.
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Only one missed XP away from tying Blair's high at 4 for the season.

Bailey career FG percentage for Bailey is under 76%.
 

Bruno22 said:
Only one missed XP away from tying Blair's high at 4 for the season.

Bailey career FG percentage for Bailey is under 76%.
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Regardless, I don't think cutting him for kicker X off the street makes anything better. He's been solid prior to Sunday.
 



Unregistered User said:
Fire the entire coaching staff and the entire front office.
Since Spielman has been in charge of personnel, the Vikings are 123-111-2 and 3-6 in the playoffs.
Just over a 52% winning percentage in the regular season (I counted ties as a loss...because its a friggin' non-win, deal with it).
3-6 in the playoffs.
Talk about "accepting average"
The Vikings sneaked by a 1-11 team that gave up 4 turnovers and a safety and needed two possessions in overtime to do so.
With 1:08 left in the game and two timeouts, Jacksonville kicks off to the Vikings.
If the Vikings had Mahomes, Brees, Brady, Wilson, Rogers, Allen, Watson, Murray...et.al. You would worry about scoring too early. Missed 51 yard FG.

$33MM this year for that.

This team is broken. An additional draft class won't cure it.

The Wilfs have no reason to demand improvement. They will still fill the stadium when fans are allowed back, they'll still get their TV revenue, and will still sell merch.
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Galactically stupid take. This is arguably one of Zim's best coaching jobs. No Hunter, no Pierce, no Yannick N, no Barr, trading Diggs, etc.

This front office isn't going anywhere. Dream on, those that continue to hate on Spielman/Zim
 

Plausible Deniability said:
Galactically stupid take. This is arguably one of Zim's best coaching jobs. No Hunter, no Pierce, no Yannick N, no Barr, trading Diggs, etc.

This front office isn't going anywhere. Dream on, those that continue to hate on Spielman/Zim
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He's frustrating at times, but Zimmer is one of the 10 best coaches in the league. If we fired him, he'd get another job quickly. And we'd get...who exactly? Unless Kubiak feels up to HC, it would probably be a downgrade.
 


howeda7 said:
He's frustrating at times, but Zimmer is one of the 10 best coaches in the league. If we fired him, he'd get another job quickly. And we'd get...who exactly? Unless Kubiak feels up to HC, it would probably be a downgrade.
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Yes. You don't dump a coach like Zimmer unless you know PRECISELY who it is that you are replacing him with and you KNOW that he's going to be an obvious upgrade. Essentially, if not Zim, who?
 

coolhandgopher said:
Here's the thing with the Vikings-they have been swimming in mediocrity since the late '70s and they never bottom out. Your post piqued my curiosity and allowed me to do my favorite activity-divert my attention from work. I went back to 1980 and tallied up the Vikings historical record over the last 40 years, along with their division rivals (including the Buccaneers, for old times' sake).

I broke it down into three categories-1) seasons where they finished 3 games + over .500 (so 11-5 or better); between 2 games over .500 and 2 games under .500 (10-6 to 6-10 range); and 3 games + under .500 (5-11 or less). It got a bit tricky with the strike seasons, but I gave it my best shot:
Vikings
# seasons 3+ games over .500: 7
# seasons in middle range: 30
# seasons 3+ games under: 3

Packers
# seasons over: 12
# seasons middle: 22
# seasons under: 6
2/3 Super Bowls

Bears
# seasons over: 11
# seasons middle: 19
# seasons under: 10
1/2 Super Bowls

Lions
# seasons over: 2
# seasons middle: 22
# seasons under: 16

Bucs
# seasons over: 3
# seasons middle: 19
# seasons under: 18
1/1 Super Bowl

So, at least we're not the Lions. But we haven't hit the heights of the Bears or Packers or even the Bucs (interesting question-which franchise as a fan would you want over the last 40 years?), and we've basted in mediocrity-they've made the playoffs exactly half the seasons in this period, and have 12 wins over those 20 appearances, with 1987 the only season with multiple wins (2).

And, to top it off-we've had great talent, Hall of Fame talent! 7 HOF's in their prime from that time period (Carter, Moss, McDaniel, Zimmerman, Doleman, Randle, and Steve Hutchinson) with Adrian Peterson and perhaps Matt Birk in the wings. The Packers, by comparison? 3 (Favre, Reggie White, James Lofton) with Aaron Rodgers in the wings, but I can't think of another. The Bears? 6 (Payton, Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Singletary, Jimbo Covert, and Brian Urlacher) with no one in the wings that comes to mind.

So, in my mind, the Vikings will figure out a way to win at least 6 games this season, find themselves squarely in the middle of the draft, and country miles away from Lawrence or Fields. Not that tanking in football does you any good-check out the Lions or Browns, as examples. But this is the franchise's destiny, until it isn't.

(And yes, they broke something inside of me back in '98)
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In regards to UU's post about the team being broken, the team is what they've always been, or at least what they've been the last 40 years. Apologies for being that guy who re-posts their own stuff, but this was way back on page 4 of this thread. This franchise has lived in the middle through various regimes, Spielman/Zimmer is just a continuation of this. And as Bleed has pointed out time and again, at least we have owners in the Wilfs who are willing to spend unlike in the past when the likes of Red McCombs threw dimes around like manhole covers.
 

Plausible Deniability said:
Yes. You don't dump a coach like Zimmer unless you know PRECISELY who it is that you are replacing him with and you KNOW that he's going to be an obvious upgrade. Essentially, if not Zim, who?
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Hmm, 10 best coaches in the league? I don't know, it's a subjective category for sure to try and rank, but I would rate these ten ahead of Zimmer:
Belichick
Andy Reid
Sean Payton
Pete Carroll
Sean McVey
Frank Reich
Mike Vrabel
John Harbaugh
Mike Tomlin
Ron Rivera

And, it feels too early to endorse fully, but these coaches are showing a great deal of promise early in their head coaching careers:
Brian Flores
Matt LaFleur
Kyle Shanahan
Matt Rhule
Sean McDermott
Kevin Stefanski

I haven't mentioned Doug Pederson and Jon Gruden, two guys with Super Bowl titles to their names.

Zimmer feels a lot like the Mike McCarthy's, Jeff Fisher's, and Jason Garrett's of the world-head coaches with records slightly above .500 (McCarthy's is much better, although he gets demerit points for not doing more with Aaron Rodgers' prime) and mediocre playoff records who do just enough to convince the brass to keep bringing them back. He rests smack dab in the slightly above average category of head coaches, similarly to Cousins with his quarterbacking peers.

For comparison's sake, here's Zimmer's head coaching record vs. Jason Garrett. I'm not seeing a whole lot of difference-lots of yo-yoing with little playoff success. I don't recall anyone thinking that Garrett was an irreplaceable coach and he was doing it with a lot less autonomy than Zimmer seems to have:
Total63431.59323.400
WonLostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
TeamYearRegular seasonPostseason
MIN2014790.4383rd in NFC North————
MIN20151150.6881st in NFC North01.000Lost to Seattle Seahawks in NFC Wild-Card Game
MIN2016880.5003rd in NFC North————
MIN20171330.8131st in NFC North11.500Lost to Philadelphia Eagles in NFC Championship Game
MIN2018871.5312nd in NFC North————
MIN20191060.6252nd in NFC North11.500Lost to San Francisco 49ers in NFC Divisional Game
MIN2020660.500TBD00–

Here's Jason Garrett's record:
Total[33]85670.55923.400
WonLostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
TeamYearRegular seasonPostseason
DAL*2010530.6253rd in NFC East––––
DAL2011880.5003rd in NFC East––––
DAL2012880.5003rd in NFC East––––
DAL2013880.5002nd in NFC East––––
DAL20141240.7501st in NFC East11.500Lost to Green Bay Packers in NFC Divisional Game
DAL20154120.2504th in NFC East––––
DAL20161330.8131st in NFC East01.000Lost to Green Bay Packers in NFC Divisional Game
DAL2017970.5632nd in NFC East––––
DAL20181060.6251st in NFC East11.500Lost to Los Angeles Rams in NFC Divisional Game
DAL2019880.5002nd in NFC East––––
 

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