All Things 2020 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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The sad/pathetic thing is: the loss did not eliminate the Vikings from playoff contention.


Some how, some way, they'll win at NO on Xmas and the 9ers will beat the Cards. The problem is going to be the Bears. Now that Jax has been gifted Trevor Lawrence, for no good reason, they'll take a dive.

So getting to my point: that will just set us fans up for the last stab in the heart. That's how you maximize bitterness and regret, after all. To the bitter, bitter end.

Cards will lose to the Rams, and Bears will lose to the Packers who are playing for the #1 seed.

And we'll lose to the Lions.



Bet every last dollar you have, that this is how it will play out.
 
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howeda7 said:
Bad loss to a bad team. They have a chance to improve by getting the defense back to a top 10 unit next year, but I don't see this version sniffing a Super Bowl.

I'm indifferent to Zimmer being fired. There's a better than 50/50 chance that the new coach will be worse. But I'm not sure the point of trying to keep rolling this rock up a hill either. Since they're stuck with Cousins for next year, may as well give Spielman/Zim/Koobs/Cousins one more shot and then blow them all out if it doesn't work in 2021.
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I would say there is one decision that "should" be easy: we can trade Kyle Rudolph. Only $4.35M dead cap.

Irv and "Gronklin" are playing great.


I would say Barr is another one to try to trade. Wilson has been more than capable, and the rookie Dye is coming along.
 

MplsGopher said:
We played like horse crap at home for three straight weeks against inferior teams. We’re at home.

First game losers have an advantage in a rematch. It’s a rematch.

And Chicago wants revenge. And they’re not out of the playoff picture either.


Zero, I mean zero chance we beat the Bears at home.


There, I said it. Now that means we crush them. DO IT
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Nice try on the reverse jinx. Amazing these were the same 2 teams from the MNF game last month.
 

MplsGopher said:
The sad/pathetic thing is: the loss did not eliminate the Vikings from playoff contention.


Some how, some way, they'll win at NO on Xmas and the 9ers will beat the Cards. The problem is going to be the Bears. Now that Jax has been gifted Trevor Lawrence, for no good reason, they'll take a dive.

So getting to my point: that will just set us fans up for the last stab in the heart. That's how you maximize bitterness and regret, after all. To the bitter, bitter end.

Cards will lose to the Rams, and Bears will lose to the Packers who are playing for the #1 seed.

And we'll lose to the Lions.



Bet every last dollar you have, that this is how it will play out.
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That scenario is unlikely. In any event, we have tie-breaker over both the Bears and Cards if we are tied. I believe that holds in a 3-way tie as well but I'm not certain?

Most likely scenario: We lose to an angry Saints team and the rest is moot.
 

That, or we'll win our last two games, but the Cards will win one of their last two.
 


This game is probably going to be ugly unless Cousins lights them up.

#Vikings linebacking corps for today's game at New Orleans likely will be Eric Wilson, Ryan Connelly (pictured), Blake Lynch and Hardy Nickerson Jr., with Eric Kendricks and Troy Dye out and Todd Davis doubtful. From
@Andrew_Krammer
http://strib.mn/2M5Z3Ii
 

Weird watching vikes be so bad at defense.

They appear to have awful depth
 






GophersInIowa said:
17 drives in a row without forcing a punt.
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I’ve been a zimmer promoter for years- but I’m done. He’s been complicit with Spielman’s mismanagement of the roster if not the driving force to us having no OL and no defensive depth. The Vikes aren’t even watchable and I feel awful for Kirk who doesn’t deserve any of the blame for the shit show they’ve been this year.
 





Oregon Gopher said:
I’ve been a zimmer promoter for years- but I’m done. He’s been complicit with Spielman’s mismanagement of the roster if not the driving force to us having no OL and no defensive depth. The Vikes aren’t even watchable and I feel awful for Kirk who doesn’t deserve any of the blame for the shit show they’ve been this year.
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I think it's a little premature to push the panic button. The offense just hung 5 TD's on the road against a top-5 defense in the NFL and the defense is missing more than half their starters.

If they can keep Hunter happy and he returns next year with Barr, Pierce and everyone else that has been dinged up (Hendricks today), they'll be fine.
 



Ogee Oglethorpe said:
I think it's a little premature to push the panic button. The offense just hung 5 TD's on the road against a top-5 defense in the NFL and the defense is missing more than half their starters.

If they can keep Hunter happy and he returns next year with Barr, Pierce and everyone else that has been dinged up (Hendricks today), they'll be fine.
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Wish I could have your confidence about the DBs and DL. Even with Hunter the rest of the line stinks
 

I don't think you can underestimate the loss of Pierce. Zimmer's system really relies on having that big NG to clog up the middle. Linval Joseph did that very well. when he left, Pierce was brought in to play that role - and then he opts out for covid.

that set up a domino effect on the DL. Losing Hunter made things worse.

it was probably always going to be dicey with two rookie corners, but when the DL can't stop the run or put pressure on the QB, it leaves the corners on an island, and they got exposed.

Then, add the injuries at LB, and it went from bad to worse.

having said all that, still not a Cousins fan. If I'm Spielman, I take the best QB available in the 1st round - maybe even trade up if possible. If Kirk doesn't like it, tough.
 

The The end of the first half was a good representation of this year. Zimmer takes the last TO after a bunch of time runs off the clock and the Cousins throws to a check down in the middle of the field with less than 10 seconds left and no TO. Just complete incompetence.
 

Drew Brees put up a 50 point performance versus the Minnesota Gophers in the '90s. He's now done it against the Minnesota Vikings in the '20s.
 


I'm glad this team won't sneak into the playoffs.

Zim nor Spielman will be fired. Silly to think otherwise, losing Hunter, Pierce, Barr, Kendricks.

OL obviously still needs more help. A few very disappointing plays by Bradbury, getting pushed back like he weights 270. How can you draft better than the Rimington winner?? Then again, so was Elfbust.

Figures, Vikings draft two Rimington winners, both seem to be busts or average players.
 


I have zero idea if this could happen, but thoughts on getting rid of Cousins (somehow?) and picking up Wentz?
 

Just for the heck of it, I looked up the Vikings defensive depth chart prior to the start of the season compared to who lined up yesterday. Ouch

Pre-season. Christmas Day

LDE - Danielle Hunter. DJ Wonnum
NT - Michael Pierce Shamar Stephen
DT. - Shamar Stephen Jaleel Johnson
RDE - Yannick Ngakoue. Ifeadi Odenigbo
LB - Anthony Barr Blake Lynch
LB - Eric Wilson Hardy Nickerson
LB - Eric Kendricks Eric Wilson
CB - Mike Hughes Cam Dantzler
SS - Harrison Smith Smith
FS - Anthony Harris Harris
CB - Holton Hill Jeff Gladney
NB - Cam Dantzler Chris Jones

Bottom 10 defense in almost every defensive metric. People want to bag on defensive depth, but the Vikings have also been missing a lot of THOSE depth guys; Troy Dye, Jalyn Holmes, Todd Davis.

Another thing of note; Cousins and the Vikings offense put up the points they did against a VERY good Saints defense WITHOUT players like Kyle Rudolph, CJ Ham, and Alexander Mattison

Hidden in this mess is the fact that Cousins has been essentially a top-10 QB for almost this entire season. He's going to finish with the 6th best total yards in a season for Vikings QB's and could very well finish with the 2nd most TD's thrown in a season for a Vikings QB.

This isn't a team in shambles and a complete re-build.
 

MplsGopher said:
I have zero idea if this could happen, but thoughts on getting rid of Cousins (somehow?) and picking up Wentz?
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Quarterback is down the list of needs for me when I watch this team play. I think Cousins has been way undervalued during his time here.
 

golfing18now said:
Quarterback is down the list of needs for me when I watch this team play. I think Cousins has been way undervalued during his time here.
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He's sucking up massive money, for a guy who doesn't win games himself.

Unless we can somehow trade him, we'll take a huge hit in cap, that we can't afford no matter what.
 


golfing18now said:
Quarterback is down the list of needs for me when I watch this team play. I think Cousins has been way undervalued during his time here.
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I think Cousins has been way overvalued during his time here.

He rarely beats a good team, he is not mobile and he tends to lay down when he is under pressure, he is getting paid $66 million over 2 years and this greatly limits other players we could be signing, his teammates (Diggs, Thielen, JJ, etc) get mad at him during games, Diggs had enough of Cousins and is now gone, he holds on to balls way too long, throws to the wrong receiver, etc. If you watch the games, the announcers say these things almost every game. They can see the field much better than what we are seeing on TV.

If we were down by 5 with two minutes to play, and we had the ball on our own 25 yard line, how much of your own money would you bet that Cousins would lead us on a game-winning drive?
 

LakevilleBro said:
I think Cousins has been way overvalued during his time here.

He rarely beats a good team, he is not mobile and he tends to lay down when he is under pressure, he is getting paid $66 million over 2 years and this greatly limits other players we could be signing, his teammates (Diggs, Thielen, JJ, etc) get mad at him during games, Diggs had enough of Cousins and is now gone, he holds on to balls way too long, throws to the wrong receiver, etc. If you watch the games, the announcers say these things almost every game. They can see the field much better than what we are seeing on TV.

If we were down by 5 with two minutes to play, and we had the ball on our own 25 yard line, how much of your own money would you bet that Cousins would lead us on a game-winning drive?
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I totally acknowledge you would likely be on the winning side if we took a poll on this topic. I guess it would also depend on what "value" the public currently places on him to evaluate whether he is overvalued or undervalued. From a pure dollars standpoint, I agree he is probably overpaid but by how much? I'm not sure. In my own view, it seems the public has an overwhelming negative view on him. Would you agree?

Many of your comments are subjective. If you drop back enough times, you will end up holding onto the ball too long sometimes, you throw interceptions, make bad reads, etc. Even Russell Wilson has had the same number of interceptions and been sacked more times that Cousins. Thielen, Diggs, and Jefferson have made a bunch of money because of Cousins, not despite him, in my opinion. They might have had the same production with another quarterback but there are many quarterbacks which likely would have resulted in less production. When you look at all star/pro bowl caliber wide receivers, they all have above average to elite quarterbacks throwing to them.

But maybe my broader point on Cousins would be this.....he is top ten or so in almost every statistical category. Quarterbacks that would be clear upgrades over him for either the short term or the long term are either long-time franchise level quarterbacks (Rogers/Wilson/Brady/Brees/Mahomes) or recent high draft picks as a result of a team bottoming out (Allen/Murray/Herbert/Burrow). None of these guys would be available for any price. So then you are left with a bunch of guys that are no better than Cousins, in my opinion. So then the decision becomes a compete re-build with a draft pick at/around where Christian Ponder was picked years ago (crapshoot) or try to re-build the defense and offensive line. I guess for me, I would pick the latter option.
 

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