All Things 2021 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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From the Parkinglot said:
Agree they did not play well but Cleveland also has a very good defensive front 7.
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yes, they do, but it was still an embarrassment. There were times they rushed only 3 or 4, we kept our tight end in to help and just got steamrolled.
 

howeda7 said:
They know what they have. It isn't much...
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I'm sure they know; from everything I've heard, Mond is YEARS from contributing. Tools are there, maybe, but it's a massive long term project. It would be absolutely stupid to throw him in there anytime soon.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
give Cousins a clean pocket, and he can make just about any throw.

But when the pocket breaks down, Cousins gets flustered, develops happy feet, and loses all sense of what is happening down field.

knowing that, the front office's #1 priority should have been on having the best O-Line they could afford. Instead, we got more free agents for the defense.

This situation is on Zimmer and Spielman. If one goes, both should go.

if this thing really bottoms out, the Vikes could be looking at a new head coach, GM and QB for next year. But at least they'll get a good draft pick.....
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What you say about Cousins is most definitely true, and true of about 85% of the QBs in the league. There's MAYBE a handful of guys that can overcome a substandard OL, and that's a small handful.

They've lost 3 brutal one-possession games to teams who are a combined 10-2; the house isn't exactly on fire, but it's not ideal.

Darrisaw was active today for the first time; didn't start obviously, but that's a good first step. It's a long season, but if he works his way into overcoming Hill and the rest show some improvement, there's some reason for optimism, at least in the longer term, on the OL. This year could get rough though.

Schedule is most definitely not in their favor though. After Detroit next week, it's pretty likely the Vikes will be underdogs in the next 6 straight games. Not a good situation.
 

Haven't seen the grades for today, but Cleveland has also not been good at LG. Perhaps Darrisaw/Davis take over the left side as a tandem after the bye.
 



kg21 said:
yes, they do, but it was still an embarrassment. There were times they rushed only 3 or 4, we kept our tight end in to help and just got steamrolled.
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Yeah there were a few times they tried to block Myles garret 1 on 1 with the tight end and that didn’t work well. That should never be the game plan going into a game though. You know he’s gonna steam roll a tight end.
 

howeda7 said:
Agree on the first part, but not second. Mayfield was worse than Cousins today overall. Missed several wide open throws.
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We scored 7 points at home and are 1-3. Last year, we started off 1-5. Cousins is not the answer.
 





^^^^^^ Hey Mike, you can throw the Hail Mary from the 32. Good Grief! Time to hang it up.
 
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LakevilleBro said:
I would rather have Mayfield. We do not know his upside yet, we know Cousin's ceiling.
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Isn't Mayfield supposed to be a "less than ideal" teammate, or am I just conflating him with Manzel?

Regardless, neither are the answer. Cleveland will not get anywhere meaningful while he's their QB.

On a semi-unrelated note, they are paying OBJ $15mil+ for three more seasons (including this year) to be an average-at-best WR. They gave up first and third round picks and Jabrill Peppers so they could get him and his massive salary. Yikes. Meanwhile, Peppers statistically had a very good 2020.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/odell-beckham-jr-14421/

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PeppJa00.htm
 

Baker Mayfield - $10-million cap hit

Kirk Cousins - $31-million cap hit.

So the question is - is Cousins' production worth the cap hit compared to Mayfield?
 

Mayfield at $10 million is what you'd pay for a QB on a team that wants to run. He's not great, and that's fully expected.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Baker Mayfield - $10-million cap hit

Kirk Cousins - $31-million cap hit.

So the question is - is Cousins' production worth the cap hit compared to Mayfield?
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Not exactly an apt comparison when, barring a complete and total meltdown by Baker, he's going to be signing his contract extension in the next several months that will likely put him well over Cousins' $31M/yr hit.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Not exactly an apt comparison when, barring a complete and total meltdown by Baker, he's going to be signing his contract extension in the next several months that will likely put him well over Cousins' $31M/yr hit.
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I can't imagine Baker behind this offensive line. Holy Sickness!
 

GophersInIowa said:
If Mayfield wasn’t so terrible, this game isn’t even close. The OL is usually good enough against average or bad defensive lines. But against great ones, they can’t do anything.
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I don't even know about great ... they just crumble under powerful bull-rushes. Was the same thing vs Bengals. And probably with twists thrown in there too.

I get that MG is a great one. But he pushed Hill on his back like he was a seventh-grader. That shouldn't happen in the NFL, no matter if you're the 64th rated starter at OT.
 
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forever a gopher said:
It sure is a good thing we threw good money at Barr to not go to the Jets. One of the many ways on which Zim has too much pull over Spielman. It sure would be nice to have that money to throw at the OL.
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How about Cook???

Guy gets hurt more often than Mike Hughes, it seems like. Frick. That's some good money could've been spent elsewhere.
 

howeda7 said:
Haven't seen the grades for today, but Cleveland has also not been good at LG. Perhaps Darrisaw/Davis take over the left side as a tandem after the bye.
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Two rookies on the same side is why they moved Cleveland over to LG in the first place.

But I'm all for giving it a shot and putting the best product on the field.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I know they’ll usually let more physical play happen on these last plays but hugging a WR is going a bit too far.

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Refs are afraid to give the behind team a TD at the end of a game, now. Or perhaps dictated from HQ not to let that happen.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Baker Mayfield - $10-million cap hit

Kirk Cousins - $31-million cap hit.

So the question is - is Cousins' production worth the cap hit compared to Mayfield?
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TruthSeeker said:
Mayfield at $10 million is what you'd pay for a QB on a team that wants to run. He's not great, and that's fully expected.
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He was worth it last week. But not this week.
 

Here's a damning stat.

The Vikings have played 4 games. Rookies have only taken 9 total snaps on offense and defense in those games. 9 snaps.

Start terminating the front office and head coach.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Here's a damning stat.

The Vikings have played 4 games. Rookies have only taken 9 total snaps on offense and defense in those games.
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:rolleyes:

Darrisaw starts every snap. Silly non-argument can't even be said.
 

MplsGopher said:
:rolleyes:

Darrisaw starts every snap. Silly non-argument can't even be said.
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True, but you had 4, third round picks, with holes all over this team. None can get on the field.
 

I stumbled upon this lengthy read today, written last November (so perhaps it was already posted) that was pretty incisive and critiques Zimmer, Spielman, and Cousins with a good amount of sourcing, anonymous and on the record. Although from last season, seems as if it could have been written this week; it just feels this is the world that the Vikings will live in with the current brain trust in place.
www.golongtd.com

Part I: Will the Minnesota Vikings finally "rise" under Mike Zimmer?

They went for it in 2020. The Vikings convinced themselves they are contenders. Now, time is running out. Those forged in Zimmer's fire believe the surly head coach is the answer.
www.golongtd.com www.golongtd.com
 


short ornery norwegian said:
give Cousins a clean pocket, and he can make just about any throw.

But when the pocket breaks down, Cousins gets flustered, develops happy feet, and loses all sense of what is happening down field.

knowing that, the front office's #1 priority should have been on having the best O-Line they could afford. Instead, we got more free agents for the defense.

This situation is on Zimmer and Spielman. If one goes, both should go.

if this thing really bottoms out, the Vikes could be looking at a new head coach, GM and QB for next year. But at least they'll get a good draft pick.....
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100%

Cousins gets way too much shit. Fact is that Spielman paid a buttload of money to a mostly immobile QB....and put him behind one of the perpetually worst offensive lines in the NFL.
 

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