All Things 2021 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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Gopher_In_NYC said:
Gutsy Zim > Wussy PJ
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Watching the Raiders-Chiefs game, and the Chiefs were up by 20 in the 4th quarter. Instead of running conservative, they just kept the hammer down and kept on scoring. I personally would have taken out the majority of my starters, but they just kept on going at it. After watching PJ get all conservative if they have a 3 point lead, it was refreshing.
 

MplsGopher said:
Is there some way that we can use Harrisonā€™s refusal to get a covid shot to cut him without having to pay him or take the cap hit?? Guessing not, but it seems to be a terrible extension in hindsight.
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Part of Spielmanā€™s downfall is listening to Zim too much. Part of Zimā€™s downfall is refusing to let go of ā€œhis guysā€ and move on.
 


Like it or not, this Vikings team has a pretty decent chance at making the playoffs. I know the Zim/Spielman hating crowd doesn't want to hear that but they are right there, with what could be seen now as a manageable schedule.

Zim delivered a defensive masterpiece today on the road against a pretty good quarterback. Split the Packer games and split or sweep the Bears and they are most definitely going to the playoffs I would think. Certainly not an insurmountable task.
 



- Mason Cole starts the rest of the season at C, right????? You have Bradbury there on the bench, the rest of the year, in case Cole gets injured, fine. And then you release him (Bradbury) at the end of the year. Done and done. Right????

- Not sure if Davis could be converted to C, or if you evaluate that Cole could be a long term starter? Or if you draft a center ... but the last two times we've done, taken the best C in college, both have failed to work out (Elflein and Bradbury)


- Do you play Barr when he comes back healthy?? I guess you probably do. Is he actually better than Vigil??? I think I'd stick with Vigil, to be honest, but whatever.

- Are you kidding me that Eddie Yarbrough was seeing snaps yesterday? :ROFLMAO: That's how bad it was. Whatever, we survived.


- Again, the extension on Harrison just seems idiotic now, in hindsight. I'm sure they'll give him his job back immediately, regardless of how well Bynum has stepped up.


- The only reason Mack Alexander does anything that can be construed as of any value to this team, is because he gets to play next to Breeland. You can't tell me that Boyd and even Hand would do much worse.


- Pierce and Hunter, very disappointing that they're out. Again. Yeah I get it that you can't control things. But, you pay guys to play
 




The Vikings are really a hard team to predict their weekly performance. But I am super happy they won. Cousins beat a team with a winning record! Congrats.
 

Every time they win, it just gets the hopes up.

Would love to, somehow, roll off the next five, and then see what happens.
 

MplsGopher said:
- Mason Cole starts the rest of the season at C, right????? You have Bradbury there on the bench, the rest of the year, in case Cole gets injured, fine. And then you release him (Bradbury) at the end of the year. Done and done. Right????

- Not sure if Davis could be converted to C, or if you evaluate that Cole could be a long term starter? Or if you draft a center ... but the last two times we've done, taken the best C in college, both have failed to work out (Elflein and Bradbury)


- Do you play Barr when he comes back healthy?? I guess you probably do. Is he actually better than Vigil??? I think I'd stick with Vigil, to be honest, but whatever.

- Are you kidding me that Eddie Yarbrough was seeing snaps yesterday? :ROFLMAO: That's how bad it was. Whatever, we survived.


- Again, the extension on Harrison just seems idiotic now, in hindsight. I'm sure they'll give him his job back immediately, regardless of how well Bynum has stepped up.


- The only reason Mack Alexander does anything that can be construed as of any value to this team, is because he gets to play next to Breeland. You can't tell me that Boyd and even Hand would do much worse.


- Pierce and Hunter, very disappointing that they're out. Again. Yeah I get it that you can't control things. But, you pay guys to play
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The Smith extension is just awful. Bynum can play and I think Woods is fine where he is. Is there any way Smith could convert to a hybrid LB type position? Essentially take Barr's spot?

There's no way Dantzler doesn't start over Breeland when Peterson comes back, right?!?
 



Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Like it or not, this Vikings team has a pretty decent chance at making the playoffs. I know the Zim/Spielman hating crowd doesn't want to hear that but they are right there, with what could be seen now as a manageable schedule.

Zim delivered a defensive masterpiece today on the road against a pretty good quarterback. Split the Packer games and split or sweep the Bears and they are most definitely going to the playoffs I would think. Certainly not an insurmountable task.
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I certainly fall into the "Zim/Spielman hating crowd". I would love to see them make the playoffs, and think they definitely have a good shot. They're about where I thought they'd be- I thought the ceiling/floor on this team at the outset was 10-7 and 7-10. Honestly, sneaking in as a 6/7-seed doesn't change my opinion in any way. They still need to go. One thing about sports that drives me crazy is hard core recency bias. It's common for sports writers (or rubes like us) to say something like "coach XYZ needs to win 3 of their last 4 to save their job". So you're really going to boil down a tenure to the results of 4 games? We should be looking at the entire body of work, as well as trajectory. Zim has been here 8 years. Spielman has been GM for 9, and heavily involved in the draft for 12. Whether they get into they playoffs as a 6 or 7 seed this year doesn't negate Zim's inability to adapt to a changing league, or Spielman's inability to get a super bowl capable QB and OL. Unlike a lot of places that make coach/front office changes, the cupboard isn't bare. Some of the older guys have some level of trade value. Some good young guys. You don't have to bottom out for many years like the Browns.
 


forever a gopher said:
I certainly fall into the "Zim/Spielman hating crowd". I would love to see them make the playoffs, and think they definitely have a good shot. They're about where I thought they'd be- I thought the ceiling/floor on this team at the outset was 10-7 and 7-10. Honestly, sneaking in as a 6/7-seed doesn't change my opinion in any way. They still need to go. One thing about sports that drives me crazy is hard core recency bias. It's common for sports writers (or rubes like us) to say something like "coach XYZ needs to win 3 of their last 4 to save their job". So you're really going to boil down a tenure to the results of 4 games? We should be looking at the entire body of work, as well as trajectory. Zim has been here 8 years. Spielman has been GM for 9, and heavily involved in the draft for 12. Whether they get into they playoffs as a 6 or 7 seed this year doesn't negate Zim's inability to adapt to a changing league, or Spielman's inability to get a super bowl capable QB and OL. Unlike a lot of places that make coach/front office changes, the cupboard isn't bare. Some of the older guys have some level of trade value. Some good young guys. You don't have to bottom out for many years like the Browns.
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Short of a NY Giants 2007 type turn-around, Zim and Speilman should both be gone. I'd say Divisional Round of the play-offs is the absolute minimum.
 

howeda7 said:
Short of a NY Giants 2007 type turn-around, Zim and Speilman should both be gone. I'd say Divisional Round of the play-offs is the absolute minimum.
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Thing is, when we have all our guys healthy ... if the right plays are called, we can beat a lot of teams.
 

MplsGopher said:
Thing is, when we have all our guys healthy ... if the right plays are called, we can beat a lot of teams.
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Vikings are the only team in the league that has led by 7+ points in every single game.
 

Not sure if that's in support of or countering what I said. :(
 


per Shama:

If on Sunday the Vikings can pull their season record to 5-5 with a home win over the 8-2 NFC North Division leading Packers, public momentum for sending Mike Zimmer to the unemployment line drops a few notches.

If by a miracle the coach eventually gurus his club to the playoffs, and then wins a couple of postseason games, letā€™s start a Zim for governor campaign. Maybe even send him directly to the White House.

As of today, Zimmer cronies have no plans to set up 2022 campaign headquarters downtown, or on the Iron Range where his persona is a perfect fit.

Amidst gloomy skies last week I predicted the Vikings to win in SoCal against the Chargers. Mostly I foresaw a desperately needed victory last Sunday because of the 3-5 Vikingsā€™ slick running game and the Chargersā€™ flimsy ability to defend it.


Skol Vikes!!
 


Cole has a lot of games under his belt for the Cardinals. He has different strengths than Bradbury, not sure he's an upgrade; probably weaker in the run game and stronger in pass pro. I have to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have Cole bump Udoh, who's been struggling to say the least
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Cole has a lot of games under his belt for the Cardinals. He has different strengths than Bradbury, not sure he's an upgrade; probably weaker in the run game and stronger in pass pro. I have to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have Cole bump Udoh, who's been struggling to say the least
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Heā€™s played better than Bradbury so far this year so I think itā€™s good theyā€™re sticking with him for now.
 

Great throw to Jefferson leads to a TD. But we miss the XP because of course. So Packer will win by either 1 or 3.
 

Cole is getting absolute owned by the Packers DL. Started on the first play and hasnā€™t gotten much better. He looks like a high schooler out there.
 





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