Vikings Message Board.Com

You people crack me up. Each time I come here and read something, I get dumber. Regardless of what you may think, we had a very strong draft. Only time will tell, but I think we will win somewhere between 6 and 8 games this year, which is a good improvement. What clown predicted 3 wins? We do play in a tough division, but with each year Aaron Rodgers is getting older, and our QB position is younger. Perhaps in contrast, I think the best from Ponder is yet to come. You can't shine on a dog sh_t team, no matter how hard you try. He had no offensive line, no receivers, so what do you expect? Last season was the worst I've ever seen as a Vikings fan, and I'm not really all that old. We are a much better team now.

mosscarter wrote:We do play in a tough division, but with each year Aaron Rodgers is getting older, and our QB position is younger.

You've gotta be kidding. Aaron Rodgers is 28 years old.

Perhaps in contrast, I think the best from Ponder is yet to come.

You think? Nah.... his career peaked around the time he started his 3rd game.

most likely about 4-12 is a reasonable expectation. anything better would be a pleasant and hoped for suprise. Another FA and Draft season is needed

Eli wrote: You've gotta be kidding. Aaron Rodgers is 28 years old.

But he IS getting older...

10-6 to 12-4. Yeah, optimistic as all get out.

How many games did we lose by one play last season? All but Saints, Bears (road) and Pack (road)... I'll say 13-3

I will consider it a successful season if we go 8-8

6-10

so ponder goes 7 for 14 passing yesterday with 2 picks, and you people think this team can win 7 or 8 games? i say they win 4, one more than last year, and reason to keep frazier around for one more year. i haven't seen anything that leads me to believe ponder has progressed in any way whatsoever, and we will need both a receiver and a qb after this season. face it people, ponder stinks. i look for him to totally bomb the first 5 or 6 weeks and then everyone will finally realize it.

9-7 no playoffs

five or six wins the first part of the years except for a game or two is a really easy schedule ..

I said 5 or 6 wins earlier. But I just heard Dan Wiederer from the Strib say in an interview that Coach Frazier vows this will be a "run first" team.

I'm not sure how to take that, especially in a league where passing has become so important. If this is going to be a Childress Lite Conservative offense that lacks imagination, then I think 3 or 4 wins is more likely.

losperros wrote:I said 5 or 6 wins earlier. But I just heard Dan Wiederer from the Strib say in an interview that Coach Frazier vows this will be a "run first" team.

I'm not sure how to take that, especially in a league where passing has become so important. If this is going to be a Childress Lite Conservative offense that lacks imagination, then I think 3 or 4 wins is more likely.

I agree... IF it lacks imagination. However, these days, when a coach say his team will be a "run first" team I tend to interpret that to mean the run will be a point of emphasis, a solid foundation for the offense, because I think every head coach realizes that, to a certain extent, it's a passing league now. Treating the run as the foundation of an offense that doesn't feature Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or any of the other top-level QBs who can put a team on their shoulders and guide them to the Super Bowl is a sensible approach, as long as it's accompanied by a good overall strategy. Last year, several teams that placed great emphasis on the run had real success during the regular season and advanced past the first round of the playoffs (two of them to the championship games). Denver, Houston, San Francisco and Baltimore were all in the top 10 in rushing yards and rushing attempts. The key is clearly to have a good defense to go with that running game and to have a passing game that can make plays when called upon. The Vikings may not have the defense to be successful that way but I don't think they have the passing game to play the style of football NE or GB play either.

As you know, I don't think running the ball is inherently conservative any more than passing it is inherently aggressive. You used the key word, Craig: imagination. The Vikes have to make sure of two things on offense: they can't be too predictable and they need to execute.

By the way, Craig, just out of curiosity: did Wiederer make that comment on the radio or was it in an article?

losperros wrote:I said 5 or 6 wins earlier. But I just heard Dan Wiederer from the Strib say in an interview that Coach Frazier vows this will be a "run first" team.

I'm not sure how to take that, especially in a league where passing has become so important. If this is going to be a Childress Lite Conservative offense that lacks imagination, then I think 3 or 4 wins is more likely.

And here I was thinking Frazier might have learned a few things from his run-first approach last year...

"What do you mean the peg is square? So what? That peg is going in that hole... Mind over matter guys!"

I'm not nearly as willing to cut Frazier slack on this point as Jim is. Run "first" means the run comes first. It's the point of emphasis. If he meant to say the Vikes will emphasize the run, then he should have said that. If he meant they want to remain an effective running team, or a balanced attack, he could have said that. But he didn't - he said run "first". All that tells me is he learned little from his experience last year and is bound to repeat much of it this year. I have no idea how that will play out in terms of final record, but I can tell how that is likely to play out with the fans of the team who will have to sit through another slogging season of run-heavy offensive football.

I like Frazier as a person and I really want to like him as a coach, but I just don't see how he's going to survive beyond this season if he doesn't wake up and smell the NFL coffee. It's great to be able to run. It's great to be able to "exert your will" as Childress used to say. But as great as that is, the fact remains that the league is designed to favor passing and it will be for the foreseeable future. While some teams that made the playoffs could run, every one of them could pass, and the fact remains that two of the worst-running teams during the regular season met in the Superbowl for, what, like the 10th year-in-a-row? That's probably hyperbole but still, the point has been made to anyone with a pair of eyes that running is just not that important in the greater scheme of things. The Packers couldn't run to save their lives last year and they finished with 15 wins and probably should have gone back to the Superbowl. And what did Ted Thompson do this offseason? Did he shore up that obvious weak spot? No, he allowed the one reliable veteran runner the Pack had to walk and they're going into the season relying on a guy who has yet to finish a season healthy with no proven option behind that guy.

I'm getting a headache thinking about this. If Frazier insists on creating his own reality he's just not going to be coaching this team beyond this season. I think it's as simple as that.

mosscarter wrote:so ponder goes 7 for 14 passing yesterday with 2 picks, and you people think this team can win 7 or 8 games? i say they win 4, one more than last year, and reason to keep frazier around for one more year. i haven't seen anything that leads me to believe ponder has progressed in any way whatsoever, and we will need both a receiver and a qb after this season. face it people, ponder stinks. i look for him to totally bomb the first 5 or 6 weeks and then everyone will finally realize it.

So since in that scrimmage, where he completed 50% of his passes and had 2 picks, determines the outcome of an upcoming season then you are ready to throw in the towel in already Despite the fact that nearly every source, including his teamates say that he looks a 100% improved over last year.