Are the Vikings a good team with a few bad games or ...

[Cliff]

They are a rebuilding team. I think they're doing really well for a rebuilding team ... but they're still a rebuilding team.

I think they are going to drop several games going forward. Cook's injury is going to be tough for the team to overcome. Their stout pass defense has kept them in and helped win games and I think Cook's absense is going to be felt on a team that already had a small margin for error.

If the offense can come around they'll prove me wrong.

[Mothman]

Right now, I'd say they're an average team but I don't believe their wins depend exclusively on their opponents.

Cliff's description of them probably fits best: they're a rebuilding team and they have all the positives and negatives that come with that, Including one of the biggest characteristics of a rebuilding team: inconsistency.

I don't think Ponder is all that puzzling either. He's a second year QB and he plays like one. He shows flashes of excellence, flashes of awfulness and everything in between. It's to be expected.

[dkoby]

I'm going to call them a bad team for now, but, only because that is the only conclusion I can make right now.
AGAIN, this team needs 2-3 more years and drafts on their current trajectory of improvement. We have young talent in place, but we are still thin and the drop off is glaring from starter to back-up. We also have holes to fill with young talent.
I would say we need at least 2 more top talent O-lineman, at least one more top level Linebacker and 2 more good to better than average D backs.
Then we need our youngest talent currently on the team to mature and gain experience.
We will need all this to happen to even hope to have a chance to make a run at a superbowl. For now, I am just enjoying that we have young talent making surprising plays in areas that we have been wanting.

Course the biggest question is Ponder. He needs to progress in his development. I for one thinks that he will get it figured out and think that he does have the physical tools to get it done.

On top of that, by the time all this happens, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams are going to be getting long in the tooth and may have a significant drop in production, so you have to start to plan to replace them also.
I think that those thinking of a playoff run this year are not facing reality.

I also think that if any year, this year would have been the one for an earlier bye as this team looks to be wearing down. Even Percy looked a little sluggish towards the end of the game. Maybe having 10 days off will correct some of that.

[losperros]

They are a rebuilding team. I think they're doing really well for a rebuilding team ... but they're still a rebuilding team.

I think they are going to drop several games going forward. Cook's injury is going to be tough for the team to overcome. Their stout pass defense has kept them in and helped win games and I think Cook's absense is going to be felt on a team that already had a small margin for error.

If the offense can come around they'll prove me wrong.

I agree with this assessment, which is why I chose to say I don't know what to expect from the team. There are bound to be ups and downs.

This is a rebuilding year. The Vikings ownership knows it, the team sure knows, and we shouldn't forget it.

[John_Viveiros]

Just to be clear with my perspective on these things...

It's a QB driven league. If you have a great QB, an average team can look playoff bound pretty easily. Elway or Favre in his prime would have the Vikings in the playoffs this year - Elway led teams worse than this to the Superbowl (I lived in Denver, and I can't name a Denver WR, except that they were all pretty much equally mediocre, and went by the name "the three amigos"). QB play is separating this team from everything it could be, with the best defensive line in football, a pretty decent back 7 defenders (as long as injuries don't hit), an offensive line that is at least average, and two of the best offensive skill players in the league.

That in itself is not an indictment on Ponder. Elway looked like crap in his first year. Montana wasn't impressive in his first two. As Ponder goes, so goes the Vikings.

[Mothman]

Just to be clear with my perspective on these things...

It's a QB driven league. If you have a great QB, an average team can look playoff bound pretty easily. Elway or Favre in his prime would have the Vikings in the playoffs this year - Elway led teams worse than this to the Superbowl (I lived in Denver, and I can't name a Denver WR, except that they were all pretty much equally mediocre, and went by the name "the three amigos").

Ricky Nattiel, Mark Jackson and Vance Johnson... and they were all pretty good, though none of them were great.

I agree. When Ponder plays well, we stomp the 49ers and brutalize everyone else. When Ponder plays crappy we sometimes win or at least stay in the game. I know people are switching back to their "we're rebuilding so our entire team sucks", but while we are rebuilding, our overall team is pretty strong. We are at the point where there's only one guy who is not holding his weight and that's Ponder.

They're definitely not at that point. If you think they are than you really need to watch the last few games again and pay close attention to the blocking, the tackling, etc. Is a defense that allows 36 points and 3 straight 100+ yard rushing performances holding it's weight? Is pass protection that repeatedly breaks down pulling it's weight? Are WRs who disappear and fail to get open for long stretches pulling their weight?

[Eli]

A mediocre team with an incredibly easy schedule that has played a couple of inconsistent teams, like the 49ers and Buccaneers.

I think the all-new roster may have helped the team psychologically early on by giving some new life to the older players and galvanizing the younger ones. But now, as the season grinds on, it's less of a factor. That happens a lot to teams that play above their native talent level by relying on emotion.

[Infinity]

I honestly can't tell. It seems like we play bad against bad teams and good against good teams.

[hibbingviking]

8-8 is generous. some games they look horrible others they look pretty good.

[FailedtoOpen]

Our perception of whether they're good or bad is really trivial at best. At the end of the day they've found ways to win football games which is something they lacked last year. We as fans should analyze this team on a yearly basis rather then analyzing individual games, or segments which is unreliable at best.

[jackal]

I didn't like any of the choices .. I think we are an improving team who are doing some things a lot better than in the past few years.

We obviously had a good draft last year and hopefully can have a great off season again. The NFL is very tough to win week after week..

I think in two years we could be a top team if we progress like last off season. I would say average team, with more upside now

than downside is about right

[Mothman]

Our perception of whether they're good or bad is really trivial at best. At the end of the day they've found ways to win football games which is something they lacked last year. We as fans should analyze this team on a yearly basis rather then analyzing individual games, or segments which is unreliable at best.

Mark Craig just wrote an article related to that:

Craig: For every NFL action, there's an overreaction

Charlie Johnson means no disrespect to the fans, the battalions of former players-turned-analysts or the modern sports journalist whose ironclad declarations tend to flip-flop with every 141st character.

"I guess it's the nature of the business," the Vikings left guard said. "And you see it with every team, not just us. But ..."

Pay attention. This is a good point by the big fella.

"Team A wins two in a row and they're going to the Super Bowl," Johnson said. "Team A loses the next week and it's, 'You stink.' All season long, it's, 'You're a contender! No, you stink. You're a contender! No, you stink. ...'"

In the pendulum of perception, the Vikings stink. Bad. Double-digit-loss-at-home-on-a-Thursday-night-to-Tampa-Bay bad.

In fact, the Vikings never will win another game. Ever. Unless they win this week at Seattle, which is 3-0 at CenturyLink Torture Chamber. Then the Vikings are unlikely to lose again. Ever.