Regular season reaction thread
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 2:21 am
New topic, because I felt like talking about stuff over longer periods of time...
The 13 wins is pretty nice. I agree. It's the most enjoyable season since 1998. We had that late season slump in 2009 that made us look beatable by anyone. Bud led the Vikings to 12-2 records four times, which technically is a little better than 13-3. I enjoyed all the Grant seasons, but for half of the games I was watching grainy black and white images from the Mason City Iowa TV station (big antenna on the house to see the home games from Apple Valley). It was cool this year to have the Vikings on essentially national broadcast here in the Pacific NW since week 7 or so, because they were such a good draw.
The 1998 offense was the best in NFL history at the time, and this defense ended up with the best 3rd down defense in NFL history and was tops in points allowed this season. That's really cool! Two of the best offenses in the league, the Rams and the Falcons, scored 16 points on us. Now 16 each would be pretty good, but we gave up 16 total, which is phenomenal.
And with the season concluded, we can look at the last three seasons under Zimmer (allowing him a grace period during year one because, well, it makes it look more impressive). Over the past three seasons, can you figure out what teams have the most victories in the league? Make a guess, and I'll wait.
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The Patriots, sure. They have 39 wins. Next is the Steelers with 34, and the Chiefs with 33. Notice anything in common there. All AFC teams. The Pats are a strong, consistent team, yes. But the two other teams are just bottom feeding off the AFC dregs. There were only 13 teams that lost more games than they won in the last three years. 9 of those teams reside in the AFC (leaving four from the NFC - Bears were 14-34, Giants were 20-28 as were the Bucs, and the Rams were 22-26 - all other teams have been at .500 or higher since 2015).
So if you are counting, 12 (of 16) NFC teams have finished at .500 or better the last three years. That's a pretty tough conference. And you know who stands at the top? The Panthers and the Vikings, with 32 regular season wins since 2015. Falcons and Seahawks have 29. Cards have 28. Eagles and Packers have 27. So it has been a good run during the Zimmer era.
The last stat I'll point out is points over the last three seasons. We are middling in points scored - 22.4 per game (which is actually the median for any stat guys out there). But we are tops in the league - tied with the Patriots - at giving up only 17.9 points per game. Take that, Dom Capers, and your 22.8 ppg defense. Or even your Seahawks, giving up 18.8 ppg.
The 13 wins is pretty nice. I agree. It's the most enjoyable season since 1998. We had that late season slump in 2009 that made us look beatable by anyone. Bud led the Vikings to 12-2 records four times, which technically is a little better than 13-3. I enjoyed all the Grant seasons, but for half of the games I was watching grainy black and white images from the Mason City Iowa TV station (big antenna on the house to see the home games from Apple Valley). It was cool this year to have the Vikings on essentially national broadcast here in the Pacific NW since week 7 or so, because they were such a good draw.
The 1998 offense was the best in NFL history at the time, and this defense ended up with the best 3rd down defense in NFL history and was tops in points allowed this season. That's really cool! Two of the best offenses in the league, the Rams and the Falcons, scored 16 points on us. Now 16 each would be pretty good, but we gave up 16 total, which is phenomenal.
And with the season concluded, we can look at the last three seasons under Zimmer (allowing him a grace period during year one because, well, it makes it look more impressive). Over the past three seasons, can you figure out what teams have the most victories in the league? Make a guess, and I'll wait.
...
...
...
The Patriots, sure. They have 39 wins. Next is the Steelers with 34, and the Chiefs with 33. Notice anything in common there. All AFC teams. The Pats are a strong, consistent team, yes. But the two other teams are just bottom feeding off the AFC dregs. There were only 13 teams that lost more games than they won in the last three years. 9 of those teams reside in the AFC (leaving four from the NFC - Bears were 14-34, Giants were 20-28 as were the Bucs, and the Rams were 22-26 - all other teams have been at .500 or higher since 2015).
So if you are counting, 12 (of 16) NFC teams have finished at .500 or better the last three years. That's a pretty tough conference. And you know who stands at the top? The Panthers and the Vikings, with 32 regular season wins since 2015. Falcons and Seahawks have 29. Cards have 28. Eagles and Packers have 27. So it has been a good run during the Zimmer era.
The last stat I'll point out is points over the last three seasons. We are middling in points scored - 22.4 per game (which is actually the median for any stat guys out there). But we are tops in the league - tied with the Patriots - at giving up only 17.9 points per game. Take that, Dom Capers, and your 22.8 ppg defense. Or even your Seahawks, giving up 18.8 ppg.