Regular season reaction thread

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John_Viveiros
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Regular season reaction thread

Post by John_Viveiros »

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.
J. Kapp 11
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

This season has simply been FUN. From opening night to the defense destroying the Bears yesterday, it's been fun.

The biggest component for me is the way these guys play for each other. It's so obvious, even on TV. These guys truly care about the team and about each other. No egos. Lotta confidence, but no ego.

One of my favorite parts about this team is how many low draft picks or undrafted guys play such a significant role. It starts with Keenum, of course, but look at some of the other guys. Thielen, undrafted. Sendejo, undrafted. Remmers, undrafted. Easton, undrafted. Tom Johnson, undrafted. Murray, 6th round. Berger, 6th round. Morgan, 6th round. Diggs, 5th round. Griffen, 4th round. Jarius Wright, 4th round. Robison, 4th round. At least 9 starters out of 22 were drafted in the 4th round or later, and a number of these guys are legitimate stars. I love underdog stories, and every one of these guys, in one way or another, is an underdog.

Obviously, we have high draft picks who are playing well. But I love how this staff can take guys that nobody wanted and turn them into productive players. It's such a credit to Mike Zimmer. He doesn't care where you were drafted or even IF you were drafted. When he puts you on the field, he expects you to do your job. Not only that, he prepares you to do your job, he makes his players tough as nails, and he expects no less than excellence of his coaches -- himself included.

It makes for the most fun I've had watching a Vikings team since Bud Grant was roaming the sidelines. They're so easy to root for.
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John_Viveiros
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by John_Viveiros »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:It makes for the most fun I've had watching a Vikings team since Bud Grant was roaming the sidelines. They're so easy to root for.
I feel the same way. Not only is the team good, but the team is made up of good guys. It's a team we can be proud to be fans of.
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Texas Vike
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by Texas Vike »

John_Viveiros wrote:I feel the same way. Not only is the team good, but the team is made up of good guys. It's a team we can be proud to be fans of.
Totally agree. I loved the Zimmer hiring from the get go, which is why I put his picture in my avatar (or whatever it's called). The team resembles his spirit and that is a great thing. It's especially sweet after so many things did not break our way last year.

I'm on Vikings cloud nine right now as my brother and I are heading home to MN to see the game on the 14th. So excited.
J. Kapp 11
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

I was just thinking ... imagine if Dalvin Cook had not gotten hurt.

Just based on the 4 games he played, he was on pace for nearly 1,800 yards from scrimmage. And I'm guessing he only would have gotten better.

By comparison, Alvin Kamara had 1,554 yards from scrimmage. Kareem Hunt had 1,782. Cook likely would have eclipsed both of them. Based on his pace, he would have led the league in rushing by 100 yards over Hunt.

Sigh.

OK. Back to winning the Super Bowl.
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PacificNorseWest
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by PacificNorseWest »

Ive been kinda humble as a fan this season. We all know how quickly these dream season can screech to a halt. Thankfully, the early injuries to Bradford and Cook were neglible to the point where this team kept chugging along and barely missed a beat, but my mindset was calm about it all and its looked to workout. The Vikings are probably where we thought they should have been last season. Now, I'm just along for the ride and excited for this playoff run. I'm optimistic as ever. That can lead to disappointment, but thats how it goes. Hopefully we are rewarded as fans this season...finally.
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by Mothman »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:It makes for the most fun I've had watching a Vikings team since Bud Grant was roaming the sidelines. They're so easy to root for.
J. Kapp 11 wrote:I was just thinking ... imagine if Dalvin Cook had not gotten hurt.

Just based on the 4 games he played, he was on pace for nearly 1,800 yards from scrimmage. And I'm guessing he only would have gotten better.

By comparison, Alvin Kamara had 1,554 yards from scrimmage. Kareem Hunt had 1,782. Cook likely would have eclipsed both of them. Based on his pace, he would have led the league in rushing by 100 yards over Hunt.

Sigh.

OK. Back to winning the Super Bowl.
I quoted comments from 2 different posts because I agree it's easy to root for this team and even though I don't like to see players get injured, to be honest I was not finding it easy to root for Cook. I sincerely hope he has his life on the right track and that he'll fully recover from his injury but his arrest record before coming to the Vikings left me cold and I didn't want them to draft him, despite his obvious talent. I've seen enough Vikings players get arrested and get into legal trouble for a lifetime and I didn't want to see the team inviting more potential trouble with a pick like Cook. That said, sometimes, players mature and leave past troubles behind them and hopefully, that will be Cook's story.

Okay, as you said, back to winning the Super Bowl...
Pondering Her Percy
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Re: Regular season reaction thread

Post by Pondering Her Percy »

This season has been awesome! But at the same time, I try to not get too excited. I'm just looking at it one game at a time and try to not get too far ahead. I think a ton of credit has to go to Spielman and Zim. There were a lot of mixed opinions on both of them going into this season but with the way this team is playing and the guys that they have brought in, they deserve a lot of credit. They are building this team the right way.

And unlike the '09 team, this team is still super young. When you look at the 5 oldest players on our team, they consist of Newman, Beger, Robison, Johnson and Forbath. One is our kicker and only Berger starts. The rest are just role players. In '09, we were relying on a lot of older vets in key positions (Favre, McKinnie, Hutch, Herrera, both K and P Williams, EJ, Leber, Winfield, etc.) This team is much, much younger and it allows us to continue a great run vs. just being a one year wonder.

One game at a time!! Lets gooooo!
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