Vikings Message Board.Com

I get the angst. I just refuse to court it. We get to enjoy the football season once a year. I'm not going to let the lack of a SB win ruin what should be an otherwise enjoyable part of the fall/early winter. There is enough crap in life to be upset about. I refuse to allow football to be in that category.

mansquatch wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 12:53 pm I get the angst. I just refuse to court it. We get to enjoy the football season once a year. I'm not going to let the lack of a SB win ruin what should be an otherwise enjoyable part of the fall/early winter. There is enough crap in life to be upset about. I refuse to allow football to be in that category.

I don't think we're talking about mutually exclusively feelings here. It's possible to enjoy each season, be tired of the team's Super Bowl failures, and still keep football in perspective. The lack of a Super Bowl appearance in the past 40 years certainly hasn't prevented me from enjoying Vikings football. However, I don't think expecting the team to get their act together and actually reach the Super Bowl at least once every 2 or 3 decades is unreasonable.

PurpleMustReign wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 11:49 am What's amazing about that list, Jim, is that isn't that long of a timeframe... 40 years and 25 different teams. Like you said, just get to one.

Exactly!

PurpleMustReign wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 11:49 am What's amazing about that list, Jim, is that isn't that long of a timeframe... 40 years and 25 different teams. Like you said, just get to one.

The NFL is unrivaled in it's ability to offer cinderella stories and massive upsets. Meanwhile in the NBA we have Warriors - Cavs for the 4th year in a row.

I already gave my input on my expectations for next year so I wanted to talk a little about how I think the Vikings can get there.

• I think every Vikings fan understands the importance of staying healthy and we've been the Jekyll and Hyde of healthy. The defense, has remained incredibly healthy with the vast majority of our guys missing less than a handful of games over the last couple of years. Sendejo is really the only outlier but we haven't *knock on wood* lost a guy to a season ending injury since I can't remember when. Other than Floyd of course but those are extraordinary circumstances.
• Conversely, the offense has been plagued by injuries. The entire O-line, QB's, RB's, WR's... Adam Thielen is about the only guy who has been consistently healthy. I read a crazy stat the other day, since the NFL switched to a 16-game season (I think in 1978) the Vikings have NEVER had a QB play every game in back to back seasons. And I think only 9 seasons where a QB made it an entire season. That's crazy! Tark did play back-to-back seasons but that was when the season was 14-games long. Clearly this needs to change. If you look at the NFL dynastic teams, the one common trait is continuity at QB.
• Another key is redzone efficiency, which has been severely lacking on offense. And unfortunately, this hasn't been Cousins strongpoint either. We need to find more ways to get the ball in the endzone. Flip seems to be pretty good in this area so hopefully we see improvement.
• We've lost far too many games due to missed PATs, which is why I'm glad Carlson was drafted. The nature of the salary cap is the margin between a good and bad team is very slim. We simply can't leave points off the board.
• We need to push the ball downfield more. Luckily Cousins is pretty good in this department and both Thielen and Diggs are deep threats. Shurmur did a fantastic job calling plays but it was a lot of underneath and misdirection stuff. We've been talking about "keeping defenses honest" for it seems like the last decade.
• This team can't play young anymore. What I mean by that is young teams typically have several games where they just don't show up. This isn't an old team by any means but it is a team in its prime and we can't have those huge letdown games. Especially late in the season/into the post season. Good teams get better as the season progresses, not worse. See New England's start to the season vs the end as a perfect example.

We're at the point where our roster is solid and our coaches should be past the growing pains. Expectations are high, which is a bit scary because this team is generally overlooked by the media. I don't think anyone doubts they have the wherewithal to put together a season everyone expects but it really is a game of inches and execution (from players and coaches) is critical. And knees. My god keep all the knees healthy!!

720pete wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 2:15 pm The NFL is unrivaled in it's ability to offer cinderella stories and massive upsets. Meanwhile in the NBA we have Warriors - Cavs for the 4th year in a row.

4 years in a row? Wow. I'm glad I stopped watching the NBA.

808vikingsfan wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 3:57 pm 4 years in a row? Wow. I'm glad I stopped watching the NBA.

Yeah basically the Raptors, Celtics, and Rockets all choked so it's the same teams for another year.

My "bare" minimum would be beating the Packers twice and knocking them out of the playoffs. Anything more than that is gravy as far as I'm concerned.

we got people on this board that have been fans longer than i have been alive. I was a few months old when they played in their last bowl.To say anything short of a bowl is a success is mind boggling.i'm tired of waiting. This is the most complete team on paper with the shiny new qb that I have ever seen them put together. They went out and spent a ton to get a qb that has been pulling shenanigans with a roster full of dudes that couldn't win 5 games in college . THIS is it. Three year window. Lets start that timeframe with a chip please

Boon wrote: ↑Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:25 am we got people on this board that have been fans longer than i have been alive. I was a few months old when they played in their last bowl.To say anything short of a bowl is a success is mind boggling.i'm tired of waiting. This is the most complete team on paper with the shiny new qb that I have ever seen them put together. They went out and spent a ton to get a qb that has been pulling shenanigans with a roster full of dudes that couldn't win 5 games in college . THIS is it. Three year window. Lets start that timeframe with a chip please

And when they get to a "bowl"? Then your minimum definition will be to win a Super Bowl.

When they win a Super Bowl, it will be to win multiples.

It never ends.

I'm one of those who have been a fan longer than you've been alive (since 1969). I've witnessed all four SB losses and every NFCC Game loss. I want them to bring home the hardware in the worst way.

But I'm not going to sit here and say that any season that falls short of the Super Bowl is a failure. I refuse. The Vikings were 13-3 last year. They won their division round game. I enjoyed the season very much -- as much as any of my 50 as a fan. If they do the same this year and come up short, I'll be disappointed that they didn't make the Super Bowl, but I won't call it unsuccessful. I can enjoy the journey, even if it stops short of the summit.

I voted for winning a Super Bowl, because if you're good enough to get there, anything but a win would be disappointing. Especially given Minnesota's history. With that said, I have yet to see a Vikings Super Bowl appearance in my lifetime so getting over that hump would be a successful step.

https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vik ... 20399977_1

While the how is certainly fair to debate it is nice to know that the Headcoach has clearly put his stake in the ground on the side of winning it all. And yes, I know every coach says this stuff. Still, you have to at least be happy that he is saying his expectations are the same as ours.

Thought I would bump this thread. With the way we have been playing we look like a one-and-done 6th seed in the playoffs, if we even make the playoffs.

Agreed, making the playoffs will be a challenge already. The 'skins shouldn't get any more W's with Alex Smith out, but we still need to jump over them ànd stay ahead of the Eagles & Panthers.

And the wild card round will probably be the end of the line.

I voted NFCC.... Having a chance to miss the playoffs completely was inconceivable to me coming into the season.

At a minimum, they need to surpass last year, so a Super Bowl appearance is the minimum definition of success.