akvikingsfan wrote: Do we even have an O-Line anymore? I feel like they're all injured.
Vikings are now on their second right guard, third right tackle(if you include Loadholt), and fourth left tackle.
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akvikingsfan wrote: Do we even have an O-Line anymore? I feel like they're all injured.
It was really bad in 2011 and things got pretty bad on that front in 2013 too. That's not meant to be dismissive because they've been hit hard by injuries this year but this team has experienced serious injury hardship in the recent past.mansquatch wrote:Yeah, the slide sucks, but given the guys who are hurt it isn't shocking.
It really sucks that the trade for Bradford worked in the sense that we get a guy who can play competent as a QB, but the rest of the offense outside of WR is hurt, pathetic, or both and thus despite the trade working out, it is actually going to hurt us next season. This is the worst year for injuries I can remember:
Zimmer plays a risky brand of defense and like any scheme, it relies on heavily the right, healthy personnel to succeed. It also leans heavily on the success of the pass rush and when teams prepare for it and are able to handle that rush well enough, they can make big plays.The mystery for me is the Defense. The Offense being a dumpster fire isn't a shock when you look above at that list. But what happened to our defense? Where are our sacks? How coome we are seeing so many big plays all of a sudden? What is up with Barr?
I think that's a factor too.IMO, it is mental. They see how horrible the offense is and probably have stopped believing a championship run is possible.
I'm just hoping the five game winning streak isn't the end of the defense being dominant. Because I don't believe the offense will be fully fixed (or fixed at all) this season. The Vikings need their strong D back.Mothman wrote:
Some of their problems might be mental but I think this season also illustrates that matchups, and the ability to exploit them, are more important in determining outcomes than football than W/L records. The Bears might be bad but they didn't just dominate the Vikes because they had a mental edge. They dominated them because they matched up well against them. Any team with a good running game and a solid defensive front 7 is going to match up pretty well against the Vikes because their OL stinks, their running game stinks and their defense has been vulnerable against the run for years now. Teams that can exploit those weaknesses can beat the Vikes. A team can't hide bad blocking.mansquatch wrote:This year is a very big lesson/reminder to fans about how much of football is mental. A Chicago team that made us look utterly pathetic lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by over 20 points on Sunday. That Bears team and roster is no where near the class of this Vikings roster, yet the Vikings looked like garbage against them and continue to play like it. With exceptions at OL and maybe RB, there isn't a talent issue. It is all mental. The team is totally in the tank and desperately needs to find a way out.
Contrary to what some Vikes fans might want to believe, the Vikes have been out-coached too frequently.From a longer term point of view, I wonder what Zimmer will take away from this season. In a lot of ways the complete meltdown is on his shoulders. This team had a ton of swagger going into that bye week and then it just melted down. That is a pure and simple coaching issue. The Eagles loss was tolerable, albeit ugly. But then to not get a win against the Lions and Bear, both of whom are not good football teams, (Yes I know the Lions are tops of the NFC North, they are BAD.) seems to have just devastated the psyche of this team.
The OL / RB woes say nothing about why our Defense, which was playing at a historic level through the first five games, suddenly started surrendering leads like it did against both WSH and DET. There is no talent gap on that sideo of the ball. That is a mental issue pure and simple.chicagopurple wrote:This year is NOT a mental issue. It is a lack of talent on the Ol that took a toll on all other aspects of the team over time. With an Offense unable to mount any run game the defense was asked to carry a big load and spend the majority of the game time on the field.
Same is true for our RBs. They are not really NFL Grade Starting talent, but rather back up RBs. They could squeak by IF they had ANY blocking, but they dont. Our OL is horrendous and so the RBs have faltered.
The same is true for our QB...it was great that we landed Bradford in an emergent fashion but he is not a mobile QB, he has been rather fragile. He needs a pocket for a few seconds. This Ol cannot provide ANY pocket. It is a miracle that Bradford has had any sucess with our sad OL. By rights, he should already be on the disabled list.
The only part of this team that has no excuse is our kicker....he is just failing due to his own problems.
Great post! My thoughts exactly (which is the only reason why it's a great post, Jim ).Mothman wrote:Some of their problems might be mental but I think this season also illustrates that matchups, and the ability to exploit them, are more important in determining outcomes than football than W/L records. The Bears might be bad but they didn't just dominate the Vikes because they had a mental edge. They dominated them because they matched up well against them. Any team with a good running game and a solid defensive front 7 is going to match up pretty well against the Vikes because their OL stinks, their running game stinks and their defense has been vulnerable against the run for years now. Teams that can exploit those weaknesses can beat the Vikes. A team can't hide bad blocking.
Contrary to what some Vikes fans might want to believe, the Vikes have been out-coached too frequently.
I don't think the Vikes primary issue is their state of mind. They have rather clear, exploitable weaknesses. I'm not surprised those weaknesses have caught up with them. Injuries have too and that's a tough thing for any team to deal with but their early success this season was unsustainable without improvement in several key areas and that improvement hasn't occurred.
It was unlikely the defense was going to sustain the level they were playing at earlier in the season all year. That's incredibly rare and difficult. Fatigue (mental and physical) could be part of the problem. The loss of Sendejo hurt. The injury to Kendricks hurts. The Vikes ran into some teams a little more capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in their defense and those vulnerabilities have probably become more apparent on film as the season has progressed. It's still a good defense and some of their problems might be mental but I don't believe their issues are purely mental, as you're suggesting.mansquatch wrote:The OL / RB woes say nothing about why our Defense, which was playing at a historic level through the first five games, suddenly started surrendering leads like it did against both WSH and DET. There is no talent gap on that sideo of the ball. That is a mental issue pure and simple.
losperros wrote:Great post! My thoughts exactly (which is the only reason why it's a great post, Jim ).
I have a feeling fatigue, both mental and physical, is a big factor.Seriously, just my two cents, but I believe the film shows the mismatches and some of them are big. I'm even seeing things such as bad fundamentals from the Vikings D lately, which might give some credence to the mental problems, as Mansquatch pointed out. As we all know, the offensive line is dreadful.
I fully agree the Vikings D has been vulnerable against the run for quite some time now, plus it's not that out of the ordinary for them to collapse late in a game. That's not to say the Vikings D isn't talented. It most certainly is. But for whatever reason there are weaknesses and the players simply aren't playing up to the level they were at the beginning of the season.
Last but not least, I agree the Vikings have been out-coached too often this season. That includes both the offense and defense, and just maybe the special teams (notice the lack of wall blocking and open lanes for Patterson's kick returns this year). Other NFL teams have caught on to the Vikings "tells" and weaknesses. Unless that changes, the Vikings are going to struggle to win any of their upcoming games.
If not mental then what? When interviewed these guys all say the defense is all technique. Suddenly guys are out of position and big plays happen. That is not a physical issue.Mothman wrote: It was unlikely the defense was going to sustain the level they were playing at earlier in the season all year. That's incredibly rare and difficult. Fatigue (mental and physical) could be part of the problem. The loss of Sendejo hurt. The injury to Kendricks hurts. The Vikes ran into some teams a little more capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in their defense and those vulnerabilities have probably become more apparent on film as the season has progressed. It's still a good defense and some of their problems might be mental but I don't believe their issues are purely mental, as you're suggesting.