Dmizzle0 wrote:So injuries wasn't at fault? They don't affect the chemistry of the team?
mansquatch wrote:Really, injuries were not an issue?
Nobody said injuries weren't an issue. I wrote that the Vikings had
much more than just injury problems this season and Craig wrote that he is "sick of hearing about the injuries". Neither of those comments is a statement that injuries didn't have an impact on the team this year. I think everybody acknowledges that they impacted the team. There are just differences in the degree to which people are willing to use them to explain the overall results.
Two things are just astonishing to me right now given all the doom and gloom around here.
1.) This roster went 11-5 in 2015. How is the 2017 roster worse than 2015?
How will it be better than 2016?
The 2017 roster hasn't been assembled yet so we don't know if it will be better or worse than in 2015. One obvious way it could be worse is with the potential absence of Peterson, who was the league's leading rusher in 2015. Another is that players like Newman, Greenway, Munnerlyn, Floyd and Robison could all be gone (and they all made very positive contributions in 2015). In 2016, Barr didn't play up to the standard he set for himself in 2015. Will he be better in 2017? Who's playing on the o-line?
The 2017 Vikings will probably look considerably different than the 2015 Vikings.
2.) Sam Bradford just did all the things we were wondering if TB could do at QB and he did it with a worst OL in 2016 than TB had in 2015.
You should let that 2nd point sink in a little...
There are two major questions for this roster going into 2017:
1.) Can they find answers at Tackle that are better than Sirles/Clemmings? Clemmings was historically bad which means it shouldn't be hard to find an upgrade. The question is how much of an upgrade.
2.) Who is the RB?
Those are good questions but I see considerably more than 2 major questions. For example:
1.) The OL has more than just Tackle issues. How much push did people see from the interior of the line on running plays? I saw very little. How much pressure did the interior allow (especially Fusco)? At least 3 positions on the OL are huge question marks, arguably without anybody currently on the team that could qualify as an average or above average NFL starter at those positions. Berger's at an age where his play could start to drop at any time and frankly, he might be the most overrated player on the team right now.
2.) Can they finally improve their run defense?
3.) Who will be playing slot corner and if it's not Munnerlyn, will they be up to the task? Can Waynes adequately replace Newman as a starter? If Newman and Munnerlyn are gone, will the Vikes be able to solidify the depth behind the younger players moving up the depth chart or will they be more vulnerable to injuries in the secondary?
4.) Why did the overall performance of the defense fall off so much as last season progressed?
5.) Who will be kicking for the Vikings in 2017 and will they be able to make extra points with any consistency?
6.) Do they really have a good enough player in the safety spot next to Smith? Sendejo has his positive moments but when Smith's not on the field, attacking the Vikes safeties works way too well.
Some of those questions are more significant than others but several could have a substantial impact on wins and losses. I think the
really big question is: what went wrong in that locker room in 2016? Clearly, something did.
If they can find competitive answers then we should see a lot out of this team in 2017.
They have enough question marks and they're facing enough potential change that things could go either way, up or down. The 3-8 finish and the back-to-back blowout losses with the team's playoff hopes literally on the line are alarming. The team's 8-8 record is not indicative of the quality of football they played during the last 2.5 months of the season. I think there's a difference between an up and coming team that climbs from 6-10 one year to 8-8 the next and a team like the Vikes, that follows an 11 win season with a 5-0 start followed by a collapse resulting in an 8-8 finish.
EDIT: Just to be clear, many of the questions could be answered positively and the team could have a great 2017 season. My intention is not to rule that out. My point is the team faces some big problems and has some potentially new issues on the horizon while still needing to deal with their current issues. Considering their downhill trajectory, the climb back to the playoffs might be steep.