The positives

[NDVikeFan]

Preseason is just a way to look at the young guys now. Had the Vikings won 45-0, and everyone looked great, I would have been more happy but it is what it is.

Didn't the Cowboys always look horrid, and go like 0-4 every year, they went on to win there Super Bowls?

One thing I have learned about preseason is it really doesn't mean squat. What counts is what happens week 1 when the live bullets start flying.

[mondry]

Haven't seen anything yet - worked last night, but hey ya gotta make a living.

When we looked the other evening, NFL Network will televise the game Sunday morning at 9 am central.

We'll be watching.

The game its self was mostly a nightmare from a "team" standpoint but some individual performances have definitely stood out as solid so far and that's going to be nice when added to the starters for the regular season.

[jackal]

We honestly will be a different offense with AP too...

Teams stack the box like they did last year and Jennings should kill them
if Ponder or Cassel can get him the ball 9-10 guys in the box was the norm last season.

I am curious as to why our OL has been so shaky they have another year together ?
they should be better than last year..

[Just Me]

That's pretty much the way PA described it on the radio broadcast too. Hopefully, Rhodes will be making plays like that all season.

It's nice to see Viking CBs playing pass defense like that.

[Eli]

We honestly will be a different offense with AP too...

Teams stack the box like they did last year and Jennings should kill them
if Ponder or Cassel can get him the ball 9-10 guys in the box was the norm last season.

I am curious as to why our OL has been so shaky they have another year together ?
they should be better than last year..

"Another" year?

Kalil was a rookie last year, and Fusco was new as a starter. Since last year's playoff game, they have only had a handful of preseason snaps to add to that. The way Kalil whiffed on that first play had very little to do with line chemistry, as did the high snaps in the shotgun.

[VikingLord]

I thought the defense did a good job overall. Manuel made some plays on his first drive, but that was against mostly backups from the Vikings. I liked the aggressive play in the secondary especially. Kolb is not a good QB right now, but I've watched so many QB's with average skills like that tear up Viking secondaries in recent years and it was good to see the Vikings defense make an average QB look average.

I can't think of too many other positives, though. The starting offensive line and blocking schemes overall were terrible. While Ponder struggled, I can't help but wonder if they are trying to get him killed with the effort I saw. And while Fusco and Johnson played with their usual inconsistency, the mistakes by guys like Kalil and Sullivan were glaring for guys with their skill levels. Just not good all the way around.

Frazier should be very concerned after what happened last night. It is just preseason, but he went on record saying he expected to see progress from his team and while he got that from his defense, the offense looked as bad as I've seen it in recent memory, with most of that stink coming from the offensive line play. Not sure how that gets fixed, but they'd better fix it fast or it's going to be a long season, AD or no AD.

[King James]

The positives is that the defense looks promising. I see improvement, especially in the secondary that people have labeled as "suspect" for the longest. Michael Mauti continues to impress. He looked way better than Erin Henderson, who just seemed to look lost out there on the field.

[SLCVikefan]

Preseason is just a way to look at the young guys now. Had the Vikings won 45-0, and everyone looked great, I would have been more happy but it is what it is.

Didn't the Cowboys always look horrid, and go like 0-4 every year, they went on to win there Super Bowls?

One thing I have learned about preseason is it really doesn't mean squat. What counts is what happens week 1 when the live bullets start flying.

That's a very level headed post. Unfortunately there's no room for that kind of thing around here.
You must have a life outside of Viking fandom. Keep up the good work!

[mondry]

We desperately need better guards, I thought Guards were our 2nd highest need behind some kind of upgrade at WR but judging by the pre-season they might have been the biggest. I do think Sullivan is a decent center but being undersized with the two big weaknesses on BOTH sides of him really hurts. We needed to shore up one of the guard spots so we knew who we would need to give help to on a regular basis.

We need to strike deep with Jennings or Patterson early in the year, week 1 preferably to make a statement about beating the blitz. They might have to max protect and literally just send those 2 down the field on play action.

[Demi]

We need to strike deep with Jennings or Patterson early in the year, week 1 preferably to make a statement about beating the blitz. They might have to max protect and literally just send those 2 down the field on play action.

And Ponder will throw his 3 yard rainbow overthrow.
As if Musgrave even has the balls.

Oh, wait, positives guys! Quit being such downers!
Our Punter had some impressive moments! Rudolph, after a terrible drop, made a good play on a run of the mill thrown too high Ponder pass. Jennings showed some wiggle. Simpson got his pass interference call he seems to thrive on. Linebackers looks better than expected. Bishop...flopped around against third stringers. Blanton looked ok. Rhodes is a monster will be fun to see Cook and him maybe maul some receivers.

[Reignman]

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is all without AD xD.

Bobby Felder's hair.

Woooow! I hope the dirty NFL doesn't make a rule about that. I loved the hair everywhere.

Nothing against the hair per se, but I can't help but wonder if these guys would gain a step or at least feel/play lighter without the huge manes. And I wouldn't expect the league to make a rule, but I could see some individual teams implementing a grooming policy a la the Yankees. Although didn't the NBA implement a dress code policy recently?

[Mothman]

... and despite PurpleMustReign's request to stick to positives in this thread, the commentary has inevitably turned negative. Color me shocked.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[PurpleMustReign]

... and despite PurpleMustReign's request to stick to positives in this thread, the commentary has inevitably turned negative. Color me shocked.

This is why we can't have nice things.

And even more shockingly, the same people are the ones who made it negative.

[Reignman]

And even more shockingly, the same people are the ones who made it negative.

Oh I see, it was a little science experiment all along. We'll cleverly call it "The positives" thread then see how long it takes before the crowd makes it negative while we quietly giggle over in the corner. Oh you positive Pammy's are a tricky bunch xD.

I was going to say, I don't know what's worse, negative fans or fans that don't get the irony when they're being negative about negative fans. But yeah, good show.

I'll play along

The positives: Thankfully nobody got injured watching their blocking assignment run by, or watching Manuel play catch with his receivers. Oh and I'm thankful we don't have to look at 2 tone helmets as atrocious as the Jags.

[Funkytown]

Positive: We can only go up from here; we got the ugly out of the way!