What's wrong with this team?

[DanAS]

Think of a boat that is leaking. Now imagine that you are asked to find "the problem." Immediately, you start seeing holes. You count one, two, three, four, five ...

Do you keep looking? Or do you just say -- this boat is trash?

This team is playing so poorly in so many areas that it typically means that either the GM is fired, the coach is fired, or both. "You can't fire the team," so you have to look at the top of the organization (since you also can't fire the owner).

The good news is that not every piece of this boat is a hole. But the number of holes is high enough that analyzing the problem seems almost pointless. Also, some of the holes involve guys who seem to be underachieving; in other cases, like at the all-important QB position, our guys just lack the basic talent, and the only way to repair the hole is to get better personnel when the season ends. Ponder had a nice game today -- if his position were running back. Unfortunately, he is expected to throw the football, and he doesn't know when to throw or how to throw, so why expect him to throw successfully?

What's more, this team, as bad as it is, was in the playoffs last year, so expectations are unreasonably high. This was reflected in the huge number of boo-birds who were at the stadium today -- early and often. This might be one of those unusual and awful situations where teams would rather play on the road than at home.

Maybe London is just the perfect venue for them. I was there in July -- it's a great city to visit. And nobody there care about American football. Poifect!

[TheIrishVikingsFan]

Think of a boat that is leaking. Now imagine that you are asked to find "the problem." Immediately, you start seeing holes. You count one, two, three, four, five ...

Do you keep looking? Or do you just say -- this boat is trash?

This team is playing so poorly in so many areas that it typically means that either the GM is fired, the coach is fired, or both. "You can't fire the team," so you have to look at the top of the organization (since you also can't fire the owner).

The good news is that not every piece of this boat is a hole. But the number of holes is high enough that analyzing the problem seems almost pointless. Also, some of the holes involve guys who seem to be underachieving; in other cases, like at the all-important QB position, our guys just lack the basic talent, and the only way to repair the hole is to get better personnel when the season ends. Ponder had a nice game today -- if his position were running back. Unfortunately, he is expected to throw the football, and he doesn't know when to throw or how to throw, so why expect him to throw successfully?

What's more, this team, as bad as it is, was in the playoffs last year, so expectations are unreasonably high. This was reflected in the huge number of boo-birds who were at the stadium today -- early and often. This might be one of those unusual and awful situations where teams would rather play on the road than at home.

Maybe London is just the perfect venue for them. I was there in July -- it's a great city to visit. And nobody there care about American football. Poifect!

People there do care about american football....Im from Ireland and will be there.
the game is only growing in the Uk and ireland.

[DanAS]

Maybe London is just the perfect venue for them. I was there in July -- it's a great city to visit. And nobody there care about American football. Poifect!

People there do care about american football....Im from Ireland and will be there.
the game is only growing in the Uk and ireland.[/quote]

Well, that's not what I gathered, but I stand corrected if you have facts to the contrary.

But though I am not an expert on the current state of interest in American football in the UK, I do know something about the Vikings. And I'll stand by the assessment that this team has hole after hole after hole after "bloody" hole, as they say in London. It's easy to scapegoat Ponder, and truly he's not starting NFL material, but even if we had a reasonably good QB, we'd still have big problems on both sides of the football. And I'm not sold on the coaching staff either. But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln ...

[Mothman]

Think of a boat that is leaking. Now imagine that you are asked to find "the problem." Immediately, you start seeing holes. You count one, two, three, four, five ...

Do you keep looking? Or do you just say -- this boat is trash?

This team is playing so poorly in so many areas that it typically means that either the GM is fired, the coach is fired, or both. "You can't fire the team," so you have to look at the top of the organization (since you also can't fire the owner).

I think it's too early to consider firing anybody significant unless there's a very qualified replacement just waiting in the wings. They've lost 3 games, two in the final minutes. It's not as if the team has been a unmitigated disaster to this point, just a genuine disappointment.

Maybe London is just the perfect venue for them. I was there in July -- it's a great city to visit. And nobody there care about American football. Poifect!

Let's hope it's the cure for what ails them.

[PurpleMustReign]

I look at it this way:

SOMETHING has to be changed.. Whether it be benching Ponder, changing the coaches, starting all of the young players on the team, etc. They CAN'T keep going the way they are. They have to change SOMETHING,

[DanAS]

I think it's too early to consider firing anybody significant unless there's a very qualified replacement just waiting in the wings. They've lost 3 games, two in the final minutes. It's not as if the team has been a unmitigated disaster to this point, just a genuine disappointment.

I'm not suggesting that guys will get fired now. Firings in the middle of the season probably backfire. For one thing, the best coaches aren't available and you may end up at the end of the year with an interim coach who isn't the best possible option but does "well enough" given the low expectations that you keep him around for the following year. At least I've heard that could happen, in theory.

Truthfully, I'm not uber down on Frazier. But I am uber frustrated with the state of Vikings football -- and consider that state somewhere in the middle between "genuine disappointment" and "unmitigated disaster" (with this last game looking more like the latter than the former). Also, it's not just these three games that are dissapointing. There is no way we should have entered this season (or last season) with the QBs we had on the roster, and there is no way to explain the way the offensive line has been looking from the pre-season on. Oh wait a minute, I'm starting to point out holes. And that's making me want to name other holes. So I'll leave it at that.

[The Breeze]

I think it's too early to consider firing anybody significant unless there's a very qualified replacement just waiting in the wings. They've lost 3 games, two in the final minutes. It's not as if the team has been a unmitigated disaster to this point, just a genuine disappointment.
Let's hope it's the cure for what ails them.

Rather than be a cure for what's ailing the Steelers.

Sorry...too easy~

[Laserman]

As of now, our boat has more holes than working pieces.

Actually our boat is one big hole with some kindling floating around it

[petev_sj]

I would have to say coaching seems to be the biggest issue. On Defense, guys are just not in the right places to make plays. On offense, you have a run heavy system where it can lead to 3rd and 12 or 3rd and 2, either way, the chewing up the clock method is also disrupting the rhythm of the offense.

This coaching staff seems to have same issue that the Green/Tice/Childress era had. The inability to adjust when things go bad.

[Reignman]

If you change the schemes on both sides of the ball and get more aggressive this team would improve over night without change. I'm sure of it. We've proven in the last 2 games. Whenever we got aggressive we looked good. It wouldn't hurt to find a better QB asap, but our offensive and defensive strategies are clearly losing strategies in this league. Frazier played defense on the '85 Bears squad, arguably one of the most aggressive defenses in NFL history so you'd think he'd know better.

[Laserman]

what's wrong? Talentless coaching , Cover 2 play not to lose defensive strategy, and wimpy west coast dink and dunk offense with a terrible QB. We are set up to lose. The team's philosophy on both sides of the ball has given up before kickoff. Serious lack of aggression in the approach. We play with losing in mind

[radar55]

As of now, our boat has more holes than working pieces.

And you cant fix a boat with duct tape that has holes in it

[PurpleMustReign]

what's wrong? Talentless coaching , Cover 2 play not to lose defensive strategy, and wimpy west coast dink and dunk offense with a terrible QB. We are set up to lose. The team's philosophy on both sides of the ball has given up before kickoff. Serious lack of aggression in the approach. We play with losing in mind

I'll say it again, I liked Cleveland's game plan... play aggressively (Fake Punt, Fake FG, etc.). When was the last time the Vikings tried a fake punt?
Hell, when was the last time they ran a screen play?

[Mothman]

I'll say it again, I liked Cleveland's game plan... play aggressively (Fake Punt, Fake FG, etc.). When was the last time the Vikings tried a fake punt?
Hell, when was the last time they ran a screen play?

They ran one today.

[DarthBrooks]

For perspective, In three weeks Minnesota has given up

34 points to Detroit
31 points to Chicago
31 points to Cleveland.

In those same games the Vikes have scored

24 versus Detroit,
30 Versus Chicago and
27 versus Cleveland

I know fans are prone to go PONDER! PONDER! PONDER! but that's a lot of points to give up consistently. Pair the points scored with a defense that stopped people and the team would be unbeaten. The defense is the issue this season. The line is in flux, we have nobodies at LB and the backfield too often shows up just as the WR's catch the ball.