Rock Bottom

[Rus]

After that game, I fully believe Roethlisberger was right when he declared that the Steelers were the worst team in football.

They got dominated by a team that got dominated by the Panthers.

Obviously, Musgrave is probably the first coach that is on the way out. Unless somehow his system that was highly inconsistent for the other two quarterbacks he has to work with works awesomely for Josh Freeman somehow. Musgrave is currently the "feel good" cut of the team. Even though Alan Williams is really the one that needs to go.

Again, though, it really isn't just the quarterbacks on this team. That's not even the biggest problem. It might not even be Musgrave. That defense is a complete shambles - it's not holding up anywhere near how it was last year.

Not sure what you do, tank the season and draft the best quarterback you can get your mitts on, or develop what you've got, take the wins where you can get them, and draft the best interior defensive lineman you can find. The Vikings defense is currently rated 31 out of 32 teams in the NFL. That's putrid. The offense is 21st in the league. That's bad, but it's not putrid yet. And it could be a lot better if the defense wasn't so terrible and forcing the offense to work from behind. That Williams wall really kept the Vikings contending during years when their offense wasn't really all that great. That doesn't seem like it's there anymore. Who'd have thought, too, after spending a first on an interior defensive lineman. The Vikings did what they were supposed to do by drafting a lineman and a defensive back in the first. But the truth there too is that defensive linemen can be almost as risky as drafting a quarterback these days simply because teams love to load up on the best ones as quick as they can.

I've felt for years that the Vikings front office just needs a massive overhaul. They don't spot talent at a high enough rate to justify their thrifty free agency ways. It should be pretty clear to most fans of Minnesota sports (like me and most readers of this) that the teams that are doing well in Minnesota, the Lynx and the Wild, dip into free agency and make a lot of big trades...and not just trades where they accumulate draft picks. Both teams trade draft picks for established players that the front offices suspect have chemistry with the best players they already have. The Lynx are a friggin' dynasty in the WNBA, and they're run by Glen Taylor (whose Timberwolves, as everyone here knows, have long suffered from really bad general managers). Chuck Fletcher goes out and acquires some team's captain every year. He trades draft picks for good young players that are ready to go from the start. The Wild may not be tearing it up yet...but they easily have the talent to beat up the NHL. The Vikings, on the other hand, like to model themselves after the Twins except that there's no minor leagues to develop their talent. The Twins draft high schoolers from South America and stow them away for 5 years. The Vikings can't do that.

[DanAS]

I've felt for years that the Vikings front office just needs a massive overhaul. They don't spot talent at a high enough rate to justify their thrifty free agency ways. It should be pretty clear to most fans of Minnesota sports (like me and most readers of this) that the teams that are doing well in Minnesota, the Lynx and the Wild, dip into free agency and make a lot of big trades...and not just trades where they accumulate draft picks. Both teams trade draft picks for established players that the front offices suspect have chemistry with the best players they already have. The Lynx are a friggin' dynasty in the WNBA, and they're run by Glen Taylor (whose Timberwolves, as everyone here knows, have long suffered from really bad general managers). Chuck Fletcher goes out and acquires some team's captain every year. He trades draft picks for good young players that are ready to go from the start. The Wild may not be tearing it up yet...but they easily have the talent to beat up the NHL. The Vikings, on the other hand, like to model themselves after the Twins except that there's no minor leagues to develop their talent. The Twins draft high schoolers from South America and stow them away for 5 years. The Vikings can't do that.

I tend to agree that whoever is picking the players for the Vikings doesn't exactly have the Midas touch.

[Delaqure]

I really think our coaching staff is to blame here. They have proven themselves to be unable or unwilling to make in game adjustments, come up with innovative or unpredictable play calling or have the ability to coach players into improvement.
They have the inability to take a look at the players we have and development schemes that play to their strengths. Players have regressed under their coaching and have seemed to have developed a shrug your shoulders "oh well" attitude. Frazier and his staff don't seem to have that "demand and expect excellence" attitude that good coaches have. I go back to Bud Grant. He was known to have a stone face and none dynamic coaching style. But he demanded discipline and excellence out of his players. Belicek is another. You don't have to go all animation to get your team going but you do have to coach and demand discipline and excellence. You have to have the ability to see what's working and what isn't and adjust. This staff has not shown to have the ability to do any of it.

I don't buy the we don't have the talent argument. We have improved our team a lot the last couple of years we just don't know how to develope and coach the talent we have.