Vikings Message Board.Com

dead_poet wrote: The pass rush was a weak point? They were tied for eighth in sacks, 14th in QB hits. I do think it suffered a bit when Barr when down. But a healthy Barr and a faster ILB (Kendricks) combined with an improving Griffen and Floyd and I think our defensive line has enough juice. Sure, Robison is getting long in the tooth but he's always been pretty consistent at generating pressure, even if he doesn't always get the sack. I'm more concerned with the run defense.

They could be better. And will be. I have never been a Robison fan. I have stated that many times. I have not liked the run defense either, that being a dead horse that I have beaten for several years now, not having a MLB until now.

They could be better. And will be. I have never been a Robison fan. I have stated that many times. I have not liked the run defense either, that being a dead horse that I have beaten for several years now, not having a MLB until now.

That is why I was so big, on Danny Shelton.. I wanted a two gap DT/NT guy that push the gap,backwards
and shift pressure vertically, against the run and QB. This would free more DE's in space for sacks or run
stop for losses. I'm hoping Floyd takes another jump, he has improved greatly, from his first year.

I miss big Pat, for sure.

I would take the over. And if AD does play, and is a value to the team and not a distraction, I would say 9 to 10 wins is more then a pip dream. Not many players in the NFL have as big of an impact as AD can. And with a better Oline......

I have not been this "hopeful" since 98. If TB continues to progress, the team stays relatively healthy and the o-line meshes (which I know that it will), this could be a championship caliber team. I will be very disappointed with anything less than 10 wins and to me, the sky is the limit

Screw 6.5 wins over / unders, what are the odds for NFC north champ, NFCCG, and superbowl!?

Vegas is usually on the money. I say over with 8 wins.

kurtkeoki wrote: For every team that has ever been excited about getting Norv Turner as OC, there was another team saying 'good riddance.

I get this line. Really I do. But it made me wonder. When Turner only had OC duties and not HC duties how well did he do? So I checked. Overall as a OC his teams went 67-45. Now that is some what slanted because of his 3 years in Dallas. So here is the run down.

Dallas 3 years. 36-12 2 Super Bowls won and 1 division title lost. Had Aikman, Smith, and Irving as man Offensive weapons. As well as Novacek at TE and Harper as the other WR.

San Diego 1 year. 5-11. No playoff. QB was 39 year old Flutie. L. Tomlinson as RB and Curtis Conway as number 1 WR. TE was Freddie Jones and other WR was Jeff Graham.

Miami. 2 years 19-13 QB was Jay Fiedler. RB was Ricky (I'm Stoned) Williams. WR was Chris Chambers. TE was Randy McMichael other WR was Derrius Thompson.

San Fran. 1 year 7-9 QB 2nd year Alex Smith. RB Frank Gore. WR Arnaz Battle, TE was Vernon Davis and second WR was Antonio Bryant.

So, what's important to look at? Good question. Ask yourself this. Are the Vikings current offensive players closer to what he had in Dallas or closer to one of the other teams. I can tell you this. Only one of those QB's on those 4 teams had a completion percentage greater than 58.1%. Is Bridgewater more like Aikman or more like Fiedler and Flutie? As I see it, this all falls on the QB and how he does.

Only time will tell.

I think 7-9 is the worst case.... and 10-6 the best case scenario... I'm looking for the Vikes to be in the playoff hunt, maybe a wild card.

Yeah I agree most fans would say their team improved..

I am saying over for the following reasons

In the last few games Teddy had a 103 passer rating ...we won 3/5 of those games 60 percent

( sixty percent wins would be about 9.5 wins)

Every expert i have heard said the Vikings draft was very good and we really improved our defense
I figure we lost three games last year because we couldn't stop the other team (Buffalo for sure)
( so you figure split that down the middle 1.5 more wins off of defense)

Last season with Cassel and A.P. we beat the living crap out of the Rams a pretty good team IMO.
I believe Teddy has already surpassed Cassel in NFL game management and ability..I won't drink
the kool aid and say at least 1.5 wins based on Better offense with Teddy A.P. and Wallace...
I think that is reasonable.

no we are at 12.5 (lets start the subtraction)
I think our division is pretty similar to last season. Packers still dominant(but think we might
split) Detroit is not going to as good against the run and we play them early...Defense won't have
as much time to gel(DL). so add one game for the lions.. The Bears suck and I could see us sweeping
them, but we say the same .. so add one more win based on either better record against the Lions or Bears.
I think that is reasonable.

13.5 wins...

Our schedule is more difficult ...I say two more losses due to this.. Short week against Detroit week
two. Short week against possibly the best NFC team next season Arizona.

that leaves us 11.5 wins or 11-12 wins .. yeah you have unknowns injuries and such..
I just don't see less than 9 wins next season and if everything goes well...12

I wonder what that line is now ... with AP is back in the fold.

J. Kapp 11 wrote:I wonder what that line is now ... with AP is back in the fold.

The last time I looked, the line was 7.5 wins.

jackal wrote: That is why I was so big, on Danny Shelton.. I wanted a two gap DT/NT guy that push the gap,backwards
and shift pressure vertically, against the run and QB. This would free more DE's in space for sacks or run
stop for losses. I'm hoping Floyd takes another jump, he has improved greatly, from his first year.

I miss big Pat, for sure.

I miss ol PHAT PAT too. I would not have been pissed if Shelton was our first pick as long as Kendricks was still in the plan. We sorely needed a 3 down LB with some youth and sting. Maybe next year we can beef up the D-line. I would prefer the draft avenue but not opposed to a FA pickup if it has value.

Every time I think of Pat Williams, I think of this great quote by Jared Allen in 2013:

"[Kevin Williams] was actually my translator to understand what Pat [Williams] was saying. Took me a year to understand what Pat was saying. Now I speak fluent Pat Williams."

That defensive line was a great unit not only on the field, but the personalities off the field made them easy to love, too. If we could get that out of this next group, we would be beyond fortunate.

Speaking of personalities, Everson Griffen is just as big of a character as Jared was. He's the highlight of this video from last Christmas.




...and I'll take the over.

He's not Fat Pat, but Linval Joseph is 6'4" 325. Him being healthy, and only 26, and next to another young healthy bull named Floyd could be a nice tandem this year.

Those big run stuffing type of DT's seem to be able to play well into their thirties as well. Before Williams we had Jerry Ball clogging up the middle.
And for the record, the Vegas line is going to have to come up near double digits before I would consider a bet on the under. And I say that not having had a sip of purple kool-aid all day.