Vikings Message Board.Com

I think our offense is can win games, but our defense is just terrible right now

I would say our coaches are the main reason we lost so many games .. with a good or great coaching
staff we might have fell into a wild card spot.. (because our division fell apart 3/4 through the year)

I'm not sure I'd blame the coaching in so far as I'd blame injuries. I ran the statistics for takeaways and points against and when this team is healthy it averages about 1.5 TO/G and 21 PA/G. Those numbers are not elite, they are average to below average in the NFC. This is from 2009, 2010, and 2012. In 2011 and 2013 we had total injury carnage in the secondary and saw the numbers drop to 28 PA/G in 2011 and 31.3 PA/G in 2013. I would argue the drop is age of personnel in conjunction with injuries.

To me the real indictment on the defensive coaching staff is the 21 PA/G and the 1.5 TO/G. Those numbers are steadily in decline even in the healthy years. The Takeaway number has gotten worse evey season since 2009. Elite defenses average about 2 TO/G and 15-18 PA/G. IMO, this is where we need to improve and I'm not sure adding just personnel will fix it. In 2009 we had a pretty solid group on defense. Not great, but not as filled with holes as we are today. IMO, an argument could be made that this is the peak performance of this coaching staff. How many players would we need to add to get back to the 2009 talent/ performance level? IMO, quite a bit and based on the above stats, the most likely outcome of such additions would be 21 PA/G and 1.5 TO/G. For this reason I support a defensive shake up. I think it is safe to say we've seen the apex of the Cover 2 as coached by this group AND our defensive personnel are in need of a significant talent infustion. Thus the time is right to change it up. We need to add bodies anyways.

mansquatch wrote:I'm not sure I'd blame the coaching in so far as I'd blame injuries. I ran the statistics for takeaways and points against and when this team is healthy it averages about 1.5 TO/G and 21 PA/G. Those numbers are not elite, they are average to below average in the NFC. This is from 2009, 2010, and 2012. In 2011 and 2013 we had total injury carnage in the secondary and saw the numbers drop to 28 PA/G in 2011 and 31.3 PA/G in 2013. I would argue the drop is age of personnel in conjunction with injuries.

To me the real indictment on the defensive coaching staff is the 21 PA/G and the 1.5 TO/G. Those numbers are steadily in decline even in the healthy years. The Takeaway number has gotten worse evey season since 2009. Elite defenses average about 2 TO/G and 15-18 PA/G. IMO, this is where we need to improve and I'm not sure adding just personnel will fix it. In 2009 we had a pretty solid group on defense. Not great, but not as filled with holes as we are today. IMO, an argument could be made that this is the peak performance of this coaching staff. How many players would we need to add to get back to the 2009 talent/ performance level? IMO, quite a bit and based on the above stats, the most likely outcome of such additions would be 21 PA/G and 1.5 TO/G. For this reason I support a defensive shake up. I think it is safe to say we've seen the apex of the Cover 2 as coached by this group AND our defensive personnel are in need of a significant talent infustion. Thus the time is right to change it up. We need to add bodies anyways.

One problem I have noticed is that in the off chance our DB's are in position to make a play the knock the ball down instead of intercepting it. We also have had several easy picks that were dropped.

Bill Fruitcake Musgrave has got to be the worst offensive coordinator in the league. And of course we decide to get him. Coaching and Qb has been a long time curse. I also love how all the players are making a push for Frazier's return. If I were a player I wouldn't want him gone either. He lets you get away with anything without consequence