My god the Vikings still don't get any love....

[mondry]

Yeah unfortunately nothing looks better about their awful secondary and it still doesn't seem like they have anyone at WR or anyone that scary at TE to compliment CJ. Reggie Bush is a nice add but he'll be hurt by week 6 as usual. Stafford also has the same tendency although shaun hill is one of the best back ups. They're a lot like we were when we went 3-13, but they've stared there. What I mean by that is they have some excellent players, even super stars, but where they aren't amazing they're really really bad still.

[J. Kapp 11]

The Browns' number ones looked far better than the Lions' number ones tonight. The Lions were without C. Johnson, but still...the Browns looked like the way better team--on both sides of the ball.

You know, word on the street before training camp even started was that the Browns had a chance to be much better this year.

I'm going to the home opener agains the Browns. I hope we're ready for that improvement.

[Funkytown]

You know, word on the street before training camp even started was that the Browns had a chance to be much better this year.

I'm going to the home opener agains the Browns. I hope we're ready for that improvement.

I'll be there, too. I was thinking the same thing last night when I was watching them. These aren't the Browns I'm used to seeing! They were playing with confidence and taking some nice shots down field. Weeden and Cameron owned the Lions. And Weeden is having one heck of a preseason. Yeesh. I thought for sure this would be a pretty easy win for our home-opener. I don't think so anymore. I'm more than confident we'll still win, but I think it's going to be a much tougher task than I originally anticipated. The Browns looked good out there. They had some injuries last night, though. That sucks. But if they do a better job of staying healthy these next few weeks, I definitely don't consider them an "easy W" anymore. Darn the luck!

[dead_poet]

I'll be there, too. I was thinking the same thing last night when I was watching them. These aren't the Browns I'm used to seeing! They were playing with confidence and taking some nice shots down field. Weeden and Cameron owned the Lions. And Weeden is having one heck of a preseason. Yeesh. I thought for sure this would be a pretty easy win for our home-opener. I don't think so anymore. I'm more than confident we'll still win, but I think it's going to be a much tougher task than I originally anticipated. The Browns looked good out there. They had some injuries last night, though. That sucks. But if they do a better job of staying healthy these next few weeks, I definitely don't consider them an "easy W" anymore. Darn the luck!

Agreed. Henderson better have some help on Cameron, preferably in the form of Harrison Smith. Allen will likely have his work cut out for him with Joe Thomas, so I'm hoping he'll get some help from the middle and from Robison. Have to get to Weeden early and often. He gets happy feet, so let's make him uncomfortable (preferably by being on his back).

No doubt about it, though, the Browns got a lot better with their coaching staff over the offseason. Pending injuries to key players, they should be vastly improved on both sides of the ball.

[allday1991]

Well duh... because the player gets told "your services are no longer needed". Very few get to walk away on their own terms. And Elway happened to QB a Superbowl team that year so obviously he still had skills. Favre and Adrian 09, not close to 30/2k

Your contradicting yourself, when a player is told 'their services are no longer needed' is an organizations nice way of putting not good enough. Age doesn't matter? ask any professional athlete about that. There is usually a reason the Olympics is filled with athletes ages 14-33 with the odd occasionally 40 year old. If age didn't matter why are not 50 year olds and 60 year olds in the Olympic competing? Of course Elway still had skill after his 98 season, if he still had the ability to win super bowls he would be on another time still to this point, but a thing called age decreases arm strength, reaction time and speed, but yet somehow two of you are going to try to tell me age doesn't matter is ignorant. Don't know why your still going on about the 30/2k season, I know it hasn't happened and hasn't been relativity even close to being beat, but is quit possible and I have explained countless times Elway would of came just two tds shy of the (so called impossible 30 td/2k rusher) in his 98 season if he played all 16 games.

[allday1991]

I'll be there, too. I was thinking the same thing last night when I was watching them. These aren't the Browns I'm used to seeing! They were playing with confidence and taking some nice shots down field. Weeden and Cameron owned the Lions. And Weeden is having one heck of a preseason. Yeesh. I thought for sure this would be a pretty easy win for our home-opener. I don't think so anymore. I'm more than confident we'll still win, but I think it's going to be a much tougher task than I originally anticipated. The Browns looked good out there. They had some injuries last night, though. That sucks. But if they do a better job of staying healthy these next few weeks, I definitely don't consider them an "easy W" anymore. Darn the luck!

I don't know if there is an easy win at all in the nfl today lol. However don't get to amped about the browns pre season, if I recall correctly a few years ago colt McCoy absolutely tore up the pre season (was rated the best passer through those four games) and the browns still finished 4-12 that year if I recall correctly again, they like making a lot of pre season noise then doing nothing. I hope we win this one, go Vikings!

[mansquatch]

@VikingLord:

A big reason we get no love is we are not a conventional team in the sense of the popular narrative that the QB passing stats > everything else. This is ironic considering that none of the truly elite passers made it to the SB, but such is the case of a national sports media and it's cult of the QB. (Additional irony, I suspect that both SB QBs will have worse years than last year)


It is worth noting that while the Vikes' model won 10 games last year, it hasn't won a playoff game nor has it won a division. This is the year that we'll make or break things.

If the Vikings, however unlikely, run the table, then next year everyone will talk about how teams need more power running in their offensive mix. Bottom line is the media narrative and NFL reality and not exactly parrelel lines of thinking. In fact I'd argue that one doesn't involve much thinking at all...

[Mothman]

Here's something that fits with the theme of this thread:

I was listening to former NFL player John "Jurko" Jurkovic & Carmen DeFalco on their Chicago sports radio show this morning and they had sportswriter Pete Prisco on as a guest. One of the first questions they asked him was (I'm paraphrasing): who do think is more likely to give the Packers a run for the division this year, the Bears or the Lions?

I was immediately annoyed, even though Carmen and Jurko aren't exactly a pair of geniuses so getting annoyed at them over a dumb question is a little like getting annoyed at a tree for having leaves. Nevertheless, I find it mind-boggling that anyone could ask that question, leaving out the team that won 10 games last year, kept the Bears out of the playoffs last year and had the league MVP but including the Lions, a team that finished well below .500 in 2012.

Prisco's reply was that the Bears were more likely than the Lions to give GB a run for the NFC North title. He added that he doesn't think the Lions will be very good and the Vikings are more likely to be the other team in the division in the mix to win it.

[Texas Vike]

Here's something that fits with the theme of this thread:

I was listening to former NFL player John "Jurko" Jurkovic & Carmen DeFalco on their Chicago sports radio show this morning and they had sportswriter Pete Prisco on as a guest. One of the first questions they asked him was (I'm paraphrasing): who do think is more likely to give the Packers a run for the division this year, the Bears or the Lions?

I was immediately annoyed, even though Carmen and Jurko aren't exactly a pair of geniuses so getting annoyed at them over a dumb question is a little like getting annoyed at a tree for having leaves. Nevertheless, I find it mind-boggling that anyone could ask that question, leaving out the team that won 10 games last year, kept the Bears out of the playoffs last year and had the league MVP but including the Lions, a team that finished well below .500 in 2012.

Prisco's reply was that the Bears were more likely than the Lions to give GB a run for the NFC North title. He added that he doesn't think the Lions will be very good and the Vikings are more likely to be the other team in the division in the mix to win it.

Maybe they knew what answer their listeners wanted to hear so they framed the question in a way that allowed "Da Bears" to be the correct answer? That's pretty hilarious actually, and a good illustration of the type of disdain we receive everywhere, even within our own division.

[Mothman]

Maybe they knew what answer their listeners wanted to hear so they framed the question in a way that allowed "Da Bears" to be the correct answer?

I hadn't thought of that but maybe you're right.

That's pretty hilarious actually, and a good illustration of the type of disdain we receive everywhere, even within our own division.

Exactly! What makes it particularly hilarious (and ironic) is that, if I remember correctly, the Vikes were the team that kept the Bears out of the playoffs last year. Both teams finished 10-6 but the Vikes won the tiebreaker.

[mosscarter]

according to just about every ranking under the sun ponder is rated as one of the worst 3 starting qb's in the league, why should the vikings get any love?

[Texas Vike]

according to just about every ranking under the sun ponder is rated as one of the worst 3 starting qb's in the league, why should the vikings get any love?

Because the only numbers that matter are those that fall in the win and loss column, not QB ranking or any other stat.

[Purple bruise]

according to just about every ranking under the sun ponder is rated as one of the worst 3 starting qb's in the league, why should the vikings get any love?

Dude, your crap about Ponder is getting sooooooo tiresome For once add something positive to the board We all know that you and your ilk all hate Ponder

[mosscarter]

i want ponder to succeed just like everyone else, but i just haven't seen it. i call it like i see it. the true shame is we have one of the top 5 running backs to ever play the game.

[Mothman]

Because the only numbers that matter are those that fall in the win and loss column, not QB ranking or any other stat.

Exactly and that's a fact that seems to be lost on a far too many people.

Even if you proceed under the assumption that Ponder was a bad QB in 2012 and won't get better, the Vikings were a 10 win playoff team in 2012 even with that supposed anchor around their necks and the Lions were a 4 win team. Obviously, there's more to winning than how the media perceives a team's QB situation.

To answer mosscarter's question: the Vikings should "get love" because they earned it, certainly more than the Lions have earned. They have two winning seasons in this century!