Vikings Message Board.Com

Imagine that the Vikes are going into the final regular season game with the chance to beat their most hated rival and secure a play-off birth after their dismal 2011 season. Analyzing this year's winning season, I would attribute the result to having the best running back in the NFL, a much improved defense, (I cannot say enough about the great job the DC has done with this group), a much improved offensive line, excellent special teams, which is inclusive to having improved kick-off and punt coverages, along with the best young place kicker in the league and very importantly, the players "buying" into Frazier's coaching style and playing "hard" for him.

Better OL play Adrian Peterson, Better Secondary, Weak Schedule, Percy Harvin had about five solid games, Blair Walsh

jackal wrote:Better OL play Adrian Peterson, Better Secondary, Weak Schedule, Percy Harvin had about five solid games, Blair Walsh

Weak schedule?

Have you looked at the past month and a half? Not exactly chicken feed. Also, we play in the NFC North. There is no "weak." Detroit is better by far than most last-place teams.

Telling stat ... we were 5-3 in the first half, when our schedule was softer (although "soft" included games against San Francisco and Indianapolis, both currently 10-win teams). If we win Sunday, we'll also be 5-3 in the second half against what most would consider one of the toughest stretch-run schedules in the NFL.

We're a better team because we can play defense -- finally.

J. Kapp 11 wrote: Weak schedule?

Have you looked at the past month and a half? Not exactly chicken feed. Also, we play in the NFC North. There is no "weak." Detroit is better by far than most last-place teams.

Telling stat ... we were 5-3 in the first half, when our schedule was softer (although "soft" included games against San Francisco and Indianapolis, both currently 10-win teams). If we win Sunday, we'll also be 5-3 in the second half against what most would consider one of the toughest stretch-run schedules in the NFL.

We're a better team because we can play defense -- finally.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/ ... f-schedule

We had the 8th toughest schedule overall.

I'd attribute it to good coaching, outstanding performances by Peterson and Harvin, some great, young additions to the team over the last two seasons (particularly Rudolph, Kalil, Smith, Walsh and Felton) and Winfield and Cook returning.

Jim

fiestavike wrote:Health and Improvement are also factors.

We've been relatively healthy all year, and guys like winfield being out there all season has made a difference.

Then guys like Mistral Raymond, and Jamarca Sanford have shown a lot of improvement from last year to this. John Sullivan continues to improve, Jasper Brinkley has improved, Ballard has improved...These are really good signs for the longterm prospects of the team.

Excellent points!

Adrian is always a constant, but never like this. On top of that, defense, Alan Williams has done a fantastic job, putting this secondary in good position. Harrison Smith, what a player he's shaping up to be. One more obvious, is Blair Walsh Project, take several of those long FGs off the board, they aren't kicking off, they are giving the opponent the ball close to mid field.

Good draft + guys working their butts off not to repeat what happened in 2011.

We have an exceptional running game between #28 and a much improved OL. Emphasis is exceptional, this team is putting up 150+ on the ground most games against stacked boxes, etc. That is a huge match up issue for an entire defense.

Our Defense is playing very, very well.

Arguably the best kicker in football. Probably top 5 in the NFL special teams play, even without Harvin returning. This follows on the Defense, giving them long fields to defend.

Passing game is biggest weakness, but I'm not sure sure it is as bad as everyone is saying.

This team isn't built to score 30 points a game. Power Rushing is very complimentary to our defensive scheme which is built on forcing 3 and outs. We play keep away and protect the football. Point is, we are winning by playing sound team football. I would go even farther to say 3-4 of our losses were cases where we made costly turnover mistakes, which is what our offense cannot overcome.

I do not think Ponder needs to be a 4000 yard passer for this team to win. What he needs to do to help us win is to commit the fewest turnovers. In that respect, the short high % passing makes a lot of sense.

In this order:

- Coaching (Frazier has steadied them all year and the DCs and other coaches on both sides of the ball have done a nice job gameplanning)
- Special teams (particularly Blair Walsh). Not only clutch field goals, but also the ability to pin opposing offenses consistently and make them drive the length of the field to answer a score has been HUGE
- AD's season with a special mention to his line and his full back/TE leads. AD's resurgence has kept the focus on him and the running game, and while it hasn't necessarily shown up in the passing game yet, can you imagine what this season might have looked like had AD not been as effective and the Vikings were forced to throw more?
- Player development. Vikes have had several outstanding (not just good) performances from several members of the draft class. It's rare when one guy can come in and make a difference, but the Vikes have seen several do it this year and it's vaulted them farther along the developmental curve as a team than most, included myself, expected.
- Player leadership. This one doesn't get as much press, but it seems the player leadership is there on this team. Frazier mentioned the high participation rate during the voluntary portion of the offseason program, and I've seen other examples of vets rallying the team and taking responsibility for things that aren't going right. It seems like this group's willingness to be accountable has made a big difference too. An example of that was after the loss to Green Bay and AD taking it on himself that he could have done more after rushing for over 200 yards, and he meant it. It would have been easy to jump on Ponder and the receivers, but he didn't. That type of thing shows a real sense of camaraderie, and if the Vikes do go anywhere in the playoffs this year, that will be the unspoken factor that propels them.

Better defensive cohesion. They've sometimes been soft in the secondary, and sometimes the defensive line doesn't show up, but for the most part, they all step up when needed and work well together. Not many real standouts this year on D, yet they're a much improved unit.

An injection of quality young players and some newfound enthusiasm. Harrison Smith and Josh Robinson on defense. Matt Kalil on offense. Blair Walsh on special teams.

I don't think you can overestimate the value or the contribution of Matt Kalil, who has single-handedly improved the offensive line by a substantial amount.

Healthy Winfield, strong draft class, monster year by AP, monster first half by Percy.

Not letting Ponder throw further than five yards down field I think is the biggest contributing factor.

Following by the defense, AD, and Walsh. Probably 2~ wins less if we still had Shortbad.

because our front office, coaching staff, players, etc. know far more than anonymous football brilliant minds on a message board.

two words. Alan Williams!!!

SKrotem for 2016