2021 MN Vikings Thread

Anyone call Joe Webb?

With or without Cousins, the Vikings needed to win out AND get help. Just wasn’t gonna happen and just not good enough.

They need to move on and find a new coach and QB combo. That is the key to building a team in the NFL. Other teams can and are doing it.

To those that complain that “the Vikes will probably take a corner in the first round again,” I encourage you to watch the Vikings cornerbacks.

Packers lost to the Chiefs when the unvaxxed Rodgers was out with Covid.
Vikings looking like a loss when the unvaxxed Cousins is out with Covid.
Packers looking to go 14-3, playoff bye, Lambeau Field advantage.
Vikings looking to go…home.
Sorry, not sorry, for rubbing some salt in the wounds. If/when the Packers lose in the playoffs and Rodgers heads to a different team, the Packers will quickly join the Vikes in the pile of mediocrity.

Vikes need a new GM.

And, I agree on the GM.

Fire Spielman and Zimmer. Play Cousins until you find someone better but start drafting for a QB.

We were never gonna win this game with Cousins. With Cousins, we lost by 1 score 8 times this season. We’ll lose by slightly more tonight. Packers Defense is all over every play call. Still get an L regardless.

Our defense is still leaking like screen door on a submarine. Ranked in the bottom 10 or 5 of nearly every category.

My condolences to those that bleed purple.

coppertop wrote:

If and when the Packers lose in the playoffs and Rodgers heads to a different team, the Packers will quickly join the Vikes in the pile of mediocrity.

[/quote]

And the Bears shall rise from the ashes. GO BEARS!!!

Bears are rivaling the Lions for ineptness.

Dan wrote:

To those that complain that “the Vikes will probably take a corner in the first round again,” I encourage you to watch the Vikings cornerbacks.

So that’s reason enough to keep taking CBs in the first round when it’s pretty clear that the front office and coaching staff have no idea on how to evaluate that position when it comes to draft prospects and free agents?

I’m a believer in building from the inside out, meaning in the trenches. They’ve started to do that on the O-line with mediocre success, but when is the last time they took a D-lineman in the first or second round? I think it was Shariff Floyd in 2013….eight frickin years ago..unbelievable.

stout93 wrote:

I’ve heard that internally they have basically come to the conclusion that Mond will never be a starter in the league and they severely over drafted him.

Holy balls, you might be right. When he came in there late last night, he looked terrible. His first throw should have been a pick 6. He’s a completely wasted draft pick at the most important position.

Pretty telling quote from Zimmer last night.

Asked after Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field if he wants to see Mond in the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, “Not particularly. ” Asked why not, Zimmer said, “I see him every day (in practice).

stout93 wrote:

Asked after Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field if he wants to see Mond in the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, “Not particularly. ” Asked why not, Zimmer said, “I see him every day (in practice).

LOL that’s funny

No GM is stellar at drafting. Some have a good year or two, but all fail on highly drafted players. Physical talent does not equate to NFL talent, in all cases. QB’s are the toughest, or GOAT Brady wouldn’t have been drafted 199th.

That said, it does not appear Speillman’s personnel decisions are matching with Zimmer’s game plan. Although, I would put more on Zimmer’s ULTRA-conservative game plan as being the biggest issue.

Cousins is a stat stacker QB, can’t win a game if needed, but usually does not lose a game either. But the one stat that talks volumes is Win-Loss and 4th qtr comebacks. Cousins is terrible at both.

Hate to say it, but they need to clear house, and start over with a couple of bad years. Cousins gone to Cleveland, Denver or New Orleans for a pile of picks. Hunter, get value while you can. Harrison Smith, Kendricks and Barr, take what you can get. Clears the cap, and should stock pile a bunch of picks to maybe move up in the draft for a future QB. Although this years QB’s are terrible, so maybe go 1-2-3 win season next year to get the top pick the following year.

Can’t do anything without a great QB. Pack will find out when Rodgers forces his way out or retires. Love is not it.

stout93 wrote:

Pretty telling quote from Zimmer last night.

Asked after Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field if he wants to see Mond in the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, “Not particularly. ” Asked why not, Zimmer said, “I see him every day (in practice).

So, who decided Mond was the pick? Is Zimmer saying he misevaluated him? Was it Spielman who made the pick? Is it Zimmer knows he is dead man walking and his Viking career ends a week from today?

Spielman & Zimmer need to pay the price for the lack of talent on this team. The skill players are good enough to win, the support players and coaches aren’t.

The upside…..next year Erin will be gone, Bears will still have Fields , Lions will still have Goff. The process of elimination says with Cousins the Vikings will have the best quarterback in the division.

I think Vikings are still not going to “tear it down.” Cousins isn’t going anywhere. He’s guaranteed a lot of money and is still the best alternative to anything that’s available. The trade market for Cousins isn’t enough to really pocket a ton of assets. They are also stuck between “win now” mode with Cousins good but not great talent at a high number, Jefferson’s cheap talent, and Cook’s abilities….and tear down and tank. Mond looked like he did not want to be in that game. Love isn’t the answer in GB, and Mond is substantially further from the answer as an NFL qb.

If the Vikings jump on the QB carousel now, they could be wasting Cook and Jefferson simultaneously. Chasing down a starting caliber and fringe Pro-Bowl QB is tough. Those guys aren’t just walking the streets or found regularly in the drafts. It could be a decade long process.

The more logical choice is to dump overpaid Barr, take a long hard look at moving Thielen for peanuts (maybe a late round pick at most) to save that cap space. He’s not as durable and isn’t getting any better with age. The savings from those 2 guys alone allows them to go after a starting free agent DL and some depth on the OL. With some fresh juice at the top of the coaching staff and a few shrewd moves, the Vikings could easily win 10-11 games next year and be back in the playoffs. If Rodgers leaves (which seems like a longer shot now) that creates 2 more easy wins in the division. It may not be a Super Bowl caliber roster, but it’s far from being the Jets or Jags.

Once you tear down, the top is rarely visible for the foreseeable future. There is a time and place for tanking/tearing down, but I think MN is a couple years away yet. For every Cincinnati Bengals story from rags to riches in a few years, there are dozens that never have a happy ending.

stout93 wrote:

Pretty telling quote from Zimmer last night.

Asked after Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field if he wants to see Mond in the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, “Not particularly. ” Asked why not, Zimmer said, “I see him every day (in practice).

I wonder how he is feeling about being evaluated with the same criteria…

After Vikings fans were questioned if they hope to see Zimmer next week…”Not particularly. We’ve seen him every week foe the past eight seasons.”

The problem is that we were in ‘win-now’ mode, except we showed we aren’t particularly close to being a contender. Are we good enough to compete against the better teams, yes. But in no way does it look like we could rattle off 3 or 4 playoff wins in a row. Specifically, our defense cannot make a stop at the end of the 2nd or 4th quarter, ever, and our offensive line gets absolutely manhandled when we go up against a decent D-line.

Like seriously, if you judged players solely on how they look against the Vikings, then you’d think Akiem Hicks is the most dominant defensive player in the history of the NFL.

Because of all the extensions / salary cap finagling to keep this ‘core’ together with Cousins for the last two year, the Vikings are already projected to be like 11 million over the cap for next year or something like that, which puts us in a really bad spot considering we aren’t particularly close to winning it all.

We’ve made that bed, it’s not time to lay in it. Unless the Vikings are able to draft an impact Center, CBx2, DT, G, and probably edge rusher in next year’s draft(lol), we don’t have a shot at the super bowl.

So, we can hold the pieces together for one more year, or just accept our fate and start re-building. I hope we do the latter. I’d rather make some moves than just stagnate as a 8-9 win team.

The question is how much can you actually do?

I’d be okay trading cousins and eating ALL his salary next year, if it nets some early round picks. Trade Cook(probably for peanuts), trade Thielen, trade Barr, trade Smith(may need to eat some of his salary too). Maybe even trade Kendricks if you think he’s going to be ineffective in 3 years(this would hurt the most, really like EK ). Trade or let Conklin walk.

I think you build around JJ/O’neill/Darrisaw/Hunter. Hope that some guys like Irv, Dantzler, Cleveland, Wonnum, etc continue to develop a bit.

That won’t happen though, we’ll restructure some stuff and have one last ‘hurrah’ with this core. But Rodgers will stay in GB, they’ll walk to another division title, and we’ll maybe sneak into a wild card spot(if we get an easy schedule next year).

Erin ain’t staying.

They just put 5 on the covid IR list. Dam near the whole OL.
Not that it matters. Lose 1 more and maybe move up a spot in the draft.
Going to need all the help they can get…

It’s a big IF but if the Packers win the super bowl Rodgers will be back with the Packers. They already said they plan on placing the Franchise Tag on Adams which will make Rodgers want to stay.

It will be interesting to see if the Vikings stick with Zimmer but I think the bigger problem is Spielman. He needs to go for the queens.

Anyone watch the Browns and Steelers game? Why wasn’t Stefanski using Chubb more? They probably would of won the game with him in more. He was getting like 5 yards a carry every time.

Justin Donson wrote:

But in no way does it look like we could rattle off 3 or 4 playoff wins in a row.

Can’t rattle off any playoff wins…when you can’t make the playoffs.

Erin ain’t staying.

In August I would have agreed.
At this point I think it will depend on how they finish the season. If they don’t make it to the Super Bowl, then I think he goes to play somewhere else. If they make the SB but lose, then I think he might return to the Packers as they’ll give him enough guaranteed money. If they win the SB I think he retires.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>stout93 wrote:</div>
Pretty telling quote from Zimmer last night.

Asked after Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field if he wants to see Mond in the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, “Not particularly. ” Asked why not, Zimmer said, “I see him every day (in practice).

So, who decided Mond was the pick? Is Zimmer saying he misevaluated him? Was it Spielman who made the pick? Is it Zimmer knows he is dead man walking and his Viking career ends a week from today?

Spielman & Zimmer need to pay the price for the lack of talent on this team. The skill players are good enough to win, the support players and coaches aren’t.

Zimmer clearly was throwing Spielman under the bus. He may as well have just been a man and said what he meant: “I’m not playing Mond because Spielman screwed the pooch on that pick and he’s as useless as mammary glands on a boar.”

Fire ALL their useless buttskies.

Michael C. Winther wrote:

If they win the SB I think he retires.

And become Jeopardy Host?

All this talk about Aaron in a Vikings thread… I admit I don’t follow the NFL anymore but, after hearing Rodgers take on the Covid fiasco and the “science” I have a new found respect for the guy. He is more than just a good QB.

Directly from Mike Zimmer himself: “If they intend to fire me after the season, they haven’t told me anything about it.”

Could be just playing coy too I guess but I think there is a reasonable chance based on that he will return for another season.

I really don’t care about Zim as long as Spielman gets the broom. One thing to keep in mind is when the coach gets the broom the assistants often get broomed also. It’s generally a clean slate with the new coach having the option to bring them back.

Zims got enough money, don’t feel sorry for him.

If I’m Zygi and I don’t like the idea of paying 2 coaches and/or GM’s because I fire the ones I just extended last offseason, I at least tell them to clean house of the nepotism coaches. Find the best OC to work with Cousins and our zone blocking scheme, have Spielman clear the books of as many of the veteran big contracts as possible, and move to a young hungry team asap. And whether we like it or not that probably includes keeping Kirk and a few other productive veterans.

big_g wrote:

All this talk about Aaron in a Vikings thread…

It’s just recognizing the truth about the current Vikings regime: their best chance of improving depends on other teams getting worse.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…”

All I know is If Zimmer and Spielman are back next year – Then they must have some kind of Ugly dirt on the owner. There is no way either of them deserve another season here or any place for that matter.
If the owner keeps either of these inept Idiots around, Its really clear that he does not care if the Vikings are a winning team or not.

Per Cesars, here are the current odds to win the Super Bowl. Green Bay has the best odds because they have clinched a first round bye and home field advantage. Tennessee’s odds may change significantly if they can secure a first round bye and get Derrick Henry back in the lineup. I would like to see McCarthy and the Cowboys visit Green Bay in the Divisional Round.

Green Bay 4-1
Kansas City 5-1
Tampa Bay 7-1
Buffalo 8-1
LA Rams 9-1
Dallas 11-1
Tennessee 13-1
New England 16-1
Arizona 17-1
Indianapolis 18-1
Cincinnati 20-1
San Francisco 33-1
LA Chargers 35-1
Philadelphia 55-1
Vegas 100-1
New Orleans 150-1
Baltimore 250-1
Pittsburgh 500-1