2022 Minnesota Vikings

Simply pointing out a few factors contributing to their record. Gimruis thanks for pointing that out, you’re right the penalty numbers are also helping. Look at that Miami game, there was a drive where the Dolphins were in the red zone and something like 3 penalties later they were out of even field goal range.

Record is 5-1 but all of our eye test shows they’re definitely not a dominant team. No need for pump the brake advice here as I assume they’re a playoff team and I have no real expectations after that. Just pointing out, as I said, with “OK” offensive and defensive play they’re also getting major help from special teams, turnovers, and penalties.

What’s real ironic to me also is their offensive line play is the best it’s been in what, like 10 years? And that O-line brought to you by…..Rick Spielman

Dan wrote:

Gimruis thanks for pointing that out, you’re right the penalty numbers are also helping.

I just looked it up. Through 7 weeks, the Vikings are the second least penalized team with 4.2 penalties/game, behind the LA Rams who are at 4.0 penalties/game. Bear in mind that a few teams have now had their bye week, including both the Rams and Vikings so that number might be higher on teams that haven’t had a bye yet.

Last year, through all 17 weeks, the Vikings finished at 26th out of 32 in the penalties/game. Last season, the Packers were number 1 in the least penalties/game and finished with a record of 13-4.

Dan wrote:

What’s real ironic to me also is their offensive line play is the best it’s been in what, like 10 years? And that O-line brought to you by…..Rick Spielman

This has easily been the most overlooked part of the year. Offensive line has been a lethal deficiency for years, but suddenly they’ve turned the corner and are a strength. Even Bradbury has been decent, O’Neil, Darrisaw and Cleveland have been good to great. Ingram has been ok, and the only Kwesi pick of the bunch.

Dutchboy wrote:

Easy boys. They beat Detroit & Chicago who aren’t much to talk about. Beat a Miami team without their quarterback and beat a Green Bay team without a wide receiver.

They aren’t exactly beating the good teams of the NFL. True they are beating those put in front of them. Things change fast.

Or you could just enjoy a team that is 5-1.

OLine play definitely has not been the hot topic this year.
If they can keep Hopkins under control I think Murry and the cards will make enough mistakes to come out with another W.

Ripjiggen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
Easy boys. They beat Detroit & Chicago who aren’t much to talk about. Beat a Miami team without their quarterback and beat a Green Bay team without a wide receiver.

They aren’t exactly beating the good teams of the NFL. True they are beating those put in front of them. Things change fast.

Or you could just enjoy a team that is 5-1.

OLine play definitely has not been the hot topic this year.
If they can keep Hopkins under control I think Murry and the cards will make enough mistakes to come out with another W.

I’m not sure they can keep Hopkins in check and Murray’s legs are worrisome to me with our defense. If the offense can figure things out I think they will be ok.

Hopkins is not much of a deep threat anymore and that seems to be where we have been burned the worse. Keeping Murry in front of the D and making him throw should be the goal.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Hopkins is not much of a deep threat anymore and that seems to be where we have been burned the worse. Keeping Murry in front of the D and making him throw should be the goal.

I agree, but our mid depth d has been awful as well. Our linebackers have been atrocious in coverage. Literally nowhere to be found many times.

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Hopkins is not much of a deep threat anymore and that seems to be where we have been burned the worse. Keeping Murry in front of the D and making him throw should be the goal.

I agree, but our mid depth d has been awful as well. Our linebackers have been atrocious in coverage. Literally nowhere to be found many times.

What about a “spy” linebacker to ensure Murray doesn’t run wild like Fields did last night in New England? I’d much rather make him throw it than have him run it. He’ll make mistakes throwing it.

3 minutes left, 8 point lead. Murray has tossed a couple of INTs and special teams forced a crucial turnover on a punt. An efficient day for Cousins, no turnovers.

gimruis wrote:

3 minutes left, 8 point lead. Murray has tossed a couple of INTs and special teams forced a crucial turnover on a punt. An efficient day for Cousins, no turnovers.

Yea he fumbled

glenn57 wrote:

Yea he fumbled

That’s right, my bad. This game should be over if the kicker had made a PAT to make it a 9 point game.

Another point of emphasis is that penalties have creeped up quite a bit this game. The Vikings have 10 penalties today and their previous game average was 4.2 per game.

The Vikes suck on penalties.

If they win next week I’ll pull the lawn chair out of the fire pit.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

If they win next week I’ll pull the lawn chair out of the fire pit.

At Washington? I would tend to think that the Vikings would be favored in that.

Nice win today. I would have liked to seen them pick up a first down in the 4th quarter to put the game away on offense. But a win is a win and 6-1 is nothing to skoff at. Funny how this is basically the same roster as last year and even very similar to previous years but we don’t have Zimmer stifling the offense anymore. Skol!

lindyrig79 wrote:

but we don’t have Zimmer stifling the offense anymore

Zim didn’t call the offense. He cycled through offensive coordinators seemingly every season. He probably had some element of control on the offense but during the course of the game his OC called the plays. The Vikings offense was top 10 in the league that past 2 seasons.

The biggest difference this season IMO is the defense. Timely turnovers, plus improved special teams, and far less penalties. They were in the bottom 5 the past 2 seasons.

I understand what you’re saying with Zimmer though. I feel like the players just lost respect for his coaching style and it wasn’t working anymore.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
If they win next week I’ll pull the lawn chair out of the fire pit.

At Washington? I would tend to think that the Vikings would be favored in that.

My bad,
I thought we had buffalo. That would be the game

I was worried about this one but they found a way like they have all year which is a complete 180 from last year. Joseph and his misses are getting annoying. hope he works it out.
Haven’t heard much complaining about Kirk at work or on other boards which was non stop last few years. Fans don’t realize how good he is and only cry when things don’t work out. 5 years and 5 different offenses is tough no matter who you are. looks like things are working out so far.

eyeguy507 wrote:

Haven’t heard much complaining about Kirk at work or on other boards which was non stop last few years. Fans don’t realize how good he is and only cry when things don’t work out. 5 years and 5 different offenses is tough no matter who you are. looks like things are working out so far.

If he’s not clutch or throws multiple interceptions in a game you’ll see it. There’s a handful of folks that have been posting pretty regularly on this thread all season, but if Kirk has a bad game and they lose you’ll see people come out of the woodwork to complain.

Regarding the game, I didn’t see a lot but did see the last part of the 4th quarter. Defense looked pretty good. The edge guys did a real good job on outside containment and not allowing Kyler to run free.

Za’Darius Smith has been pretty dominant. What I absolutely love about that is that a consistent Minnesota sports thing is to sign superstars on the backside of their careers. They’re big names but we’re not getting their best anymore (Donavan McNabb, possibly Marc-Andre Fleury, almost every name-brand Twins signing, etc.). My fear with Z. Smith was that that would be the case, that with his injured last year he wasn’t gonna be much here. He’s still dominant and a major part of this defense.

Zimmer was a major problem with this team on offense before if you think him not doing the play calling was the issue you are absolutely delusional he was a complete control freak and this team is so much better now that he’s gone.

6 and 1…not sure how anyone can complain honestly.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Zimmer was a major problem with this team on offense before if you think him not doing the play calling was the issue you are absolutely delusional he was a complete control freak and this team is so much better now that he’s gone.

That’s not what the stats say. The Vikings have been a top offense for the last couple seasons. That hasn’t been an issue. The issue has been defense and the stats back it up. They were near the bottom in team defense, which was Zimmer’s specialty. He called the plays on defense.

Not sure why people think this team was bad on offense in prior seasons. Cousins had a career year and the team scored a lot of points. Go look it up if you want to.

Ripjiggen wrote:

6 and 1…not sure how anyone can complain honestly.

I agree. The one common theme I hear by analysts and commentators is the lack of quality wins though. They beat Miami on the road, but their QB was out with a concussion. GB, Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and New Orleans are all under .500.

Really the only quality opponent they’ve played are the Eagles, who they lost to on the road. You can only beat who is on your schedule though I guess.

Dan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eyeguy507 wrote:</div>
Haven’t heard much complaining about Kirk at work or on other boards which was non stop last few years. Fans don’t realize how good he is and only cry when things don’t work out. 5 years and 5 different offenses is tough no matter who you are. looks like things are working out so far.

If he’s not clutch or throws multiple interceptions in a game you’ll see it. There’s a handful of folks that have been posting pretty regularly on this thread all season, but if Kirk has a bad game and they lose you’ll see people come out of the woodwork to complain.

Kirk gets ripped all the time mainly because of his Monday night and other primetime records. I would have to look it up but if I remember he was the visiting QB in many more of those than a home favorite.
The casual fans can’t appreciate a pro QB. I watch more NFL than i should and I still have nightmares of the retreads like McNabb, Ponder, Frerotte, Bradford etc.
only a lombardi would shut up the majority but its a team game. revenge game on tap and a litmus test the following week………LFG!

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
6 and 1…not sure how anyone can complain honestly.

I agree. The one common theme I hear by analysts and commentators is the lack of quality wins though. They beat Miami on the road, but their QB was out with a concussion. GB, Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and New Orleans are all under .500.

Really the only quality opponent they’ve played are the Eagles, who they lost to on the road. You can only beat who is on your schedule though I guess.

Plenty of good teams lose to teams they should not have. NFL is definitely a week to week game. I’ll take the 6 and 1 and enjoy.

Keep improving week to week and anything can happen. All that matters is how you’re playing at the end of the regular season and getting in the playoffs.

I will have a little more confidence in this team when we can see them get a first down to end the game with a lead instead of punting.

Three runs and a punt is zimmer all over again. Good game overall though.

Another good game, I felt we were in control of for most of it. Special Teams played great again! Offense and defense are both progressing, but have a ways to go yet imo. Kirk has really taken ownership of the offense, and seems to be developing into an actual leader. Thielen just moved into 6th all-time in Vikings receiving yardage, which is pretty awesome given his background. Did you know he’s one of us? 6-1 is a helluva lot better than I would have predicted. The offensive line will have a tough matchup next week, but Vikes should handle the Commies on the road. 7-1 going into Buffalo would be nothing to shake a stick at.

I really just want to see them stay in the game with Buffalo.

I saw a stat a few weeks ago when people were getting on Kirk about the Philly monday night game. They compiled the opponents’ records for his Monday night starts and I don’t remember the exact record but it was something like an average of 8-2 or similar. It basically was pointing out the fact that the Wash teams and Vikes teams he was on had no business beating most of those teams.

I think he’s taking a step in his leadership with the offense because the head coach is allowing him to. Zimmer never wanted him here and it was obvious.