NFL: ______________ is still fine

[Clones85']

Vikings are still fine

People go a little overboard after losses. It was no secret that the beginning stretch of the Vikings schedule was one of the toughest in the league. So why are people going to so crazy after this start?

Loss AT New Orleans to start the year. This was a healthy Saints team that had a wild crowd there to welcome back their Super Bowl team. Vikings were competitive.

Loss at home against Miami. Bad loss. Dropped passes, INT's and failing to score in the redzone. Miami is a solid team though as shown by them almost beating Pittsburgh who some say is the best team in the league

Loss AT Jets. IMO best team in the league now. Defense is tough and offense is balanced. And the Vikings had a chance to win despite a half where they were awful

Loss AT Green Bay. During primetime. Crowd was into it. Kind of a bad loss with GB's injuries but Favre stunk and so did the refs/Chilly (needs to be reviewed)


NOW onto the rest of the season. After the Patriots game, at NE, I think the Vikings will be favored in every game the rest of the year. Minus maybe one. All they have to do is go 7-3 the next 10 weeks to finish 9-7 and they will be in the playoffs. Here is the schedule

@ Patriots (slight underdog)
Arizona (heavy favorites)
@ Chicago (slight favorites)
Green Bay (favorites)
@ Washington (slight favorites)
Buffalo (huge favorites)
Giants (favorites)
Chicago (favorites)
@Philly (toss up)
@Lions (favorites)

I don't think going 7-3 in that stretch is overly difficult. Especially with Rice coming back. Their hard part of the schedule is almost over

 

[CycloneGB]

Re: Vikings are still fine

I see at least 4 losses in that remaining schedule pretty easily even without the second game against GB (so I don't come off as a homer). The way Minnesota has looked I would say they are far from fine.

Losses:
Pats
Washington
Giants
Philly

Both Chicago games could go either way and so could the GB game in Minny.. The only games I would completely give the nod to the Vikings in are AZ, Buff, and Detroit.

 

[drmwevr08]

Re: Vikings are still fine

I hope you are right but with Favres off the field business and his health it could also easily go 3-7 and dead.

 

[ISUFan22]

Re: Vikings are still fine

When is Rice back? When that happens, and if he's healthy - that's a nasty offensive unit to face.

Favre throwing to:

Rice
Harvin
Moss
Shiancoe

And still handing off to AP.

Favre isn't healthy right now and the chemistry on offense has been suspect. That's the real issue currently.

 

[Clones21]

Re: Vikings are still fine

Still fine, but not looking good at the momment.

 

[3TrueFans]

Re: Vikings are still fine

You must own the biggest pair of Purple and Yellow glasses in the tri-state area.

 

[CycloneGB]

Re: Vikings are still fine

When is Rice back? When that happens, and if he's healthy - that's a nasty offensive unit to face.

Favre throwing to:

Rice
Harvin
Moss
Shiancoe

And still handing off to AP.

It's already nasty with Moss, Harvin, Shianco, and AP. On paper, that should be one of the best offenses in the NFL. They haven't put it together yet and at this point in the season you can pretty much say you are who your record says you are.. And for Minnesota its just not that good.

 

[GeronimusClone]

Re: Vikings are still fine

People go a little overboard after losses. It was no secret that the beginning stretch of the Vikings schedule was one of the toughest in the league. So why are people going to so crazy after this start?

Loss AT New Orleans to start the year. This was a healthy Saints team that had a wild crowd there to welcome back their Super Bowl team. Vikings were competitive.

Loss at home against Miami. Bad loss. Dropped passes, INT's and failing to score in the redzone. Miami is a solid team though as shown by them almost beating Pittsburgh who some say is the best team in the league

Loss AT Jets. IMO best team in the league now. Defense is tough and offense is balanced. And the Vikings had a chance to win despite a half where they were awful

Loss AT Green Bay. During primetime. Crowd was into it. Kind of a bad loss with GB's injuries but Favre stunk and so did the refs/Chilly (needs to be reviewed)


NOW onto the rest of the season. After the Patriots game, at NE, I think the Vikings will be favored in every game the rest of the year. Minus maybe one. All they have to do is go 7-3 the next 10 weeks to finish 9-7 and they will be in the playoffs. Here is the schedule

@ Patriots (slight underdog)
Arizona (heavy favorites)
@ Chicago (slight favorites)
Green Bay (favorites)
@ Washington (slight favorites)
Buffalo (huge favorites)
Giants (favorites)
Chicago (favorites)
@Philly (toss up)
@Lions (favorites)

I don't think going 7-3 in that stretch is overly difficult. Especially with Rice coming back. Their hard part of the schedule is almost over

Apparently your expectations were way lower coming in than everyone else's.

 

[IcSyU]

Re: Vikings are still fine

Fine is not the word I would use. Not meltdown yet, but there are a LOT of concerns.

1. Pass rush
2. Lack of passing game
3. Lack of offense period
4. The head coach

The only one of those that was an issue last year was #4.

 

[Clones85']

Re: Vikings are still fine

I see at least 4 losses in that remaining schedule pretty easily even without the second game against GB (so I don't come off as a homer). The way Minnesota has looked I would say they are far from fine.

They have looked that way against a really really tough schedule. IMO they look a lot like they did to start last season. Only difference was that they were playing the Browns instead of the Saints. First 5 games last year

Browns
Lions
49ers
Packers
Rams

They were losing at halftime to Browns, struggling with Lions, last second TD pass against 49ers, close win against Packers. Difference is the teams they are playing

 

[MrGreg]

Re: Vikings are still fine

Despite putting themselves into a 2-4 hole, I agree that the season is not over at this point. Based on how all four teams are playing, it won't take much to win the division. They will need to go out and win some big games though, starting next week. Cutting down on turnovers will go a long way.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Re: Vikings are still fine

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro]YouTube - Animal House - All Is Well![/ame]

 

[ISUFan22]

Re: Vikings are still fine

You must own the biggest pair of Purple and Yellow glasses in the tri-state area.

It's really no different than what most Cyclone fans are saying about ISU.

Losses to 3 very good/great teams: Iowa, Utah and OU
Lost to K-State, only game they "should have won"

Only difference is injuries have not been a real factor, mostly self inflicted mistakes and inconsistent execution - notably in the winable game ISU lost. In the other 3, the clear deciding factor was the large talent gap.

 

[3TrueFans]

Re: Vikings are still fine

They have looked that way against a really really tough schedule. IMO they look a lot like they did to start last season. Only difference was that they were playing the Browns instead of the Saints. First 5 games last year

Browns
Lions
49ers
Packers
Rams

They were losing at halftime to Browns, struggling with Lions, last second TD pass against 49ers, close win against Packers. Difference is the teams they are playing

Really really tough schedule? Are you joking me right now? They've played 1 arguably very good team in the Jets, 3 mediocre teams and 2 bad teams.

 

[cycloneworld]

Re: Vikings are still fine

I wouldn't say "fine" but I would say they are definitely still in the race for the division. Assuming a loss to the Patriots, they will have to go 7-2 over their last 9 games...that's difficult to do in the NFL for a super power team and the Vikings are far from that.

Also, if Favre is out I would replace "fine" with "toast".

 

[CycloneGB]

Re: Vikings are still fine

They have looked that way against a really really tough schedule. IMO they look a lot like they did to start last season. Only difference was that they were playing the Browns instead of the Saints. First 5 games last year

Browns
Lions
49ers
Packers
Rams

They were losing at halftime to Browns, struggling with Lions, last second TD pass against 49ers, close win against Packers. Difference is the teams they are playing

Yeah good point.. It just seems like last years' offense was a little more on the same page and not struggling as much as they have been this year.. To your point, maybe that is just due to the tough schedule, but it seems like more to me.. We'll see though

 

[Clones85']

Re: Vikings are still fine

It's really no different than what most Cyclone fans are saying about ISU.

Losses to 3 very good/great teams: Iowa, Utah and OU
Lost to K-State, only game they "should have won"

Only difference is injuries have not been a real factor, mostly self inflicted mistakes and inconsistent execution - notably in the winable game ISU lost. In the other 3, the clear deciding factor was the large talent gap.

Exactly. If you are Baylor and you beat up on all the crappy teams early in the season and get to 6-2, are you any better than ISU who has already played a tough schedule and is 4-4? In the end Baylor will have to play Texas, OU, etc. ISU now gets Kansas and Colorado. They will probably both finish 6-6

Same thing for the Vikings. They get the easier games now. Packers still have to play the Jets. People need to look at the big picture

 

[Clones85']

Re: Vikings are still fine

Really really tough schedule? Are you joking me right now? They've played 1 arguably very good team in the Jets, 3 mediocre teams and 2 bad teams.

Huh? They played the Saints when they were healthy. When they had Bush, Thomas, etc. That is a tough game on the road during primetime. Just b/c they are struggling now with injuries doesn't mean that wasn't a tough game.

 

[3TrueFans]

Re: Vikings are still fine

Huh? They played the Saints when they were healthy. When they had Bush, Thomas, etc. That is a tough game on the road during primetime. Just b/c they are struggling now with injuries doesn't mean that wasn't a tough game.

Still don't think they were any better than mediocre, they just barely beat a bad San Francisco team the next week.

 

[tccoach]

Re: Vikings are still fine

The Vikes still are a dangerous team, the O-Line looked better with Sullivan back, The vikes should have beat the Pack last night...but I agree no one in the North looks very good, certainly not the Bears, so the Vikes still can come back and win this division...But they better start next week!