2020 Vikings Expectations

Funkytown
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 10, 2020 17:52:10 GMT -6

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Post by Funkytown on Sept 10, 2020 17:52:10 GMT -6

These PFF guys suck:

NFC NORTH WINNER

Green Bay Packers (15)

Detroit Lions (4)

Minnesota Vikings (2)

NFC SOUTH WINNER

New Orleans Saints (15)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6)

NFC EAST WINNER

Dallas Cowboys (18)

Philadelphia Eagles (3)

NFC WEST WINNER

Seattle Seahawks (10)

San Francisco 49ers (9)

Los Angeles Rams (1)

Arizona Cardinals (1)

NFC WILD CARD TEAMS

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12)

San Francisco 49ers (9)

Seattle Seahawks (8)

Minnesota Vikings (6)

New Orleans Saints (6)

Philadelphia Eagles (5)

Atlanta Falcons (3)

Dallas Cowboys (3)

Arizona Cardinals (3)

Los Angeles Rams (2)

Atlanta Falcons (2)

Detroit Lions (2)

Green Bay Packers (2)

AFC NORTH WINNER

Baltimore Ravens (16)

Cleveland Browns (3)

Pittsburgh Steelers (2)

AFC SOUTH WINNER

Tennessee Titans (9)

Indianapolis Colts (9)

Houston Texans (3)

AFC EAST WINNER

New England Patriots (13)

Buffalo Bills (7)

Miami Dolphins (1)

AFC WEST WINNER

Kansas City Chiefs (21)

AFC WILD CARD TEAMS

Pittsburgh Steelers (10)

Houston Texans (9)

Cleveland Browns (9)

Indianapolis Colts (8)

Buffalo Bills (7)

Tennessee Titans (6)

Baltimore Ravens (5)

New England Patriots (3)

Cincinnati Bengals (3)

Los Angeles Chargers (2)

Denver Broncos (1)

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

New Orleans Saints (16)

Dallas Cowboys (12)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5)

Philadelphia Eagles (5)

Seattle Seahawks (3)

San Francisco 49ers (3)

Green Bay Packers (1)

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Kansas City Chiefs (21)

Baltimore Ravens (14)

Pittsburgh Steelers (2)

Cleveland Browns (2)

Indianapolis Colts (2)

Tennessee Titans (1)

NFC SUPER BOWL PARTICIPANT

New Orleans Saints (13)

Dallas Cowboys (4)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2)

Seattle Seahawks (2)

AFC SUPER BOWL PARTICIPANT

Kansas City Chiefs (14)

Baltimore Ravens (6)

Indianapolis Colts (1)

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION

Kansas City Chiefs (10)

New Orleans Saints (4)

Baltimore Ravens (4)

Dallas Cowboys (1)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1)

Seattle Seahawks (1)

NO. 1 OVERALL PICK

Jacksonville Jaguars (14)

New York Jets (5)

Chicago Bears (1)

Washington Football Team (1)

Link:

www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-pff-analyst-predictions-for-the-2020-nfl-season

Last Edit: Sept 10, 2020 17:52:56 GMT -6 by Funkytown

Funkytown
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 10, 2020 18:26:59 GMT -6

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Post by Funkytown on Sept 10, 2020 18:26:59 GMT -6

The Athletic: Ten bold (and not so bold) predictions for the 2020 Vikings season

Dalvin Cook becomes the NFL’s rushing leader
Yannick Ngakoue finishes with more sacks than Danielle Hunter
Bisi Johnson finishes with more receiving yards than Justin Jefferson
Adam Thielen bounces back with another 1,000-yard season
The Vikings get swept by the Bears
Garrett Bradbury takes a significant step forward
Kirk Cousins won’t reach 4,000 passing yards
Cameron Dantzler gets more snaps than Jeff Gladney
Irv Smith Jr. becomes the team’s No. 1 tight end
The Vikings win the NFC North

Some more about a couple of these:

The Vikings get swept by the Bears

Minnesota’s struggles at Soldier Field are well known. The Vikings are 2-10 in their last 12 trips to Chicago. They’ve lost their last four matchups against the Bears (though it’s worth noting that in Week 17 a year ago, the Vikings sat most starters).

So even though I think the Bears will finish last in the NFC North, I’ve got them sweeping the series against the Vikings.

The first matchup is a Monday Night game in Chicago in November. I don’t need to remind Vikings fans about struggles on that certain day of the week or of struggles in primetime or of struggles in Chicago. Recent history doesn’t bode well for the Vikings in Week 10.

Then the Vikings host the Bears Week 15 in what could be a trap game. It comes a week after the Vikings head to Tampa Bay to face Tom Brady and a week before they head to New Orleans for a Christmas Day game against the Saints. If they aren’t careful, they could let that one get away from them.

Kirk Cousins won’t reach 4,000 passing yards

Here’s one of the stats that the Vikings touted when they signed Cousins — he was the only quarterback to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first three seasons as a starter.

But the Vikings don’t ask Cousins to throw it as much as he did in Washington. He reached 4,298 yards when John DeFilippo was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in Cousins’ first year here, but that’s part of the reason DeFilippo didn’t make it a full season. Cousins would have been close to 4,000 yards a year ago had he not sat out the Week 17 game. He finished with 3,603 yards.

This season, with Cook and the running game expected to do most of the heavy lifting, Cousins probably finishes just shy of 4,000 passing yards.

Link:

theathletic.com/2056063/2020/09/10/ten-bold-and-not-so-bold-predictions-for-the-2020-vikings-season/

Funkytown Owner Purple Pain Big Dog Posts: 67,662 Likes: 31,588 Fan Since: 1998 Member is Online	2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 11, 2020 12:20:07 GMT -6 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Funkytown on Sept 11, 2020 12:20:07 GMT -6

Danchat Content Creator Posts: 19,038 Likes: 16,632	2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 11, 2020 18:12:47 GMT -6 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Danchat on Sept 11, 2020 18:12:47 GMT -6 Sept 11, 2020 12:20:07 GMT -6 Funkytown said: I hope we get some insane predictions like that in our PPA contest, most would age poorly, but maybe someone will nail one!

vikingpwr
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 11, 2020 18:28:07 GMT -6

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Post by vikingpwr on Sept 11, 2020 18:28:07 GMT -6

Sept 10, 2020 18:26:59 GMT -6 Funkytown said:

Dalvin Cook becomes the NFL’s rushing leader
Yannick Ngakoue finishes with more sacks than Danielle Hunter
Bisi Johnson finishes with more receiving yards than Justin Jefferson
Adam Thielen bounces back with another 1,000-yard season
The Vikings get swept by the Bears
Garrett Bradbury takes a significant step forward
Kirk Cousins won’t reach 4,000 passing yards
Cameron Dantzler gets more snaps than Jeff Gladney
Irv Smith Jr. becomes the team’s No. 1 tight end
The Vikings win the NFC North

We won't get swept by da bears, but everything else will definitely happen......... *ridebabyride*

Last Edit: Sept 11, 2020 18:29:50 GMT -6 by vikingpwr

toledoviking
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 12, 2020 13:47:11 GMT -6

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Post by toledoviking on Sept 12, 2020 13:47:11 GMT -6

Sept 9, 2020 15:51:17 GMT -6 wivikesfan said:

My expectations for the season have definitely changed with Hunter out. Our odds of beating the packers are meaningfully lower

I totally agree we will miss Hunter but we have a chance for another DE to step up.

Will
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 12, 2020 17:12:16 GMT -6

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Post by Will on Sept 12, 2020 17:12:16 GMT -6

The one I disagree with most is Cousins not passing for 4,000 yards. Assuming he plays 16 games, 250 yards per game is not much for him with 30 to 35 attempts and 20 to 25 completions. I see fewer games where the Vikings have a big lead and don't pass much. The Viking defense is likely to give up more points - at least to the teams with decent quarterbacks.

This could change when the CBs gain confidence and experience and when Hunter comes back with other guys also being pass rush threats. If they create a lot of turnovers, this could result in a few blowouts where the Vikings pass less than 30 times per game, but right now, that is more speculative than a weaker run and pass defense giving up more points.

I also doubt the Bears will sweep.

Last Edit: Sept 12, 2020 17:13:19 GMT -6 by Will

Purple Pain
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 18, 2020 15:45:09 GMT -6

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Post by Purple Pain on Sept 18, 2020 15:45:09 GMT -6

Some Q&A from Purple Insider's Mailbag:

@vikesfan1930 At what point can we start to panic/coaches to be fired ?/ move on to 2021? I don't see 4-12, but 6-10, would Zimmer/Rick lose their jobs ?

Packers losses really do something different to Vikings fans than any other team, huh.

I wouldn’t tell you that last week pointed to a whole lotta good things for this team this year but talking about the jobs of two people who just signed multi-year extensions during training camp is leaning pretty heavy toward the overreaction side. In 2015 they got killed in Week 1 and won the division. In 2016 they went 5-0 and missed the playoffs. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to talking about this team being in the bottom of the NFC. Another loss or two, maybe.

But since Purple Insider welcomes overreactions, I’ll take a shot at it anyway: If they go 6-10 Zimmer and Spielman very, very likely keep their jobs. Ownership has to understand that this is a transition year and expectations should be higher for 2021.

With that said, even the 8-8 or 8-7-1 seasons have included a lot of drama with this team. Is it possible a bad season really blows up within the building? Yes. There was even tension last year and they were good.

But I’m nowhere close to coaching search columns. Let’s see some more football first.

@jvangelder When would be an appropriate time to start panicking about the defense

If they can survive the first quarter of the season without going 1-3 or 0-4 because of the defense, that will be a victory and then there’s a chance to get better over the middle weeks of the season.

You could see a situation where the corners improve, Mike Zimmer solves some schematic things, Hunter and Ngakoue get hot and then all of the sudden the defense is decent-to-good. But that doesn’t appear it’s going to happen until they get Hunter back.

What they really need is to have one or two games in which the offense bails them out and gives the defense time to get its feet underneath them. The Colts’ defense offers a decent opportunity to do that.

@mrpredictable1 Does the offense have enough to make up for the defensive regression?

Depends on your definition of “enough.” If you mean: Can they still make the playoffs with a bad defense if the offense operates similarly to last year? Oh yes they can. In 2016 Kirk Cousins went 9-7 with a defense that finished fifth worst in yards allowed. I’m certain there will be great games for Cousins and the offense and we see them win a handful of shootouts.

Can they carry the Vikings to an NFC Championship or Super Bowl? No. For that to happen, the defense has to be great.

We have seen teams have impressive turnarounds on defense after slow starts. I don’t think we can really know what their defense will be until Hunter plays.

@theonlyhus I’ve been a HUGE Cousins defender the past 3 years. I think he gets unfairly criticized…. Saying all that, the way this team is constructed, and the philosophy of Zimmer, it truly makes NO sense to spend 30m a year on a Qb. If the goal is running and defense why not go cheaper route.

As they said in Tommy Boy: The guarantee is on the box. Cousins guarantees you a very predictable level of quarterback play that allows your team to be competitive each year and leaves the onus on the rest of the team’s strength to determine the outcome.

If you move on from Cousins and draft someone you might end up with Lamar Jackson or you might end up with Josh Rosen. Do people like Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman want to put their careers on the back of a rookie QB? Probably not.

They want to have a great run game but they’re aware quarterback play is going to determine the ultimate outcome of the season.

Does that make his extension the right move with a team that’s in transition? Maybe not — though we probably won’t be able to truly judge the extension until after 2021.

@kyebaxter The Colts can't make the Vikings look this bad again right? Right? If they do, are we looking at tank for Trevor territory?

If the Colts put up big numbers on the Vikings and win the game, it’s not even remotely close to Tank for Trevor territory. And even if they go 0-4, what are they supposed to do to tank? Trade Anthony Barr or Kyle Rudolph? They’re already playing young players. There’s really no tanking with this team unless it was Week 17 and they were one loss away from the No. 1 overall pick, then you’d make the case for starting Nate Stanley.

But this team is very likely not going to win fewer than six or seven games even in the worst case. We’re acting like they’ll play the same way they did against Green Bay every week. They’ve basically never had 18 minutes of ball control before so I can pretty strongly say that it won’t be that way week after week. I wouldn’t make a huge change in expected W-L record from the schedule release date just because of the Green Bay loss.

@mnsportsguy0 What do you think the organization expects from the team in 2020 in terms of wins/playoff appearance etc.?

I wonder if it’s a bit of a sliding scale. Nothing they did in the offseason said rebuild. They traded for a star, they extended Cousins, they extended Zimmer/Spielman. They expect to make the playoffs and win there. As the season goes on it’s possible they have to recalibrate those expectations.

My dad has a piece of advice that nobody should make big life decisions around the holidays because you’re usually extra stressed. The same goes for making any big decisions during COVID.

purpleinsider.substack.com/p/friday-mailbag-panic-meters-corner

Last Edit: Sept 18, 2020 15:47:46 GMT -6 by Purple Pain

diehardtwinsfan Moderator Posts: 11,979 Likes: 7,517 Member is Online	2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 18, 2020 17:15:08 GMT -6 Danchat likes this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by diehardtwinsfan on Sept 18, 2020 17:15:08 GMT -6 Sept 11, 2020 12:20:07 GMT -6 Funkytown said: Is it too soon to say that this aged well?

diehardtwinsfan
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2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 18, 2020 17:20:52 GMT -6

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Post by diehardtwinsfan on Sept 18, 2020 17:20:52 GMT -6

Sept 10, 2020 18:26:59 GMT -6 Funkytown said:

The Athletic: Ten bold (and not so bold) predictions for the 2020 Vikings season

Dalvin Cook becomes the NFL’s rushing leader
Yannick Ngakoue finishes with more sacks than Danielle Hunter
Bisi Johnson finishes with more receiving yards than Justin Jefferson
Adam Thielen bounces back with another 1,000-yard season
The Vikings get swept by the Bears
Garrett Bradbury takes a significant step forward
Kirk Cousins won’t reach 4,000 passing yards
Cameron Dantzler gets more snaps than Jeff Gladney
Irv Smith Jr. becomes the team’s No. 1 tight end
The Vikings win the NFC North

Some more about a couple of these:

The Vikings get swept by the Bears

Minnesota’s struggles at Soldier Field are well known. The Vikings are 2-10 in their last 12 trips to Chicago. They’ve lost their last four matchups against the Bears (though it’s worth noting that in Week 17 a year ago, the Vikings sat most starters).

So even though I think the Bears will finish last in the NFC North, I’ve got them sweeping the series against the Vikings.

The first matchup is a Monday Night game in Chicago in November. I don’t need to remind Vikings fans about struggles on that certain day of the week or of struggles in primetime or of struggles in Chicago. Recent history doesn’t bode well for the Vikings in Week 10.

Then the Vikings host the Bears Week 15 in what could be a trap game. It comes a week after the Vikings head to Tampa Bay to face Tom Brady and a week before they head to New Orleans for a Christmas Day game against the Saints. If they aren’t careful, they could let that one get away from them.

Kirk Cousins won’t reach 4,000 passing yards

Here’s one of the stats that the Vikings touted when they signed Cousins — he was the only quarterback to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first three seasons as a starter.

But the Vikings don’t ask Cousins to throw it as much as he did in Washington. He reached 4,298 yards when John DeFilippo was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in Cousins’ first year here, but that’s part of the reason DeFilippo didn’t make it a full season. Cousins would have been close to 4,000 yards a year ago had he not sat out the Week 17 game. He finished with 3,603 yards.

This season, with Cook and the running game expected to do most of the heavy lifting, Cousins probably finishes just shy of 4,000 passing yards.

Link:

theathletic.com/2056063/2020/09/10/ten-bold-and-not-so-bold-predictions-for-the-2020-vikings-season/

I missed this thread...

Cook leading the league is rosy to be kind. He'll get hurt... especially since he signed an extension, because Vikings, right?
The way they played against the Packers says that Cousins will probably well exceed 4k cause they'll be airing it out all the time.
and no way they win the north... I saw enough on Sunday.

The rest are quite reasonable.

PurpleKoolaid Hall of Fame Candidate Posts: 6,227 Likes: 2,844	2020 Vikings Expectations Sept 18, 2020 21:11:35 GMT -6 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by PurpleKoolaid on Sept 18, 2020 21:11:35 GMT -6 6-10 finish at best for this team. And hopefully Dim_mer (and his kid) and Ricky shown the door.
	Last Edit: Sept 18, 2020 21:12:29 GMT -6 by PurpleKoolaid