Hello! and my two cents worth...
Jan 8, 2022 6:24:55 GMT -6
Funkytown, suncoastvike, and 4 more like this
Post by purplepat69 on Jan 8, 2022 6:24:55 GMT -6
Hello and SKOL!!! to all. Some of you may recognize me...I'm the same purplepat69 that frequented the Purple Thoughts forum, and purplepat from Purplepride.org. I am clearly a purple glasses on, glass half full kind of Vikings fan...which I've been since 1969. So I've suffered as much as most of you, although I was around for the fabulous Bud Grant era that would turn anyone into a lifelong fan. I live near Cincinnati, Ohio, but I have Vikings season tickets. I'm that kind of fan.
No one has been more disappointed in the Vikings performance the past two seasons than me. But I really don't attribute this to poor management or coaching. While he's not a rock star, Spielman has drafted his share of quality players. He's had more than a few duds too..but by and large, they are far from being a train wreck. As far as coaching, I absolutely love Mike Zimmer. I understand why he (and some other coaches) might play a more conservative brand of football. If we could develop an o-line/scheme that could always manage to get a yard on 3rd and 1, the Vikings could steamroll other teams. What has let the Vikings down the past two seasons are "losses" on the defensive side of the ball due to injury, COVID, etc., particularly along the line. Losing Hunter for basically a season and a half was killer. Losing Griffen as a free agent, then to another mental health episode also dramatically affected the defense. Pierce opted out in 2020, then has been in and out this year due to injury. Barr missed a lot of time. As a result, both run and pass defense have suffered dramatically. These things are not Zimmer's fault, nor specifically Spielman's. Last year salary cap hell, eroding skills and injuries forced young CBs into the fire and the results were predictable. It's not that the players are bad, just raw.
On the offensive side of the ball, though I think his mistakes in early 2020 cost the Vikings a playoff spot, I think Cousins is the best QB in Vikings history after Fran. I'm not counting (or discounting) the great individual seasons of 1969, 1998 or 2009, but those guys started fewer than two full seasons (<3 for Kapp) at QB for Minnesota. Compared to the guys that played here for any length of time (Kramer, Culpepper, Wilson, Gannon, Moon, Johnson, Jackson, Ponder), Cousins has put up far better numbers than any of them. No, Cousins is not elite...but we could do a lot worse, and most of the time, have. Not like we're going out and getting a tainted DeShaun Watson or some other true upgrade.
The Vikings middling success (or lack thereof) is one of their curses. They are not often so terrible that they are getting a top 5 draft pick, with subsequent high picks in succeeding rounds. They usually find themselves in the 14-24 range in each round, where good players can still be had but many of the elite ones have already been picked. This in particular makes the prospect of drafting an elite level franchise QB a much bigger crap shoot. And even when you get a pick high enough to take a shot a such a choice, the odds are probably 50-50 at best as to whether you'll get a stud or a spud.
So this has been a long winded way to say that those who are calling for the heads of any or all of the above mentioned scapegoats - be careful what you wish for. You could wind up with another Les Steckel...or Urban Meyer...or Donovan McNabb...or Mike Lynn. We almost went to the Super Bowl with Case Keenum, for heaven's sake...sometimes the stars just have to align for you. Even the great Aaron Rodgers has only one Super Bowl title. There is only one winner every year and 31 losers.
No one has been more disappointed in the Vikings performance the past two seasons than me. But I really don't attribute this to poor management or coaching. While he's not a rock star, Spielman has drafted his share of quality players. He's had more than a few duds too..but by and large, they are far from being a train wreck. As far as coaching, I absolutely love Mike Zimmer. I understand why he (and some other coaches) might play a more conservative brand of football. If we could develop an o-line/scheme that could always manage to get a yard on 3rd and 1, the Vikings could steamroll other teams. What has let the Vikings down the past two seasons are "losses" on the defensive side of the ball due to injury, COVID, etc., particularly along the line. Losing Hunter for basically a season and a half was killer. Losing Griffen as a free agent, then to another mental health episode also dramatically affected the defense. Pierce opted out in 2020, then has been in and out this year due to injury. Barr missed a lot of time. As a result, both run and pass defense have suffered dramatically. These things are not Zimmer's fault, nor specifically Spielman's. Last year salary cap hell, eroding skills and injuries forced young CBs into the fire and the results were predictable. It's not that the players are bad, just raw.
On the offensive side of the ball, though I think his mistakes in early 2020 cost the Vikings a playoff spot, I think Cousins is the best QB in Vikings history after Fran. I'm not counting (or discounting) the great individual seasons of 1969, 1998 or 2009, but those guys started fewer than two full seasons (<3 for Kapp) at QB for Minnesota. Compared to the guys that played here for any length of time (Kramer, Culpepper, Wilson, Gannon, Moon, Johnson, Jackson, Ponder), Cousins has put up far better numbers than any of them. No, Cousins is not elite...but we could do a lot worse, and most of the time, have. Not like we're going out and getting a tainted DeShaun Watson or some other true upgrade.
The Vikings middling success (or lack thereof) is one of their curses. They are not often so terrible that they are getting a top 5 draft pick, with subsequent high picks in succeeding rounds. They usually find themselves in the 14-24 range in each round, where good players can still be had but many of the elite ones have already been picked. This in particular makes the prospect of drafting an elite level franchise QB a much bigger crap shoot. And even when you get a pick high enough to take a shot a such a choice, the odds are probably 50-50 at best as to whether you'll get a stud or a spud.
So this has been a long winded way to say that those who are calling for the heads of any or all of the above mentioned scapegoats - be careful what you wish for. You could wind up with another Les Steckel...or Urban Meyer...or Donovan McNabb...or Mike Lynn. We almost went to the Super Bowl with Case Keenum, for heaven's sake...sometimes the stars just have to align for you. Even the great Aaron Rodgers has only one Super Bowl title. There is only one winner every year and 31 losers.
Lets go out and kick those stars in the nuts.
... and neither is this Chris guy.