Fraudulent ... 13-4 Lucky or Legit?!

This year, the team looks the exact same. Some will convince themselves we're 3-1 because there are smiles in hallways, but I know we've had a lot of good fortune.

If they cannot stop the run there won't be many easy games.

We are the only team that has held Detroit to under 35 points. But it’s Detroit right? The Eagles gave 35 to them and the Seahawks 45. But yeah, we aren’t any good.

You know I’ve been on a Packer forum for over 14 years and I’ve never heard them say, “ But the teams we played aren’t that good, I’m not sure we are as good as our record.”

I'm as pessimistic as they come for the most part, but anytime you implement a new scheme it always takes time to adjust amd learn, even for veterans. Most say the success of a new offensive scheme can't be truly judged until year 2.

I realize we want to be great now, NOW, DAMNIT, NOW! But I believe our expectations need to be tempered "somewhat" as to the immediate production.

JMO

I'd like to talk about the Vikes record. It seems like there is a fair amount of people that think the Vikings don’t ‘deserve’ to be 3-1, that they have been lucky or just less bad than the other team, and the 3-1 record is soft, or a mirage.

I’ll agree to a point, but a soft 3-1 is a better hard 1-3. Let’s look at every team that is 3-1 or 4-0 so far this year. They have all had some UGLY games:

Bills: Loss to Miami, ugly Balt win
Dolphins: 3 ugly wins, brutal loss
KC: Lost to Indy...whaaaaat
Philly: Gut out wins against Det and Jax
MN: lol we know
GB: Bad loss to us, needed OT to beat NE and their 3rd string QB at home

Philly has looked the best of all these teams, and even though they handled the Vikes, Minnesota is an Irv TD drop and two Kirk red zone picks from being in that game, if not outright winning.

The NFL is set up to have close games every week. I have said this before and I will say it again: Every team in this league has .500 talent, and they all have strengths or weaknesses that can be exploited. The difference between 10 or 11 wins and 10 or 11 losses comes down to coaching, and a little bit of luck, like the double doink in London.

Minnesota's 3-1 start is no more soft than any of the other teams that have started 3-1 or 4-0. Good teams find ways to win and largely make their own luck. Bad teams put themselves into a hole that they have to climb out of and when they can't overcome their mistakes, they blame 'bad luck', like a missed 61 yard field goal, or a kicker not being able to execute an onside kick (ahem).

I am not going to feel bad about this team being 3-1, and I don't feel it's a 'soft' or 'fraudulent' 3-1.

They are 3-1, in first place in the NFC North, and undefeated in the division with a great chance to be 3-0 in the division before the halfway point. There is nothing fraudulent or soft about any of that, in my opinion.

The 2020 and 2021 versions of this team would probably be 1-3, and a lot of us would be saying 'well, we're a lot better than that 1-3 record. If not for X, or Y, or Z, they're 4-0.' There was A LOT of that the last couple years, and it wasn't because they were good teams that had bad luck. They were bad teams that put themselves in bad spots, and didn't have the coaching to maximize the talent to climb out of the hole they put themselves in.

This team, so far, does. And if they don't do stupid stuff to get into a 14 or 17 point deficit, except in Philly. This is a good football team at the quarter pole, and I am all in.

Its you. We are just winning ugly which doesnt translate well into the playoffs. All that Z Smith and Hunter rant so far has been bullsh*t.