Midseason Madness!

This season for me so far has been awesome. I didn't get to watch the first two games but they seemed to be polar opposites. The last six games have been very entertaining and we have made a lot of crucial plays to win them. You gotta like that! I don't care how you win them, just win them.

I was right about our OL. They're a better unit. The PFF grades of individual positions in different games haven't been very impressive but as a whole, they get it done when it counts. Just win. Who the f*ck cares about grades?  

I was wrong about the trade deadline. I thought we'd get a player off another team's practice squad to add to our team but Kwesi added TJ Hockenson in a sweet trade. Love the move!!

Personally I have never seen so many completely unwatchable non-viking football games in my life. There are way too many crap teams in the NFL right now. I don't know how to fix it but the NFL should take a look and see if they can figure anything out. Right now the NFL is putting a crap product out there.

That being said: GO VIKES!

Storylines that have been of particular interest to me:

10 New Head Coaches in 2022
The NFL had 10 new HC to start the 2022 season - nearly 1/3rd of the league - and I think it's interesting how they're doing. Including last night's ATL/CAR game, here are the records/winning % for the 10 teams with new HC's and the 22 teams with returning HC's:

W/L Record & Winning %
10 Teams with new HC's: 38-46-1, 0.447% winning %
22 Teams with returning HC's: 98-90-1, 0.519 winning %

While the winning % for the teams with 10 new HC's is buoyed by the Vikings (7-1), Giants (6-2) and Dolphins (6-3), there are some interesting records for the returning HC's, too, with the Packers, Rams, Cardinals, Steelers and Colts all with 3 W's or less, and just 8 W/L's separate both groups. I wonder if the 10 teams with new HC's in 2022 can make up that 8-game gap by the end of the regular season (that means the Raiders, Broncos, Bucs and Jags need to win some more games).

Turnover of Playoff Teams
The 2020 NFL season was the 1st time that 7 teams from each Conference made the playoffs so the turnover in # of different playoff teams from 2020 to 2021 is the only apples-to-apples comparison we can make, and in 2021 there were 7 new playoff teams (Bengals, Raiders, Patriots, Cowboys, Cardinals, 49ers & Eagles) compared to the 2020 season, which equates to 50% of the entire playoff field. With the Jets, Dolphins, Chargers, Ravens, Giants, Seahawks, and possibly Falcons (someone has to win the NFC South) all within striking distance of a playoff spot, it is interesting that you could see another year of 50% turnover of playoff teams, which is somewhat an indication of parity and teams shouldn't have prolonged/extended playoff absences. Those teams that have gone 5+ seasons without a playoff appearance (Jets, Broncos, Dolphins, Giants, Lions) all have experienced some recent HC turnover, meaning that if you're not making the playoffs within your first couple seasons in the league, you might be getting pink slip on "Black Monday". 

Key to Attacking 2-Safety Shell Defenses: "Effective" Rushing
One thing you can bet on with NFL coaches is that they will continue to adapt and scheme different ways to attack a defense, which is why you never see one defensive scheme be dominant for too long. The latest defensive "craze" has been teams running 2-high Safety looks to take away downfield passing (including the Fangio/Donatell defense the Vikings employ), and sure enough, NFL offenses have adapted, and it seems the answer to some degree has been running the football effectively.

Avg Rush Yds per Game:
2021: 115.2
2022: 121.2

Avg Pass Yds per Game:
2021: 228.3
2022: 220.7

It's not a massively dramatic shift from the 2021 season, but it is interesting to me that rushing yards per game is up from 2021 while passing yds are down. While the Bills and Chiefs - two teams that definitely pass more - are still having success passing the ball, the Eagles, Seahawks, Giants and Ravens are 4 teams with at least 6 wins each and are in the Top 10 in terms of teams with the most rushing yards and are countering the recent narrative that the NFL is a "passing league".

QB Mobility on the Rise
Speaking of rushing, it seems to be becoming more and more apparent that NFL teams/coaches are favoring QB's that have some mobility over traditional QB's that primarily stay within the pocket. While rushing yards isn't the most accurate way to measure how effective "mobile QB's are vs "pocket passers", it is one measure that is interesting. 

Here are stats for the Top 10 QB's with the most rushing yards so far in the 2022 season compared to the 2021 season in terms of per-game rushing averages:

2022 Total Rushing for QB's (top 10 only): 3,548
2022 Total Games for Those QB's: 86
2022 Per-Game Avg: 41.3

2021 Total Rushing for QB's (top 10 only): 4,861
2021 Total Games for Those QB's: 149
2021 Per-Game Avg: 32.6

The past 2 Super Bowl champions, Bucs and Rams, featured QB's (Brady & Stafford) that don't fall into the "mobile QB" category, but nonetheless, it's interesting that not only are rushing statistics up from 2021, rushing statistics for QB's are also up, which could indicate that mobility could become a very coveted trait for QB prospects in upcoming Drafts. The Vikings do have to plan for life without Cousins sooner than later, and while you don't necessary need the athleticism of Lamar Jackson at the QB position to have success, franchise QB's like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes - both of whom are in the Top 10 QB's with total rushing yards for 2022/2021 - could become more of the norm that QB's like Kirk Cousins. 

Vikings Improved OL Play
In the latest PFF OL rankings (after Wk 9's win @ Washington - link), the Vikins are ranked 11th out of 32 teams, up 12 spots from their 23rd ranking from the end of the 2021 season (link), and their record is dramatically better this season at 7-1 from their 8-9 mark in 2021. While you can't just single out the OL as the only reason for the Vikings 2022 success so far, it's not a stretch to say that their OL success (along with possibly health/# of injuries) is one of the primary drivers. 

The teams with the worst OL's in the NFL this season per PFF (through Wk 9), the Rams and Colts, have a combined record of 6-10-1. 

Vikings "MIA" 2022 Draft Class 
Yes, it's definitely true that you can't grade how effective a Draft class is in just one season and certainly not after just 8 games during their rookie season, and while the Vikings didn't have many "starting" spots open heading into the 2022 Draft, one of the concerns that most fans had was the roster depth, especially after Kwesi & O'Connell cleaned house of Spielman's 2021 Draft class, and you'd think that at the very least you'd see some depth snaps from the higher-round draft picks from their 2022 class. Through 8 games, the snapcount leader (not counting ST snaps, or starting RG Ed Ingram) is 4th Rd pick Akayleb Evans with 77 total DEF snaps. The Vikings other higher Rd picks haven't seen much action (Cine-2, Booth-0, Asamoah-15), and the picks from Rd 5-7 only have a single snap - Jalen Nailor's lone snap in London where he recorded a 13-yd reception. Including Ingram, the Viking's total 2022 Draft class has just 553 total non-ST snaps. 

How does that compare? I can't find an article (even on PFF) that has total rookie snapcounts, so I just looked at the snapcounts for 4 "contender" teams so far in 2022:

2022 Rookie non-ST Snap Count Avg:

Bills
Total 2022 Rookies Drafted - 8
Total 2022 Rookie non-ST Snaps - 885
Snaps-per-Rookie Avg - 111

Chiefs 
Total 2022 Rookies Drafted - 10
Total 2022 Rookie non-ST Snaps - 1,497
Snaps-per-Rookie Avg - 150

Ravens
Total 2022 Rookies Drafted - 10
Total 2022 Rookie non-ST Snaps - 1,612
Snaps-per-Rookie Avg - 161

Eagles
Total 2022 Rookies Drafted - 5
Total 2022 Rookie non-ST Snaps - 245
Snaps-per-Rookie Avg - 49

Vikings
Total 2022 Rookies Drafted - 10
Total 2022 Rookie non-ST Snaps - 553
Snaps-per-Rookie Avg - 55

The only team that has less snaps-per-rookie is the Eagles; the Bills, Chiefs & Ravens are getting at least 111 snaps on average out of their 2022 rookie class, which indicates not only is their roster depth in Ok shape this year, their depth could be setup Ok for the next few years as their 2022 rookies continue to gain experience. The 2022 Vikings have been fortunate to not having too many injuries and the startes have been relatively healthy (knock-on-wood), but as the Vikings roster is going to continue to evolve and turnover into 2023+, I'd like to see the 2022 Vikings rookie class get more depth snaps in the 2nd half of the season, especially since we only have 4 total picks in the 2023 Draft (6 if you add-in the likely 2 compensatory picks that won't be awarded until Feb/Mar 2023). 

I'm enjoying the season. I may have finally figured out how to be a Viking fan after 30 years. I came into the season with no expectations so I'm able to take it as it comes. Aside from being pissed at the flat performance against Philly I've been pretty much in lets see what happens mode but still expecting nothing overall.

I'm shocked by how well Seattle has done minus Russell Wilson.

I'm also shocked how far Green Bay has fallen so fast. I expected them to have a drop-off at some point because Rodgers heart isn't in Green Bay anymore but seeing it turn to sand like it was Thanos snapped is amazing.

Regarding the old guys and their suck:



Maybe things are a little better with some guys who can catch.

Wrong I had them at 8-9.
Right Zimmer had run his coarse and change was needed.
You sometimes make your own luck.

Despite being extremely rich Davante Adams must be hating it right about now. 2-6 with your buddy Derek Carr.