Mn Vikings musings

[Scott K]

I still have to question some of the play calling.

[alleyes]

That worthless running back with the bad wheel looked pretty good to me, unlike that huge FA signing of cedric benson, LOL.

[LMITOUT]

Dude, it was Jacksonville and you barely beat them.

Enjoy your win. They probably won't happen often.

[broodwich]

Dude, it was Jacksonville and you barely beat them.

Enjoy your win. They probably won't happen often.

And you can suck on a Packer loss! The pack are last in the division! From 1st to worst!

[Scott M]

Easy guys, don't feed the trolls.

********

It wasn't pretty, in fact it was pretty typical MN Vikings, shades of 2011 defense and 3 and outs, a few bright AD spots, and then the gut punch diving to the pylon catch with 20 seconds left. That Walsh boomed one through convincingly is the only thing that wasn't on a typical Vikings script.

Enjoy this one and the first half of the season because the last half of the year is going to be 0-8 brutal.

[nofishfisherman]

Like I said several pages ago this seasons success will be dictated on whether or not we take a step forward as a team and whether or not we see the young guys progress. I didn't get to watch the entire game but in the 2nd half I did see some things I liked and some things that still need to get figured out.

Ponder looked a little better. It seemed like he was making better decisions, made some good throws, and took better care of the ball. Hopefully this is just the first step in a long progression of improvements for him.

Defensively they looked like the same old Vikes a little too much for my liking. That touchdown at the end of the game seemed way to familiar and hardly seemed a surprise.

I'd say week one was a good sign overall. Last year we would have found a way to loose the game so thats atleast a positive sign. Still a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGG way to go though.

[LMITOUT]

And you can suck on a Packer loss! The pack are last in the division! From 1st to worst!

And why would I care about GB losing? Your hatred is misplaced.

Besides, it appears that GB was the only team in the NFC North that didn't play a creampuff on opening day, so their loss wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

[RiverFish]

And you can suck on a Packer loss! The pack are last in the division! From 1st to worst!

Your proclaiming a first to worst after one game....

I love all NFL fans even the KFAN zombies.

Go Pack!

[reinhard1]

i was impressed with AP on his comback, and also on the rookie kicker making the tying field goal and the winning one. the defensive backfield still has a lot of work to do. good luck.

[Snag]

Vikes Win, Packers Lose

Gophers Win, Badgers Lose

There is some joy in Minnesota for a week.

[Dotch]

And the icing on the cake: The Hawkeyes lost!

[CANOPY SAM]

I'm no expert, but I'd say our season will pivot on the health of our team. Seemed to me like they played hard, and never gave up. I like that.

In previous seasons I just didn't see the effort, or desire, required to win in the clutch. Often just desperation play calling.

Seems like we've got a bunch of guys that know they're underdogs, and want to prove the rest of the league, and all the negative critics, wrong. That, along with a little talent, can be a dangerous combination.

I've said it all along, Ponder is a stud. If we can keep him healthy, along with our running backs and receivers, he'll find his pace, and do nothing but improve.

[pikestabber]

I was impressed with Greenway yesterday. He is always good against the run, but pass D has been his weakness, and he came up clutch on a couple key passing downs. Great to see Robison's effort, too. Where was Kevin Williams? I didn't hear his name very often...

Ponder looked very poised in half two. AP and Harvin did what you want them to do every game, but for the life of me I don't know how AP did it... He didn't make full cuts on that knee, but it got a heck of a work out and the results were great.

Special Teams: Awesome! That is our biggest area of improvement from last year (so far, at least, but I love what I saw). Overall, a good game, and we'll take the win!

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Ponder looked a little better. It seemed like he was making better decisions, made some good throws, and took better care of the ball. Hopefully this is just the first step in a long progression of improvements for him.

Defensively they looked like the same old Vikes a little too much for my liking. That touchdown at the end of the game seemed way to familiar and hardly seemed a surprise.

I'd say week one was a good sign overall. Last year we would have found a way to loose the game so thats atleast a positive sign. Still a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGG way to go though.

AGREE, AGREE, and AGREE

This defense CANNOT get off the field on 3rd down, its always been a problem and it will continue to be a problem, especially when we play better qb's then Blaine Gabbert(who did look better then last year in fairness)

The TD for jacksonville at the end of the game was TRADEMARK, CLASSIC, VINTAGE vikings end of game defense. Not surprising at all... The vikings SHOULD have lost this game and were pretty fortunate to win. Nice job by Ponder getting the team in position to tie and it looks like the Kicker was a good draft pick.

If AP, Harvin and Rudolph are healthy throughout I think this team can compete with teams with average offenses, like jacksonvilles. It'll get even better with Chong Simpson after week 3. Any team with an upper-end offense is going to give the vikes BIG problems. 6-10 is still my prediction. Another prediction- Luck SHREDS our defense next week for 300yds. If we win, its gonna be like 34-31. I think its a toss up because if there is a defense worse then ours, its Indy's!

[FutbolGuru]

I think 6-10 is pretty accurate as well; given how good the NFC north is in general, 6-10 would not be a terrible outcome for a rebuilding team in need of another good draft next year. It was great to see the rookies contribute yesterday. Harrison, Robinson, Kalil, Walsh all had promising debuts. Ponder had a couple bad throws out of the gate but shook them off nicely and played like a franchise QB for the majority of the game. While a mediocre season is inevitable, Vikings fans have to feel good knowing our squad is headed in the right direction... Rome wasn't built in a day.

[LMITOUT]

Vikings fans have to feel good knowing our squad is headed in the right direction... Rome wasn't built in a day.

But it didn't take 51 years though, did it?

[pikestabber]

But it didn't take 51 years though, did it?

According to most accepted sources, it actually took about 870 years...so I think we are ahead of the curve. I like the direction we are heading. Getting youthful means we will have our share of mistakes to get through, but ultimately, I think we are doing things right this time around. I remain cautiously optimistic for this year and the years to come.

[FutbolGuru]

Agreed... It was nice to see the youth show up yesterday when it counted. It was a solid first step for the Rick Spielman era.

We now can look at bright spots on a rebuilding squad vs looking at widening holes on an aging squad, as was the case the last couple seasons. It feels good to have finally turned that corner. If you're not winning, you have to get young in the NFL. Keep the successful offseasons coming...

[FISHINGURU]

LOL, Giants and Packers had no D to speak of when they won the SuperBowls?

That's good humor there.

[paceman]

The vikings squeaked out a win over another weak team at home. Yes there were some bright spots but this team is still in the rebuilding faze and will lose to the better teams. They will be competitive and they will continue to fight. At this stage of the rebuidling process that is all you can ask for.

[Jim Uran]

Oh they smoked 'em... I think we will sweep the division this year. I'm glad the Pack are in last place, where they belong

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Well, after watching the vikes play Indy this week, I would like to revise my season prediction from 6-10 to 4-12.

This team is aweful. I could go over all of the talking points but its not even worth it. Boy its going to be fun to watch them play the 49ers next week....

At least it looks like Ponder is improving, slightly. And so far he's had success at the end of games when the team really needs it, which is a good sign. Other then that..... anybody know whos gonna be available in the draft around picks 2-5?

[MUSKY18]

Yesterday was......heck I don't even know what the word is to describe it. You have a rookie QB starting his second game in the NFL, behind an offensive line that has 4 out of 5 starters out, and we can't get him sacked or pressured on the last set of downs, let them go 45 yards in 23 seconds? WHO WAS PLAYING DEFENSE? Avery has 10 receptions on the day and Wayne is one of the best receivers in the game and we decide to just not cover them? I think our coaching is terrible and the Vikings players ability to understand the scheme of the defense is not there. THey shoudl all be cut and be sent back to Pop Warner until they learn how to tackle, cover and play the game.

The 49'ers are going to blow their socks off this coming Sunday. Just hope that Ponder, Harvin and Peteson don't get hurt.

[schmitty3]

I didn't get to watch the game this week, but I gotta wonder how Ponder can go 27-35, with a 117 qbr, and they have 6 points with half a quarter left in the game. Poor play calling again? Untimely penalties? Mix of both?

[Musky Buck]

I'm with Musky18 here, if we had Ryan Longwell we'd be 0-2. If we can't go on the road with veterans like AP and Jared Allen Kevin Williams Harvin etc. and take out Indy with a Rookie QB, no line, no ground game, and seeing there best pass rusher in street clothes cmon. Honestly we should be 0-2 against Gabbert and Luck. This season could implode in a hurry, we're walking on eggshells, watch what Patrick Willis does to AP this weekend. We have this well the draft etc. we'll be resurrected in a year or 2 but what if the other teams have drafted better than us ? Teams that are already better than us ? "This is Viking football"