Vikings: Blame the coach or blame the players?

[fisherman-andy]

The last couple weeks have been complete utter turmoil. What is funny is all the finger pointing and blaming. So I thought I share some of my thoughts.

1. Is the Vikings better off without Randy Moss?

My answer is NO! Regardless of how bad Moss has been on field and off field, you just can't take away a player of his caliber and talent and call yourself a better football team. Period! The real question should be is by having Moss on the team have the outcome of this year's Vikings 2 game performances be any different? I still think yes. Moss can win games for you. Has the Vikings become a better team without Moss? Certainly not. Don't be fooled by the performances they had during Moss's absence while nuturing his injury last season. They practically lost every game there. And when Moss did come back... wow a win.

2. Mike Tice and the coaching staff.

What do you expect from the lowest paid coaching staff in the NFL? It's a wonder we played so well the last few years? Who knows? The Vikings have been a slow downhill ever since the departure of Danny Green. To come to think of it, was there ever a proper or experienced coaching staff ever put in? Uhm.. NO. Do I think Mike Tice can coach? No... because the Vikings have never been his team and it will never be. It was a team built by Danny Green, Brian Billick, Tony Dungy. Tice just took over and slowly degraded after there. The team lacks discipline and confidence under Tice.

3. The running back committee.

C'mon which running back are you going to play? Michael Bennett has not been given the benefit of the doubt even though he has been named the starter. That show's you what kinda confidence and trust Mike Tice has in his players, by benching him. A real coach would've kept playing his starting tail back. How can your RB have confidence if you don't even have confidence in them? 2 fumbles by Bennett. What about the 5 int's that Culpepper threw. He wasn't benched on that.

4. Why hasn't Culpepper been benched?

He shouldn't be. But has Culpepper been posted as a fraud? Maybe? Maybe not. Who knows. All the yapings about how things are different now. C-mon... were talking about a pro bowl QB with GOD like stats. Maybe he is just in a slump? Of all the experience Culpepper has over the years there is no excuse of how he can't read the defense or offense. That is simply just ridiculous.

If there was ever a time for Culpepper to be benched then it should've been 4th quarter game against the Bengals. Enough is enough. Frustrated QB's need a time out to re-think things. It doesn't necessarily mean your QB's gonna lose confidence, it just means let's have a change of pace until you get on track again. Brad Johnson should've gotten the start in the 4th quarter without a doubt.

5. Is the Defense better?

We have yet to see that. Then again it's still too early in the season. Even if it is better I think it marginal at the most. It's not gonna put us in the top 5 defense in the NFL. Now with Moss we were the top 5 offense. Don't you think by losing him we at least be in the top 5 defense. Well see on that in the coming weeks.

Anyhow however you see it, instead of the Vikings building up on an already good team, they simply went the opposite. How do you expect to win a Superbowl like that...

[Huskers_05]

Blame the front office. There the ones that make all the draft and signing decisions, a coach can only coach what he has, and players are only as good as the guys next to them.

[JIvers]

Blame the former owner, who milked the Vikings for every penny he could take back to Texas with him. McCombs kept an inferior coach like Mike Tice on because he was cheap, he refused to pay for more scouting staff and assistant coaches, and he drove Linehan off because Linehan was never going to get a raise or the personnel he needed in Minnesota. Culpepper looked fine in the three games where Moss was out last year, but so far he looks totally lost without Moss in two games this year, now that Linehan isn't running the offense.

McCombs, and for that matter Tice, can't be blamed for Birk's injury, which isn't helping matters on the offensive side of the ball, but McCombs can be blamed for the poor adjustments his cut-rate coaching staff has made in Birk's absence.

On the subject of poorly-paid scouts, could someone tell me what contributions the two first-round picks have made so far this year? Troy Williamson used that blazing speed and those brilliant after-catch moves we heard so much about to bobble a kickoff, gain five yards on returns, and make a couple of meaningless catches after the Bengal game was lost. Against the Bucs, Williamson was used as a decoy, and succeeded in drawing so much respect from the Bucs that they used a single back to cover him. And I have yet to hear Erasmus James' name called this year.

[Jim Uran]

Get rid of the frickin coach man, Look at the teams we have had the past three years. On paper they are better than a .500 team. It's the coaches and his staff members job to make the team play together.This is Tice's last year (if he makes it through) and hopefully we can pick up a better coach than he has been the last few seasons. But it was a pretty terrible deal trading the most physically gifted wide receiver ever to play the game for a pick and Napolean Harris.

[Muddog]

With 7 turnovers in one game. How could you say it was the coaching?

Cincinnati came out smokin and hitting on all cylinders. I mean, they were playing good football. Come second half they look tiered (and the announcers said the defence would tier).

It's just too bad the man at the helm was out to lunch (Chillpeper or Tice you pick).

I have an idea lets through Daunte into the Inferno .

[james_walleye]

Im not sure how you could have watched that game and saw anything that suggested the coaches had anything gameplanned right. I think they watched MTV all week instead of film on the bengals. I've never seen a team so not ready for a game. They looked so unprepared it was disgusting. Yeah the bengals came out smoking, coach had them ready too play and the gameplan obviously was great. Fred Smoot said it all, the right players are in place for success. It doesnt take too brilliant a deduction too figure out that hes hinting the coaching staff isnt putting them in the right places too make plays.

I will say i dont think Tice has drafted that badly. You cant judge this years class 2 games into the season. 2 games into Kevin Williams career we were still wondering about Terrell Suggs. Now look at Williams, hes a pure stud. Burleson as a 3rd round pick? Pretty good. 2 years from now Williamson over Williams may look like shear brilliance. And Erasmus James may have 12 sacks. Marcus Johnson may be a pro bowler in 3 years. We have too wait and see before we make judgement on those guys.

[mnwild]

Blame the players, they are professional football players.

[james_walleye]

Why do coaches ever get fired then? They are all professionals athletes. So theres no such thing as good coaches? These coaches just have players that try extra hard? These coaches time and again just have players with better instincts? Why did we get rid of Denny then? I guess Bill Belicek shouldnt get any credit in New England. For some reason Beliceks defensive players just really know how too shut down Payton Manning? All this time i thought the coordinators and coaches who put in the schemes, i guess its the players? The patriot defensive players came up with that scheme too shut down the colts in the AFC championship game last year? Even with all those injuries, i guess it must have been Willie Mcginnest who just plugged in Asanti Samuels for Ty Law and saw no drop off? Or was it Tom Brady? I could have sworn last year when the patriots had all those injuries that Belicek had something too do with plugging in any old regular Joe and not seeing any dropoff, i thought it was his defensive mind that was making that happen. Those patriot players should get some mighty big props, i guess they just really try extra hard and have some really great instincts. And i guess when Smoot was in Washington, and Pat Williams was in Buffalo they came too play. They just decided not too play the first 2 games along with every other person on the team? Yup, every guy on the team has too just try harder and they each have too come up with better gameplans on how too attack the saints. Daunte needs too start calling better plays and the middle LB whoever it may be this week needs too call better defense plays. The coaching staff can go ahead this week in the film room with year 2 of girls gone wild, cuz they have no role in preparation of the saints, after all thats what all the other coaches in the NFL are doing this week, watching girls gone wild, except the bucs staff, they are watching Bride of Chuckie today.

I guess i see why McCombs didnt fire Tice. I mean hes a cheap hire, and coaches dont mean nothing anyway i guess. Why pay $2 million for a coach when you can get away with $600,000 for Tice. Thats easy economics. I mean we wouldnt go pay $10 for a gallon of gas when we can get it for $2.50 down the road for the same thing. The $10 gas is no better, same concept i guess right.

[buzzsaw]

Imagine if they get it turned around and they go off! We'll all feel stupid!

Okay, so I'm dreaming, they look lost!

[Muddog]

I think the Defence didn't look all that bad.

I do think Chillipeper looked lost! He seemed to be 2 seconds behind everyone else. It looks to me like he stays up all night running over plays and come game time he's sleep deprived. He needs to take the weight off his shoulders and play (have fun) football.

I don't see how you can say it was bad play calling when the QB is not in the came.

The one bad call of Tice was to leave Culpepper in the came. Culpeppers eyes were sunken into his head and he had a blank expression on his face. He was out of it?

[james_walleye]

The defense didnt look bad???? They got shredded by Palmer. They couldnt get off the field. Time of possession was 2:1 in the first half. 2 plays into the game they hit on a huge pass play. This defense has the players too be much better than they were against the bengals. They looked totally unprepared for what came at them.

[nbdyknws]

Culpepper needs that trigger arm. I saw numberous plays when there were multiple recievers open and he just did not pass the ball. When there are multiple recievers open they are doing a good job of running routes to get open. Culpepper just has to pass it, I suppose he is still looking for that number 84 on a jersey to get open, and instead he mistakes it for a 48 and hits a defensive back.

[fishpepin]

I would have to put the blame on Tice. He has control, or should have, over the coaches and players. Maybe he should find some people that want to play. I think his game plans suck. Only 26 rushes in 2 games, is it any wonder the opposing defenses can rush from starting blocks. Culpepper should have been on the bench the whole 2nd half last week, first to prevent injury in a lost cause and second to give him a chance to think about what he is doing. No matter what you believe the cause of the Vikings problems, Tice is still responsible.

Hopefully they will rebound tomorrow and we can end all these discussions!

[james_walleye]

I dont think you can take Culpepper out of the game. If the vikes are going too win, its going too be with Culpepper right now. You had too leave Culpepper into the game so he could try too get something going. You never know, that TD at the end of the game might be the bit of confidence the offense needs too get things moving forward. It would have done no good at all too bring Brad Johnson in.

[nbdyknws]

If Kevin Garnett was 0-20 at half time, they would leave him in for the second half. Sometime you would just have to hope it would get better. But the main thing is there is just no reason to be that horrible. Minnesota teams know how to win but the thing we can do better is know how to lose badly.

I just want to say its a nice thing we didn't go after any of the top free agent running backs It is very obvious we have 3-4 very average running backs at the moment.

[buzzsaw]

I believe Fason is better than any of our current guys that are higher on the depth charts! Not to mention Mr. Whizzanator! The biggest problem is our offensive line is getting crushed... our backup center and the rookie Marcus Johnson are beyaatches everyweek and that effects Duante and the game plan Tice and the boys put together. The biggest problem is Birk being out!

[NAPAFISH]

We were only one game out of 1st!!! Looked good today right??? The coaches have to put the players in the right situations to perform. These people know alot more about Xs and Os (although sometimes it doesnt seem like it) than we do. Lets let the season go through and then judge. Let them make adjustments like they did today. Mewelde Moore starting, Tice having more say in the play calling and so on.

[Down to Earth]

Vikes looked pretty good today. A little combination of better play and weaker opponent. Next week should give us a better indication down in Atlanta. Glad to see Moore have a good game. The starting job should be his from here on out.

[cloyd]

takes more energy to point a finger in blame than it is to just fix the problem or find someone who can

moss gone..YAY!!!!

regardless I wish moss was half as good as alot of you moss fans seem to think..wed have a super-bowl to brag about

hmm isnt gettin the job done at oakland either so whats the excuse for that one?

i for one didnt expect the vikings to be all that this year..ya dont revamp you offense an defense an run off a win a superbowl..gees

losing birk was a devastating thing to happen to us..bennet isnt all that an shoulda been traded as well...we need a solid running back an we dont have..though moore did a fine job today

so why find blame..we gotta blame someone lets blame the fans

its the stadiums fault..an the fans are to blame for that!!