Ruh Roh!

Teddy suffers a freak injury and is done for the season.  That pretty much bites.  But I don't think all is lost provided the other major pieces of the team can stay healthy.  I believe the Defense is going to contend for best D in the NFL this season.  If that's the case, we aren't going to need a whole lot of points.  It will be critical that our Offense does not turn the ball over.

It will be interesting to see if Spielman can conjure some magic.  I hope he puts in a call in to gauge Favre interest.  

3 Vikings Paths to the Superbowl This Year

It's now December and the Vikes at 8-3 are very much in the race to the Super Bowl at this point.  These are three paths on how I could see it happening.  Yes, this year.  All that has to happen is for one of them to happen in each of the games needed to get us there.

1. Vikings shut down D.

This Zimmer Defense is for real.  If they keep it dialed up, we could go.

Or

2. AP goes MVP.

He's proven he's still capable of going off.  If he does, we could go.

Or

3.  Teddy and our receiving core step forward.

Teddy and our receivers have played ok to mediocre all season.  We've got the weapons.  If he and our receiving core get hot, we could go.

Thoughts On Cheap Hits to Quarterbacks In the NFL

In case you didn't see it, Teddy got knocked out cold by a cheap shot while he was sliding. 15 yard penalty, that was it. The Rams player wasn't even ejected. The Vikes D played amazing and our special teams and AP managed to get the victory in overtime.  The Vikings QBR went from a respectable 65 with Teddy to a dismal 1.7 with Shaun Hill.  It's almost a miracle that the Vikings won the game.

I hadn't really thought about this before today. But a cheap shot/late hit/illegal hit on a QB, that knocks a QB out of the game should result automatically in the other teams starting QB also being not allowed to play the rest of the game. It's a fair solution that hopefully would lead to less questionable shots being taken at QB. Losing a starting QB to a cheap hit puts the team that loses their QB at an extreme competitive disadvantage; Back up's are back up's for a reason and they don't get the reps that a starter gets.

I think this should apply at all levels of football.

SKOL Vikings 2015!!!

It's time for my annual post on my thoughts giving questions the team will need to answer to succeed in the  2015 season.  Last year, the team got 1 out of 3 right.

1. The Defense improved

2. O Line Play was inconsistent with injuries all over and Cassel got injured.

3. We all know what happened with AP 

Here are my Questions for 2015:

1.  What kind of play will we get from the O-Line in 2015?

At this point the O-Line has got to be the #1 concern for the team.  It seems we have the weapons at the Skill positions, but will the line come together to block for AP and protect Teddy. The line looked OK this pre-season in pass protection.  Run blocking looked below par.   With Loadholt going down and now with Sullivan's out for half the season minimum I'm really nervous about this question.

2. Will Teddy continue to improve?

I believe he will, but if the O-Line doesn't perform;  Well I don't even want to think about it.

3.  Will Anthony Barr stay healthy and improve from his rookie season?

Barr is a huge key to the Defense continuing to improve, will he step up or fall down.

4.  Will Blair Walsh's kicking be a problem?

I hope not.

    

Last Day of a Lost Season

There are things that I can be positive about this season, namely coach Zim, Defensive improvement, and Teddy.  But all those pail in comparison to the tragedy that was the fall of A.P..

In case you didn't know Adrian Peterson was my favorite player to watch in all of the NFL.  What he did to his kid sucks.  His punishment has sucked just about as much to me as a fan.  I don't think what he did to his kid was right or fair.  I don't think how the NFL handled it was right or fair either.  Two wrongs don't make a right.  Adrian should have been fined for the games he didn't play then been reinstated after the court ruled.  Instead Goodell decided to make an example out of Adrian, just as he did of Ray Rice.  I don't think Ray Rice was treated justly either.  I get it, both men made a mistake.  I think both men owned up to it, and were making amends.  Ray Rice's career as football player maybe over and Adrian's as a Viking maybe over.  Like I said, it's a tragedy.