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Sorry, this will be brief as I just got done driving back to Bismarck on crappy roads. We had a blast in Minneapolis, other than the result of the game. Ugh, that damn game. I’m not going to go in depth right now, as I’m sure I’ll have several posts in the coming days, and many more in the coming months, about the direction the Vikings should take for the future. As for how the season ended, it sucked, but at least they went down in the playoffs. The belief that playing poorly one year equates to success in a future year is stupid. Win games, make the playoffs, try to win. That’s the strategy every year. This year, they fell short, but it was a far more fun season than last year when we finished 8-9 and out of the playoffs.
We’ll have plenty of time to disucss the future. Thank God for ice fishing to make the remainder of this winter somewhat bearable. I’m also thankful that I no longer drink, otherwise I’d be a hurting unit today. I’ll always love this team, and one loss sure as hell isn’t changing that. I’ve been through FAR worse than this. SKOL!!!!!!

Minnesota Vikings News:
From Vikings.com, hear JJ address the media, see highlights from Sunday’s game, and there is a ton more to sift through in the media vault.
Video of the Day:
Fitting. Dammit.
I’m going to pin this, so please DO NOT reply to this. Just answer the poll question.
Should the Vikings move on from Ed Donatell?
Total Voters: 50
All the advanced metrics really don’t like Cook. Personally, I thought he should have gotten more yards on his runs.
They only rushed the ball 15 times the entire game, should have used him more.
I agree they should have run more.
I would have liked to see Matteson get a few hand offs. Cook looked slow through the hole, and got tackled really easy.
Yeah his self tackle on the one run late where he got away his hippity skippity feet seem to continually throw him off balance. Meanwhile Barkley’s balance control was off the charts.
He doesn’t seem to have the same slicing burst he had when he was younger. It’s not to say he is bad but just not quite as good.
Another thread for you.
Are we missing a link here?
LOL, oops.
Noice, thanks 🙂
Because you told me not to reply to the poll question I really, really wanted to. I will try to control myself.
Guess how i voted.
Keep Donatell?
Gay Republican?
Probably straight dem
There are no straight dems, they’re all gay or trans
Some are gay AND trans, I´m sure.
Maybe we should trade JJ before he turns into a diva diggs. 1’s and 2’s. Not sure we can pay him. Come to think of it, not sure of anything.
If we could get a haul for him I would be O.K. with that…I hate to be a gloomer but it doesn’t look to me like we are going anywhere in the next 3 years.
Sadly, i tend to agree.
Anything can happen, but the Vikings don’t have the personnel to be consistently dominate.
Let’s trade everybody. That way next year we will have a new crop of players to complain about.
Solid plan, I am sick of complaining about the old ones.
If you blow it all up, you definitely try to trade JJ and get draft capital and go younger.
But I don’t see the Wilf’s blowing anything up.
True. They will count money and roll with 13-4. Extend dumbtell.
Cousins is likely getting extended.
Although he has been very good at fleecing the Vikings, so he could ride in 2023 as his final year and fleece the Vikings again in 2024 and beyond.
Anyone want gnats to win? I hate filly but always want the team that beat us to lose.
I’m probably going with Filthy since my daughter is an eagles fan.
LOL, DE’s daughter is a poopeater
I have to give her a break this year, after what she has been through going on the last 3 months.
Yeah, understood, also makes sense being you guys are from DE and all, what’s the other option, NE?
Redskins, Ravens, and Eagles are the top 3.
There is actually numerous Vikings fans out here.
Good point. I will think of her so I won’t be so miserable if the Eagles win.
Even so I still hope and pray for her to continue to improve…I might also ask God to help change her heart regarding the Eagles, but I suspect that might be too much to ask.
Thank you !
Im rooting for anyone but the Cowgirls, Philly and Chiefs.
I pretty much dislike all of them now.
I’m still good with the Chiefs.
Mahomes is fun to watch.
I’m hoping 49ers vs Chiefs or Bangles.
I’m indifferent.
I’ll root for the Giants with my nose held shut. I don’t like either team, and both cities suck.
DT – thought he played well. Hope they bring him back
PP – Wouldn’t mind one more year, but lean towards them moving on
Sullivan – sucks and shouldn’t be brought back
Shelley – Think he’s lightening in bottle. Not a solution. Bring back only if cheap
Bradbury – Pass
Irv – Sucks and pass
Mattison – sucks and pass
Bullard – sucks
Schlottman – Bring back as depth piece
DePaloa – Bring back
Joseph – Move on and find a new kicker
Boyd – Worthless on defense, okay on ST
Johnson – Injured and pass
Udoh – bring back as Tackle depth
Mullens – bring back as backup
Bring back:
Mullens cheap
The Snapper
Schlottman cheap
Shelley cheap
Tender ERFAs Tonga and Brandel, and re-sign Ellefson
Tomlinson and PP would be fine if the price is right. The rest can fuck off, best of luck to them.
@ I’m surprised you don’t want Irv. 2023 will be his breakout year@
“break”, half right.
He’ll be too in demand for the Vikings to afford
Good !
Dumbtells D is not just bad, gaping holes and crush plays. A high school qb could succeed. Yeah, keep him, maybe move up to 29th next year.
The issue was we got ZEROOOOO pressure most of the season by DL. Secondly, the linebackers all sucked. Hicks and Kendricks have to go. Thirdly, way to much space in secondary. Literally, players would catch balls in middle of field and nobody would be within 10 yards of them
I forgot to add that. Lets take a poll:
What should we do
Fire or no.
Fire
Although sadly, I think it is more the players than the coach, I vote fire.
Fire
What would have we done if the Vikes finished 5 and 12? Would we have been calling for OCs head? I don’t know about firing Ed, 1st year here, not much to work with, but that defense was God awful.
That was really hard to watch and it was pretty much the whole game.
Zero pressure with front 4 and no blitzing to try to create pressure.
My condolences brad. Guessing fans around you livid with the D.
Oh man, people were PISSED.
Also, the entire stadium groaned when Kirk threw that checkdown to end the game. I don’t put that game on Kirk at all, but throw was fucking bad.
Toss it up and hope for the best…PI great JJ catch something…but that was bad.
Anything would have been better than throwing to a guy who has a defender hanging on him.
Zero chance. As i alluded to throw to sticks maybe get a hold or PI. At least it’s a chance.
Except I don’t actually think that was possible… just my opinion.
A pathetic ending to a fun season. You could hear the groan in front of the TV when Hock caught that pass and was tackled immediately.
Viking fans watching that play
We don’t have the personnel for a 3-4 which most of us knew when this scheme was implemented.
Hunter is terrible in a 3-4. The times he lined up with his hands on the ground, is when he had good games.
Not sure how long they go with this idea.
D is unwatchable. The ease how they went to 14 should scare fans. Keep him, great coach.
name of your sex tape
Sex? WTH is that?
When a mommy and a daddy love each other…….
keep going…you’re going to need to provide more info for some of us
Maybe I need to add some pictures.
They’re worth 1,000 words, or so I’ve been told
Tell ya what, i’d be a lot fucking richer if i didn’t know the meaning of word.
No kidding
Most expensive STD is a K.I.D.
Koitus Induced Disease?
Born to soon. I dealt with long hours, child support and pension money. Now they want to pay you to stay home and parent.
That’s a good name for your next tape.
If they switched to it they are committed to it. You don’t just flip flop around with your coaching and managerial philosophy.
Fire him and go 43. Can we be worse? Oh yeah, 32nd.
If they fire him they’ll replace him with another 3-4 coach.
Not real privy on this 34 crap, just from what i see it sucks.
Yeah. It’s been a long time since the Vikings have used the 3-4.
I think Burnsie had a 3-4 defense during his tenure.
I think they were running the 3-4 right before Burnsie got there, Floyd Peters ran a 4-3 Burnsie’s first few years and then Kiffen ran the defense his last couple years and was 4-3 guy.
Just like any defense it depends on who’s running and who’s playing it. Donatell looked real good as the DC in Denver the last few years but he was also DC in name only, HC Fangio ran the defense and called the plays, just like Zim did here.
Most of the time that is true.
However, the Vikings still have the personnel for a 4-3.
Personnel didn’t change too much from Zimmer’s defense.
ZaDarus Smith was the biggest addition.
The secondary is irrelevant, but in the front 7 players who fit: Tomlinson fit fine, played the same position in NY before coming here, Hicks sucks but he’s a 3-4 guy, Hunter was slow to transition, I don’t know how good phillips was before but he was ok, Z smith has always been in 3-4. Kendricks doesn’t fit but also should be gone for performance relative to cap hit reasons. Hunter isn’t a great fit but was ok and got a little better as the season went along. Hunter and Kendricks are the only starters that don’t fit a 3-4.
So I count 2 new players, Hicks and Smith.
Tomlinson was brought in by Zimmer.
I would still stay the front seven is mostly from a 4-3 scheme.
Can they learn a 3-4? I guess. They got worse as the year went along.
3-4, 4-3, really doesn’t matter, the defense was going to suck either way, got worse because the defensive coaching sucks.
Probably.
Staley won’t be canned
Hey another record that reflects just how good Cousins is and how bad our defense was.
Disclaimers.
BUT since Cousins came to the Vikings….
Cousins approximate cost per yards thrown $7,400.
Rodgers………………………………………………$8,200.
Cousins approximate cost per TD thrown…..$1,014,000
Rodgers………………………………………………$1,040,000
Cousins approximate cost per win…………….$3,370,000
Rodgers……………………………………………….$3,180,000
Based on production, compared to Rodgers, it does not look like Cousins is overpaid.
What’s the cost per win?
I think its up there right?
Oh yeah, missed that.
What I get out of this is:
Ha Ha Packer!
The Vikings must have the densest, most ignorant defensive players in the history of the NFL because apparently they are to stupid to figure out not only how to play in a new scheme over the course of an entire season, but actually got dumber as the season went on since the defensive performance actually got worse. Apparently they all just suck and need to be cut.
I was discouraged to see the defense get worse instead of better,
At midseason I thought it would get start to get better as the players became more familiar with the scheme.
Its my biggest problem with the coaching. If you get worse, not better that’s a problem, as a coach either you aren’t effectively teaching, communicating, or you’re an asshole nobody listens to because you’re an asshole, or maybe all of the above, IDK.
Weren´t we told before the Gnats game that the veteran leadership on defense was taking over and whatnot? Better not do that again if the result is the shit show they dared to put out on the field last Sunday.
Most of that veteran leadership is going to be gone….so won’t have to worry about it.
Correct. Like I said only 2 starters from playoff game on defense are locks to start next season.
Quantum entanglement is a fascinating subject.
That isn’t what I’m teaching, but it’s still fascinating.
Quantum Leap is a fascinating show.
Is the new one better than the old one? I could never get into the old one. Too much drama for me.
IDK, never seen the new one, haven’t seen the old one in years
It indeed is. Our universe – or the place we call that – seems to work in many mysterious ways.
I’m off to teach class. Hopefully y’all can figure out the Vikings’ offseason while I’m gone.
MOAR WINNING! I did it!
Pay this man! He figured it out!
Viking offseason:
Fire Donatell, hire Ejiro Evero.
Buddy of mine said he heard Thielen on the radio yesterday, said he’s definitely playing next year, although it may not be in Minnesota. Bummer, was hoping he’d retire a Viking. Oh well, see ya’, the contract is too horrible to do anything with. Time to cut bait.
That contract has too much money to restructure. He can get cut, take a big chunk of money and play somewhere else for vet minimum. Sucks but I don’t see any way out of this that makes sense for either party.
We will have 145 million to play with in CAP space in 2024 once AT and H. Smith are off the books though.
We could get 7 elite players for 20 million a pop or just give it all to Cousins.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see them re-sign Cousins if they can get him to sign a team-friendly extension.
LOTS of contracts to look at this off-season.
lol, yeah sure.
team, friendly for him and for a team to win at all with him is like 8M
Cousins? Team friendly contract?
Correct.
Cousins only does guaranteed contracts.
Hopefully Kwesi isn’t that dumb to do that.
Kwesi just did it last offseason.
True.
I guess I should have typed “again”
Yeah hopefully not. If Korko want to retire a Vikings he needs to nut up and actually sign a team friendly contract or gtfo.
If Kirk wants to win a championship he needs to realize that he might have to take less money so the team can upgrade other positions.
Thing is, the Vikes most likely will not be able to compete on that level for a few seasons, especially if they decide to blow it all up now, so where´s the incentive for Kirk to take less money… will be very interesting to see how this will play out.
It’s going to be difficult, and is not the Wilf’s style to blow it up. And frankly, many fans are perfectly fine with .500 and a playoff appearance.
Look for another competitive rebuild in 2023.
Yeah, this time even more competitive rebuild!
Where’s the incentive to sign here at all then?
That´s the point, kinda…
That’s interesting because that may signal he wants a Ship and maybe he sees the writing on the wall it ain’t happening in MN. No matter what (unless he’s a Packer) I wish him good luck in the quest, hopefully with MN.
Of course he says he’s playing next year with $19 mill setting on the books for 23 so he’s going to keep that option open until its not.
So I shoulder pressed 225 for 6 reps on a Smith Machine this morning. I should start posting work out videos so you scrawny kids can see what a real beast of a man looks like.
Here’s a little taste of me and the wife working out at home. Plenty more if you want it.


Which one is you?
Ha!
LOL
Hawt
Wow…how disrespectful for the Jags but I guess this is normal, or not I don’t know.
Its very abnormal to have a neutral site AFCCG
they have to for timing
Doesn´t bode well for the Jags.
League Office this week….
Memo to staff with emphasis to the referee’s:
“we are advising the Bills and Chiefs to sell tickets for the AFC championship game..”
Will be watching that game with a close eye on the refs…
I think NFL teams are required to start selling game tickets a certain number of days prior to the game, even if the game may not happen. No different that teams that may make the playoffs starting to sell tickets before final matchups/dates are determined.
Probably not as popular as fire Ed, but should KOC keep calling plays?
I’m not a big fan.
That idiotic throw back to Kirk on 3rd and 1?
Or those 2 screen passes that went for negative yards on the second to the last drive?
I could go on, but he does some really weird shit sometimes.
Oofda, that 3rd and 1 call was so atrocious. Hey, let’s throw a double flea-flicker to the slowest guy on our offense! What could go wrong? Fuck.
Would’ve been better off throwing it to Bradbury.
made me lol
Well plaid.
That really sucked.
That play works great in Madden!
Have you pre-ordered 2024 yet?
Asking for a kfey
I like those trick plays but NOT then
and not to cement-feet Cousins.
That play could have worked if the Giants were in man coverage. The CBs and LBs would have went with the WRs and the TEs and no one would be on Kirk.
In zone though, they will blow it up. Why not do some motion or something to get a read on the coverage, and audible out?
Anyways, it seemed excessively stupid to me.
Yep. There’s a time to get cute. When you got a lead and want to send a message, do it. It deflates a team.
I read a study about trick plays and I don’t remember if the data involved NFL teams but basically the team that runs a trick play first had a MUCH higher rate of success.
We should start asking to receive the ball on every kick off to start the game and then always run a trick play on the first series. That way, we can beat the other team to it and significantly increase our chance of success. The other team will never see it coming.
If they win the toss and choose to receive just onside kick it.
Perfect. We win either way.
Boy you’re good at interpreting data results.
It’s a gift.
He had very little experience calling plays so he is still learning. I would prefer he leave primary playcalling to his OC, though grandson of Bum doesn’t have any experience either. I thought he did a good job making decisions and managing the clock and games for a rookie HC, he could probably improve in that regard with handing off playcalling as well.
The timing of some of his timeouts was suspect at times I thought, but overall much better than Zimbo concerning decisions and managing the clock. Might be we´d need a new, experienced OC too should KOC decide to hand that part off to someone else.
Kirk moved off to the side, gave everything away with his posture and the look on his face like a toddler on Christmas morning – defense knew it was coming back to him.
Ed Donatell
“home”. If he is kept on that is a joke
One way, up. Fire the POS.
Hey GF, you saw a fairly entertaining game.
Was the defense as sickening to watch in person as on TV?
Pathetic. The dude next to me was on the same page as I was. Kept looking at each other with utter confusion on our faces & just shook our head. Unbelievable that we can be that impotent on defense. Fuck.
He never really had a stinker of a defense until this year….this means its probably more the players than the coaching…but I think he gets fired anyway.
The concerning thing about Ed’s defense is that it seemed to get worse at the season went along.
Obviously all of the players got worse because of Cousins.
Of course….Cousins!!!!
That’s why they have to let him walk. I will lol so hard if they ink this turd.
Tough call after one solid year. Is that one year an anomaly, or did he finally “get it”?
We’ve had shitty play at C ever since Sullivan hurt his back. It’s getting old.
Give him the transition tag, let him get an offer from another team and match it if it’s reasonable.
decent plan.
Yes it is, contract year and he still sucks. Would b a huge mistake. Get a FA OC who you know can be ok and draft another eventually
What center is available in free agency that is even comparable to Bradbury though? Its easy to say do it it you ignore the fact the player you want them to sign does not exist.
Draft the MI kid who’s projected late 3rd rd….Olusegun Oluwatimi. He’s going to be a stud.
He or John Michael Schmitz who is about 15 lbs bigger, either would be fine with me.
That’s all well and good, but who?
Saying “Get rid of XX and replace with a FA” is a lazy argument. It’s assuming that there is a capable free agent available. What if the best FA available is worse than Bradbury?
Yep, and that worse FA will likely take more money to sign than Bradbury.
nope, Cole type but key is term. 1 year, nothing to worry about vs 4 for the loser turd
Pretty sure you can find a guy on the free agent market to come in and get pancaked on the regular like Bradbury for a reasonable price
I’d take schottman for 2m over him regardless. wrong, overpaying on albatross contracts kills teams off faster than anything. He got rag dolled this weekend again
100%. I’d take Schottman even if Bradbury agreed to $2m
yup, he gets panckaed into the pocket which is the worst senario for our qb who is not mobile
If you’re going to continue to employ Cousins it makes no sense to re-sign Bradbury, he still can’t pass block.
Yeah, I don’t disagree.
Turdberry is a mobile center who fits a running game well, but can’t hold up in a passing game…we are now a passing team..he needs to go.
Yep, I think the Vikings know this.
Any word on Sokol? He signed a futures contract, so they haven’t ruled him out of development yet…….
Might want to at least entertain keeping Cousins.
https://twitter.com/clappeddan/status/1615024898761441280?s=61&t=v7NBv7y6DSkltM1lseRtrw
No reason to move on from Kirk unless we have a better option. All the talk about “get rid of Kirk” is silly. How feeble are our memories? Do we not remember Christian Ponder? Josh Freeman? Spurgeon Wynn? I’ve been a Vikings fan a LONG time, and I’ve seen shitty QB play through the years.
How many wins would this team have had with Ponder at QB? Would JJ even be considered a good WR with Ponder at QB?
Kirks going nowhere anytime soon. I still expect an extension as well.
The team does need to start looking at QBs to drsdt though and sit behind kirk
Sucks that Mond sucked.
Yeah
LOL, you said he was gonna ball out
Mond is a really good example of competent QBs are less plentiful than people think.
Yes you can find some late in the draft like Purdy, but plenty in the top 4 rounds just turn out to be awful.
He sucked in college and shouldn’t have been drafted where he was.
Yeah bad skolly take. He sucks
It happens, I thought Jake Locker was going to be an elite QB.
This is a good point. JJ is not going to like playing for some scrub. Need to be smart about the QB position.
Kirk will be 35 in August. QBs hit a wall as they approach 40, so we really need to have a three year plan in place.
I remember those years as well. Ponder, Freeman and Wyn? No thanks!
We need a plan in place for Kirks inevitable decline.
@You mean he can get worse in big games?@
Ha!
Did you see Brady last night? That’ll happen to all the QBs at some point.
Even Kirk.
Me imagining a worse Kirkland when pressured…..
Kirk is not going anywhere.
I wish he would, but there are no better options currently.
lol
So the “wins are the result of a good QB”, is back in vogue today?
I thought the 13 wins were a team effort, mostly, with good QB play playing a somewhat huge part in winning 13 games (and being 11-0 in one score games).
As GF asked above, we all do remember the likes of Christian Ponder, Josh Freeman or Donovan McWormkiller?
I think the QB does matter for wins.
I have always believed that.
It’s the Cousins lovers like lifer, and many others here, who claim it’s a team game when it’s a loss, but then post stats of wins like this one when it benefit’s Kirk.
Both sides like to use stats when those seem to confirm their respective narrative, and discard stats that don´t, IMO.
That stat above seems to show that without good QB play, the Vikings likely don´t win more than 7 games with the last ranked defense. Winning 13 games with that defense is a credit to the offense AND the QB (and maybe Special Teams), not just the QB.
Totally agree.
So, we’re the greatest worst defensive team ever?
Skolly hawt take: Ed won’t be fired.
Think Ed needs more time. It’s the players and not the scheme IMO
If ppl want Ed fired they should want KOC/KAM or whoever signed off on the Vikings moving to a 3-4 when 90% of the players have never played in a 3-4 their entire football career
That was a dumb move, in retrospect. Shouldn’t have forced the switch to 3-4, it seems. They had to be aware that they don’t have the personnel to run it properly.
Maybe, just maybe, if your players are more suited to a 4-3 you should run more 4-3 type concepts until you are able to get other players. You know, design your scheme to the players that you have (like that Belichek guy is notorious for doing). Being stubborn and trying to force square pegs into round holes is how you have one of the worst defenses in the league and make Daniel Jones look All Pro.
Make that EVERY QB we face look all pro…
Some truth to this and I know you’re exaggerating, but nothing close to 90%. 3-4 or 4-3 is mostly irrelevant to the Defensive backfield so I wouldn’t even count them. As far as front 7 players that had experience in a 3-4 were Z smith, Tomlinson, and Hicks. Hunter had zero experience in it and not an ideal fit, though he did seem to adjust throughout the year. Kendricks no experience and not a fit. Phillips didn’t have experience but seemed ok not great. If KAM and KOC’s philosophies are to run a 3-4 then they should implement it. They should be held accountable for hiring Donatell when there were other coaches available.
Correct. We as fans just want an immediate scape goat but gotta dig deep before firing someone. Maybe Donny is bad but who knows?
lmao
SO there is some truth to that. The players are old and slow. Ed also completely shits the bed as a play caller too.
How many times are guys exactly where they are supposed to be, and the middle of the field is wide open?
He has guys play off coverage repeatedly. Its really pathetic. Even KOC had to talk with him about playing tighter coverage.
KOC as the head coach needs to address this. Eds play calls were really bad for huge stretches this season.
I lol every time I saw hunter covering a RB or WR.
id put hunter with his hand in the dirt on the line with Z right behind him.
good FUGGIN luck to that side of the OL
Remember when they did that with Jared Allen & Griffen? Can’t remember who we were playing against, but they destroyed that QB.
I can understand that thinking but then I also can’t. I mean, how many times can a team run a clear out of the flats and float a RB to the flats and gash you in a game before you make a change? Those types of things are the things that got real old.
I have that same view. Every single team has had easy throws in the flat where there isn’t a defender within 10 yards (or more) of the RB. SO tired of seeing that over, and over.
Yep, repeating the same mistakes over and over again all year long. Can’t have that shit.
According to the logic of several posts above, leaving a RB wide open without a defender w/in 10 yards kept happening because the Vikings switched to a 3-4.
Then those people are kind of asserting we are employing professional defensive players who don’t know what the flats are if that was their assignment.
Yes but the reason they don’t know what the flats are is because the Vikings switched to a 3-4 so they no longer can identify parts of the field.
Maybe the 3-4 defense just needs more Beatles influence
I posted a story about this. Interested to hear what folks think. Looking at his coaching history, he hasn’t been as shitty as he was this year. The Vikes D has been hot trash for the past couple years. Is Ed truly the issue? He’s an easy scapegoat, but I’m not sure.
He’s an easy scapegoat but as fans that’s what we want. But is he truly the root cause??? Maybe idk.
I think it’s the players in the scheme. Either get rid of the players, switch back to 4-3 or fire the person that signed off on the switch
I don’t know, it’s an interesting question to explore.
It is partly the players, partly the scheme fit for some, but mostly its Donatell. The defense got worse as the season went along despite the team being very healthy pretty much all year and upgrading at CB along the way with Shelley taking over opposite PP. Players new to a scheme or defensive alignment should end up better at understanding the defense and performing in it, not worse like this defense. That’s not the players, that’s not scheme fit, that’s coaching. The End.
The other question isn’t scheme, it’s play calling within that scheme.
He’s never been a great DC, his BS defense is the same as it always was. Remember the GB Philly game back when Donavon McNabb hit Freddie Mitchell in the final minutes on 4th and 26 for a 28 yard gain against a shell coverage by GB? Want to guess who was DC and where on the field the catch was made?
LOL…
Yesterdays hawt take was he would be fired.
If not fired within 2 days, he won’t be fired.
Good grief.
And you call me a clown.
I said I thought he would be fired clown. Read. I also continued to say that if he’s not fired today, the odds exponentially decrease of him being gone clown.
Exactly.
He will be fired, unless he is not fired.
Brilliant.
LOL
That’s how you can claim to never be wrong like Five. As long as you predict both sides of the coin, you were right and the right take makes the wrong take you also made no longer exist anymore.
I agree not having the right players for the scheme is a big part of the problem, but I watched this YouTube video a week or two ago, and it’s worth checking out. Fangio acolytes are failing miserably all over the league.
I hoped someone would post this again, didn´t take the time to watch it when it was posted a few days ago. So, thanks!
Glad to be of service.
Morning skol flakes
Morning Skolly!
God Damn Cowboys won…makes me sick(er).
Go 9ers, Go Giants. Go Bengals, Go Chargers.
Chargers will go nowhere, except on vacation maybe, just like the Vikings 😉
Would be nice if the Jags can make some noise, though.
I would be fine with the Jags making noise.
jags are going nowhere but epic game to watch all world qb play
Curious how many INTs and/or fumbles young Goat will produce in a hostile playoff environment on the road 😅
Rooting for the kid though, I like him. Jags were wise to hire Pederson.
Maybe they can stop by Thailand and say hi to Klinsbury.
Yup, Thailand sure looks nice this time of the year.
Did you see the pics of his GF in thailand?
I did. That’s how you celebrate being out of a job in style (if one has the $$$, of course).
got a lot of respect for Kliff
Chargers are out lol
That’s what I meant when I wrote that they’ll go nowhere, except on vacation 😅
Vikings defense gave up 400 total yards to Daniel Jones and fools are actually on Kirk Cousins ass.
Yeah, I realize I am not rational. Defense was for sure the reason for that loss.
I still feel that last play is completely unforgivable for anyone not a rookie. My opionion.
I am RONG a lot, and realize that.
If you see the pressure the interior line gave up all game and how well Cousins handled that to even keep the game as close as it was the last play is really meaningless with the fact we were in it because of Cousins in the first place.
It was also a bad play call honestly but in the end to much to overcome.
I agree with BSF, with Cleveland getting destroyed on that play I don’t think he could have stepped into a throw to Osborn, he could have chucked it up to JJ though, I would have preferred that low percentage throw.
I do like Kurt Warner’s take, and I think there would have been a way to get it to KJ….since I’ve looked at this too many times.
Hock was Cousins second read, but Warner makes a very good point that Hock is chipping and most likely won’t get downfield very far. So, Warner says that in this spot he would have just went to KJ as the second read.
That’s going off script, and this is the difference between Warner and Kirk.
Kirk Cousins is a QB version of Ron Burgandy. He’s going to follow the script. Had Kirk set a little farther back and pivoted to KJ right away, I think he could have gotten the ball out.
This would have required some improv here though. Kirk isn’t going to extend a play or improv.
Here’s what I hate about that play. JJ is all alone. He know can be triple teamed. Hock is chipping and won’t get past the sticks.
Those are your two best guys. Why call a play that your two best guys are fucked on?
Anyways, I don’t really want to go over this any more. This whole play really pisses me off the more I look at it.
exactly, nobody brings up he should have read tha pre snap and audibled, etc.
This is what I don’t like about Kirk. When shit starts to break down, we are fucked. There’s pressure up the middle and Hock isn’t downfield. A truly elite QB will find a way.
He’s not that guy. Nor will he be.
Yup and he has zero mobility or strength to break a tackle. The new model is a throwing qb who can xtend plays, very tough to defend. Allen, Mahomes, Burrows, Herbie, Hurts
Was just responding with something similar above.
I’ve been agreeing with your takes a lot lately. I’m starting to think I might be eating too many gummies. Lol
good for sleeping
Slowly transforming into an alpha
Those gummies may have something in them below a 7.0 on the pH scale.
I’d say a truly elite QB can complete 80% of his passes for over 270 yards and 2 TD’s with no interceptions when under pressure 49% of the time. But that’s just me.
Whose truly elite in the league as a QB right now?
I bet they are mobile QBs that can extend plays.
That’s been Rogers MO for years.
Mahomes.
Allan.
Most of the truly elite QBs do that.
Its Cousins weakness.
They also dont throw behind the sticks with the season on the line. Get real dude.
All QB’s throw behind the sticks and especially when you’re about to get sacked and it’s your only option. Wake up and smell the coffee KFEY.
No they fucking dont. Top QBs in the league making 15% of their teams cap DO NOT THROW SHORT OF THE STICKS WITH THE SEASON ON THE LINE! SHOW ME ONE THAT DOES! I want a fuckin video, or break down of it. But that doesnt exist because they dont do that. Good lord get your head out of his crotch man.
I have to say your emphatic insistence that QB’s don’t throw short of the sticks doesn’t make it any more true. All QB’s in the league throw screens, slants, and outs that are short of the sticks every single game.
Youre not reading what I am typing or you are being willingly ignorant! IN THAT SITUATION! 4 & 8, Season on the line, you have one play, one throw. And you throw the throw that guarantees you lose the game. 90% of the QBs in the league THROW PAST THE STICKS! I am not saying only Kirk throws slants and screens you fool. Read and comprehend what I am saying to you. Jesus its like talking to a toddler.
So you’re looking at some minuscule, circumstance specific, highly unique play to state no “elite” QB would throw short of the sticks on? Go find real proof of that and get back to me. Good luck with that.
This is and has been my point since 2018. But I am a “hater” for saying it./
Kirk sucks when it matters.
No matter what is happening, you got to at least arm punt it and hope for the best. It was crap all around, crap call, crap OL, crap everything. The only hope was winging it up for grabs.
He did play very well, until he did not. I understand that it is one play.
It just completely fits his career narrative that is put out by looking at his record. Stats are great. Trophy’s are better.
he’s like 3-19 in prime time and 2 were forfeits by bears.
Why do you keep posting that like it has any relevance to Sunday’s game? He was the only reason we were in that game period.
It’s completely fine to question the decision to throw to hock and the playcall by koc, but to suggest that was the defining reason they lost is ludicrous. Fire ed
1-4 in the playoffs over his career.
Always Kirks fault.
I thought 1-3 maybe I’m rong though
tied with purdy and young goat! he’s like 36 vs 22
in this game yes but he is the reason. 40m and using all draft capital to make him 18th wrecked the D. dum lib
Defense was wrecked by Zimbo & Wreck in their last few seasons, as well. I agree that I wouldn’t extend Cousins if he’s not ready to give the Vikings a large discount. We’ll see if he wants to be part of “competitive rebuild” part deux.
They paid him and drafted all 1st/2nd rd Ol, 2nd rd te, traded for 1st rd TE, 1sat rd wr, thelen was pro bowl level in ’18, ’19, cook 2nd rd, Ham is all pro. Mattison 3rd rd. Yet somehow he has no success. The D gets zero except gladney who was a disaster.
Two first picks in the last draft were defensive players. Sure rookies need time to develop, but Queasy did draft a safety and a CB. Too bad those picks (an his strange draft day deals) blew up right in his face.
They could develop still. Get Cine and Booth healed up and they have time. DBs usually take a couple of years anyway without any injuries. Remember how great Rhodes looked his rookie year?
I actually liked the Cine pick BTW. He was fast out there. I saw him live at a pre season game and he could cover ground.
He was slow picking up the pro D scheme, which is not uncommon for D backs.
I was a little worried with Booths injury history that he would be like an Irv Smith.
When you draft a guy with an injury history, and he gets injured, that’s on you.
Booth was known as injury prone IIRC, curious if Cine can come back from that gruesome injury, and if he’s still any good as a football player.
Dak has done alright. As long as Cine doesn’t end up with infections like Alex Smith he’ll be fine, at least physically.
and the idiot traded 2 all pro future wr’s intradivision
Might as well trade JJ to the Bears so they don’t feel left out.
yup
what did beaker do downs 1-3? not his fault but he still is a choking loser
He was the only reason we were in that game period.
how’d they do?
Lol, Kirk cousins, the champion of almost
looking at last in the division so why not pay a old loser qb another 35M, lmao. This franchise is ridiculous.
Got hit repeatedly that’s what. 49% pressure rate. Note how Brady looked last night behind his bad line. This is the way it works Five. Truly.
lol, look at Allen’s OL, burrows, etc. You pay a guy top dollars to overcome that or else pay baker 5m
Cousins has produced at the top level his entire career behind bad lines. His defenses have sucked, his kickers have failed, and the teams he’s been on have been less than good. He has been a very good QB on very bad teams.
only 2nd most INT’s this year after Davis Mills
So the increase in interceptions and slight decrease in completion percentage is a relevant commentary. My take on it is several times the receivers and Cousins were simply out of synch. Chalk that up to a new scheme where receivers adjust their routes in flight and the QB isn’t sure exactly where they are going to be. The second contributing factor is the insistence by the new HC that Cousins take more chances with the ball. Routes where Cousins in the past would say “no” to, KOC wants him to “take”. People here supported that view. Just throw up more 50/50 balls Kirk and take more chances. You get what you ask for.
And he hung an 85 QBR in the playoff game, elite performance…you can pay him an elite salary…but yes, Cousins fault.
he was elite sitting on bench in 4th qtr vs gb when it was 41-10 after a garbageGoat pass to cut it to 31
In da Fools defense, they love to be up dat ass. I mean, who doesn’t?
Are people looking for a full rebuild this year? I know that is my preference.
Off season will be interesting, and once again, the only season the Vikings can win consistently.
Yeah I agree it’s time. The vets are aged out and we have to take a purge cap year and meld two drafts and FA periods together and try and rebuild the lines and defense for the 2025 season.
and either have drafted another attempt at QB or signed Kirk to another team friendly deal.
They should but probably won’t, “competitive rebuild”
So, more of the same.
They’ll run it out one more time next year, and in 2024 when they have over 100 million in cap I bet they start a full rebuild.
2027 we have a legit chance if we hit on a qb for the 1st time since 1961
Guess who really wanted us to draft Hurts?
Me too.
fo sho
Told he was small… sucked. Couldn’t throw.
nlah blah blah…. Typical 5 responses.
Yep, full rebuild.
They’ll rebuild the defense.
Offense will be largely intact.
Bradbury
Pros: He played well until he hurt his back. Once Bradbury got hurt our run production plummeted. Especially up the middle.
Cons: Still gets bull rushed in Pass Pro. Didn’t look good in playoffs. .
They’ll let him go if they like someone they think they can draft, or think a guy like Schlottman (or whatever the fuck his name is) can fill in.
AT
He’s due 19 million and Rick made the contract too shitty so there isn’t a financial reason to restructure.
He got really slow this year, and KOCs offense runs deep developing routes.
GONE
Cook
They did not give the ball once to Mattison in the playoff game.
He’s due 14 million with 6 as dead cap.
IMO: He doesn’t look elite anymore, but he is a core piece of KOCs offense.
I think he will restructure. If he doesn’t he will be gone in 2024 when he is due 16 million.
Kirk
Under contract for 2023. Not going anywhere in 2023.
We have a lot of needs on defense and need a WR2. Almost no chance we draft a QB in 2023 since we don’t have a 2nd round pick, draft #23, and have a lot of needs.
Not sure what the 2024 QB draft class will look like, but they should target someone then. At some point we need to draft and develop a QB.
So kirk is on the roster until at least 2024.
We’ll have to see what they try and offer him. Personally I think they should try and give him a 3 year deal for around 25 million a year, which I doubt he will take. Then just let him play out his contract next year, and start the rebuild.
BSF for GM
I approve of this plan
I’m over Cook. His best games are behind him. Mattison should have gotten a lot more snaps, but we won’t afford him this off-season anyway.
We need to draft D with our limited # of picks, so we’re left with signing a mid-tier FA and draft a good RB in 2024.
Bradbury, AT, Cook, Kirk? Cut one, marry one, kill one, fuck one, go!
What kind of cutting are we doing here? Knife, scissor or just paper?
any kind you’re into
Yup but won’t happen. Wonder if we traded beaker and didn’t kick the can for 20M on ole thelen and many others and traded Hunter for a 1st like I said where we would be now? hmmm.. Likely looking at Owl in 2025 vs sucking for years now
Why rebuild when you can “competitively” rebuild!?
So many bad contracts to shed, I think we’ll see a LOT of changes this year, thankfully. It’ll be sad to see some guys go, but it’s time.
Brady should not have fell for the “one more year” temptation. Unless he did it do get 100K yards passing. That is understandable. Neat milestone.
Meh, it was the proverbial straw that blew the high maintenance wedding up.
Interesting what happens to the team wins column when the O-line and defense begin to fail. Even a great QB cannot overcome that in general. Brady has been blessed with great O-line play and great defenses his whole career. Now… not so much.
It matters…exactly the reason Daniel Jones balled out. We got zero pressure on him.
Do you think Brady would have gone to 10 SB’s and won 7 with the Browns?
Absolutely would not have.
Correct. Because it’s a team game. QB’s alone don’t win games or championships.
Christian Ponder could have thrown for 400 against our defense on Sunday. Fucking pathetic. I have more pressure on me when I play catch in the yard with my son.
That’s why ed has to go. No way that talent is THAT bad. Mike white, mack, jones- all highest games of year and careers.
I agree that the lack of blitzing is on the DC. Still interested to see whether KOC thinks it’s on Ed or on the personnel.
It was all just a ploy to get those teams to blow money on big contracts for Mac, Danny Dimes, Goff, etc.
Warner has some tape on the game for Jones. The defense was playing man and zone on the same play. More than once. It was a mess scheme wise and execution wise.
Sounds right. Tried confusing the QB and wound up confusing themselves. Fuckers.
What did it look like in the stands when we just constantly left the middle of the field uncovered?
I was picking out receivers he could throw to on every play. You could just watch them come open, especially in the middle of the field. They kept letting Jones roll out (which, when you aren’t blitzing, how the fuck do you let the QB out of the pocket?), and he’d have his pick of wide open receivers to throw to while under zero pressure.
Yup and beaker has 2 all pro OT’s and had all pro LT and OG in DC. some just fail always
I have debunked your “he had all pro LT and OG in DC” lie so many times it’s sickening. I won’t write that all down here again. STOP lying.
williams and scherff were all pro, fact. Enitre OL was solid.
They are all pro’s but they didn’t play with Cousins when they were all pro’s. Scherff played well in 2017 but the rest of the line was shit due to injuries. (26 different line combinations through week 13). Williams was hurt with a bum knee in 2015 and 2017. Cousins had one decent line in DC in 2016 and threw for almost 5,000 yards. The only time in his career he had a good line. Stop with your lies.
but he had talent and there are always injuries
Which is why despite having bad lines, his production has been exceptional. He made great throws again, and again, and again. For his entire career.
Morgan Moses also very good
LOL, that won’t ever happen.
In 2015 Joe Barry (Packers DC) was hired by the Redskins as their defensive coordinator under head coach Jay Gruden. Following the 2016 season, Barry was fired. In 2015 the Redskins ranked 28th in total defense (yards per game) and 17th in points per game. In 2016 the Redskins ranked 28th in total defense and 18th in points per game. Barry somewhat infamously said at a press conference in regards to a question about how bad the defense was “it doesn’t matter how many yards or points you give up as long as you score one more point than the other team”.
I think this is Ed Donatell’s mantra.
I agree. Ed should be gone.
@still Kirk’s fault@
Laughing…
I mean, if I changed my stance now, people would wonder.
They would….I go by fives motto, when I am wrong I just double down and argue harder.
have to be wrong once to “double down:”
See??? Exactly!!
I keep Udoh, Shelley and Mullins. The rest see ya.
Bullard too
All Pro Andrew DePaolo
yes
Schlottman is a capable backup
Yep. He’s a low quality starter but a decent back up. Good guy to have around.
Keep Mullens, a decent backup QB.
Draft one.
kirk heir
@Nobody wants to keep Joseph?@
I fully expect them to end up with Maher after last night.
That would be very Vikings. @I’m sure they can fix him@.
I forgot Bisi was even on the team.
2023 NFL Draft
Round 1: 1 pick (own)
Round 3: 1 pick (own)
Round 4: 1 pick (Lions)
Round 5: 1 pick (own)
2024 NFL Draft
Round 1: 1 pick (own)
Round 2: 1 pick (own)
Round 4: 1 pick (Lions)
Round 5: 1 pick (Eagles)
Round 6: 1 pick (own)
4 picks to work some magic.
DL most pressing, IMO. Bring back PPeterson for one more year, draft a CB next year.
It obviously depends on who is available & who falls. Not much draft capital available to move up, they’ll be picking at 23 or lower.
Don’t care about PP but that’s me.
Yeah, I just think our secondary drops off a ton without him. That’s not taking into consideration others they could bring in, of course, but just losing PP is a big loss if you don’t have a plan to replace him.
He looked slower towards end of year, father time is catching him and they drafted booth to play CB for cheap
Booth is really good on Madden. I intercept lots of passes with him.
and Evans looks like a decent player and have Duke now
Right now he’s our best CB. Could you imagine a D where he’s our worst? I’m sure he’d be retired by the time we develop 2 good CBs.
My concern, too.
qb. I would retain 15M and trade beaker for a late 7th. Let Baker or someone play for 5m.
Time for Kwesi to show us his magic touch…
Not much to work with.
Correct….expect a lot of trade backs to acquire picks most likely.
Maybe be some with the first pick… but it all depends on how it unfolds.
It’s still so early tough to even mock anything.
I do see speed being a huge factor for the defensive players.
and big ol OC.
Mainly… Because of the stupid fucking runs up the middle for little to no gain.
I can mock anything or anyone at anytime.
u got skillz
About the only way to get moar pics, unless they start shopping JJ, there should be takers.
Really… we don’t need moar.
f it.
very slim chance to get a player of Hocks caliber for what we did
look What the bears gave up for claypool….
Hock was huge for us. He was the only guy that could consistently beat single coverage, and as a TE it a team wanted to double or triple JJ, you could slide Hock over and take advantage.
Sucks that we don’t have a second round pick, but Hock is a great player to have.
They may try to trade a vet or two. Problem is that Wreck fucked up all the contracts, now nobody has any trade value. You basically have to pay teams to take on the shitty contract on half these guys.
Bigger problem is that wreck drafted a bunch of meh or shitty players on defense from 2016 through 2021, go look back, it’s bad.
I would say that isn’t all on wreck, I am guessing if they were drafting a Defensive player that Zimm had lots of input.
Wreck didn’t give a fuck about Zim’s input, Wreck drafted and signed who Wreck wanted.
How could Wreck get input from Zim when they didn’t even talk to each other?
Yeah that too, Wreck cut Zim off.
Yep, exactly.
Yikes. With the amount of players likely cut or let go, we better hope for a miracle in the draft, and several talented players slide and become UDFAs.
Even if we hit it’s a rebuild. Last place almost for sure. 1st place schedule includes 9ers, chefs, etc. Likely win 1 division game next year. That’s 9 losses right there.
I’ll bet you that we don’t finish last.
On the plus side, by just moving on from H. Smith and AT in 2023, we will have close around 145 million in cap space in 2024.
So grabbing a free agent WR2 or a decent LB is not out of the question.
Lots of bad contracts. I’m going to do a post just on the shit contracts on this team, because there are many.
Step 1: Fire Big Ed!
I can’t disagree with this.
yep
I see both sides to this. Presidents get 4 years. It takes time for good change to come about, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better (it sure would if they do a full rebuild). They installed the system, now they need to get the right players. Next year could be quite different than the shit-show we saw this year.
But then I remember how many yards we gave up to mediocre offenses, how we got bitch-slapped by better teams, and I want him gone.
gm
Good morning Mick
Good morning, SKOL!
guten Morgen!
Good morning backpage!!!
FTP
FTC
Good morning Rob!
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
Mornin’ Rob!
Cincy is getting screwed by the NFL.
If the Bengals had beaten the Bills in the cancelled game, they would be the number 2 seed. This weeks Bengals/Bills game should be at a neutral site just like the AFC championship game if KC/Buffalo play.
Go Bengals!!!!
Will root for the Bengals as well if I watch that game at all, agreed that the league is screwing the Bengals here.
I’m starting to dislike the Bills for real…
I feel the “Win for Damar” will be the story, and they are setting up a Bills-49rs Super Bowl.
Whatever makes the most ad revenue.
with their OL wrecked they were done regardless, they suck
And so the long, dark off season is upon us. Donatell has not been fired yet, maybe he stays after all.
Hard to muster any enthusiasm for this team or football in general right now. SKOL!
I don’t think he gets fired.
I think if the defense is terrible after 6 weeks in 2023, he is gone.
Wilfs don’t like over reactions.
They might keep him for another season, maybe providing a few players that are better suited to play in a 3-4 defense.
Worries me that the defense actually got worse during the year, that’s on coaching IMHO (injury luck was OK last season).
It is on the coaching.
Unless the players just aren’t good enough?
Defense will need a major overhaul, remains to be seen if Donatell will be in charge of that. Many of the players don’t seem to be good enough, or good enough anymore…
Both. Lack of talent on defense was glaring, and coaching on D was awful.
This^^^
I think I have an outside shot of beating Kendricks and Hicks in a foot race.
I explored this. It’s actually a good point, worth looking at.
Exactly, they regressed throughout the season. Threw in one or two semi-decent games, the rest of it was shit and it got stinkier as the season wore on.
Yeah….he gets fired.
KOC is not amused, clearly.
It’s time.
You’re probably right, but that pisses me off. When something is broken, fix it.
I think he is gone, glad they didn’t do it yesterday, bet he is gone by Friday.
We’ll see soon. I’ll be surprised if they keep him on staff, unless they move him to an advisory position or something.