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Watching the first Bears game… Cousins started that game 17/17 for 176 yards and a TD.
Yeah he was on fire…I think that broke a Vikings record for straight completions if not an NFL record.
NFL record is 25. Cousins started strong for sure. I liked a lot of what the offense did that game, but there were still periods of non production that bugged me. They had a 21-3 lead, then let the Bears score 19 straight points to take a 22-21 lead. Then Cousins and the offense woke up, put a great drive together, and scored a TD with less than 2 minutes left. Also completed the 2 point conversion to Jefferson.
Defense was so frustrating…I want to see a high pressure defense from Flores. I think that’s the only play he’s got. Draft a bunch of rookie corners good luck they likely won’t get up to speed in time. FA corners that are any good cost $$. Sign Shelley, draft a couple late and go after edge rushers and LB’s that can blitz in a 3-4 and get to the QB. I want to see a front seven like San Fran that puts extreme pressure on every play. That will help our secondary.
I want to see a more balanced and more consistent offense as well. There were far too many stretches of poor play by the offense. The offense was far too pass-heavy, too. I don’t want to go back to Zimmer ball, but an offense should be balanced in order to keep defenses honest.
Yeah defense sucked ass that game. If I recall we were up 21-0 and then almost lost the game if it wasn’t for Dantzler on the strip
78 comments in a day and half? Not hard to catch up. Ain’t shit going on anyways.
Yeah… I did some work in the garage today since I couldn’t find a tee time. Just straightened things up and threw some stuff away. Took about an hour. Been watching reruns of Vikings games since then.
And it seems that about half of them are about golf.
Played a round today and played like shit. Shot well over 100. Drives sucked early but fixed them finally on the back side. Putting was off all round which is normally a strength. I added a counter weight on my putter I believe it makes my putting worse but will stick with it a while longer. Hit my irons crisp but kept fading them off target. Had a few easy chips I flubbed. Just an off day. Was cloudy slightly cold and 50 so not optimal weather which is my luck when it’s been 75 sunny all during the work week. I’m going to burn the balloon factory down.
At least you get to golf outside. We are looking at end of April with the amount of snow we have.
Simulator was fun yesterday. The lessons are paying off. 240-260 for most drives. Used to be 225 max on a decent hit with a tailwind.
Probably hit the simulator a few more times prior to actual outside golf.
Hitting in the garage a lot also.
Yeah drives are just perplexing to me. I give some lessons and know how to swing correctly but still can’t get my club head speed beyond 90-95. Had it 102 for a day on the simulator but lost it and haven’t been able to get it back. My best drives if everything is just right is about 260. That’s probably 2 out of ten swings. The rest 215-225 with with a hard fade spin or straight pull.
There’s a dude on twitter I might do his speed improvement program. Involves workouts tailored to strength and speed improvements.
Got high centered in snow today, first time I’ve been stuck in many many years. Shoveled my ass off & thankfully a few guys helped push me out.
I couldn’t find a tee time today. Got up and went to breakfast around 6:30 then came home and got on-line looking for a place to play. Earliest tee time available within 20 miles of me was 3:30.
Everyone has bad days on the course. I think it’s just way too early in the season right now. It’s cold up there, courses aren’t in the greatest condition, and it’s hard to play good golf if you don’t play more than once every 3 to 5 weeks.
I’d bet regarding your driver you’re just trying too hard. For men, that driver is our war club. Gotta pound it off the tee then beat our chest like a manly man. If you’re losing ten strokes or more a round because of bad tee shots, you have to slow it down and focus entirely on swinging in rhythm and on balance.
BTW my swing speed is around 75… I can shoot in the mid 80’s though because I hit the ball in the center of the club.
Long iron off the block.
I gave up on long irons after I turned 60. Just can’t generate enough club head speed to hit them. I have a 3, 5, and 7 wood plus a hybrid. My highest iron is a 5 iron.
If i hit a driver straight it was by accident.
Well me too, but I’m never actually trying to hit it straight. I usually hit a draw, but I can fade it too.
Can live with those, the radical hooks/slices are pesky.
I can draw or fade irons, hybrids and woods but not a driver at all. Driver is a hit and hope and that’s never good. I thought the Titleist TSR 2 had solved most of my driver issues but they’re back to 50/50 on off which isn’t cutting it. It’s the offseason so I’m hoping that’s all it is. Only playing about once a month with this shitty weather so once I’m every week I should get it dialed back in.
I did rework my iron swing this past month and it really feels good. Was making great contact today just was fading it which I wasn’t sure what would happen so I can adjust next week. Doing the flat wrist at the top which felt weird at first but is feeling more comfortable.
I could never achieve that flat wrist at the top position. I tried a long time ago couldn’t do it, and just went back to what felt natural. Hogan developed that flat wrist position and claimed it was his “secret”. Hogan fought a hook his whole career and that flat wrist technique was what he developed to stop hitting the ball left. Thus if you’re fading your irons, that’s probably why. As Lee Trevino said though, you can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen.
Yup that’s what happened today. The flat wrist makes center contact so crisp but I didn’t know that about Hogan so thanks for that makes a lot of sense with what I saw today. Hooks are maddening.
It’s a hard damn sport to master!
I want to golf so bad
It’s a good time to study swing improvements and such. I bought that swing aid device you see on Twitter that has the hinge and ball that goes in your left shoulder so when you swing back it gets you to turn and take the hands and club back in the proper inside to out path. Haven’t got it yet but adding it to another drill I’ve been working on for proper take away with irons.
Jalen Reagor was drafted with the 21st pick of the first round in 2020 by the Eagles, one pick before JJ. He never panned out for the Eagles, and frankly he has yet to pan out for the Vikings. Is he just a complete and utter bust, or is there still a chance he has the goods?
I think he’s dumber than a box of rocks unfortunately. As a WR he makes entirely to many mistakes. In one game last year he stopped his routes twice both time resulting in turnovers. KOC was livid. He a moron good for punt returns and that’s about it.
Bust, I´d say. Reagor just doesn´t have what it takes to become a good receiver in the NFL. He might be physically gifted, but he lacks the mental tools to evolve into something IMHO. As Lifer said, dumber than a box of rocks.
Bust but Vikes gave up like next to nothing to land him as a PR. They should move him to RB like Harvin / Patterson. He’s fast as hell and kinda bigger so he could work oit
Ads are getting to be a bit much on here. Every time you go away from the page you have to log in and ads drop from the top bottom that you have to close. It’s a little too much.
Using duck duck go browser on mobile and the plug in for Firefox on pc, I don’t see any ads and have to log in about every 24 hours.
Yeah I have an ad blocker on my lap top and use Firefox as my browser. No issues.
Same lol
Simple way around it Lifer lol
I don’t do simple that’s the conservative way. Simple is as simple does.
You need to follow the KISS rule son. It works.
Can’t wait for the cap magic to unfold from Kwesi/Bresinski.
Analytics……..
Honestly, there a number of moves they can make to clear cap space. Just have to wait and see which moves they make. I will say the roster is starting to get a little long in the tooth, but with a young rookie coach, that veteran experience and leadership was probably very much needed last year. We’ll see how much younger they’re looking to get this year.
Including trading Cousins to San Fran. Good chunk there. Lots of options.
Well KFEY, except Cousins has a no trade clause and he’s the best QB the Vikings have had in a LONG time. Most productive ever over 5 seasons. No Vikings QB has ever put up the TD’s and yards Cousins has. Trading him makes no sense. He’s the one guy on the team that gives the Vikings a chance to win. The chances they don’t extend him this year are zero.
Pretty sure Cousins gave up the no trade clause in his last extension. Still…no way we trade him only worse options out there.
It’s the other way around.
He got the no trade clause as part of the “team friendly” deal to add void years.
Just looked it up you’re right. I thought his original deal that brought him here had a no trade clause and it remained until this last deal but I guess it was removed then put back again. Oh well…we’re keeping him and likely extending him the way I see it. As stated there are absolutely no better options out there. We have to draft and develop while we keep him that is the way.
He isn’t going anywhere.
Probably extending the mediocrity another couple of years.
What mediocrity though DE? Seriously. He’s one of the best QB’s in the league with consistently strong production (top ten and even top 5) every year.
He is a .500 QB.
Always has been.
As we have discussed that’s a team stat. His play on both the Redskins who are horrible, and the Vikings who have been horrible, has been stellar. If not for that, those teams wouldn’t have been anywhere near .500.
Until it matters. Then he becomes spazz QB.
4th and 8 was just the most recent in a career history of collapsing when it matters.
The few successes are outliers.
He is just above average.
I just totally disagree with this false narrative on Cousins. He consistently scores at the ends of games to give his team the lead, and has led many game winning drives. That last play on 4th and 8 was a shit call and he had no chance there with the pass rush and the lack of open receivers. You can blame Cousins for that, I don’t.
I know. we do not agree on this.
I am slanted to the “Always Kirk’s fault” and will feel that way until/unless he is super bowl MVP.
Hope it happens, but not expecting good things for this team until they move on.
The problem in my mind with that is the Vikings have one of the best QB’s in the league now. He isn’t why they lose… more often than not he is why they win. Replacing Cousins is almost certainly going to be with someone who produces less. Less production means a better team? I just don’t get it.
There is truth to the narrative about prime time vs noon Kirk. Until he completely carries the team and is not the reason they need to come from behind, that theme will stand.
It is not really fair, nor reasonable, but he just needs to be that much better than others.
Well in my mind he’s proven his whole career he’s much better than others. He doesn’t usually falter or have bad games, but certainly he does suffer them occasionally. I would say every player does, but that’s when the team picks up the slack. As for falling behind, when the defense let’s the opposing team score at will, it’s easy to end up behind. Our defense was terrible last year.
Agree that Defense was terrible.
One place where Kirk always falls short (imo) is improvising when things break down. And things will break down vs good teams.
No doubt that Cousins is a technician, not an artist. That is so of Brady though too. Also Manning, Marino, Brees, etc. This is why KOC failed in my opinion to actually create an offense where Cousins strengths were highlighted. He had to wait for the receivers to read the defense and then develop (alter) their routes to find separation. You saw Cousins with a tight pocket waiting for the receivers to “make their move”. A better system is the quick ins (slants) and crossers where Cousins could hit his back foot and throw the ball to a spot. KOC relied too heavily on Cousins ability to throw extremely accurate balls into tight coverage.
Spaz qb when his oline is getting steamrolled like against the Giants. They couldn’t stop anyone he had 1.5 secs before getting blasted.
correct
Laughing…….QB wins……
DE,
Let’s be frank here. The Vikings defense was almost dead last in the league (again) last year. The kicker was probably dead last too, or close to it. The O-line wasn’t very good and the running game was anemic. Yet the Vikings won 13 games with a rookie HC who didn’t do great at play calling in my opinion. How did they do that? Oh yeah their QB was 4th in the league in passing yards and 5th in the league in passing TD’s and they had a receiver who was the best in the league. Without Cousins and JJ the Vikings wouldn’t have won many games last year if any. That is the reality.
I just chuckle when you give Cousins credit for wins, when you normally say it’s a team game and wins aren’t a QB stat.
The QB matters for wins, however we just saw Cousins ceiling for wins. No where to go but down.
Sure hope I’m proven wrong, one of these years.
Why chuckle? Wins are definitely a team stat. That’s why with the team performances this year it was miraculous we won 13 games. I’m pointing out that only one facet of the game was consistently good this year. Our QB play. You cannot deny that. One facet was good and we won 13 games. You think that one facet stinks and we need to get rid of it. I struggle to understand that.
You’re delusional if you actually think there’s even a 1% chance he’s traded
As I indicated below….it’s going to take more draft magic than cap magic imo. I don’t think cutting a bunch of vets to go FA shopping is necessarily the best short or long term best cap strategy. Many of our vets deadcaps go down in 24, I’d probably keep Harrison, Za’Darius, maybe let Cook, Thielen and Kendricks go. Restructure Kirk for 2 more years, extend Hunter and give Bradbury a little deal.
In the draft I give Flores the calls and get him a couple high end Edge Rushers who fit a 3-4 and a couple 3-4 speed LB’s who can also blitz. Couple corners late to boost depth and field an aggressive high pressure QB defense that’s fast side to side. Doesn’t hurt us next year with the cap and we’ll have options.
I don’t think they will make too many moves that purge the roster.
Its mostly going to be restructures. There will be 2 or 3 guys that move on as usual, but I doubt it’s Cook, Thielen, the Smiths….. etc. I see Kendrick’s gone.
Today my wife and I are celebrating 21 years together. When we got married neither one of us thought it would last five years. Last night we had dinner at the Don Cesar Hotel in St Pete. The restaurant there is called the Maritana. I had 6 ounces of Wagyu steak at $50 an ounce. She had Scallops and stone Crab claws. So good!!!
Today we’re going to have lunch at the Bahama Breeze and go shopping at the International Mall in Tampa. I’m thinking we’ll find something there she loves. It’s 77 degrees right now, so we will be enjoying this great February day!
Congratulations!
Thanks VP. It’s a great day for us!
Congratulations NVF! Have to say I’m lucky the day I married my wife I knew without a doubt we’d be together for our time here. Gets better every year. I had a Wagyu steak about a year ago at Kiawah and honestly I didn’t really like it. Little too much marbling which altered the flavor. I’ll try it again someday could have been how I cooked it.
enjoy your day together and buy her something nice she deserves it
Lifer, yes the marbling in Waygu beef is very excessive (on purpose) and almost tastes like you’re eating grilled fat at times. I had never had it, so I decided to splurge on our anniversary. I liked it, but honestly not worth the money, grin. Oh well, c’est la vie. The service was great, the atmosphere was great, and we had a wonderful time. Drank some champagne and left for home around midnight. Had a number of folks come up and congratulate us. Today will be fun too!
That’s awesome NVF…hope you guys have a lovely day!
Congrats, that is awesome! Have a great time. Used to go to St. Pete all the time, stayed at Don Cesar once, but then found a more kid friendly hotel we stayed at regularly.
Thank you Kathy. Had a nice lunch and then we went shopping. She found a cute little sundress and a hat she liked. Great time today.
Congrats, NVF!
Hey Hun, thank you! Have to say I’m a lucky man. My wife is 52 and still rocks a bikini with her muscular body. She’s in the gym almost every day.
Congrats!
Thanks Skoldiers… we laugh that we’re still together after all these years and very happy together. Who’d a thunk?
Congrats. Have a great weekend!
Hey DE, many thanks. Really am blessed to have a partner who dotes on me and gives me everything I want. She’s one in a million.
Hey man, Congrats!!!
21 years is no small feat…
I used to go to business trips to the Don years ago, nice place…Enjoy.
Thanks! The Don is a beautiful historic Hotel. We love it. Had a great evening and a fun day together.
Now that is a coincidence.
My wife and I celebrated 34 years together on Feb 25th.
We had a less spendy celebration.
Golf simulator, then pizza at home while binging bad shows on netflix.
Congrats on 21 years.
@rookie@
SKOL
Wow Surly… BIG congrats on 34 years! Very awesome. People don’t stay together like that anymore. Maybe we can celebrate together one year.
I definitely found a keeper. Her idea for golfing.
Congrats to you both!
They want to trade Rodgers and his shitty contract sooooo bad but there are no takers and I’m here for it.
I’m just going to say that this guy was and still is a fooking idiot.
That guy has issues…
More hang ups than an art gallery
Clever
Every once in a while LIfer dusts off his intellect and puts it on display.
God I hate agreeing with Lifer…
BUT you are correct…That dude had major issures.
🎶 If I could save time in a bottle…..the first thing that I’d like to do…..is draft more DL edge rushers and speedy linebackers…that could crush an offense in two. 🎶
🎶 But the never seems to be enough picks….to do things you want to do once you find them 🎶
🎶 I’ve done enough mocks to know….that these are guys I’d like to go through time with 🎶
I believe the best course of action for Flores is to quickly build a high QB pressure fast side to side pursuit defense. Supplement the DL with a nasty rotation of edge pressure rookies to team with Hunter and Za’Darius in the 3-4. Blitz more and pick two speedy rookie LB’s who love blitzing and have side to side speed in pursuit. Take a few CB’s late for depth, keep Harrison, Bradbury and OL as it is and roll with it.
Well done…..