Not the Vikings we thought we would see in 2012

[UltraNasty850]

I know that we are very very very far away from being an elite team. I know that there are plenty of areas of improvement. Can we pause for a second, step back, and take a look at what the Vikes have accomplished so far in this early season?

Christian Ponder has showed us he can play in the NFL. He has managed 3 great games and 1 game that we lost by simple drops and penalties. He hasn't thrown for a thousand TDs just yet, but he has done what it takes to win BIG games.

Adrian Peterson has amazed the entire NFL with his return to action this year. He has proven that he is a FREAK of nature and is back and healthy. I don't want to talk too soon, but im sure that its safe to say after his amazing performances that he is back. He is cutting and taking the same hard hits he has taken throughout his Hall of Fame career.

Defensive Line - While Allen hasnt been roping too many calves quite yet, the d-line has dominated the line of scrimmage. Our powerfull run stopping defense seems to be back thru the first 4 weeks. E. Griffen and Robison have been very impressive so far. We have made plenty of big plays when we needed them.

Defensive Backs - Our secondary is playing much better than we anticipated. Harrison Smith has shown his 1st round caliber play. Sanford has stepped up and has made huge plays for us. We held Megatron to less than 75 yds and NO TDS.

Overall the 2012 Vikings have definately surprised us. I am excited to see what they have in store for us the rest of the season. Please dont rip this post apart, I'm getting kind of sick and tired how some of you despite being 3-1, find so many negative things to say about the Vikes. Enjoy this start and hope that they keep it going. Keep the complaining in the other threads please.

SKOL.

[Crax]

Overall the 2012 Vikings have definately surprised us. I am excited to see what they have in store for us the rest of the season. Please dont rip this post apart, I'm getting kind of sick and tired how some of you despite being 3-1, find so many negative things to say about the Vikes. Enjoy this start and hope that they keep it going. Keep the complaining in the other threads please.

SKOL.

I'm surprised at being 3-1 and definitely think we're going the right direction. As long as we don't pull a 2003, I'll be satisfied overall.(I'm not expecting it, I've just have been a Vikings fan so long, it seems not all that long ago)

[Mothman]

I know that we are very very very far away from being an elite team. I know that there are plenty of areas of improvement. Can we pause for a second, step back, and take a look at what the Vikes have accomplished so far in this early season?

Christian Ponder has showed us he can play in the NFL. He has managed 3 great games and 1 game that we lost by simple drops and penalties. He hasn't thrown for a thousand TDs just yet, but he has done what it takes to win BIG games.

Adrian Peterson has amazed the entire NFL with his return to action this year. He has proven that he is a FREAK of nature and is back and healthy. I don't want to talk too soon, but im sure that its safe to say after his amazing performances that he is back. He is cutting and taking the same hard hits he has taken throughout his Hall of Fame career.

Defensive Line - While Allen hasnt been roping too many calves quite yet, the d-line has dominated the line of scrimmage. Our powerfull run stopping defense seems to be back thru the first 4 weeks. E. Griffen and Robison have been very impressive so far. We have made plenty of big plays when we needed them.

Defensive Backs - Our secondary is playing much better than we anticipated. Harrison Smith has shown his 1st round caliber play. Sanford has stepped up and has made huge plays for us. We held Megatron to less than 75 yds and NO TDS.

Overall the 2012 Vikings have definately surprised us. I am excited to see what they have in store for us the rest of the season. Please dont rip this post apart, I'm getting kind of sick and tired how some of you despite being 3-1, find so many negative things to say about the Vikes. Enjoy this start and hope that they keep it going. Keep the complaining in the other threads please.

SKOL.

Nice post. It's a very encouraging start and hopefully, the rest of the season will be just as much fun. Peterson's return has been amazing and there's a lot to be excited about, including the fact that it only took 4 games for the Vikes to equal their win total from last season. I'd like to see them top it this weekend!

[AlaskanViking]

Nice take UltraNasty!

I don't know if the Vikings have surprised me so far, but I didn't expect a 3/1 start to the season, was thinking a 2/2 start was realistic for this team.

The 49ers game shocked me, I didn't expect the domination the Vikings showed on that Sunday! I'm enjoying the tempo and aggressive nature of the D, if they can display that kind of play consistently then the Vikings should have a very nice season.

[thatguy]

No matter what the haters say, we're 3-1 right now, and we finished with that same amount of wins after 16 games last season. I mean, you can't deny that progress has been made at this point - and really, regardless of what our final record is, is what we all wanted/needed from our Vikes this season. It's really been a fun start thus far, and I hope they can keep it up!

SKOL

[Raptorman]

Am I surprised? Yes and no. I thought we would be 2-2 at this point with one win over SF/Det. But hey, I was wrong. Some of us had more faith in our team than others. I predicted 10-6 to 12-4, and I will stick with that.

[Just Me]

I like your tagline Raptorman, Got a good chuckle out of it...

[Just Me]

I know there's so much negativity, skepticism, and pessimism among Vikings fans that you might be afraid to say we are "elite", I don't think you need to say we aren't either. Are we really 3 "very's" away from elite, or are you just shy about being ridiculed?

Trust me I understand the mentality, I was at the 49ers game and absolutely no one in the entire Metrodome would even utter the words "we're going to win this game!" until about 14 minutes into the 4th quarter!

But I think we have definitely earned the right to say the Vikings are at least in "we don't know how good they might be" territory, just by the nature of us not being mid-season yet and us being 3-13 last year, but whose to say we don't play like this every week this season and we look back and realize back in September when we beat the 49ers we were actually playing on the same level and didn't necessarily improve?

I think that mentality comes into play a little simply because we are Viking Fans. Having said that, I was skeptical the 2009 Vikings would be able to sustain (be consistent?)their level of play when they were having good games at the beginning of the 2009 season. What's that got to do with now? Well, that team was better (offensively anyway) than the current squad. If I were to objectively look at our record, we are 3-1, but are also close to being 1-3 (the San Francisco game being the only one it seems we dominated from start to finish). I know that it's a "what if" scenario to say they might be 1-3, and that's fair. You can "what if" to suggest they could be 4-0 too so I'm not saying the Vikings are "bad" or "lucky". I'm saying that teams, to be given the 'elite' status (at least in my book) are consistently dominant in several aspects of the game. They're not perfect, but they might have 3 "SF Game-like" performances to a 1 "Colts Game-like" performance. Every 4 games or so.

Now for the good news: I never considered the Giants an 'elite' team either year when they won the super bowl, so I don't think that is a prerequisite for a deep run into the playoffs. A team just has to make it there and go on a 'hot streak' to win it all. The Vikings are 3-1 right now and tied for 1st in the Division.

My example I use to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism is that in 2003 we started out at 6-0, (I never thought we were 'elite' that year either BTW) but managed only 3 wins for the rest of the season to finish at 9-7 and no playoffs. So, yes I am enjoying the season this far. My only expectation was improvement for the team and assuming they can manage one more win in the next 12 games, they will have met it.

If you were to assert we would make a deep run into the playoffs this year, I wouldn't be able to refute it (nor would I want to) but I'd point out that there is still alot of football yet to be played this year and it's still technically possible to be 3-13 at the end of the year. Hopefully after Sunday I can say, "It's technically possible we will be 4-12 at the end of the year

[Raptorman]

According to most Packer fans the Vikings haven't played anyone of worth as of yet. Oh, the San Fran game, that was just an off day for the Niners. Here's to hoping that the Colts take down the Packers today.

[JellyBean2144]

I never thought that we would be 3-1. I knew that we could play. I did not know that AP would come back looking like a rookie after suffering the knee injury last season. I mean look at many running backs over history when they come back from a knee injury, they are a shell of their former selves. AP is running like "what knee injury?". Ponder? Come on now. I figured that he would struggle this season. But he is managing the game well, and that is all we ask of him. I am impressed with our start.

[Just Me]

According to most Packer fans the Vikings haven't played anyone of worth as of yet. Oh, the San Fran game, that was just an off day for the Niners. Here's to hoping that the Colts take down the Packers today.

Nice Call! The Packer's will still claim we "haven't played anybody" and Indianapolis didn't beat them as much as "they beat themselves"

[Hunter Morrow]

Denial ain't a river in Egypt. It is a lake in Green Bay.

[Rus]

Nice Call! The Packer's will still claim we "haven't played anybody" and Indianapolis didn't beat them as much as "they beat themselves"

Except the 49ers. Since the Vikings thumped them, they only went on to thump everyone else they played. I think the 49ers are a very good team and the Vikings kicked them around. Good enough to beat Green Bay.

[vikeinmontana]

it's the vikes i thought i'd see. which is why i predicted 9+ wins. i was told i was drinking koolaid.

[Raptorman]

If the playoffs started today, the Vikings would be the 2nd seed. Let's see if they can keep it!