Who's better than the Vikings?

[mosscarter]

i would say many teams are better especially ones that have qb's who don't throw for under 200 yards in 7 games. until we get some semblance of an offense a championship is a long way off. we might make the playoffs the next year or two, but with this current passing attack we won't go far.

[mondry]

Next year? I don't see anyone better than the Vikings. Like I just mentioned in the other thread if we get past Carolina I don't see any AFC team being able to compete with us in the superbowl.

Let's look at the 3 phases of the game

1. Defense - Clearly this is a top 3 unit next year, all the young talent is only going to get better and it's clear Zimmer's scheme and ability to coach it is top notch in today's NFL. Only injuries can stop them.

2. Special teams - We have the best kick returner in the NFL and a solid punt returner and I can't even remember the last time we gave up a punt or kick return TD. The coverage unit is also top notch. Our average starting field position was the 30.1 yard line while our opponents started from the 25 on average, that is one of the best for / against in the league. The punter leaves a bit to be desired but clearly he's asked to sacrifice distance for hang time and thus the good coverage. Walsh kicks a bunch of Touch backs and is a reliable long range kicker, just needs to work out the kinks on his short game and he'll be fine.

3. Offense - We were 7th in scoring efficiency, 3rd in average starting field position, and 16th in points. That basically means the defense and special teams set them up pretty well but they could move the ball as well. Clearly they kicked a lot of field goals but if they can turn a couple of them into TD's that'll bump them way up in points.

Being 7th in scoring efficiency and 16th in points tells me the opportunity is certainly there to do better, they just didn't capitalize on it enough because of the surrounding circumstances. The O-line basically forced our hand with the rest of the offense / scheme into the conservative play it safe offense we saw towards the end of the year. The best way to look at it is that scoring efficiency is your upside while total points is what you actually achieved. In other words we were in scoring position a LOT but often settled for FG's.

We all know by now that improving the O-line will be the magic elixir for this team. Rudolph was one of our best pass catching options and one of Teddy's most trusted targets but often he had to stay in to block because we had to run so much max protect. Not having to do that alone will be big for our offense but clearly better protection and not to mention run blocking will make it easier for everyone, including the run game.

It obviously doesn't look pretty but 16th in points is already dead center of the league so they don't even have to get that much better when you consider they're almost certainly going to have a top 3 defense and special teams backing them up again.

The scary thing though? They certainly have a lot of room for improvement but they managed to be dead average in points despite all the offensive line problems.

[halfgiz]

Injuries is going to be a big factor in that question. What would the panthers have been with Newton injured or the Packers with Rodgers injured?
Look how injuries hampered our OL this year.
I like a lot of teams for next year.

New England, Kansas City, Seahawks, Packers, Steelers, Bengals, Panthers, Jets, Cardinals, Raiders, and the Broncos .

[losperros]

Injuries is going to be a big factor in that question. What would the panthers have been with Newton injured or the Packers with Rodgers injured?
Look how injuries hampered our OL this year.
I like a lot of teams for next year.

New England, Kansas City, Seahawks, Packers, Steelers, Bengals, Panthers, Jets, Cardinals, Raiders, and the Broncos .

Good point. Intangibles such as injuries play a big part for any team. It's something that cannot be predicted.

[CbusVikesFan]

We need a couple of Buckeyes on the team. The Vikings have always been better with a Buckeye or two on the roster.
Vikings would improve their rankings if they drafted one more LB, a couple of guards, a WR, and a safety. It's a wrap.
There are many teams right now that are better than the Vikings. NE, Pitt, Den, AZ, Panthers, Bengals, and maybe GB.

[Boon]

I like how teams should have tape on zimmers defense lol, guys been in the league for over 20 years, im pretty sure they have enough tape on his schemes by now.

As long as he has the defense playing like animals this team is a contender, I could care less who the qb is.

[Demi]

I like how teams should have tape on zimmers defense lol, guys been in the league for over 20 years, im pretty sure they have enough tape on his schemes by now.

I'm pretty sure he's not running the same schemes now he was running 20 years ago. Much less with the same personnel. Much less with the specific players and how they perform in whatever scheme he's running. It's not just watching to see how he calls it's defense. It's watching tape on how each individual player plays in this defense. In certain situations. Against certain blocking, or routes.

[chicagopurple]

remember, we will be playing indoor next year.....better for AP, better for Teddy, and better for our kickers. and LOUDER once again!

[halfgiz]

This is from USA Today...interesting power rankings 2-9

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/rankings/

[IrishViking]

This is from USA Today...interesting power rankings 2-9

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/rankings/

I kinda think for now they just sorta plug them in where they finished the playoffs at at move from there.

[Jordysghost]

THeir window for success is closing. Green Bay has some serious rebuilding to do.

Based on what? they had a top 12 O and D coupled with a HOF QB, a top 5 youngest roster, and one of the leagues best cap situation.

[jackal]

Based on what? they had a top 12 O and D coupled with a HOF QB, a top 5 youngest roster, and one of the leagues best cap situation.


Their defense is terrible, especially in the playoffs. The refs threw GB probably two wins this year. That face mask call against Detroit

being one of them. It was obvious in the in the replay that the Detroit didn't grab Rodgers face mask, but lets break down your logic ??


One of the NFL's best cap situations? Wrong your 15'th in the league (middle of the road) right now
You couldn't afford a top NFL free agent unless you moved his cap across many seasons.

http://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

GB has top five youngest roster? Well lets look at how all those young wide outs did for you through
the grind of the season?


http://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/ Yeah all those drops, led you guys from being five or six
drops on the season to being worst in the league. Luckily Eagles and Giants were really bad. Our younger roster
including Teddy was like five spots better than your "TOP FIVE young team.... when it came to drops.


Reality check...Teddy had one of the best games against Denver and Arizona, on the road this season.
Rodgers had two horrible games against Denver 76 passing yards and Arizona ripped you guys a new one.
Your delusional if you think your team is going the right way. WE only lost one divisional game last season
(which happened to be against you guys) Green Bay lost every divisional home game 0-3 at home versus
NFC North teams. Rodgers was 17th in yards last season You lost by thirty points in Arizona
and Rodgers had a 64 percentage QBR. If you take away the Divisional win against Detroit in which
you should have lost(via the terrible face mask call). Carolina thumped you guys too by what 19 points.

Next season your schedule with be much harder and you lost against three of the playoff teams by
an average of twenty points last year (Carolina, Denver, and Arizona) I think you guys will be closer
to the bottom of the North than top(which is where the Vikings will be).

[dead_poet]

Based on what? they had a top 12 O and D coupled with a HOF QB, a top 5 youngest roster, and one of the leagues best cap situation.


Their defense is terrible, especially in the playoffs. The refs threw GB probably two wins this year. That face mask call against Detroit

being one of them. It was obvious in the in the replay that the Detroit didn't grab Rodgers face mask, but lets break down your logic ??


One of the NFL's best cap situations? Wrong your 15'th in the league (middle of the road) right now
You couldn't afford a top NFL free agent unless you moved his cap across many seasons.

http://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

GB has top five youngest roster? Well lets look at how all those young wide outs did for you through
the grind of the season?


http://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/ Yeah all those drops, led you guys from being five or six
drops on the season to being worst in the league. Luckily Eagles and Giants were really bad. Our younger roster
including Teddy was like five spots better than your "TOP FIVE young team.... when it came to drops.


Reality check...Teddy had one of the best games against Denver and Arizona, on the road this season.
Rodgers had two horrible games against Denver 76 passing yards and Arizona ripped you guys a new one.
Your delusional if you think your team is going the right way. WE only lost one divisional game last season
(which happened to be against you guys) Green Bay lost every divisional home game 0-3 at home versus
NFC North teams. Rodgers was 17th in yards last season You lost by thirty points in Arizona
and Rodgers had a 64 percentage QBR. If you take away the Divisional win against Detroit in which
you should have lost(via the terrible face mask call). Carolina thumped you guys too by what 19 points.

Next season your schedule with be much harder and you lost against three of the playoff teams by
an average of twenty points last year (Carolina, Denver, and Arizona) I think you guys will be closer
to the bottom of the North than top(which is where the Vikings will be).

Ok. You're invited to Christmas.

[mike2mike]

"Who's got it better than us? ...nooooobody!"

[fiestavike]

"Who's got it better than us? ...nooooobody!"

amen!