Vikes thread!

[Steve-o]

Bend-but-don't-break defense ain't goona get it done against the Eagles in the playoffs.

[LPS]

Quirk looked like he had the flu.  Passed behind receivers and passed too late.

[KEN W]

And over their heads. He didn't play real well. Although Jefferson dropped one that hit him in the hands.

[Steve-o]

Quirk looked like he had the flu.  Passed behind receivers and passed too late.

Kapt. Kirk was 21 of 35 for 173 yards, which ain't goona get it done against the Eagles in the playoffs and probably won't get it done against the Lions next week either.   

[LPS]

That Lions game is gonna be a tough one.

[Steve-o]

At least with all of the close wins, the Vikings coaches have plenty to keep on the players about.  The players have no reason to be get complacent.  Yes, they better FOCUS on the Lions.

Goff's 340 yards and 2 TDs help Lions rout Jaguars 40-14

“That was as complete a team win as I’ve ever been part of," quarterback Jared Goff said.

Goff, meanwhile, had one of his best games by completing 31 of 41 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.

“Our quarterback played as good as you can play," Campbell said.

[Gunner55]

  The Jet's D is #4 in total defense & they've averaged only giving up 307 yds/gm. Vikes had 287. Cousins will be sore today as he got hit early & often yday. I think that had quite a bit to do with his bad start. The only stat the Vikes D has been near the top of the league(#3) is TO margin all year & they won that battle again yday along with having only 3 penalties. That was enough!!  

[dutchboy]

Goff is the worse quarterback in the division, one of the worse in the NFC. He feasted on a Jags defense that is very bad. He will be facing another bad defense this week. The question is can Detroit stop the Viking offense.

[Steve-o]

Depends on if they get "Good Kirk" or "Bad Kirk."   

[KEN W]

Green Bay was eliminated from NFC North contention because they can't reach 10 wins to catch the Vikings. The Bears were eliminated from the North last week.

Lions have to win out to get to 10 wins. Vikes have to lose out to stay at 10 wins.
One Vikes win or one Lions loss .......Vikes win NFC North.

[Steve-o]

Packers are still in the playoff wildcard hunt.  So are the Lions.  Bears are eliminated completely.

And I don't see how we can catch the Eagles for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and earn a first round bye.  (There is only one 1st round bye now.)  Eagles are up one game now, and they beat us head to head for the tie-breaker. 

The Vikes will need to get two more wins than the Eagles the rest of the way (5 games remaining) for them to earn the 1st round bye.

Vikings have Lions, Colts, Giants, Packers, and Bears.
Eagles have Giants, Bears, Cowboys, Saints, and Giants.

I think the Eagles have the tougher schedule the rest of the way, but it is hard to pencil in two more losses compared to the Vikings schedule.

If the Vikings lose 2 the rest of the way (could easily happen), the Eagles will need to lose 4 (prolly ain't goona happen).

[glenn57]

yea mathematically the peckers and lions are still in the hunt......the probability.........not so much!!!!!

[LPS]

Just read that the line on Vikes and Lions opened with Vikes by 1.  Now due to betting Lions are favored by 1.5 and is expected to go up to 3 by the end of the week.  The OU is 53.

[glenn57]

so somewhere, someplace this morning i read the exact same thing Ken posted yesterday about the Packers being eliminated, so???????? who knows........all the Vikings gotta do sunday is mind there own business and take care of the task on hand......and just win baby!!!!!!!

i still dont think there going far in the playoffs though.............

[Steve-o]

Packers are eliminated from winning the division, but their wildcard hopes are infinitesimally alive.

Vikings have a Magic Number of 1 with the Lions to win the division - the next Lions loss or Vikings win - and the Vikes clinch the division.  Still, the Lions will have wildcard hopes, but not as slim as the Packers.

[KEN W]

If Playoffs started today....will most likely change with 5 games still to play

#1 Eagles get a bye
#2 Vikes verses Seattle
#3 49er's verses Giants
#4 Tampa verses Cowboys

[Steve-o]

Wait, What? The 10-2 Vikings are Underdogs Against the 5-7 Lions on Sunday

The 10-2 Vikings are currently 2.5-point underdogs against the 5-7 Lions for Sunday's game in Detroit. Wait, what?

This spread tells you basically all you need to know about how Vegas feels about this Vikings team, whose last nine victories have come by eight points or fewer. Minnesota's +10 point differential — plus-64 in ten wins, minus-54 in two losses — is the worst figure ever for a 10-2 team by a fairly wide margin. Clearly, the markets don't believe the Vikings can keep this up, even if they've found a way to be 9-0 in one-score games this season.

[LPS]

Just read that the line on Vikes and Lions opened with Vikes by 1.  Now due to betting Lions are favored by 1.5 and is expected to go up to 3 by the end of the week.  The OU is 53.

[LPS]

Which means the betting is on the Lions not the Vikings.  Just the way we like it. 

[Gunner55]

If Playoffs started today....will most likely change with 5 games still to play

#1 Eagles get a bye
#2 Vikes verses Seattle
#3 49er's verses Giants
#4 Tampa verses Cowboys

The 12/24 game between the Eagles & Cowboys will have a lot to say about the NFC playoffs IMO. It's @ AT&T, still not willing to write off the 49er's just yet. I'll never count out TB12, either.

[dutchboy]

If Playoffs started today....will most likely change with 5 games still to play

#1 Eagles get a bye
#2 Vikes verses Seattle
#3 49er's verses Giants
#4 Tampa verses Cowboys

The 12/24 game between the Eagles & Cowboys will have a lot to say about the NFC playoffs IMO. It's @ AT&T, still not willing to write off the 49er's just yet. I'll never count out TB12, either.

I agree with Tampa. They are starting to get some of their injured players back. If they can give Brady another couple of clean seconds in the pocket they will be dangerous. That defense of theirs is pretty good.

[Steve-o]

A lot of those teams seem to be improving and overcoming adversity to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Vikes are still...  well... winning, but outside of the Bills game, they aren't scaring anyone.

Statistically they are the worst 10-2 team in the history of the NFL.

The only think keeping them going is that they get turnovers at key points of the game to secure their wins.

[dutchboy]

The National Powerball Lottery is a prime example that ANYBODY can win if you play.

Same with the NFL play-offs. Qualify and you have a chance.

[KEN W]

Detroit this coming weekend will be a good test. They have won 4 of their last 5 games and are actually 2.5 point favorites over a team at 10-2. Can their defense stop Goff? Detroit has a good passing attack and the Vikes are a little shaky on defense.

5 players have been sick this week. Including Hunter, Peterson and Smith. The corner stones of their defense. Could be a high scoring game.

[Gunner55]

  I don't think many people give K O'C & Donatell anywhere near the credit they deserve for the mid-game adjustments they make being as big part of the team's success as it's been so far.  Realizing what your players/team does well & putting them in the best situation they can to succeed is huge in today's NFL IMO. That is something that the previous regime did not do................ ever. It was always more the.............. my way or the highway mentality.

[dutchboy]

Adjustments are big in the NFL. How can you explain the lack of 3rd quarter offense coming out of 1/2 time where you make those adjustments? Kind of baffling to me.

[Gunner55]

The other team makes adjustments to their D too. Just about every team will show 1 defense pre- snap & rotate out of that to something quite different just as the ball is being snapped. Often we haven't had the ball that much in the 3rd because of the adjustments on offense the other team has made & our inability to stop them starting the 2nd 1/2. Personally, I'd much rather win the 4th quarter, myself.

[Gunner55]

 Darrisaw was limited in practice on Wednesday but it says nothing about yday. Smith was limited in yday's practice but Hunter, Bradbury,Bullard, & Ham are all still listed as questionable according to ESPN.

[Steve-o]

Darrisaw apparently hasn't cleared concussion protocol yet.

After suffering concussions in two consecutive weeks, I'm all for leaving him out until he is 110%.

I just keep thinking back to the ONE concussion (that we know about, anyway) that set Justin Morneau's career back and eventually cut it short.  He was out for a very long time and when he came back, he was never the same.

I can't imagine what it is like for football players who endure that contact weak after week, year after year.

[LPS]

Hunter and Ham are ok to play.  Darrisaw practiced but may not play.