Back Away From the Panic Button, Vikings Fans

People in my cirlce are hitting the button. It drives me nuts…everyone take a step back and look at the big picture. We are FINE. I think losing EJ for the year, the way it looked, made this game hurt more than it would have. Injujries are part of the game, we know that, but MAN I feel like shit after seeing him go out like that.

Next week we have to wreap this divison up and the First round bye, then get healthy for the playoff run….SKOL VIKES!!!!!!

Maybe because we are Vikings fans we expect the team to roll over and die and let any other team to move on, I do not know. There is no need to panic, this is not Madden. The team will not have 500 total yards every game. Every team has these game that they play terrible all around.

This is definitely not something to get worried about. From the beginning of the game until the end….I saw a team that didn’t want to be there. Ya Favre played bad, but so did AD, and everyone else. Where did all the open WR’s go?

This was a collective fail. We better be ready next week.

Worst thing about game is EJ.

are a poor example. They weren’t a dominant team at all that year. They barely squeeked into the playoffs and no one expected them to do anything…they were the opposite of this year’s Vikings

Unless the Saints blow a couple games (entirely possible, after seeing the Redskins fight so hard to give them a W yesterday), the best we can hope for is that Bye…. ok, fine.

Did anyone really expect the Vikings to go 15-1 on the season? I knew we’d eat at least one more loss en-route, possibly 2. That’s ok, we’ll still get the Bye…

In case anyone’s forgotten, the Bye is HUGE. A whole extra week off to rest and heal up and watch film on whoever emerges, bruised and battered, from the WC game. Yeah, I’ll take that :)

HFA may or may not happen, but we need to take this one game at a time.

The problem of having a very good defense is that they save your bacon all the time and everyone gets use to it. We still have a very good defense and just because one team was able to negate them for one game it doesn’t stop them from being a good defense.

 The problem with last nights game was that Everyone, including me, underestimated Arizona. They were in the Superbowl last year. They do have the only Quarterback with a quicker release than Christ himself. They do lead their division by three games.

Sometimes when things go downhill they tend to snowball. That was what happen last night. It leaves one with a sickened feeling. I’m sure the team feels the same way. Lets get to work and fix it. The playoffs will not be easy. They never are.
Skoal

A little something to bring us back to earth is nice, and I’d rather get the losing out of our system now, instead of have it pop up in January.

There were a lot of injuries last night, and while Loadholt and McKinnie ended up coming back on the field, they looked and played injured.

And, the D was hit by the injury bug as well, with the injury to E.J. was Theismann-esque. Hopefully he’ll heal up well, and we’ll be glad to see him back when he’s ready. But if I never see that replayed again, I’ll be fine.

All in all, we still have a two game lead with four to play for the second seed in the division. I don’t think we’ll slip below a third, just like I don’t think that the Saints will slip below the first.

Next week we’re at home, and I expect to see the Vikes win that one.

Otherwise, my tank is going to be giving me nothing but crap for the rest of the year. Stupid Bengals fan.

Unlike many here, I never thought chasing the #1 seed was that big a deal, Just getting one of top two (meaning playoff bye) was more important than which one. It would have been nice to take the second loss against nearly any team though, since the Cards could conceivably overtake us for #2 seed, now that they have tiebreaker.

What was bad (on so many levels) was losing EJ

The other common thread between those three teams is that they did not get a 1st round bye. While I hope the Vikings at least maintain their #2 seed, just remember not to hit the panic button if they have to play in the 1st round.

Cardinals are a tough team to beat when they’re on fire the way they were last night.

We should hope that NO has to play the Cardinals in round 2 and that we play Dallas in round 2.

10-2 is still better than 7-5, which is what the Packers will be after tonight’s game. And that’s all that matters right now.

Star Tribune wasn’t helping and neither were the message boards…no one is relaxing when they should be. I’m glad you’re here to remind us of our great season as indicated by 10-2 record…

It’s 1 game…if it was the playoffs it’d be a big deal…but there’s 4 games left and we still have a good hold on the #2 spot…

Go Vikes!

Best wishes to EJ!

The 2006 Colts were dominant. They were 8-2 vs. teams with .500 records or better. The Vikings will not be able to say the same. The 2007 Giants played more tough games than the Vikings as well and hailed from the best division in the NFC, if not the entire NFL. They won because of one of the flukiest plays ever. The 2008 Cardinals couldn’t defend the best team in the NFL and lost the SB.

I had thought that the Vikings were supposed to be better than that.

I see complacency and excuses all over the place. It shouldn’t be wrong to expect more from this very talented team and well-paid coach. It shouldn’t be wrong to expect a team of this caliber to defeat BOTH of last year’s Super Bowl teams and any other team which is considered a contender. Happily being better than Green Bay is setting the bar awfully low. Feeling accomplished at 10 wins (like last year) is being content with mediocrity. This team can and must do better, and no real Vikings fan thinks that 10 cupcake wins outweigh 2 meaningful losses.

FOX only showed the replay once for a reason. His season is over. As terrible as that is the Vikes have been pretty lucky not having too many injuries this year. I hope Jasper Brinkley is a good as I think.

of course people will be down on them…but that definitely puts the pressure on other teams…not us. Idc what people think of the Vikings b/c quite honestly…all analysts think they know what they’re talking about (GB superbowl favs 09!) aka Mark Schlereth

Vikes are good, that’s one thing we know…another thing we know…we’re on the verge of greatness…

of course MJD (a constant Favre hater for those who dont know) has already posted a little blog about how Favre always fall off starting Week 12. Its ridicolous considering how he & this team have played all season long to think it will continue for long. They played the Cardinals, which last i checked is the NFC Champion, and did not throw out a lame performance vs a scrub team like the Rams for example. Theyll bounce back next week.

We’re not talking a little bit more of the hangover effect from having three cake games in a row at home. The Lions, Seahawks and Bears all in a row are not a good way to prep for a team hungry to close out their division sooner rather than later.

My concern is offensively, the Cards and the Saints have some pretty relevant similarities. Both offenses have their weak link at the RB position but can put up ridiculous numbers through the air. We all saw how well the Vikings defended the pass with Benny Sapp and Madeiu Williams (sidenote: looking at the depth chart and assuming Antione Winfield is healthy, is it just a lock that Madeiu Williams is our weak link on defense?)

That’s what scares me about that Saints. Otherwise they looked very beatable against Washington yesterday. I still believe the Vikes could give them if anything else a very good run for their money.

..I also think there were a lot of awful developments last night and it’s really difficult to just pass all this off as just a “fluke.” I think the reason that so many of us long-suffering (and perhaps more skeptical) Viking fans are upset and so negative is that this was the kind of game we’d been led to believe that this new-look Viking team wouldn’t take for granted. That it was a “test” game for us to show that we could handle a tougher team in light of our (supposedly) softer schedule this year.

To fall so very, VERY flat in such a big game in so many different facets of the game: Special Teams, Secondary failures, No Defensive Pass Rush to speak of, Offensive issues both with INTs and with AP (clearly it seems that he has some kind of “tell” that teams are feeding off of)…that just doesn’t bode too well for us “figuring things out” magically or all in a moment’s notice.

It suddenly makes the Cincy game seem far tougher and our Division title hopes a tiny bit suspect now. :(

And for the record, castigating skeptical fans as “Fair-weather” fans or as being too negative isn’t terribly cool, either. Everyone has their way of rooting for their team – some of us are just really tired of seeing these same failures consistently rear their heads. Yeah, it’s great that we beat up the defenseless teams and we’re all ecstatic, I’m sure over whupping our hated Packer rivals this year, twice, but when do we show up in the important games? The Steelers, the Cardinals? Heck, we got lucky to win the stupid Ravens game, too.

No, I think anyone who has suddenly and horribly had their faith shaken after last night’s debacle has every good reason to be at least a bit worried and a bit upset as a fan. Should we quit cheering for the team going forward? Of course not. But is it fair for some of us to see the potential for late-season disaster going forward? Yeah, it’s not totally unreasonable.

I can see us, with this team (minus the great EJ Henderson – hope he’s okay) winning our first game but I can’t see this team going farther than that without a better secondary and without our old Adrian Peterson back. The current iteration doesn’t feel terribly special these days. Sacrilege, I know, but there it is.

I hope they prove my doubts and worries totally wrong but I’m starting to get the feeling that I’m horribly right about our future chances this season. Thanks for listening.

Yeah, I don’t have a lot of good stuff going for me as of late – lost my job a year ago – nothing new since, new son with super dangerous health issues, was unable to play soccer this entire year due to groin injury (though that’s finally almost healed). So one of the few bright spots in my life (other than my lovely wife and first-born son, who is thankfully VERY healthy) has been this incredible Viking’s season.

Yeah, I’ve put too much of myself into the team’s success – never a good thing to do with our beloved Vikes, I suppose (See: 1998 NFC Championship) but I got sucked in. So last night hit me like a Cement truck to the face, I guess.

Thanks for the kind words. Just got to try and stay positive, I guess. :)

1) Peyton went 4 weeks in a row w/ 2 INT per game before yesterday’s 1 TD 0 INT performance- noone in IN or medialosing their minds over it.
2) Saints squeeked by the REDSKINS yesterday. Scent of vulnerability in the air.
3) Better to see what needs fixed before the 1st playoff game.

Push the Panic button out of your reach if you’re one whose hand tends to twitch when it’s nearby – LOL.

I wouldn’t say we should panic exactly, but a close look at last night’s game should make us all concerned that we might not be as good as we thought.

Injuries are catching up to us. Our MLB is out for the rest of the season, our O-line is missing a guy here and there and no one seems to be 100% when they are in the game, and Winfield’s return keeps getting put off. If the line can’t hold up, how long will it be before our old QB gets nicked as well?

Also, our gameplan seemed to be win a shootout against Arizona. Childress should have known better than that. We didn’t give Peterson the ball anywhere near enough before we were in a deep hole, and after that there was no way to do it. The best defense against a team like the Cardinals is to keep the ball out of Warner’s hands.

But we aren’t quite as bad as some think we are. For one thing, Warner didn’t miss a pass and he’s usually not THAT on. And when did their defense become mind readers? No matter the play, they were keyed in on it from the start. I think they had some sort of tell or something because nobody is THAT good at predicting plays.

We’ve got some things we need to iron out to start thinking about the Super Bowl, but it would take a major slide to not make the playoffs, and that’s all you have to do to have a shot at a SB win after all.

WIth apologies to the late, great, John Belushi:

Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

What the eff happened to the Daily Norseman I used to know? Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts, huh? This could be the greatest Vikings season of our lives, but you’re gonna let it be the worst. “Ooh, we’re afraid to stay positive, MilCardFan, we might lose again.”

Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I’m not gonna take this. The Bengals, they’re DEAD! Bears, DEAD! Niedermeyer…

Yeah, that feels better.

i didn’t use my vikings coffee mug yesterday.

To acknowledge that we have some serious issues that have continually crept up and (last night) finally caught up with us. To act otherwise is just as much of a disservice as those who overly panic. It’s best to just realize that we’re not quite as good as we’d hoped but better than some of us may (in a panic) think we are after that loss. Then just move on.

The only thing that worries me is how sometimes a single game can define and change/limit a season. I really hope this game wasn’t THAT game.

It is tiring to see that for every knee-jerk “Vikings suck now” post (I’m guilty of this at times, to a lesser extent, when I’m really annoyed by their lack of energy/focus) there’s an equally knee-jerk “you guys who aren’t happy suck” post. Let’s just avoid the extremes altogether, shall we? No one’s an evil henchmen, twirling their mustaches trying to rip on the Vikes. We’re all huge fans who just want our chosen champions of the gridiron to succeed at the highest levels, in every game. Nothing more, nothing less.

SKOL VIKINGS!!!

I agree one loss is no reason to panic. Barring a meltdown or a 4-0 run by another team in the NFC the Vikings have the #2 locked up. Your 2 games ahead with only the cards having the tiebraker on you (I think) and my cards are likely to lock up the NFC west next monday night then go on cruise control like after clinching last year.

I will point out one interesting fact to add to this discussion. The last 7 teams that have played the cardinals have gone on to lose thier next game whether they beat the cardinals or not. I think its a combination of the cardinals becoming more physical and thier wide open style of play all over the field tending to cause collisions between other defenders. I have seen collisions between defenders in a lot of games recently against the cards and they seem to result in a lot of injuries. I hope Henderson makes it back next year.

Anyway, best of luck until we meet again in January.

 SUPPORT YOUR TEAM. AND AMERICA’S TROOPS, INCLUDING GONZO. LET THEM KNOW YOU APPRECIATE THEM.

I’ve held off on putting forth my thoughts about Sunday nights fiasco as I was livid and would have made a few comments that probably would have made things ALOT worse. Not about the Vikings, but by OUR conduct in the game threads. To begin, our team had a meltdown. They all do! We got our asses handed to us. GOOD! Time to wake up and realize this isn’t going to get easier. Even with the weaker teams as they will be “gunning” for us out of pride and the spoiler role. So what, we lost 30-17. It isnt the end.

The Steelers won the Super Bowl last year. The Titans kicked them in the nad’s to the tune of 31-14 in week 16. I doubt any of them freaked. Pissed, yes, but gave up? NO! They finished the season 12-4. Guess what, they didn’t even have the best record in the NFL nor the top seed in the playoffs. It’s not over, we have time to deal with what happened to us, the bad coverage, the bad tackling, the lack of a pass rush for the first time the season and the lack of a running game the first time this season. That is the easy stuff to work out. Yes, I hope Chilly and friends are redoing their play calling a little. Time to start pounding the ball on the ground again and take a bit of the stress off the arm of the “Old Man”. He can’t do it all the time like this and remain healthy and be mistake free. The whole team, coaches and players dropped the ball and it’s them who have to get back on the ball. The hard thing will be psychology of recovering from seeing E.J. break his leg and filling the hole he left. But the back-ups seemed to be able to step up after he was gone. That, ladies and gentlemen, will not be our only rally cry, but a part of it! The cry is to redeem this team’s name, the fan’s and the State of Minnesota as well as win it for E.J.. It’s for all of us and we all need to bear the bad with a smile and keep going! The Pack are improving, but they won’t catch us. And speaking of which, as our friends over in ACME will attest, they lost 2 in a row and 3 total a few years back, and still won the Super Bowl.

Now, to us. I was sick by what I saw in ourselves. The giving up the season by halftime. Giving up on the season by the end of the game. ALSO, I was just as sick by those that instead of trying to be encouraging, decided it was “best” to tell those that were upset more or less what to go do with themselves. As I stated above and what Gonzo put forth, there is no reason to give up or think the 1970’s will repeat themselves. I heard alot of that back in the late 1980’s with the Twins. Oh, we will just lose like ‘65. They haven’t done anything since they were the Senators. BULLSHIT! Twice history didn’t repeat itself with a loss. But twice, it repeated itself in victory. The Vikings day WILL come.

To those that were shouting down the discouraged. DEAL WITH IT! If you had a bad day and were upset, what does your friend or significant other tell you? STFU? I highly doubt that. They try to be encouraging, bring up your spirits, try to get you to see the best in a bad situation and look in the long term. Well guess what, we ARE a big family. A family of fans. PERIOD. The same goes for you guys. Be that friend, that significant other. Instead of attacking, be uplifting. It’s hard in the heat of battle, but give yourself a few seconds. I know Im not perfect and had my moments, not only in life, but on here. but I have taken a step back a few times and zipped it. I ask you to do the same. We all need to start treating each other a little bit better otherwise we are going to give jackoff’s like UofMike and a few other hypocrites that have said all Minnesota team fans are pathetic even more $hit to shovel our way.

Time to start digging in folks. Plenty of football left including the playoffs. We have a team we need to back not only this year, but the off season including the stadium issue. The team has alot of work to get done between now and the playoffs to shore up the weaknesses. But we also have alot of work to do with ourselves in treating each other better too. Just like the Vikes are going to work, we have to as well. This thing is far from over.

SKOL!