Can we really afford to go it alone with Tarvaris Jackson?

But yeah I probably could have labeled Warner and Brees as future Hall of Famers. And who knows, Big Ben has already won 2 rings…he and Plunkett might one day get in.

But solid analysis. Informative post.

complete failure

But how realistic is it to think this? The pass defense struggled even with Winfield and Griffin healthy. Griffin will likely take time to get his legs back under him and who knows how Winfield will come back after his foot injury (which can often being devestating for older Cb’s). Sapp and Allen would really have to step it up in order for you guys to be the best defense in the league and how realistic is it to think that Sapp can be a good #2 and Allen can be a good #3? It could happen, but I witnessed injuries devestate our Cb’s this past season, and having younger guys having to come fill in can be really difficult.

Sapp and Allen will be helped out a ton by that dominat pass rush you guys have but who knows whether or not that’ll be enough. Your safties also were pretty questionable this year, and to improve the pass defense both Johnson and Williams (or possibly Sanford) will have to step up.

I personally think your defense will be a lot like your defense this past year. Dominant at times, and then shaky against the pass at times. This is the main reason I don’t think you guys wanna go into next year with Jackson at Qb. There were times this year that you guys got into shootouts with some teams and do you really think Jackson will be able to keep up with teams like Favre could. Of course Favre could very well come back, and I personally think he is going too.

I’ll say it again, I’d really like you to be right!

Great pass rush? Good tacklers? A good scheme? A defense that can create turnovers? A defense that is good in the red zone? Good pass coverage? A defense that dominates on 3rd down? Having your coach video tape the other team’s offensive signals? That one was a joke.

But seriously. All of those things can make a defense great. But one of the most underrated elements to a great defense is a consistent, time-consuming, ball controlling, mistake minimizing offense. That’s right, the team’s offense is often their best defense.

I made the point to a friend of mine back in ‘03 that the reason the Bucs finally won the super bowl was because of their offense. Now that’s a bit of an overstatement, but bear with me. That defense had been in place prior to the ‘02-’03 season. What was different is that they went out and brought in guys like Brad Johnson (not the sexiest QB, but if all you need is a game manager, he’s your guy, plus he can could make plays when needed), Keenan McCardell, and Michael Pittman. They had gone 10-6, 9-7 with the leagues best D the 2 years before. In 02-03 that new and improved O gave them the kickstart they needed.

Point is, even if we have the best D in the league in 2010, we still need our offense to score more than 21 points per game. Its a QB driven league now the way the rules are set up. Whoever our QB is in 2010, he’s going to have to make some plays, regardless of how well our Defense plays.

I also mentioned the 3rd and 15 pass that TWill dropped. I was loving that 4th quarter comeback. I was loving TJack at the time. But the whole game reflects his body of work: He flashes potential, but mostly is inconsistent and can’t handle pressure.

If you’re going to bash Jackson for playoff performance, you really have to wait until his second playoff game, which hasn’t happened yet.

My fear is, I might have to wait a long, long time for that to happen.

The reason these QBs are in the HOF is because they won superbowls. If TJ goes on to win two or three SBs he will probably be in the hall of fame. Your argument is backwards.

Really? Wow. So Johnny Unitas is in the HOF because he won Super Bowls and not because he is regarded as one of the best QB’s to ever play the game? What about Joe Montana? Or John Elway?

TJack will NEVER be mistaken for a Hall of Famer. C’mon. Even our own Cris Carter is being held out of the Hall and he is one of the best players EVER at his position.

Finally, I again want to reiterate. I don’t know whether TJ is the answer. I do know that the coaching staff does know. Thats why they yanked him before and that is why they brought in Brett. If they still know he isn’t the guy then lets get a different one. If they know he WILL be the guy don’t let him go. For the umpteenth time. We will know the answer after March 5, 2010. Lets not sweat the small stuff till then.

I think you answered your own question. The staff does know. That’s why they have brought in QB after QB to take over for TJack. And there’s nothing wrong for fans to discuss the obvious, we have issues at QB. Mostly right now because we don’t have an answer from Brett. But even when we get our answer, we still have questions about long-term solutions for our QB issues. I’m not sweating it, but I also don’t think it’s small stuff. The whole point of this FanPost is to prove that in order to win a Super Bowl, you have to have pretty darn good QB.

But they aren’t and we have to talk about them much like a crack addict will sell his teeth to get more crack. The difference is crack is for sissies being a Vikings fan is way tougher to quit! This is, TJ does have brilliance in him I think we can all agree on that. In a simpler system he might really shine, however, Childress’s system is not that simple. Also, looking at QB’s that have actually made his system work, Gus, Farve it seems like the system is designed for a different type of QB than what TJ brings to the table. Some of those QB’s were terrible in teams and did great in others because they went to systems that better show cased their particular talents. That in itself could be a reason why people like Gannon and Johnson were so successful with other teams, and if TJ does turn into a great QB then that plus a hundred other things (QB coach, O Line etc) could be factors.

One last thing… Montana’s not a stud? TAKE IT BACK!

You forgot Campbell,Troy Smith ,Kolb, Clemens, and a host of other FAs and RFAs out there today.

But I’ll take TJack over Troy Smith, Kellen Clemens and maybe even Jason Campbell.

GRIME, You forgot Campbell,Troy Smith ,Kolb, Clemens, and a host of other FAs and RFAs out there today.

Campbell is too much like Rosenfels, to me…. after what he’s been through, I’m kinda leery about him.

Do you really think that Kolb isn’t going to be re-signed?

Not sure about Smith and Clemens, but a lot of those guys won’t be leaving their teams.

But if you don’t want to wait for a young QB to mature then you will have to keep paying old Qbs to come in and try to learn your system.

I don’t think there’s much alternative to that. Great 1st string QBs don’t grow on trees, and getting a team to part with one is rightfully like pulling teeth (as I mix metaphors like nobody’s business :)) ).

I do want to repeat my position on T-Jack, though… we just don’t know about him. The Vikings coaching staff and FO does, they’ve watched him in practices and evaluated him. But we’ve had precious little to go by. I trust their evaluation of talent, whichever way they go on him.

I watched Rosenfels in the pre-season and he stunk on ice. I mean, sucked. Really, really bad. So bad that there was no complaint when T-Jack won the competition between them.

But that’s just a well informed opinion. :)