Daily Norseman Mailbag #4

Well, kids, another week has come and gone and many of you are losing your freakin' minds about the Vikings and about Teddy Bridgewater. Calm yourselves, people. I know some of us were pretty damn excited coming out of training camp about the possibilities that lay ahead for our beloved Vikings (yeah, I'm looking at you, @purplebuckeye). Then there was the whole AP nightmare. It has definitely changed the outlook for this team for this season, but not forever. Both the offense and defense have completely new play books. The Vikings have a rookie quarterback and are without their starting tight end. Take a deep breath and stop asking me if I think the Vikings are going to trade for Johnny Football. Seriously, it makes me stabby.

Let's start with a question about Teddy Bridgewater, shall we?

From @matthewkrier:

"How much more abuse does Teddy Bridgewater take before we have to start worrying about him catching David Carr syndrome?"

Well, Matt, let me say that I don't believe the Vikings offensive line is nearly as bad as that Texans offensive line that nearly got David Carr murdered on a regular basis. I also believe Teddy is a better quarterback than David Carr ever was. As much as I swear at my TV at the Vikings offensive linemen, outside of Charlie Johnson and Matt Kalil, I think they're pretty solid. I do say a prayer every night that Teddy survives another game without a season ending injury, though, just because Christian Ponder.

From @bryan_horwath:

"Can things get any worse for Vikings fans?"

Oh, yes, it can, Bryan. Picture this: Teddy suffers a season-ending ACL tear, Harrison Smith suffers a concussion, and Cordarrelle Patterson breaks a leg. See how much worse it could get? Oh, and the Vikings aren't able to trade AP for anything more than a bag of footballs. Feel better now? Because I know I do.

From @darksun32:

"Greenway has been playing surprisingly well. Do the Vikings keep him with his contract?"

This is a tough question. On one hand, Greenway is very obviously the leader of this defense, especially the linebacking core, who are actually very young. Players who could greatly benefit from his experience and leadership. On the other hand, he's 31 and playing in a system that asks linebackers to do a lot more than they had to do under Leslie Frasier. Things Greenway is not necessarily that good at. We may have seen the passing of the torch on this defense. Anthony Barr has been wearing the green sticker for the defense, which means he gets the defensive play calls radioed to him. This used to be Chad Greenway's responsibility, but Barr took that over after Greenway went down with an injury. I realized during Sunday's game against the Bills that Barr was still wearing it. Maybe this is a changing of the guard? Greenway is getting long in the tooth (for an NFL player) and his contract money could be put to better use elsewhere.

From @S_LYNGSTAD:

"Simple question:  Do you still think Teddy can be elite?"

Another Teddy question. Awesome. So Teddy has started three games. THREE. I don't know how anyone can say he can't be elite after THREE games. Without his starting running back or tight end. Did you know Peyton Manning threw 26 touchdowns his rookie season along with 28 interceptions? Andrew Luck threw for 23 touchdowns his rookie season with 18 interceptions. So maybe let's just give Teddy a break on this for now, shall we? You can ask this question a year from now.

From @Birk3:

"Do u think the kidney stones affected Zimmer's coaching ability yesterday (Sunday)?"

If you're asking me if the fact that the team played horribly at times is because Zimmer had kidney stones, no. I don't think so. He's a professional. Having said that, I've had kidney stones. It sucked. I had 17 of them and really thought I'd rather die. I have no idea how many Zimmer had (and I really don't think I care to know). I'm thinking that getting them removed and being back the next day makes him pretty bad ass.

From @bobzombie:

"What is a better source of information: Wobby or the FSN Girls?"

Bob, you have provided me with a very difficult choice here. Is there a third option? It's not that Wobby doesn't have information that can be valuable. The problem is that he's a total homer and lacks the ability to be objective about the team. The FSN Girls aren't paid to have knowledge or information about sports.

From @dumbMNsportsguy

"Could the Gophers' O-line block better than the Vikings' O-line?"

I think you're onto something here, Phil. I know I don't swear nearly as much at the Gophers offensive line as I do the Vikings offensive line. I wish we could switch. But then the Gophers would be playing poorly. So maybe that's not a good idea after all.‏

From @GeorgetteJedik:

"What do you say to all of the folks calling TB 'Bustwater'?"

I've kind of already answered this throughout this post, but I wanted to make it very clear that people who are calling him this need to give this kid some time. He's smart. He's a very hard worker. He will figure this out. So calm down, FFS.

From @wyheaskwyhe

"When does turner, teddy, n company start executing this offense?"

Think about this, Joel. They basically designed their offense around Adrian Peterson. He's not playing now and I also highly doubt he'll ever play for the Vikings again. They are basically back at the drawing board with their offense. The defense is figuring it out. The offense will figure it out, too. Maybe not this season, but you have to keep in mind all of the changes this team has undergone in the last year. There's a lot of young talent on both sides of the football.

From ‏@eric_j_thompson:

"Are we gonna win on Sunday? Because @KJSegall and I will be at the game and I'm afraid of what he'll do if we don't."

You know, it could happen. But probably not. By the way, this counts as me answering one of Kyle's questions. Have a great time at the game, though, you guys. Wish I could be there. Well, only if Kyle is wearing pants.

That's all for now, kids. Have a great week and SKOL!