Monday Open Thread: October 1, 2018

Merry Monday, everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I made the best of my Sunday with nothing locked into the schedule, I missed watching the Vikes, but I got a lot of outside work done. We’re in winterizing mode here in North Dakota, so it’s time to bring out the snowblower up for its annual oil change and whatever else needs to be adjusted or replaced. The snow will be here soon, I don’t like to be caught off-guard. I mowed the lawn, and I don’t see more than one more being necessary for 2018.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the statement that Everson Griffen released late last week. If not, it’ll be linked below. It’s very encouraging to see that whatever issue he has is being addressed, and it sounds like he’ll be back, both as a football player and as a person. I think that the team handled this extremely well, respecting Griffen’s privacy while showing genuine concern for him. Hats off to the Vikings front office, and especially to Mike Zimmer. You can see the amount of care he has for his players, and that it’s genuine. He’s been through some rough times in life, having lost his wife, and walking through those types of trials will definitely alter one’s perspective and help to get priorities in the correct order.

Let’s hope this bit of news will help the team’s defense to get back on track. They’ve not played like the dominant defense they can be. Coverage has been sub-par, and it’s not just a player or two who is struggling, it’s the entire unit, which tells me it’s either schematic (which I doubt, there’s no scheme telling Rhodes to hold on to receivers) or something that’s mentally taking them off of their game. Maybe this will be what it takes to give them the lift they need. We’ll see on Sunday.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Dan Persons shared the statement that Everson Griffen released via the Vikings.

Quite a few Vikings team records are in danger of being broken by Cousins and Thielen, per Chris.

Chris has the Stock Market Report: Rams.

TCO Stadium hosted its first high school football game, per a fanpost from Chris.

Vikings news from other sources and news from around the league:

Catch up on all the week four scores and highlights, courtesy of NFL.com.

From Vikings.com, hear Mike Zimmer address the media after Thursday’s game, also see Kirk Cousins’ media address, and there’s lots of other traffic to view in the media vault.

From NFL.com, Earl Thomas suffered a leg fracture yesterday. This is an illustration of why I have no problem with players wanting to get paid or lock in some long-term guaranteed money. Thomas wanted a long deal, didn’t get one, now his career could be over. These guys are always potentially one play away from being forced into retirement, better get paid while you can.

We come to our media selection:

At 1-2-1, I’m guessing lots of Vikings fans are taking the approach suggested by the legend, Merle Haggard. This is one of my favorite singers of all-time, I got to see him live in Tacoma Washington in 1995, and I vaguely recall parts of that evening. Enjoy!

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

• No discussion of politics or religion
• No feeding of the trolls
• This isn’t a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
• Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
• Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
• No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
• If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
• While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the head cheese.