FanPost

How close are we to really being good?

Kirk this… Kirk that.

KIRK KIRK KIRK!!! We all know theres a subset of Viking fans that are obsessed with our QB, most of those on the hating side of that fence. For the rest of us fans, we mostly believe our QB is an above average player who is not mobile, is very accurate, but can be rattled into conservative and uninspiring play. He is not going to win us the Super Bowl, but Matthew Stafford is the poster boy for the theory of surrounding a decent QB with a ton of talent to get it done, so there is a precedent for that. Let’s take a look at the rest of our team to see how far we are from having that type of team…

We know the Vikings have some good horses on our offense. Our skill position players are good enough right now to help a QB like KC and compare favorably against most every team in the league. We’ve had too many drops this year from our pass catchers but overall, this is a strength of the team.

Is our O Line finally good? Let’s just say they are improving, but from a low bar. This group needs additional improvement to really get the best out of Kirk. But even one of the guys I’ve been all over for years, Garrett Bradbury hasn’t really been bad this year. Nobody on the O Line has been great either though, and that includes our tackles.

What about the Special Teams?

Guys and Gals, this is the best the Special Teams have been in a long, long time. Wright, our new punter, has been an absolute find. When he isn’t throwing passes, he’s pinning defenses with tremendous punting. As a guy who was pounding the table for the Punt God (oops), I am thrilled with how Wright has elevated this group. Greg the Leg has been solid as well. Sure, he has missed a few kicks, but I think we’ve gotten good play overall. For the first time in years, my heart doesn’t clutch every time a FG attempt is about to happen. Even our kick and punt coverage has looked good. One nit, I don’t think our own return game has really flashed yet, but this is becoming the least important area of Special Teams in my opinion. Just don’t get a flag and don’t turn it over! All in all, Special Teams has outperformed expectation by a good margin, great job!

So, let’s move on to the remaining third wheel of the Viking’s 3-wheeler, Defense. After a few years of bad defense where the team has been trying to stock up more playmakers, things haven’t felt that positive this year to me either. We do NOT have the type of defense that the Vikings need to be a championship caliber club. There was a hope that Za’Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, the return of Danielle Hunter, top draft picks Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr, and 4th round Asamoah and new D Coordinator Ed Donatell would elevate the defense, but I think we’ve now seen enough to know that that hasn’t happened. In particular I want to point the finger at Coach Donatell because the defense does not look very well coached to me. It feels like we are trying to play the most conservative defensive philosophy of bending but trying to avoid breaking while we hope for mistakes on the offense. In particular, we made The Eagles offense look unstoppable. Our only strong defensive effort to date was against the Packers (bright spot!). So, let’s dig further here…

Starting with the back end, I have been pleased with the play of Tiny Dantzler. Pat Pete has been reasonable as well, showing his top end speed continues to slow, but otherwise has made some good plays too. PP seems pretty hit or miss, but I can live with that for the second CB. S till, sometimes our cushion over there is making things too easy. The safeties have been doing pretty well, including some inspiring play from Josh Metellus in a week 3 fill in start. Having some depth here was important and is more so now since Lewis Cine is done for the year. I had expected him to continue growing throughout the season and becoming a contributor as it wore on. Even though the safeties have been acceptable, I think we need a bit more for them to help elevate the overall defense. Because…

Our Linebackers have been milquetoast. Boring. We need these guys to keep those 3 yard runs from becoming 6 yards, and they aren’t doing it. The middle of the field feels open an awful lot as well. We’ve got Kendricks and Hicks, and the opposing offense keeps moving the sticks. It might be time to start getting Brian Asamoah some more playing time, and it also might be time to invest in a top-notch LB in next year’s draft.

Speaking of bland play, our pass rush looks pretty tame given the studs we thought we had at DE. Danielle Hunter is not going to get that big pay check if he keeps playing like he has to date. Because the front four is not really putting much pressure onto opposing QBs (we are currently 23rd in pressure rate), you’d think we would be bringing some heat with blitzes. In what I can only describe as head scratching, The Vikings blitz rate is an anemic 13.6%, with only the Saints, Bears and Bills bringing less blitzers. The Bears and Bills are getting good pressure though with just 4 rushers, but the Vikings are not. I blame Donatell for continuing to trot out a defense that is not creating problems for the opposing teams QB. This is killing us!

Our run D isn’t much better. Bottom ten in the league in fact. Every defense needs something it can hang its hat on, but unfortunately, I can’t seem to find anything. Its not that we are awful on D, we are only giving up a somewhat respectable 20 ppg, its that we aren’t flying around, we aren’t surprising teams, and we aren’t making things difficult for offenses overall. Unless Donatell can squeeze some lemonade out of this roster, I think we are the beneficiaries of good scheduling, great special teams, decent offense, and subpar defense.

In summary, I smell a 10-7 team that nobody takes too seriously to advance too far in the playoffs unless our defense can start to play with more energy and better consistency. AND MORE BLITZES!!!! Would I love for the team to exceed my analysis and prove me wrong? Absolutely. But I just don't see enough here to have high expectations. At least this realization will keep me from overreacting. Who am I kidding, I will be right there with the rest of y'all!

SKOL Vikings!

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.