ganesh Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 2 hours ago, Real McCoy said: The Viks D was a shell of what it was last year. D is the biggest difference from last year to this hands down, giving up almost 100 more pts this year. This! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideNine Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 There is a bunch of finger pointing at Cousins. Most felt the Vikings were on the cusp last year and Cousins was supposed to be that last expensive piece that would get them over the hump. Yet the team that had something to play for folded to the team that did not... 84 million dollar bust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 8 hours ago, Virgil said: What exactly happened this season? From how they played last year to finishing 8-7-1, I’m honestly asking. I figured they’d be at least a 1 or 2 seed. I feel like we played on fire against them, but maybe last year was the fluke? Changing QBs was a mistake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big C Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 6 hours ago, Boatdrinks said: They could. Great thing is, they’ve already proven they can beat New England if need be. I sure hope it doesn’t come to that though. CHI has a great defense for sure, but I don’t trust Trubisky to take the Lombardi. Not yet, anyway. Not to mention Chicago already lost to the Patriots in a shootout this year. That being said, if you look at these other AFC playoff teams, there is reason to believe it won't come to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyBills Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Cousins turns to below average when going against good defenses. We saw it against us , I think they didn't cross the 50 til the mid 3rd qtr. He will put up big numbers versus the below average defenses . Super overrated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 The Cousins contract was a mistake. But their offensive line has been decimated through a combination of injury and retirement and as a result, not unlike we have seen in Buffalo this year, they have struggled to run it with any consistency. Add in DeFilippo being a downgrade from Schurmer and them losing a few tight ones and suddenly 12 wins is 8 wins. The problem is there is no spare money to rebuild the line and Tom Compton a journeyman left guard who has been surprisingly their best lineman is a free agent. They are going to have to focus on offensive line in the draft. They might even shed a defensive salary or two to give themselves a run at one in FA. Bad offensive lines sink offenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 7 hours ago, BillyWhiteShows said: I have a good friend from MN. Huge Viking fan. Yes the defense slipped a bit but overall was good enough. The biggest problem was the offensive line. They were atrocious. Could generate no running game which put more pressure on the passing game. Problem was Cousins was terrorized back there, like we saw in Buffalo. Still he threw for 30 TD’s. He tells me, they’ll be fine once they improve the line 100% right. The defense gave up more points but they were still the 3rd best redzone defense and the best third down defense in the entire NFL. Them giving up more points was in large part a result of them being on the field more and in less favourable field position. Last year's Minnesota offense was 3rd in the NFL when it came to converting 3rd downs. This year they dropped 10% points and all the way down to 26th in the NFL. They turned it over more too. The giveaways went up too from 14 to 20. Was the defense quite as good as it was in 2017? No. But it was at worst the 4th most significant factor in their drop off. The offensive line was #1 and by some distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Toll Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Seems like there is no critical thinking here, people have wanted to pile on Cousins before he played a down in Minnesota. I’d say the biggest difference from last year is that their division got a whole lot better. Chicago went from being a garbage team last year to a Super Bowl contender this year. Green Bay didn’t have Aaron Rodgers for the bulk of last year. The Lions were terrible and the coach got fired. This adds up to Minnesota basically winning the division by default a year ago. Last year was a lucky fluke for them and Cousins still outplayed Case Keenum this year. All that said, it was Cousins who made the mistake of choosing Minnesota, not Minnesota making the mistake of choosing Cousins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talley56 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 12 hours ago, billieve420 said: Wonder where all the Cousins supporters are now. Definitely overrated. I’m one, and willing to admit I was wrong. He had a golden opportunity to prove himself this year with Thielen and Diggs to throw to and he failed. I would love to see what Allen could do with weapons like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ittakestime Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 People blaming Cousins are ignorant. How the coaching staff couldn't figure out a way to somehow protect him is the real issue. Look at Indy with and without an O line. Luck is on another level this year and they have been the hottest team in the league. He is finally being protected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 12 hours ago, Real McCoy said: The Viks D was a shell of what it was last year. D is the biggest difference from last year to this hands down, giving up almost 100 more pts this year. i agree if you want to point to one thing, it is the defense, not the offense/Cousins. Cousins is not a throw everyone on his back and win no matter what type of QB, but I also dont think that is what they thought they were buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 12 hours ago, Virgil said: Cook missed the entire previous season too, didn’t he? Yes, he did. Out after 4 games. So he isn't the reason. OL. And DL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 10 hours ago, BillyWhiteShows said: I have a good friend from MN. Huge Viking fan. Yes the defense slipped a bit but overall was good enough. The biggest problem was the offensive line. They were atrocious. Could generate no running game which put more pressure on the passing game. Problem was Cousins was terrorized back there, like we saw in Buffalo. Still he threw for 30 TD’s. He tells me, they’ll be fine once they improve the line Your friend is correct. To what extent Vikes need to rebuild the OL is a good question. They kicked last year's starting RT inside and started a rook at RT - R side of the line completely different. Did your friend have any gouge on how O'Neil (their 2nd round T) looked? Any flickers of hope there? Then their starting LG spent the season on IR and it's a good question whether he'll be back - he IR'd with a bulging disc in his neck which sounds questionable to return from. I think their starting C spent a lot of camp and the first few games on IR, and they also lost a couple of young guys they hoped would contribute to IR (a guard and a tackle). Basically the Vikes starting OL was a total blow-up this season. Why people look at that and complain about Cousins beats me. Keenum would have looked like a double order of hot garbage back there this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 7 hours ago, GunnerBill said: The Cousins contract was a mistake. But their offensive line has been decimated through a combination of injury and retirement and as a result, not unlike we have seen in Buffalo this year, they have struggled to run it with any consistency. Add in DeFilippo being a downgrade from Schurmer and them losing a few tight ones and suddenly 12 wins is 8 wins. The problem is there is no spare money to rebuild the line and Tom Compton a journeyman left guard who has been surprisingly their best lineman is a free agent. They are going to have to focus on offensive line in the draft. They might even shed a defensive salary or two to give themselves a run at one in FA. Bad offensive lines sink offenses. Correct on the OL. As a quick metric: last year Keenum took 22 sacks. Cousins has taken 40 this season. That isn't because Cousins can't make reads and figure out where to go with the ball as well or better than Keenum. It's because the Vikes OL has been decimated. The right side is completely different. The LG is on IR. And I think, both the C and LT have been injured. Tom Compton their best OLmen? Wasn't true last year. Reiff is a pretty good LT and Elflein a pretty good C. Compton was filling in for the IR'd Nick Easton. Overthecap says Vikes are paying Easton and Compton together $3.8M. They've got $4.6M cap to roll over. If one of the OLmen they have on IR doesn't cut it they should be able to sign a FA for that. But I don't know who their FA are and what other needs they have - I know they had some key defenders on IR as well. But you're touching on the peril of what the Vikes did with Cousins and on a potential opportunity - precious little $$ to put a team around him. There are a few teams (the Vikes are one) that may need to shed a good player or two as cap casualties. Hopefully Beane is "on it". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Id say 2 main things: 1. The defense was way worse. 2. The Bears got that much better. 2018 Vikings gave up 21.3pts/game 2017 Vikings gave up 15.8pts/game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 20 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: Correct on the OL. As a quick metric: last year Keenum took 22 sacks. Cousins has taken 40 this season. That isn't because Cousins can't make reads and figure out where to go with the ball as well or better than Keenum. It's because the Vikes OL has been decimated. The right side is completely different. The LG is on IR. And I think, both the C and LT have been injured. Tom Compton their best OLmen? Wasn't true last year. Reiff is a pretty good LT and Elflein a pretty good C. Compton was filling in for the IR'd Nick Easton. Overthecap says Vikes are paying Easton and Compton together $3.8M. They've got $4.6M cap to roll over. If one of the OLmen they have on IR doesn't cut it they should be able to sign a FA for that. I know their oline has been decimated. I said that. The left guard has been on IR, the RG retired, Eiflen has had a really rough year and I have never been a big Riley Reiff guy I think he is overrated and he has struggled badly at times this year. Tom Compton obviously wasn't their best lineman last year because he wasn't on the team. He is a journeyman who they picked up and he had a surprisingly good season for them but now he is a FA and Easton is a FA and they probably need to bring one back. My point was never to pin this on Cousins. I think the OL and even DeFilippo are both more culpable if you want to start casting around offensive blame. But my point on Cousins has always been the contract. I am not sure he can ever play up to it because even with QB salary inflation I think that will be a top 8-10 QB contract even in 2 years time when it ends. And he is, for me, a guy in that 11-15 range for NFL QBs. When you pay that much you need a guy who is good enough to hide deficiencies in quality and or depth that are bound to appear on your roster and that - for all his many qualities - is not Cousins. Cousins is not the reason the Vikings dropped from last year to this... the OL sunk that offense. But his contract IS a big part of the reason that I don't think it is an easy fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billieve420 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/31/2018 at 8:05 AM, Ittakestime said: People blaming Cousins are ignorant. How the coaching staff couldn't figure out a way to somehow protect him is the real issue. Look at Indy with and without an O line. Luck is on another level this year and they have been the hottest team in the league. He is finally being protected. Cousins is a decent QB who needs a great team around him. He will put up good numbers but I still don't view him as a franchise QB who makes the other players around him better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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