2014 Vikings season preview

[dead_poet]

I wrote a thing. Using words. Not haberdashery, though. Or globule.

http://firststopfantasy.com/articles/32 ... a-vikings/

[losperros]

Nice read. While I don't disagree with what you wrote, I'm still thinking a .500 record is possible.

Of course, intangibles figure into to this. I'm hoping there will be no catastrophic injuries, or arrests, etc.

[Raptorman]

Not bad, although I think 9-7 or 10-6.

[Purple bruise]

Great job but I am leaning more towards 10-6 and a wild card birth

[dead_poet]

Nice angle to point out how Norv Turner' system directly benefited Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron last year as evidence that Kyle Rudolph and Cordarrelle could benefit similarly.

Otherwise everything was written from standard position of the typical low self-esteem Vikings fan. it is ok to predict the Vikings can actually be good you know! 7-9??? I know part of you wanted to do more, but the Vikings fan in you just couldn't move past 7 right? Actually I think 7-9 is the Vikings fan equivalent of 12-4

I don't think it was written from a low self-esteem Vikings fan. As much as I want to be incredibly optimistic, I also try to be a realist. Their schedule is brutal and the defense is still a big question mark at several key positions (only RDE, LB, CB and S...and that's giving Floyd a pass.). If I predicted 10 wins, I'd be accused of wearing purple glasses! I hope every year for a 16-0 season. I just think this team is at least a year or two away from realistically winning the North.

[dead_poet]

Nice read. While I don't disagree with what you wrote, I'm still thinking a .500 record is possible.

I agree. I nearly went 8-8. Or 9-6. But in the end I couldn't.

[MichViking]

9-6...?

[dead_poet]

9-6...?

Or 9-7

[Viva la Vikings]

How many games we lost in the closing minutes with the depressing coaching staff we had last year? 2? 3? What we have now, with the new talent and staff, I'll say 8-10 wins.

[mansquatch]

How many games we lost in the closing minutes with the depressing coaching staff we had last year? 2? 3? What we have now, with the new talent and staff, I'll say 8-10 wins.

I heard an interesting take on close wins/loss by Nate Silver awhile back. Basically what he said is that those games are within the margin of error. Thus if a team wins a of close games then it is actually overachieving. I think this is what we saw in the 2012 campaign. In the case of the Vikings, are they better than last year's record? By Silver's analysis, the answer is yes. They lost a lot of the close games. However, how much better is really the question. I'd say Silver's method would put them at 8 or 9 wins on average.

To me the bigger question is whether they are over that hump and into the 10-11 game category? Time will tell.