Mothman wrote:
As I said, the comment was meant to be flippant.
I realize that. Look, i don't want to get into a big, long comparison. It was meant half-jokingly because, as i said, they seem to show interest in every other Bengal that becomes available, even if they haven't landed many of them.
But what IS going on in Minnesota? It looks to me like the Vikes may be building the same kind of "good enough to get there but not good enough to win" type of team, strong on defense, questionable enough on offense that when they got to the postseason, they struggled to score and lost. The comparison to the Bengals was superficial but the Bengals themselves aren't really the important part of my point, which is to avoid a long Dennis Green/Marvin Lewis-like run of playoff appearances and playoff futility and build an actual championship team. I'm not convinced that's what we're seeing in Minnesota, despite the Zimmer hype-train. It seems like Vikes fans have been so enamored by his strengths since he arrived two years ago that they see the team's upward mobility as inevitable and yet last year, I saw a Vikings team that resembled some of Brad Childress' teams, right down to the predictable conservative offense, sometimes stifling defense, and tendency to lose and/or be out-coached when they came up against the better teams in the league.
I don't see this team on an inevitable championship path right now. I see a precarious success that could lead to bigger and better things or fall apart quickly, depending on what happens with the offense over the next two years. I feel pretty confident Zimmer knows what he's doing defensively but the offense has taken a step back on his watch and if they don't reverse that trend, a run of decent seasons and first round exits could be exactly what's in store for us fans.
Fair. It's basically a neutral position and that's not a knock because there is more to play out.
There's no one way to win, but there are ways of how you build a winner that historically lend itself to more winning over the long haul and that's usually involving a top flight defense. They're building that and very close to it. Get that down and you look at a team that has the chance to do damage, every single season. I agree, the offense leaves a lot to be desired. They need to improve. Teddy needs to get better. I think he does, but that doesn't matter.
What are we even arguing? We all want the same thing -- a Super Bowl win. Some of us say we like the trend, you and others say pump the brakes, there's a long way to go. Ultimately, it's the positive with the negative and collectively, it averages out to the middle, which is where this team is. Improving, yes. Encouraging, sure. Anywhere close? No. So again, why are we arguing? This is rhetorical because it's a message board and discussions is what we do, but in the end, this team needs to improve greatly on offense and sustain everything. We can't control that, we just all have our ideas how they do or don't.
I'm a big Teddy guy...Have been. I won't skirt around the fact that a lot of this banks on him...If he doesn't come through...more years lost.
I see your point as you see others.
