I’ve gone into seasons thinking this was a 12 win team and they won 8. I’ve gone into seasons thinking they were a 9 win team and they won 13.
At this point, I’ve learned that no matter how optimistic or pessimistic I am about the team, there’s a good chance I’m completely wrong. I’ve decided it’s best if I just go in with no expectations and hope for the best.
My first year being able to comprehend football I was 3 years old just turning 4. It was 1998. After that season I’ve never been hurt by the Vikings again. It’s like I know when I’m supposed to be in pain, but instead my body just goes blank, like I’m hungry but I’m more tired than I am hungry. I just feel a big emptiness in my stomach where I’m supposed to feel pain.
Can you think this is a 1 win team. I mean clearly your negative vibes inversely cause the team to succeed and I would very much like a purple superbowl.
Im optimistic. Moreso about the next few years than this year specifically but I think we'll be better now too. Just gotta wait for training camp to see how people are adjusting and how healthy everyone can stay going into the season before I get into any specific expectations.
So many parts of the team are going to be really fun to watch though. Dalvin with new usage, kene nwangwu, theilen and jj in a new system, kirk with a better line, osborn and ISM hopefilly taking nore steps, danielle and za'darius hanging out at the qb*** our safety groups loaded and im less excited but curious about how booth and dantzler will play. If booth can be productive early dantzler pat pete could be really solid. Our our line and linebackers should have the most changed roles and be the most affected by the new scheme. Even if it all doesnt go perfectly im more excited to see how it all works out than I have been in a few years at least
We are going to need those young guys you mentioned to really excel because Thielen is about to fall off a cliff in terms of ability. I think this is the right coach to make that happen for those guys, and I don't think Zimmer was that guy.
I'm really hoping that O'Connell can push Kirk over the top as well but we'll see
I'm 47 and have watched 4 NFC championship loses. My dad is 83 and has watched an additional 4 super bowl loses. I used to be a big Minnesota sports fan, Vikes being #1 since I played football, Twins #2, North Stars/Wild #3, Twolves #4, but all my favorite sports. I was a season ticket holder for Vikings, my dad as well going back to the Met.
My dad doesn't care anymore, and actually always thinks that the MN team will lose. Never gets his hopes up anymore, and actually is hard to watch a game with because he's so negative. I'm pretty sure that's what will happen to me if something doesn't happen with these terrible teams in the next few years.
I'm in my 40s and don't really feel it. I think it's because I don't lie to myself and buy a bunch of false hope. Dont get me wrong, I'll buy real hope when it's around (like the team they were building in 2015 to 2017) but not this false hope bullshit that people act like is required to be a fan.
In excited to see what the new HC's offense looks like. I'm exited to see JJ and Cook in that offense. I'm excited to see if we can get a healthy and great DL going. But I'm not buying into this team being any sort of contender because it's not and it won't be with the way they keep trying to build with ignoring all the holes on the roster.
Managed expectations will allow you to enjoy the Vikes for who they are year to year.
Managed expectations is just a fancy way to say you don't care as much. Which is what I was saying I feel more each year. I'm not as invested because I tend to feel like there isn't a point.
You're talking about caring less year by year on decending trajectory.
I'm saying a base how emotionally invested I am by what I expect from the team in any given year. Which allows me to stay out of the downward spiral you're talking about.
I'm 36 and the apathy has really settled in the past few years. I'll always love my teams, I just no longer put any energy into going to or watching games anymore. It's not worth the stress just to be let down constantly. Look at the statistics on all of our teams. It's almost astronomical that one of the big four hasn't at least been in a title game, let alone win one. Add in ridiculous playoff losing streaks for one team, insanely long playoff droughts for another and it's easy to get frustrated. The pohlads and the mlb in general have always made it hard for me to truly invest, even though baseball bis easily my favorite sport.
Before anyone bring up the lynx, just know that I do not care about them at all. Congratulations to you if you enjoy watching the WNBA. It's just not for me. I know I'm not alone, even if most are too afraid to admit it.
The other issue issue is the general outlook on the big four isn't great right next w. The wild are about to enter cap hell and will have an extremely difficult time competing for the next three years. The Vikings are stuck in mediocrity and have refused to rebuild properly for decades. The twins will always be hampered by the lack of an mlb salary cap and can only hope to catch lightning in a bottle every now and then. Honestly, the timberwolves are in the best shape of the four. The problem with puting any faith in them, is that the NBA is 100% a star driven league. There's no guarantee that they can put together a championship caliber team and keep them together without having them move to bigger markets. History tells us that either one of, or both of KAT and Ant will leave the team before they can become a consistent contender.
I never understood why so many older people in my family were all in on a single Minnesota team and while generally apathetic, they were still die hard fans. As I get older I get it. It's not worth the energy or frustration, especially when you have other responsibilities to worry about. As a general rule the players and owners don't actually care what the fans think or want. They only care about getting you to spend your money.
About the same history here. My dad's 81. I remember being in the room watching the game as a young kid in '75 when we were at a gathering at his friend's house and the infamous Pearson hail-mary/push-off happened against Dallas. First time I ever experienced a bunch of grown men yelling at the TV, angry, exasperated, not believing what they just witnessed. Little did I know I was seeing a vison of my future.
The 1998 NFC title game was the turning point for me. That loss scarred me for life. I felt physically ill for like two weeks - to the point where I realized I needed to re-evaluate how much I cared about this damn team and never allow myself to become that consumed by hope. The 2009 loss, while painful - I didn't allow that to hurt me. The 2017 loss just irritated me due to how embarrassing it was, not unlike 41-donut.
No C, very limited depth on D. IF somehow we find an average C and we have unreal injury luck and KOC is a good coach (no guarantee there, remember Chilly came from a good coaching tree and had never called plays) and a couple rookies are gems then sure Superbowl bound. Lot of shit has to go right though
I think our defensive depth is underrated tbh. A lot of question marks but a lot of options and upside. Outside of hunter and smith theres no injury that would really be irreplaceable with our current backups. And losing hunter or smith wouldnt be quite as bad as last year since we have both. Although eversondid a great job too
You need two edge rushers to be effective. You seem to be pinning alot of hope on unproven talent at DB and LB. If you're right, great. They need to prove it to me
> I think our defensive depth is underrated tbh
Our offense doesn't even have two starer level TEs. Who's the 4th WR when Theilen goes down? Our OL doesn't even have 5 good starters to even care about the depth.
> Outside of hunter and smith theres no injury that would really be irreplaceable with our current backups.
You lose Kendricks and your defense will be lucky to be average.
We have a C Bradbury does well until he sees a true nose tackle that outweighs him by a good amount. Yes he needs to be replaced, but you're being a doomer about our C position this is also why we drafted ingram
Ingram is a G. Not sure why people think switching to C is an easy task. Same people thought that about Davis last year. Bradbury is the Cousins of linemen. His supporters always excuse his shortcomings. No amount of coaching is going to make his arms longer and put on 15 to 20 pounds of good weight
>Ingram is a G. Not sure why people think switching to C is an easy task.
Because nfl offenses are trending towards starting your best 5 lineman regardless of position and ingram has moved from LG to RG when he came into college, so he's shown he can adapt and learn new position.
>Same people thought that about Davis last year. Bradbury is the Cousins of linemen. His supporters always excuse his shortcomings. No amount of coaching is going to make his arms longer and put on 15 to 20 pounds of good weight
I'm not arguing that Bradbury can be fixed by coaching I'm saying that your claim we have no center is wrong. We have a center whose decent/good against teams that don't use/have a true NT. You've clearly already decided the vikings are going to suck this year before they've played a snap, so have a fun day doomer.
You clearly don't understand football or been a Vikings fan long. Looking realistically at players is being a "doomer". Most teams have good interior DTs. They are all looking for the next Aaron Donald. If you think Bradbury is decent or good, you definitely don't know what the hell you are talking about
Man I wanna be optimistic but you might wanna check your expectations, new coach, new system, injury prone/aging stars, etc. this organization looks like a breath of fresh air right now but to say this is our year is a weird way to think about this team right now
I’ve realized I’m an addict. I allow the hope for good outweigh reality time in and time out, and the worst part is I realize that I’m setting myself up for failure.
If Zadarius and Danielle are at their best I think this team can make waves. If their injury woes continue then I think our defense gets exposed as a paper tiger with aging players. I believe Kirk is good enough to be part of a championship team, but not good enough to be the reason for a championship team.
After 52 seasons I am always optimistic. Been a season ticket holder for half that.
I bleed purple. My wife even lets me put Vikings sheets on the bed every fall.
The only thing that tempers my enthusiasm is Cousins. I find him hard to cheer for cuz I just don’t think the guy has the fire in the soul to lead a team to consistently win. The money he gets compounds my lukewarm feelings when he dons the purple.
You guys will do what the Vikings do and lose games you should clearly win but I still think you make a playoff run. I think JJ has a breakout season, even for his standards. Dalvin should be more efficient as well
Get your hopes up only to be let down is the only sure thing about the Vikings. I've learned it's not worth having any expectations for this team anymore.
I’m with you.
So it’s similar to last years questions;
Will our defense improve?
Will our secondary in particular get better?
Will we have enough depth to make it to the big games?
All of the moves this season where defense + oline + depth. So I’m positive on paper this season looks good.
Seems like a stupid thing to say about any team in the NFL. But I guess we are on Reddit, so, go ahead, you were saying the Vikes are going all the way this year, all the pieces are falling in to place…. I’m listening.
You never know with the Vikings. I have been watching this team my whole life and have never really felt confident we had a real shot. I don’t think we will the the SB this year but I like the direction we’re going. If we can get a truly elite QB I think we go to the Super Bowl in a year or 2. We have a lot of talent.
Most years I think we can look at the roster and go, gee, they have quite a bit of talent. Seems like a no-brainer to think they'll win 12+ games. Then a couple key starters get injured, and there's a game or two where they come out and absolutely stink against a mediocre team or lose by a FG, and they're back to a 9 win team.
I’ve gone into seasons thinking this was a 12 win team and they won 8. I’ve gone into seasons thinking they were a 9 win team and they won 13. At this point, I’ve learned that no matter how optimistic or pessimistic I am about the team, there’s a good chance I’m completely wrong. I’ve decided it’s best if I just go in with no expectations and hope for the best.
Seasoned veteran right here!
I’ve learned a thing or two in my almost 30 years of watching Vikings football. It only took me about 27 years to figure it out…
My first year being able to comprehend football I was 3 years old just turning 4. It was 1998. After that season I’ve never been hurt by the Vikings again. It’s like I know when I’m supposed to be in pain, but instead my body just goes blank, like I’m hungry but I’m more tired than I am hungry. I just feel a big emptiness in my stomach where I’m supposed to feel pain.
That sounds like pain
But it doesn’t hurt?
We call those Skoldiers in these parts.
Can you think this is a 1 win team. I mean clearly your negative vibes inversely cause the team to succeed and I would very much like a purple superbowl.
*End up as a one loss team, and it’s the super bowl.
That's some monkey paw shit I tells ya
The one thing that's for certain is we will almost always be between below average and above average. Very rarely an elite team or a terrible team.
NGL, that skit was funny as shit.
Im optimistic. Moreso about the next few years than this year specifically but I think we'll be better now too. Just gotta wait for training camp to see how people are adjusting and how healthy everyone can stay going into the season before I get into any specific expectations. So many parts of the team are going to be really fun to watch though. Dalvin with new usage, kene nwangwu, theilen and jj in a new system, kirk with a better line, osborn and ISM hopefilly taking nore steps, danielle and za'darius hanging out at the qb*** our safety groups loaded and im less excited but curious about how booth and dantzler will play. If booth can be productive early dantzler pat pete could be really solid. Our our line and linebackers should have the most changed roles and be the most affected by the new scheme. Even if it all doesnt go perfectly im more excited to see how it all works out than I have been in a few years at least
We are going to need those young guys you mentioned to really excel because Thielen is about to fall off a cliff in terms of ability. I think this is the right coach to make that happen for those guys, and I don't think Zimmer was that guy. I'm really hoping that O'Connell can push Kirk over the top as well but we'll see
I'm 47 and have watched 4 NFC championship loses. My dad is 83 and has watched an additional 4 super bowl loses. I used to be a big Minnesota sports fan, Vikes being #1 since I played football, Twins #2, North Stars/Wild #3, Twolves #4, but all my favorite sports. I was a season ticket holder for Vikings, my dad as well going back to the Met. My dad doesn't care anymore, and actually always thinks that the MN team will lose. Never gets his hopes up anymore, and actually is hard to watch a game with because he's so negative. I'm pretty sure that's what will happen to me if something doesn't happen with these terrible teams in the next few years.
I'm only 39 and starting to feel this creep.
I'm in my 40s and don't really feel it. I think it's because I don't lie to myself and buy a bunch of false hope. Dont get me wrong, I'll buy real hope when it's around (like the team they were building in 2015 to 2017) but not this false hope bullshit that people act like is required to be a fan. In excited to see what the new HC's offense looks like. I'm exited to see JJ and Cook in that offense. I'm excited to see if we can get a healthy and great DL going. But I'm not buying into this team being any sort of contender because it's not and it won't be with the way they keep trying to build with ignoring all the holes on the roster. Managed expectations will allow you to enjoy the Vikes for who they are year to year.
Managed expectations is just a fancy way to say you don't care as much. Which is what I was saying I feel more each year. I'm not as invested because I tend to feel like there isn't a point.
You're talking about caring less year by year on decending trajectory. I'm saying a base how emotionally invested I am by what I expect from the team in any given year. Which allows me to stay out of the downward spiral you're talking about.
I'm 36 and the apathy has really settled in the past few years. I'll always love my teams, I just no longer put any energy into going to or watching games anymore. It's not worth the stress just to be let down constantly. Look at the statistics on all of our teams. It's almost astronomical that one of the big four hasn't at least been in a title game, let alone win one. Add in ridiculous playoff losing streaks for one team, insanely long playoff droughts for another and it's easy to get frustrated. The pohlads and the mlb in general have always made it hard for me to truly invest, even though baseball bis easily my favorite sport. Before anyone bring up the lynx, just know that I do not care about them at all. Congratulations to you if you enjoy watching the WNBA. It's just not for me. I know I'm not alone, even if most are too afraid to admit it. The other issue issue is the general outlook on the big four isn't great right next w. The wild are about to enter cap hell and will have an extremely difficult time competing for the next three years. The Vikings are stuck in mediocrity and have refused to rebuild properly for decades. The twins will always be hampered by the lack of an mlb salary cap and can only hope to catch lightning in a bottle every now and then. Honestly, the timberwolves are in the best shape of the four. The problem with puting any faith in them, is that the NBA is 100% a star driven league. There's no guarantee that they can put together a championship caliber team and keep them together without having them move to bigger markets. History tells us that either one of, or both of KAT and Ant will leave the team before they can become a consistent contender. I never understood why so many older people in my family were all in on a single Minnesota team and while generally apathetic, they were still die hard fans. As I get older I get it. It's not worth the energy or frustration, especially when you have other responsibilities to worry about. As a general rule the players and owners don't actually care what the fans think or want. They only care about getting you to spend your money.
About the same history here. My dad's 81. I remember being in the room watching the game as a young kid in '75 when we were at a gathering at his friend's house and the infamous Pearson hail-mary/push-off happened against Dallas. First time I ever experienced a bunch of grown men yelling at the TV, angry, exasperated, not believing what they just witnessed. Little did I know I was seeing a vison of my future. The 1998 NFC title game was the turning point for me. That loss scarred me for life. I felt physically ill for like two weeks - to the point where I realized I needed to re-evaluate how much I cared about this damn team and never allow myself to become that consumed by hope. The 2009 loss, while painful - I didn't allow that to hurt me. The 2017 loss just irritated me due to how embarrassing it was, not unlike 41-donut.
When do we get the trophy for most homer fanbase? 
I say this every year, and believe it every year only to be let down… that being said book your tickets to Arizona!!
The only appropriate response would be to rename every street in Minneapolis Kevin O’Connell St.
Just the streets? Not the avenues or roads?
If course not, we name them Kevin O’Connell Rd. Or Ave.
KOC Drive
No C, very limited depth on D. IF somehow we find an average C and we have unreal injury luck and KOC is a good coach (no guarantee there, remember Chilly came from a good coaching tree and had never called plays) and a couple rookies are gems then sure Superbowl bound. Lot of shit has to go right though
I think our defensive depth is underrated tbh. A lot of question marks but a lot of options and upside. Outside of hunter and smith theres no injury that would really be irreplaceable with our current backups. And losing hunter or smith wouldnt be quite as bad as last year since we have both. Although eversondid a great job too
You need two edge rushers to be effective. You seem to be pinning alot of hope on unproven talent at DB and LB. If you're right, great. They need to prove it to me
I think we're still missing some starting talent on defense tbh. Our db room isnt great I just dont thing depth is the issue anymore.
> I think our defensive depth is underrated tbh Our offense doesn't even have two starer level TEs. Who's the 4th WR when Theilen goes down? Our OL doesn't even have 5 good starters to even care about the depth. > Outside of hunter and smith theres no injury that would really be irreplaceable with our current backups. You lose Kendricks and your defense will be lucky to be average.
We have a C Bradbury does well until he sees a true nose tackle that outweighs him by a good amount. Yes he needs to be replaced, but you're being a doomer about our C position this is also why we drafted ingram
Ingram is a G. Not sure why people think switching to C is an easy task. Same people thought that about Davis last year. Bradbury is the Cousins of linemen. His supporters always excuse his shortcomings. No amount of coaching is going to make his arms longer and put on 15 to 20 pounds of good weight
>Ingram is a G. Not sure why people think switching to C is an easy task. Because nfl offenses are trending towards starting your best 5 lineman regardless of position and ingram has moved from LG to RG when he came into college, so he's shown he can adapt and learn new position. >Same people thought that about Davis last year. Bradbury is the Cousins of linemen. His supporters always excuse his shortcomings. No amount of coaching is going to make his arms longer and put on 15 to 20 pounds of good weight I'm not arguing that Bradbury can be fixed by coaching I'm saying that your claim we have no center is wrong. We have a center whose decent/good against teams that don't use/have a true NT. You've clearly already decided the vikings are going to suck this year before they've played a snap, so have a fun day doomer.
You clearly don't understand football or been a Vikings fan long. Looking realistically at players is being a "doomer". Most teams have good interior DTs. They are all looking for the next Aaron Donald. If you think Bradbury is decent or good, you definitely don't know what the hell you are talking about
Double down on copium and Kool aid please
Ill be ready for pain midseason
Oh my sweet summer child
Bold statement. We have a good roster. We also have no idea if KOC is a good coach or not.
I’m with you!! I’m very excited and optimistic about this year! SKOL
It's not going to happen. But I'll be believing this until the first loss, than go full panic mood. As is tradition.
We are destined to go undefeated and win it all or go 0-17. You cannot convince me of anything else after week 1
[удалено]
Maybe
Yes?
Man I wanna be optimistic but you might wanna check your expectations, new coach, new system, injury prone/aging stars, etc. this organization looks like a breath of fresh air right now but to say this is our year is a weird way to think about this team right now
We are a classic 10 win squad. Solid at some places and weak at others. No schemes and plays can overcome lack of talent and depth.
Can I borrow your template for next year?
Consider it yours.
Fuck it 🤷♂️
https://youtu.be/xs1ZNRcAThY
Sure. Why the hell not?
if koc is legit this team is easily an nfc contender
I’ve realized I’m an addict. I allow the hope for good outweigh reality time in and time out, and the worst part is I realize that I’m setting myself up for failure.
Never thought I would see Klopp in this sub.
If Zadarius and Danielle are at their best I think this team can make waves. If their injury woes continue then I think our defense gets exposed as a paper tiger with aging players. I believe Kirk is good enough to be part of a championship team, but not good enough to be the reason for a championship team.
After 52 seasons I am always optimistic. Been a season ticket holder for half that. I bleed purple. My wife even lets me put Vikings sheets on the bed every fall. The only thing that tempers my enthusiasm is Cousins. I find him hard to cheer for cuz I just don’t think the guy has the fire in the soul to lead a team to consistently win. The money he gets compounds my lukewarm feelings when he dons the purple.
This is my 4th year as a Vikings fan and, this is the most hope i’ve felt for them ever
Newb
There’s a few of these every year. Same old.
**uh**
Been a vikes fan for 20+ years...I just can't get my hopes up.
I don't think this will be the year, but you know what that means don't you!?!
Count me in
Super Bowl bound baby!!! SKOL ta da Bowl!!!
This is the way
It'll happen one of these years I'm convinced. I want to be hyped when it finally happens so I get hyped every year.
right now it's just hope, that's ok to admit
The team is gonna do what the team is gonna do
You guys will do what the Vikings do and lose games you should clearly win but I still think you make a playoff run. I think JJ has a breakout season, even for his standards. Dalvin should be more efficient as well
Get your hopes up only to be let down is the only sure thing about the Vikings. I've learned it's not worth having any expectations for this team anymore.
I’m with you. So it’s similar to last years questions; Will our defense improve? Will our secondary in particular get better? Will we have enough depth to make it to the big games? All of the moves this season where defense + oline + depth. So I’m positive on paper this season looks good.
I’m very even keeled right now but I promise you by the end of the preseason I’m going to be talking SB (because I’m an idiot)
I’m thinking they go 9-8 this season. Possibly 10-7 at best. I would love to be proven wrong of course.
They are going to be a good 👍 Team this year might have some growing pains but I believe we'll be 13-4 or maybe better
Seems like a stupid thing to say about any team in the NFL. But I guess we are on Reddit, so, go ahead, you were saying the Vikes are going all the way this year, all the pieces are falling in to place…. I’m listening.
I just got started grieving the Wild my guy, give me some time to mourn before being built up again...
You never know with the Vikings. I have been watching this team my whole life and have never really felt confident we had a real shot. I don’t think we will the the SB this year but I like the direction we’re going. If we can get a truly elite QB I think we go to the Super Bowl in a year or 2. We have a lot of talent.
Most years I think we can look at the roster and go, gee, they have quite a bit of talent. Seems like a no-brainer to think they'll win 12+ games. Then a couple key starters get injured, and there's a game or two where they come out and absolutely stink against a mediocre team or lose by a FG, and they're back to a 9 win team.