Week 11: VIKINGS (5-3-1) at Bears (6-3)

[beardown3231]

7 minutes ago, IotaNet said:

Don't want to be a troll or a jerk after a big loss but this simply isn't true. Last year, the Bears defense was pretty darned good. Specifically, they ranked 10th in total defense, ninth in scoring and tied for seventh in sacks. (Source: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000990079/article/chicago-bears-clearly-made-wise-decision-in-retaining-vic-fangio)

Make no mistake, Mack has been a HUGE difference-maker -- he's made them elite -- but they certainly weren't "garbage" last year.

Jinx.

[JDBrocks]

Ok, that's fine. I just don't recall them being very good. DVOA had them middle of the pack. So not garbage, you guys are right - poor choice of words on my part.

[WindyCity]

I was not really impressed with Kirk Cousins.

Later in the 2nd half he put some stats together, but the Bears routinley give up yards and points in the 4th quarter of games they are winning. The numbers are crazy for our 4th quarter points differential.

But before that it was a ton of short throws or misses and the picks were really bad.

 

Overall this season has he lived up to the expectations you guys had?

[Superman(DH23)]

1 hour ago, vikingsrule said:

Didn't Detroit just beat Carolina? They can play with anyone, for better or worse.

You mean the team we could have put 60 up against if we wanted to? Yeah if it wasnt for the turnaround the Bears would be favored by 10+

[Superman(DH23)]

6 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

I was not really impressed with Kirk Cousins.

Later in the 2nd half he put some stats together, but the Bears routinley give up yards and points in the 4th quarter of games they are winning. The numbers are crazy for our 4th quarter points differential.

But before that it was a ton of short throws or misses and the picks were really bad.

 

Overall this season has he lived up to the expectations you guys had?

It's actually a complete flip.of then first 3 quarters where the point differential is superbowl champion worthy.  Both Nagy and Vic go conservative in the 4th. It hasnt cost them games but, its frustrating as a fan bc of every game looks closer than it really is.

[IotaNet]

33 minutes ago, JDBrocks said:

 ...  So not garbage, you guys are right - poor choice of words on my part.

No worries.

The other things about this defense that people miss are:

1) Danny Trevathan was banged-up for much of last year
2) We added Roquan Smith,  who was the 8th overall pick in the draft

Combine that with the addition of Mack and now you're talking something special. When Smith really figures out the pro game (and remember, he missed all of training camp), this defense has the chance to something we can ride deep into the playoffs.

[Guest]

22 hours ago, WindyCity said:

I was not really impressed with Kirk Cousins.

Later in the 2nd half he put some stats together, but the Bears routinley give up yards and points in the 4th quarter of games they are winning. The numbers are crazy for our 4th quarter points differential.

But before that it was a ton of short throws or misses and the picks were really bad.

 

Overall this season has he lived up to the expectations you guys had?

The play we are seeing is exactly what I expected.  Expectations met.  Hoped for results...nope!

[IotaNet]

50 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

The play we are seeing is exactly what I expected.  Expectations me.  Hoped for results...nope!

See that's my deal. I am a Chicago native and longtime, die-hard Bears fan ... but I've lived in the Twin-Cities area for the last 15 years. I never got the Kirk Cousins thing.

I mean, Cousins is a nice, serviceable NFL quarterback but I never saw where he was tens of millions of dollars better than Case Keenum. When Cousins signed here, people were positively giddy but he has turned out to be more or less what I expected. I know that i'm a somewhat detached observer but what we saw last night was more-or-less what Cousins has been his whole career.

Now. lest anyone think I'm a hater, I drive by the new Vikings facility in Eagan almost every day and I have been in US Bank stadium several times. I am VERY jealous of both for my Bears. Vikings ownership got both of those setups VERY RIGHT!  

[vikesfan89]

22 minutes ago, IotaNet said:

See that's my deal. I am a Chicago native and longtime, die-hard Bears fan ... but I've lived in the Twin-Cities area for the last 15 years. I never got the Kirk Cousins thing.

I mean, Cousins is a nice, serviceable NFL quarterback but I never saw where he was tens of millions of dollars better than Case Keenum. When Cousins signed here, people were positively giddy but he has turned out to be more or less what I expected. I know that i'm a somewhat detached observer but what we saw last night was more-or-less what Cousins has been his whole career.

Now. lest anyone think I'm a hater, I drive by the new Vikings facility in Eagan almost every day and I have been in US Bank stadium several times. I am VERY jealous of both for my Bears. Vikings ownership got both of those setups VERY RIGHT!  

He's made some mistakes but he's also made a lot of throws that keenum couldn't dream or making

[SotanKing]

2 hours ago, vikesfan89 said:

He's made some mistakes but he's also made a lot of throws that keenum couldn't dream or making

yep...Cousins has had some absolute dimes so far this season into some extremely tight coverage which I see probably only some 5-6 QBs in the league making...before this gameweek, he actually is 2nd in league in completion rate above expectations so far this season (Brees is first). He is not perfect by any means but saying he is just slightly better than Case or just a servicable QB is just not true at all.

[wcblack34]

13 hours ago, upriser7 said:

yep...Cousins has had some absolute dimes so far this season into some extremely tight coverage which I see probably only some 5-6 QBs in the league making...before this gameweek, he actually is 2nd in league in completion rate above expectations so far this season (Brees is first). He is not perfect by any means but saying he is just slightly better than Case or just a servicable QB is just not true at all.

Maybe it won’t be true if he wins a meaningful game against a meaningful opponent. But the Cousins we are seeing this year is Andy Dalton. And he’s been Andy Dalton for his career. Neither Andy Dalton nor Kirk Cousins have won anything meaningful. 

Cousins and his contract will be an albatross unless he closes out games against quality opponents and stops making stupid turnovers. 

He’s got a defense. He’s got weapons. He had an OL in Washington. The one constant is the turnovers. The excuses are wearing thin. 

Stats mean nothing without wins. 

[vikingsrule]

Cousins can be a really good stop gap for this team. They're just going to have to do what the Chiefs did when they traded up for Mahomes. I don't think it needs to happen this year, but come the 2020 draft, an early QB may need to be considered given Cousins will want another huge contract. The Chiefs played their cards right, got the most they could out of Smith and made an aggressive move for a talented QB (who will be dirt cheap for three years). Hopefully by then the OL will have been rebuilt and the defense will still be dominant.

[milanb]

If all the Vikings wanted was a Stop Gap they could have kept Case Keenum and saved themselves a lot of money and cap space.

I predict that Kirk Cousins will either take the Vikings to the Super Bowl or he will get both Zimmer and Spielman fired.

[swede700]

3 minutes ago, milanb said:

If all the Vikings wanted was a Stop Gap they could have kept Case Keenum and saved themselves a lot of money and cap space.

I predict that Kirk Cousins will either take the Vikings to the Super Bowl or he will get both Zimmer and Spielman fired.

Agreed.  He can't be used as a stop-gap move.  You pay that kind of money for a solution, not a stop-gap.  The Chiefs traded for Alex Smith because they had no QB period (they cut Cassel who came here)...the Vikings had 3 options and chose to go for a 4th option.  While Smith was a similar age when he went to KC, Smith was always considered a stop-gap option, because he had clear arm limitations, of which Cousins does not have.

But, if Cousins fails, whether Spielman and/or Zimmer are around to make a Mahomes-like trade up, it would depend upon how he were to fail.  If he were to get injured, that's one thing.  But, if he gets them to the NFC Championship Game twice and never makes the Super Bowl that's another.    

[PrplChilPill]

If Mahomes was in this offense, we'd all be complaining about trading up for a mediocre QB. I think we are vastly underestimating how bad the OL and coaching are, when looking at Cousins.