Minny's Return To Mediocrity Imminent As Packers Set Stage For 2010 Repeat

[PackerfaninCarolina]

2018 is going to be one of the best years to be a Packer fan as once again the Vikings get their hopes dashed on the rocks even worse than what happened in 2009 in Favre's last stand. This ladies and gentlemen was a worse defeat for them than what happened to us against Atlanta last year because we came into that game with the league's worst defense knowing we were going to have to repeat the 1984 shootout against Washington to win it, and even with Rodgers scoring 45 points a game is a tall order. The Vikings do not have this excuse having come into this game with the league's best defense and not having to cover Julio Jones plus playing against backup Nick Foles and an offense that had not scored a TD since Wentz went down, and they got their @sses beat down so bad, the smoke and mirrors show came to an end on national television.

The definitive proof in the Vikings going downhill fast this next year can be found in what happened to the 2015 Panthers dropping from 15-1 to 6-10 after every single expert crowned them a deadlock to get back to the NFC Championship and they crashed and burned so bad they officially became the NFL's biggest joke team. Similarly, the 2015 Arizona Cardinals also were a big old fail in 2016, and we also must not forget what happened to America's 2016 Dallas Cowboys also going bad in 2017 and not even making the playoffs. The Vikings have less talent than all of those three teams and have followed up winning seasons with losing ones every year since the 1970s. Plus Case Keenum doesn't have Cam Newton or Dak Prescott's talents and is in a QB competition still with Sam Bradford who Zigi Wilf has broken the bank on. And just as Kelvin Benjamin failed to save the Panthers season in 2016, so shall Dalvin Cook fail to do so upon returning in 2018.

Meantime the Packers fortunes are about to surge upward in 2018 with not only the return of Aaron Rodgers behind center, but a new and improved OL, Aaron Jones set to break Ahman Green's records, a new GM who is going to be using our high draft picks to bring Rodgers a stockpile of weapons, and of course the work of Mike Pettine who's going to be making this defense an instant superbowl contending machine.

Also, gotta love our schedule with the only tough games being in the Patriots', Seahawks' and Rams' houses and the rest all being games we got in the bag.

 

[Mondio]

We have a lot of work to do. We're in a good position to do so, but let's not get a head of ourselves

 

[Spanky]

Minnesota's problem is that they have 3 serviceable QB's but no one who is a game changer. Advantage GB.

 

[C-Lee]

The Vikings might be better at every position than us besides QB.

 

[LambeauLombardi]

This Vikings loss was awesome, but doesn't change the fact our team is flawed as ****. We'll see if this team is a contender in 2019, but I'll be shocked if this is a scary team in 2018.

 

[bigbubbatd]

Don't see Minnesota slipping a ton but I can see the Packers jumping back up quickly. This team was 7-9 with a terrible back up qb. I think this team goes 11-5 at least.

Minnesota will have a big decision to make at qb this off season but they will get cook back. There may be some fear that their defense got expose the last 6 quarters of football.

 

[gemoran4]

I don't think the Vikings are anywhere near as talentless as you say, but they do have some questions going into next year that immediately comes to mind:

1) Who is their quarterback going forward? Sammy B might be done career wise. Did Keenum do enough outside this performance to give the organization confidence in him? Is Teddy Bridgewater still in their plans? And even then, are any of those the long term answer? Alex Smith and Kirk Cousins are both options that will be on the market, so we'll see what they decide to do.

2) How will their offense look if OC Pat Shurmur takes a head coaching job elsewhere? He's worked wonders with that offense since taking over for Norv Turner. Will they still be able to draw the kind of production they've gotten from the likes of Bradford and Keenum?

3) How will Dalvin Cook bounce back from injury? imo their running game was mediocre down the stretch without Cook, but if he bounces back this group should be pretty good next year.

4) Will their defense keep up their level of play? The 2nd half of the Saints game and this performance have definitely been a rough 6 quarters for the Vikings. This unit is pretty proven so i imagine they will still be very good if not elite next year, but there's a possibility that maybe teams are starting to figure them out a bit.

That being said, the Packers have a lot more question marks going into this offseason imo. But we also have Rodgers which is a big + over the Vikings, and I'm optimistic about Pettine as our DC. If Rodgers stays healthy and we get the defense to be a top half of the league unit we should win the division.

 

[C-Lee]

This Vikings loss was awesome, but doesn't change the fact our team is flawed as ****. We'll see if this team is a contender in 2019, but I'll be shocked if this is a scary team in 2018.

A healthy Rodgers makes us a contender every year, but I see your point.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

The Vikings might be better at every position than us besides QB.

They have maybe one WR (Diggs) who's better than ours, but like I said our high pickings in this draft could land us Calvin Ridley who is a carbon copy of Julio Jones and that argument goes out the window instantly.

Don't see Minnesota slipping a ton but I can see the Packers jumping back up quickly. This team was 7-9 with a terrible back up qb. I think this team goes 11-5 at least.

Minnesota will have a big decision to make at qb this off season but they will get cook back. There may be some fear that their defense got expose the last 6 quarters of football.

And as I already pointed out an example of a team getting a star player back (Kelvin Benjamin in 2016) and getting worse, getting Cook back means nothing.


Ladies and gentlemen, there seems to be a ridiculous notion that the Packers are in rebuilding mode. No, that is the Lions and Bears who are in rebuild mode (the Vikes soon to follow) as we have upgraded the GM and DC departments making us not in rebuild but upgrade mode.

 

[sschind]

They have maybe one WR (Diggs) who's better than ours, but like I said our high pickings in this draft could land us Calvin Ridley who is a carbon copy of Julio Jones and that argument goes out the window instantly.



And as I already pointed out an example of a team getting a star player back (Kelvin Benjamin in 2016) and getting worse, getting Cook back means nothing.


Ladies and gentlemen, there seems to be a ridiculous notion that the Packers are in rebuilding mode. No, that is the Lions and Bears who are in rebuild mode (the Vikes soon to follow) as we have upgraded the GM and DC departments making us not in rebuild but upgrade mode.

seems to be an equally ridiculous notion based on 1 game that the vikings are going to fall off the face of the earth. Don't get me wrong, I hope they do but they are still a very talented football team. They are not going to go away that easily.

By the way, the Eagles scored several TDs after Wentz went down so I'm not sure where you got that info in your original post.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

seems to be an equally ridiculous notion based on 1 game that the vikings are going to fall off the face of the earth. Don't get me wrong, I hope they do but they are still a very talented football team. They are not going to go away that easily.

By the way, the Eagles scored several TDs after Wentz went down so I'm not sure where you got that info in your original post.

I didn't base it on one game, I based it on what happened to them after 2009, what happened to the Panthers and Cardinals after 2015, and what happened to the Cowboys after 2016.

 

[rmontro]

I wouldn't say we have "high draft picks". I would characterize us as picking somewhere in the middle. It's not even supposed to be a very good draft year, so I don't know if I would pin all my hopes on that.

Minnesota's problem is that they have 3 serviceable QB's but no one who is a game changer. Advantage GB.

Until Rodgers gets hurt, then we're screwed.

 

[brandon2348]

However you want to cut it the Queens blew a major opportunity. A year where Aaron Rodgers is hurt and the no.1 seeded team is playing a backup QB. Throw in the fluke play last week against the Saints and the possibility of hosting there own team in the Super Bowl and I don't know how much more it will ever be that set up for them again.

Catastrophic Fail!

 

[Deleted member 6794]

They have maybe one WR (Diggs) who's better than ours, but like I said our high pickings in this draft could land us Calvin Ridley who is a carbon copy of Julio Jones and that argument goes out the window instantly.

Thielen caught 91 passes for 1,276 yards this season with Bradford and Keenum throwing him the ball. He definitely deserves some credit as well.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

Thielen caught 91 passes for 1,276 yards this season with Bradford and Keenum throwing him the ball. He definitely deserves some credit as well.

The point was comparing their receiving corps overall to ours, and if you put em head to head in a situation where Rodgers is 100% healthy, Vikings corps is equal (if that) at best to ours. Thielen and Wright had theirs, but mostly because Diggs can open up the field when he's on.

I don't think Nelson, Cobb, Adams and Gmo/Clark or whoever gets the 4/5 spot are any worse than what they got, although Nelson is older and certainly Adams's two clunks to the head might be something to worry about. But on your typical day with Rodgers hitting pinpoint accuracy we still got it, and I truly believe if Brian G makes good use of our draft cards we'll be even deeper in that position or have the ability to cut any expensive receivers not cutting it knowing we got cheaper rookie contract guys in there who could be plenty productive.

Overall our offense wasn't as weapon-depleted as posters are making it sound like. It was just Brett Hundley sucking to high heaven that killed the offense.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The point was comparing their receiving corps overall to ours, and if you put em head to head in a situation where Rodgers is 100% healthy, Vikings corps is equal (if that) at best to ours. Thielen and Wright had theirs, but mostly because Diggs can open up the field when he's on.

I don't think Nelson, Cobb, Adams and Gmo/Clark or whoever gets the 4/5 spot are any worse than what they got, although Nelson is older and certainly Adams's two clunks to the head might be something to worry about.

I would have definitely agreed with this statement entering the 2017 season but with Nelson getting up there in age and Cobb having regressed the Vikings currently hold an edge over the Packers at the position.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

I still say it's 100% Brett Hundley's fault Cobb had a bad year.

 

[sschind]

I didn't base it on one game, I based it on what happened to them after 2009, what happened to the Panthers and Cardinals after 2015, and what happened to the Cowboys after 2016.

You are not an investor are you? You know, the whole past performance does not guarantee future results thing.

 

[bigbubbatd]

I would have definitely agreed with this statement entering the 2017 season but with Nelson getting up there in age and Cobb having regressed the Vikings currently hold an edge over the Packers at the position.

Probably depends how deep we go at the position.

Compare the top 3 and I think it easily gb. The Vikings number 3 wr had 20 catches.
The Packers number 3 wr was Nelson with 53.

Theilen and Diggs had a better year than Adams and Cobb or Nelson but when add the 3rd wr who is often on the field and the fact that Rodgers will be qb instead of hundley it changes. What would have theilen and Diggs numbers looked like with hundley?

Through games with Rodgers Jordy was on pace for 76 catches 920 yards and 24 tds (obviously that would have went down) over 16 games
Through 4 games with Cobb was on pace for 92 catches for 872 and 3 tds over 16 games

I would take Adams Nelson Cobb over Theilen Diggs Wright for next year and I think theilen is very good.

 

[Wayne Gregory]

Don't see Minnesota slipping a ton but I can see the Packers jumping back up quickly. This team was 7-9 with a terrible back up qb. I think this team goes 11-5 at least.

Minnesota will have a big decision to make at qb this off season but they will get cook back. There may be some fear that their defense got expose the last 6 quarters of football.

We were 4-1 coming off a win at Dallas! This team will be in it to win it next year!!!
MGBGA!!!

 

[gemoran4]

I still say it's 100% Brett Hundley's fault Cobb had a bad year.

Doesn't really account for the two years prior where he still wasn't lighting it up. Cobb has been a far cry from the player who had nearly 1300 yards, 14.1 YPC and 12 touchdowns in a single season for a couple years now.

 

[gemoran4]

Probably depends how deep we go at the position.

Compare the top 3 and I think it easily gb. The Vikings number 3 wr had 20 catches.
The Packers number 3 wr was Nelson with 53.

Theilen and Diggs had a better year than Adams and Cobb or Nelson but when add the 3rd wr who is often on the field and the fact that Rodgers will be qb instead of hundley it changes. What would have theilen and Diggs numbers looked like with hundley?

Through games with Rodgers Jordy was on pace for 76 catches 920 yards and 24 tds (obviously that would have went down) over 16 games
Through 4 games with Cobb was on pace for 92 catches for 872 and 3 tds over 16 games

I would take Adams Nelson Cobb over Theilen Diggs Wright for next year and I think theilen is very good.

Yeah but at the same time you're comparing their projected numbers with Rodgers throwing them the ball vs the Vikings 3 with Case Keenum/Sam Bradford throwing the ball. Personally I'd take the Vikings WR core, especially at the value they are getting that production (granted value isn't that relevant to which receiving core is straight up better). I'd say their top 2 is better than our top 2 right now, and frankly you could argue that their #3 receiver has lower production because of how much they used their TE in the passing game, whereas we didn't really use ours. (Though I'd take Jordy/Cobb over Wright/Treadwell/etc).

 

[bigbubbatd]

Yeah but at the same time you're comparing their projected numbers with Rodgers throwing them the ball vs the Vikings 3 with Case Keenum/Sam Bradford throwing the ball. Personally I'd take the Vikings WR core, especially at the value they are getting that production (granted value isn't that relevant to which receiving core is straight up better). I'd say their top 2 is better than our top 2 right now, and frankly you could argue that their #3 receiver has lower production because of how much they used their TE in the passing game, whereas we didn't really use ours. (Though I'd take Jordy/Cobb over Wright/Treadwell/etc).

Kyle Rudolph's stats of 57 catches for 500 plus yards should keep a number 3 wr from producing decent numbers. Their numbers 3 -5 are less productive that allison. I think that matters when ranking a group. The Rodgers stats obviously involve him being a lot better at qb but this year keenum played at a pro bowl level so I don't think you can say he hindered theilen and Diggs at all

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

We were 4-1 coming off a win at Dallas! This team will be in it to win it next year!!!
MGBGA!!!

And finished 4-2 with Rodgers as starter which is why the fictional story of the Packers in rebuild mode has holes shot in it.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

You are not an investor are you? You know, the whole past performance does not guarantee future results thing.

No but I can use plenty of examples like those teams to show that the continuity of success is not guaranteed, and that there are all kinds of teams that have regressed quickly before.