Coach-a-polooza! (And some position thoughts)

Jim Schwartz - gone.
Rob Chudzinski - gone.
Greg Schiano - gone.
Mike Shanahan - gone.
Leslie Frazier - gone.
(Yes, I know Gary Kubiak is gone too, but he wasn't fired today.)

I figured Frazier was going, but it's still a little sad to see him go.  He did give this team his all.  He didn't cause distractions, or pass the buck, or blame the players.  He has been the epitome of class and constancy during his four seasons (well, three and a bit), and I raise my glass to him tonight for what he did for us.

Still, I want to win.  And for all Frazier gave us everything he could, we weren't winning.

(I still blame the players for some of that though.)

So now five teams - Washington, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota all need coaches.   Dad wants us to pick up Shanahan.  I've been hearing rumors about Jack del Rio.  One or two people were even murmuring about Lovie Smith, but I think the Browns would be more likely to take him.

So far as coaching goes, I think we need a complete overhaul of staff.  Make Spielman sweat a little, since he's doing all the hiring right now, he needs to put his ass on the line and invest in a really good staff.  Defense is our THING.  We are the Minnesota Vikings!  We are the kings of rough, tough, grind-it-out defense!  Let's bring that back.  Need a good DC, and, almost more important, we need a BRUTAL strength-and-conditioning team too.  No more being gassed in the first quarter!

Ah, I see per Twitter that the Vikings (and the Browns) have asked for permission to interview Adam Gase, the Broncos OC.  He has declined to interview until after the season, which I approve of.  Guess we'll see what comes of that!  Do we want him as OC or HC? I wonder...

I have two positions of real need to be addressed on the player side: quarterback (duh) and linebacker.  The reason we have sucked so brutally this year (what was it, FIVE losses in the last 100 seconds of the game??) is because our line gives up.  Our secondary does too, but Rhodes is coming on so I honestly think line is more needful right now. 

I can see us cutting Ponder right away, keeping Freeman for the offseason, and using Cassel as our tide-over QB until we can trade or draft our future starter.

So far as drafting a QB goes, my father is interested in both Manziel and Bortles...I would LOVE to see Johnny Football in purple&gold, but the man does throw interceptions.  And lots of them.  So I don't know.  I have no faith in Teddy Bridgewater's durability (I feel the same way about Marcus Mariota, but he's sensibly staying in the NCAA another year, I'm told), and I feel seven kinds of iffy about AJ McCarron.  I know he's done very well in the NCAA, but then, so did Ryan Leaf.  (To be fair to McCarron, he seems to have a MUCH better attitude and more stable temperament than Leaf ever did...but still.)

Honestly Tahj Boyd is the only one I really like (God help me!) and he's from Clemsucks.  Can we really trust an ACC quarterback?  I mean...I know the SEC doesn't have the world's best QBs, but our last ACC QB :coughPondercough: didn't turn out too well for us.  (Speaking of SEC QBs, did you hear Tim Tebow has finally given in and accepted a job as an ESPN anchor?)

More to come later.  Suffice it to say I am very happy it's the holidays and I get to watch football again!

SKOL!

OT: Packers' Revenge

Quickie Roster Movies

Sorry I've been quiet lately - the end of the semester was akin to battling up the last stretches of Mount Everest with no carbs and a hole in your warmest pants.  You think I'm joking.


Anyway, the Vikings have announced a few roster moves in the wake of the Peterson/Gerhart injuries.

Harrison Smith is finally all better!!  I am so overjoyed, I picked on him to be my new favorite Viking the day we drafted him and I saw his tape in all its glory.  Of course, Cordarrelle Patterson is giving him a serious run for his money (I have friends who are Tenn fans and they assured me Patterson was a fantastic pickup...guess they were right!), but Smith is just the kind of badass I want on my Vikings' D.

So with Smith activated from IR, we have also signed Joe Banyard, RB (ha, I knew he'd get his chance!), and Robert Steeples, CB (I feel bad I don't remember this guy...maybe he'll give us something to remember him by on the field?  We can hope!!).

We have room for these guys because Josh Robinson fractured his sternum vs Seattle (ouch...although this could be a blessing.  Robinson is so raw.  We need to get his head into the game, and stop him missing assignments.  Maybe this injury will park his ass in the film room and let him see what he looks like on the field.) and we were forced to cut a backup o-lineman Mike Remmers.  I'm not crazy about that, considering how tired our o-line gets, but we do need a backup RB with only Asiata active.  Let's hope Asiata and Banyard can keep some pressure off Cassel.  Also, Rudolph was placed on IR this week.

Xavier Rhodes is questionable with an ankle injury, and I'm glad to say the docs are sitting Peterson.  He's a badass, but I want to KEEP him in badass form as long as possible.

Also, I have heard all the rumors about trying to shop Ponder as a backup.  Do I think they're anything more than rumors?
...eh.  I hope our FO is more concerned with putting the team (and the coaching staff) through their paces now to determine what to do in the offseason than with the offseason right now.  So we'll see.

SKOL!

Vikings v Bears

All night I've been wondering, what did we do different?  IS it that Cassel took after after Ponder was concussed?  (I'm not sure about that since the Bears had a HUGE 4th quarter lead after a very low halftime score.)

Or is this win solely attributable to the Bears going for it on second down in an attempt to avoid catastrophe?

Vikings BEAT Da Bears!!

Longer post later, but I just wanted to say this quickly:  to all the Purple & Gold masses out there who are mad we won a "meaningless" game and "ruined" our chances of a good draft pick...

...seriously, you need some Prozac, bro.

We WON!  The point of a football team is to WIN.  (Moral victories off the field - philanthropy, no arrests, ect - and actual victories on the field.)

We WON a RIVALRY game!  One of the best parts is to bust through a tough streak and BEAT a bigtime rival!

Which we DID!

And frankly, the Jags are sucking a whole lot more than we are.  They've got that #1 pick locked up anyway.  Besides, we must always remember the following: the reason Calvin Johnson is a Detroit Lion is because the Oakland Raiders picked JaMarcus Russell.

SKOL!

P.S. Adrian Peterson - that guy we "didn't need" and just picked because he was the "BPA" - just passed 10,000 yards rushing today.  BOOM!