Realistically, we should have beaten the …
Plenty of other games that were winnable (Ravens, Falcons), but these games, we actually gave away.
Think about if we were 11-5 right now instead of 8-8 with three different QBs and we’ve had our starting O-line for what two games?
Flores better not leave this offseason. The Wilfs should pay him like a head coach. They should give him whatever he wants to stay in Minnesota. Something is brewing here.
Reworking the O-line, drafting a real move TE, locking up some key FAs that contributed highly, backfilling the secondary, I mean we could be cooking.
Huge shout outs to Jalen Redmond, Andrew Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Jay Ward, Theo Jackson, Eric Wilson, and many other men that have undoubtedly proven their worth as Vikings.
Plenty to build on for next season and the future, but this offseason feels tenuous. It feels like there are a TON of moving parts as we enter the final phase of the transition from the Rick Spielman/Mike Zimmer brain trust into the fullness of the vision of the new regime. Can Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his team keep this core together? Can we hold on to Flores and keep pushing? Can we find actual success in this year’s draft? Will K.O. consider offloading play-calling? Can we keep our window open before player turnover closes it for us?
— Matt Boffa (Diehard Fan) in Newtown, Pennsylvania
The should-ha, could-ha and would-ha factors of this season have been incredibly high and hurtful for the Purple.
Had just one or a couple of plays gone differently against the Steelers, OR Eagles OR Bears (at home), then Minnesota would be playing for a playoff berth this week.
Undo the lapse by the coverage unit against Chicago, and the Vikings would even have math in place to win the NFC North.
Redmond, Van Ginkel, Turner, Ward and Jackson have all been acquired in various ways during the current leadership’s tenure. Wilson was brought back by Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell after a few years away. He was originally an undrafted diamond mined during the Spielman/Zimmer years.
There’s still a strong core of players, and the great hope is the momentum that has been built with December’s answer to a dreadful November will lead to plentiful positive results next fall.
