OFFICIAL NFL Discussion Thread: 2015-16 Season - Congrats to the Denver Broncos and their fans! SB 5

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Sorting the Sunday Pile: Vikings quietly creeping into contender status

There are lots of reasons you can doubt the Minnesota Vikings' legitimacy as a playoff team and all of them are stupid. The Vikes, in just their second year under Mike Zimmer, are a serious threat to the Packers in the NFC North and the favorite to reel in an NFC wild card spot.

Defensively (for the entire season) Minnesota is a top-10 team in yards allowed and No. 3 in the league in points per game allowed. Zimmer's defensive acumen is the main reason he landed this gig -- after years of churning out high-level defenses for the Bengals, Zimmer's doing the same thing for Minnesota.

Taking a game out to create a statistical range is dumb BUT take that game out and the Vikings are averaging 24 points per game, which would be good for top 15 in the league.

But they haven't played anyone! Haven't they? They played the Broncos, who beat the Packers. Transitive property up in your face, kid. Sure they lost, but they kept it close and were actually kind of impressive against a really good defense. Also: there's not anyone TO play in the NFL. Seriously, half this league is terrible, if not more. It's a top-heavy NFL in 2015 and if you're one of the better mid-level teams, like the Vikings, you're going to be in good shape to make the playoffs.

The meaty part of the schedule is coming up for Minnesota, with Green Bay twice, the Raiders, Rams, Seahawks and Cardinals. It's entirely possible they slip here -- that's a brutal six-game stretch. Next Sunday's matchup against St. Louis is particularly juicy. AP vs. Todd Gurley? Yes, please. It's also a matchup of the top contenders for a wild-card spot.

Teddy Bridgewater has regressed! Not really. He's just not putting up the silly stats we saw him produce in December of last season. That's OK, by the way. It's perfectly fine if Bridgewater isn't slinging the rock everywhere. This team is built to win on defense and Adrian Peterson running the ball. He's averaging 218 yards a game, 7.2 yards an attempt, completing 64.5 percent of his passes and has an 85.5 passer rating. Not sexy but it fits with the idea of Bridgewater being a high floor quarterback at a young age. The five interceptions are a concern but he's likely going to improve as this season progresses.

They were blown out by the 49ers! That game was a long time ago (seven weeks although it feels like seven years by now) and San Francisco had the juice of a prime time home opener. Minnesota wasn't ready but it learned from the game -- and it did them a favor by putting the Vikings back under the radar. The hype train had been out of control.

Find something the Vikings don't do well. Their front seven line gets after you (18 sacks, 13th in the league) and has an impressive combination of weapons to throw at offensive lines. Anthony Barr is one of the best young linebackers in the game -- he can cover incredibly well for someone with his pass-rushing ability. Linval Joseph looks like a fantastic free-agent addition at this point, while Brian Robison and Everson Griffen are dangerous off the edge.

Offensively they can get better when it comes to blocking, but Adrian Peterson is still very much a force in the run game. Stefon Diggs is an absolute revelation for this team, a fifth-round pick stepping up in a big way as a rookie to make an impact. Like fourth-quarter touchdown impact.

No one's trying to push this team as the best team in its conference or even its division. But the Vikes are just one game back of the Packers now. Rick Spielman's done a heck of a job drafting talent. He caught eternal grief for grabbing Christian Ponder, but look at the guys he's brought into this team.

By my math, 16 of their 22 starters (including Diggs here) were drafted and developed by this franchise. It includes holdovers like Chad Greenway (2006) and Adrian Peterson (2007) but most of these guys are selections in recent years.

We talk week in and week out about what the best teams in football have: consistency. The Vikings are a consistent team with a repeatable formula and a lack of turnover on a young roster built to compete.

Not recognizing their ability to establish themselves as a dangerous, complete contender over the second half of the season would be a mistake.
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itsaboutthattime said:
Josh freeman and Vince young are bad examples because of all the mess they were doing off the field

Charlie batch stuck around for a long time with limited talent.. Coaches are only going to be willing to put up with headaches when the talent farrrrrrrr out ways the risk.. as soon as guys like TO, Chad and anyone else in that bunch lost it a bit, their opportunities dried up quick

Vick was credited with showing a lot of maturity and leadership after he got with philly.. But you have to kinda be honest about the guys your naming

Jeff George became an outcast and he had a ton of talent






Now, obviously the league does have issues.. Just look at the number of black coaches, GMs and owners.. But some players dig their own graves
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ALL OF THIS!!!!
 
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Charlie Batch, Tavaris Jackson, Byron Leftwich, David Garrard, Aaron Brooks, Seneca Wallace, Cleo Lemon, Ray Lucas...

should I keep going?
 
stopped reading when Josh Freeman name came up. dude was blowing lines like they had legalized cocaine. I don't know in what job is that acceptable.
 
NickFolarin said:
Are you trying to imply RG3 should get the same opportunity as Andrew Luck?
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Depends.

In preseason people came down on RG for saying his team needs to do better and they all have to pick it up. He was killed in the media for not say me and I. He threw his line under the bus they said.

Luck did the EXACT same thing I think week 2. He said we when addressing the teams performance. No one said a word.

In that respect yes I do.
 
jumpman91023 said:
Chester McFloppy said:
How the hell is a guy that went 11-5 three years in a row, made it farther in the playoffs each year, and led the league in touchdowns last season the poster child for double standards?
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For example, is Luck making poor decisions absolutely. But his oline and with the news of him playing with fractured ribs coming out he will be given an excuse to play bad. Whereas last season Cam started the season with fractured ribs, coming off ankle surgery and having a bottom 4 oline in all of football. But the narrative was, that Cam just wasn't good.
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This is true

That dude Cam though :smokin
 
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The Collector said:
AFC South is 4-15 against non divisional opponents.

The Colts are 0-4 with a minus 39 scoring margin vs opponents outside the division.
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Robert Griffin III is 14-21 in his NFL career with 32 fumbles and 23 interceptions. He's 5-15 since 2012. What's your point?
 
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On a positive note, I'm still pissed we didn't draft Diggs. Kept telling people who were hyping up speedster like perriman and Dorsett. I'd rather have Diggs in the 4th/5th round than any of those two in the 1st. Smh panthers got to much faith in corey brown :smh:
 
Chester McFloppy said:
Robert Griffin III is 14-21 in his NFL career with 32 fumbles and 23 interceptions. What's your point?
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How many fumbles lost? Let's not make the stat look worse then it is. Bad team. 2 head coaches and offensive systems. Dysfunctional franchise. Tougher division. Major injuries. A head coach that throws him under the bus unlike we've ever seen before. These are REAL LEGIT REASONS a young QB might struggle.

What are the reason Luck throws so many INTs? Same system for 4 years. Same coach. No major injuries. Weakest division in the NFL.

RG3 plays bad under those circumstances and people believe he should be out of the NFL. Luck throws INTs and had bad games under his circumstances but he's ELITE.
 
On the Cam part of this debate there where a lot of people I talked to irl who thought Can would be a flop and couldn't succeed in the NFL. Even after his great rookie year I knew people who wouldn't give dude his props (more than you'd think where panthers fans) and the more you talk to these people the more you realize it has nothing to do with football... So I did know people who wanted to see Cam fail and this is why even as a Falcons fan I want to see him continue to do well (except when they play the Falcons) because some things are bigger than sports.
 
RGIII has thrown for 40 touchdowns since 2012. Took him 35 games.
Andrew Luck threw for 40 touchdowns last year. In 16 games.

But dem picks doe. Gotta ignore those touchdowns.
 
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Chester McFloppy said:
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
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Sadly it has become this. You can't blame fumbles on head coaching and being on a dysfunctional franchise. 
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The Collector said:
How many fumbles lost? Let's not make the stat look worse then it is. Bad team. 2 head coaches and offensive systems. Dysfunctional franchise. Tougher division. Major injuries. A head coach that throws him under the bus unlike we've ever seen before. These are REAL LEGIT REASONS a young QB might struggle.

What are the reason Luck throws so many INTs? Same system for 4 years. Same coach. No major injuries. Weakest division in the NFL.

RG3 plays bad under those circumstances and people believe he should be out of the NFL. Luck throws INTs and had bad games under his circumstances but he's ELITE.
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Everything you've said about Luck is true.

Everything you've said about RG3 is ridiculously wrong.

Can we just end this debate already?
 
I figured we were done talking about RGIII after he flip flopped on Kirk Cousins last week. Guess not. RGIII love still pumpin' through those veins.
 
An Armada said:
On the Cam part of this debate there where a lot of people I talked to irl who thought Can would be a flop and couldn't succeed in the NFL. Even after his great rookie year I knew people who wouldn't give dude his props (more than you'd think where panthers fans) and the more you talk to these people the more you realize it has nothing to do with football... So I did know people who wanted to see Cam fail and this is why even as a Falcons fan I want to see him continue to do well (except when they play the Falcons) because some things are bigger than sports.
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All Cam hate came from his NCAA days. People hated that he escaped the Flordia laptop incident (he was cut) and the college bidding scandal without any serious punishment. Outside that his on field performance was spot on.
 
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Cam was the NFL poster child after his 1st year then he regressed and those moppy press conferences didn't help

this year he is on his way back up
 
Jay Gruden hates RG3, that's obvious. What isn't obvious is the reasoning and if it's racial. Dude is just an idiot, such a bad hire :lol:
 
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