What do you consider a successful season?

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Originally Posted by kingpin9995

Woud you like to wager that no one other than Manning Rodgers or Brady wins the Sb this year. I'll bet my double wide on it. You know it's going to happen. Most defenses are average in the NFL. The pundits like to tell you different but in fact great qb play wins championships today. Go look at the last 7 SB winners.

Mannings, Rodgers, Brady, Brees... It's not coincidence... It's reality.

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I see you've corrected yourself.

I feel accomplished.

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Originally Posted by Caine

But HOW did we win those 7 games?

On the back of Adrian Peterson. And that, to me, is an unsustainable condition.

Look, Chiller did that after he drafted him. He rode AP until he got Favre. He never really IMPROVED the Offense, just kept telling us that Jackson was ready to take control of the team - despite the obvious lack of truth to that statement. Meanwhile, he rode AP on the Offensive side.

Now we have a new coach, and a new OC, and the SAME STUPID PHILOSOPHY.

What happens when AP gets hurt again, or - worse - demands a trade or retires? What then? Is Ponder and that receiver corps going to make Defenses stay awake all night trying to figure out how to stop them? Is Matt Kalil going to make our Receivers run better routes or catch passes?

Sure, we won 7 more games than last year. Hell, we won 7 more games than i thought we would. But are we paving the road to success, or are we on the treadmill of predictability?

Peterson is amazing. To me he's even more amazing when you consider the fact that absolutely NO ONE thinks we're going to throw. hell, they put 8, 9, and 10 guys in the box, and AP STILL hurts them.

...and Ponder and those receivers still can't.

And until they can, this ISN'T the road to success. If we had the Defense of the 2000 Buccaneers or the 2002 ravens, then MAYBE AP on his own would be enough....but we don't.

So, again, I don't really consider this season a "success". I consider it one that exceeded expectations, but until I see us moving in a more positive direction, that's all it is.

Caine

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There is some validity to what you've said, but you cannot reasonably expect the team to acquire the missing pieces overnight, particularly at quarterback where success from a draftee is cultivated over years, not necessarily grown overnight.

Ponder has shown marked improvement from his first season, in nearly every measurable category. With the acquisition of some talent at the receiver position along with the continued development of our young quarterback, there is reason to be optimistic about the future of the team, particularly with regards to easing the load on Peterson.

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Originally Posted by kingpin9995

Woud you like to wager that no one other than Manning Rodgers or Brady wins the Sb this year. I'll bet my double wide on it. You know it's going to happen. Most defenses are average in the NFL. The pundits like to tell you different but in fact great qb play wins championships today. Go look at the last 7 SB winners.

Mannings, Rodgers, Brady, Brees... It's not coincidence... It's reality.

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So the Saints defense and running game were crap? You'd better look back at the Pats ground game and defense when you refresh your memory on the Aints. Same thing goes for the PUKERS. Why do you think that a 15-1 record went to crap when they face a ballanced team in the Giants that could defend just as well as they could run?

Do the SB teams have a history of QB's that have put up alot of yards? Sure they do. But you don't find many that are pass happy that can't defend and can't run the ball.

I'm happy with the Vikes season, despite the loss this weekend. (took a few days before I could post on the boards though...)

We really over-achieved this year, making the play-offs was our Super Bowl. This season gave me faith in both our coaching staff and GM... which is saying a lot. Granted, if we go back to a sub .500 record next year, I'll be the biggest float in the hate parade.

Hope we can get Dwayne Bowe this offseason along with another solid draft!

Skol!

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Originally Posted by Caine

A "Successful" season, to me, is one where demonstrable forward progress is made. A season which appears to be leading your team to the Championship. Winning it all isn't the ONLY measure of a successful season, but that HAS to be the end goal.

*snip*

Caine

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It's a game.

Besides, it could be worse. You could be a Bills fan, Browns fan, Eagles fan, Jaguars fan, Bengals fan, Lions fan, Panthers fan...

I'd much rather bleed purple than root for any of the teams above (can you imagine bleeding brown?).

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Originally Posted by kingpin9995

Woud you like to wager that no one other than Manning Rodgers or Brady wins the Sb this year. I'll bet my double wide on it. You know it's going to happen. Most defenses are average in the NFL. The pundits like to tell you different but in fact great qb play wins championships today. Go look at the last 7 SB winners.

Mannings, Rodgers, Brady, Brees... It's not coincidence... It's reality.

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I'll take that (imaginary) bet. Put me down for the Seahawks, 49ers or Falcons.

You can take Patriots, Broncos and Packers.

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Originally Posted by C Mac D

I'm happy with the Vikes season, despite the loss this weekend. (took a few days before I could post on the boards though...)

We really over-achieved this year, making the play-offs was our Super Bowl. This season gave me faith in both our coaching staff and GM... which is saying a lot. Granted, if we go back to a sub .500 record next year, I'll be the biggest float in the hate parade.

Hope we can get Dwayne Bowe this offseason along with another solid draft!

Skol!

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I'd be happy with Bowe but I'd rather have Alexander or Barden over him.

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Danario Alexander, San Diego Chargers: Alexander has seemingly come from nowhere to take the NFL by storm the past two weeks. Over that stretch he's caught 12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The third-year receiver has shown good ball skills. At 6'5" and 217 pounds, he could be a dangerous red-zone threat.


Ramses Barden, New York Giants: It's hard to make a major impact when Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks are No. 1 and 2 on the depth chart. But Barden did light up the Carolina Panthers for nine catches and 138 yards in Week 3 when Nicks was out. He's 6'6" and 224 pounds. He could be a nice red-zone target and he's only 26 years old.

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Originally Posted by Marrdro

I'd be happy with Bowe but I'd rather have Alexander or Barden over him.

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With that salary cap number you just posted in another thread, lets sign all three!

But yeah... have a feeling Micheal Jenkins will be our #1 next year and Harvin will be out of town.

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Originally Posted by Marrdro

So the Saints defense and running game were crap? You'd better look back at the Pats ground game and defense when you refresh your memory on the Aints. Same thing goes for the PUKERS. Why do you think that a 15-1 record went to crap when they face a ballanced team in the Giants that could defend just as well as they could run?

Do the SB teams have a history of QB's that have put up alot of yards? Sure they do. But you don't find many that are pass happy that can't defend and can't run the ball.

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I don't think the point was that those teams didn't have a decent run game or a decent defense, the point was they had stud QB's, something we lack. I mean you're right, a team needs to have some balance, but we only have 2 of the 3 pieces. Hell even our special teams is outstanding. It's only our passing game holding us back at this point. And the only time we've sniffed the super bowl in the past decade was when we had a stud QB.

Now Frazier has decided to try playing 20th century style football in the 21st century. With AD and our above average defense we wouldn't even need a stud, but we do need something better than serviceable to win with that style.

As far as this being a successful season, yeah I guess if you compare it to last year, but I look at this season as another missed opportunity. Again we were 1 piece away from being a super bowl contender, so in that sense I look at it as another failure. I mean seriously, how good would we have been if we didn't have the 31st ranked passing offense?

We always seem to be 1 piece away from being a great team and that 1 piece more times than not seems to be a good QB. I'm afraid that by the time we figure out Ponder isn't the answer or develop him into being better than serviceable, AD's best years will be behind him. And lets face it, even a slightly better Ponder is not going to get it done without a guy like AD.

Frazier and the OC did exactly what they had to do to win games. Ride Peterson, a guy running like his pants were on fire. They got ten wins out of six (or less) win talent. It was a fairly masterful coaching job this season.

I expect receivers to get addressed, as well as corners. In two or three years, this team might be as balanced as the current Seahawks.