I Can’t Stands No More! Here’s Why I Think the Vikings Will Reach the Promised Land in 2017 [Part I: The Offense]
Joe Johnson
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We here at purplePTSD.com just celebrated our second year of existence on May 17th in typical purplePTSD fashion, namely by forgetting it was our two year anniversary and pretending that May 18th was the first day the site existed. Because of that (The anniversary, not the oversight), I got to looking at some of the first articles that were posted here/on the old site back in the off-season before the 2015 season. The first days of the site were wild, wild times and although I’ve told this story ad nauseum, essentially the site was forced into existence by a week-long argument that I had with a fella over on Reddit.com’s Minnesota Vikings Sub-Reddit. I feel like particular brand of angry optimism has mostly gone missing as the site has evolved from the Joe Johnson Soap Box to a legitimate resource. So, I felt like throwing things back a bit and letting you guys know how psyched I am for 2017, and why. But mostly, solely that I’m psyched, as that was the purplePTSD.com way back then.
Because the site was a sort of spur of the moment decision, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted it to be at first. Don’t get me wrong, covering the Vikings in some way shape or form has been a dream of mine since I was old enough to feel the sting of disappointment and I did go to college but my majors were in Political Science and Sociology of Law/Criminology/Deviance from the University of Minnesota, not Journalism. So, while I had gotten praise for years on sites like Reddit for my stream of consciousness style of writing/sense of humor (“You should write a book!”), I wasn’t sure that I was capable of writing the amount of content needed to have a legitimate Vikings site. Or rather, whether or not people actually wanted to read my brand of Vikings coverage. Considering my viewpoints always seem(ed) to rub people the wrong way on Reddit, which was my go to place for Vikings talk after getting banned from everywhere else, I half assumed that everyone would hate my opinions and so at first I tried too hard to double down on that philosophy.
I talked a lot about my feelings about Teddy Bridgewater and while the pieces weren’t overly negative (More me saying that I was on the fence or that the jury was still out), I knew what I was doing. I figured any press was good press and so I’d write stuff like “Bridgewater Doesn’t Deserve to be in the Pro Bowl” and I’d post it on Reddit. I quickly learned that alienating your only readership base is a counterproductive move. That piece actually was the last straw for many there and something that I’m still attempting to make up for, as all of the rules against Witch Hunting and cyber-bullying were rightfully rescinded by the powers that be at Reddit so people could teach me a lesson.
After that, I over-corrected the other way and perhaps relied too much on the name of the site being purplePTSD, by really doing a lot of drunk with kool-aid type pieces, or posting full games from the past and attempting to build a community around questions like “Where were you when…”, which wasn’t the worst idea in retrospect (Something we may revisit one day, if the NFL stops taking down or blocking all of its content on YouTube) but considering we averaged about ten clicks a day (With nine of those being bots, the other one being me) they just didn’t really take off.
These days, while I do feel like we’ve found a great balance between news and opinion and an amazing diversity of viewpoints in our second year (Thanks mostly to our amazing writing staff! I love you guys!) I do feel like I’ve gotten away from the pure, unabashed, overly optimistic despite being hurt so many times vibe that I had back then. It’s funny, despite the negativity that the site implies, it’s really just more about the pain that comes from getting your hopes up… and regardless of how many times I’ve been hurt, I always get my damn hopes up. So, with all of that in mind, I thought it was only fair that I stopped pretending I wasn’t extremely, extremely excited about the 2017 campaign and since it’s Throwback… Tuesday, I thought I’d be one of the first writers out there to really go out just say screw neutral journalism (Again)! It’s time that I went out on a limb and laid out the how and why I genuinely believe that the Vikings have a legitimate shot to actually reach the Super Bowl for the first time in my lifetime. This isn’t click bait or fan service. It’s how I truly feel.
Unlike 2015, I’m not saying that in lieu of other topics or in a thinly veiled attempt to make people on Reddit forget that I’m an annoying person. I really do believe this. Sure, it’s still May and there is a lot that needs to and is going to change before all is said and done, but I can honestly say that not since the days of Randy Moss/Brett Favre (The first time around, for both of them) have I been this excited about the Vikings’ prospects. While this is purely subjective and emotional, there are elements of reason and fact sprinkled everywhere, so I thought I’d give my reasons why the Vikings will make it to the Super Bowl in 2017. Since there are a lot, actually, I’m gonna split it into two really long pieces. Today, we focus on the offensive side of the ball. Later this week, the defense. So, after the longest introduction in the history of the site, here’s why I’m excited as hell about the 2017 Vikings offense.
It’s no secret that the Vikings have struggled to find consistent quarterback play, especially from younger quarterbacks, since their inception in 1961. Outside of Fran Tarkenton and a few others, the Vikings have struggled to develop a quarterback that they drafted themselves and thus have had to rely on older, formerly elite quarterbacks who are a bit over the hill in an attempt to take advantage of their once or twice a decade window of opportunities. There was a stat posted recently that said that the Vikings haven’t had the same quarterback play a full 16 game season, in back to back seasons, since the late 70’s. Beyond that, it seems like the Vikings (At least since I was born in 1984) have always had a great defense but a middling offense, an amazing offense but a defense that can be described as a liability, and so on. Then, when they’ve had an amazing defense and an amazing running game, like they had in the early Adrian Peterson years, they again couldn’t find a young quarterback to take them to the promised land. Essentially the problem has always been balance.
Finally, after decades of relying on one portion of the team to attempt to offset the other, the Vikings appear to have one of their most well-balanced teams perhaps ever. Of course, like everything in this piece, this is all based on moves they’ve made that we as fans haven’t been able to see the result(s) of yet, so keep that in mind. But, it’s not hard to see that (At least on paper) this Vikings team is extremely deep and nearly without flaw. That’s almost not hyperbole.
Going into the off-season the Vikes needed to add players to their offensive line (Big time), their receiving corps and their backfield on offense. The best way to succinctly explain what Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and offensive line coach Tony Sparano have done at offensive line is to compare the starters from the middle to end of 2016 to any of the projected starting line ups for the line come this upcoming season.
One highly probably iteration of the line could have Riley Reiff, Alex Boone, Pat Elflein, Danny Isidora and Mike Remmers, with Boone being the only hold-over from 2016. Keep in mind that Spielman accomplished this without breaking the bank or even having a first overall draft pick. That’s really something he should be applauded for and is also something that took me off of the fence that I was on (about his tenure) and squarely back into the ‘Slick Rick for Prez’ camp, again. How many times did you hear, or say to yourself, in 2016 ‘If only the Vikings had even a mediocre to bad offensive line and they’d win X!’. Because, before and even during the period where the offensive line fell apart the Vikings seemed to be humming along greatly with a 5-0 record. Now that the line should at least be, barring something terrible (Which, as we know, this is the Vikings and thus totally possible), mediocre at worst this year. That means so much for this team and it truly will improve every single aspect of their game in 2017.
Just the line alone will improve the time of possession, the passing game, the running game, the defense, even special teams. Think about it. The Vikings and their new quarterback Sam Bradford literally couldn’t drop back into five or seven step drops last season, they didn’t have the time to do it. That’ll be a completely different facet of the Vikings offense this season and I for one can’t wait to see what the most accurate passer in the history of the NFL does with more time. The run game, obviously, will directly benefit as well. The defense should also benefit as they won’t be on the field as often and therefore won’t tire out or get broken down mentally like they reportedly did last season. Think about this. The Vikings went 8-8 despite having really the most one dimensional offense in team history. All they could do was dump the ball off. That’s really it. So while the season ended up being a major disappointment, it was actually pretty amazing that they broke even considering everything that happened.
Sam Bradford showed, despite not having the time to really run a full playbook, that he can make every single throw that the Vikings needed him to. I clearly learned my lesson in regards to “bashing” Teddy (See Above) but he was still working on his deep ball when he went down with that devastating leg injury around this time last year. Especially before the bye, before things started really falling apart up-front, Bradford stepped in and became a Vikings legend by torching the Green Bay Packers despite having less next to zero time to prepare with his new team. He hit players deep and in stride, something that the Vikings offense rarely has seen this century and because of that I can’t wait to see what he will be able to do with this revamped offensive line in front of him and the fresh faces at wide receiver, as well.
The Vikings lost both Cordarrelle Patterson and Charles Johnson in free agency this year and while the Patterson loss seemed to hurt, early, it could’ve been the best thing that happened to this Vikings team. Because of that vacancy the Vikings went out and took a chance on troubled former Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd, who has been targeted down the field more often than any other wide receiver in the league except TWO the past few seasons. He’s big, he’s fast and he’s exactly what this Vikings receiving corps has been missing really since Randy Moss was traded before the 2005 season. People that have been coming here since the “Teddy Doesn’t Deserve the Pro Bowl” days will know that I LOVE wide receivers, especially big bodied, deep threat receivers. Floyd is that receiver and while he does come with more baggage than a… catalog full of… bags… The risk reward ratio is off the charts. He will open things up for Stefan Diggs and Adam Thielen and really help create a “Pick your Poison” offense that should give defensive coordinators nightmares.
Add to that that this Vikings team has completely overhauled their backfield, and you’ll start to get an idea on why I’m so excited. No one expected the Vikings to pay Adrian Peterson the $18 million he was “due” this year and considering the fact that he hasn’t played in two of the past three seasons and it just felt like time to move on from the aging superstar. While there have been the typical reports out of New Orleans about how he doesn’t age and how he’ll be the best there is this season, to be honest I couldn’t be any more excited about what the Vikings have managed to put together in their new backfield. The NFL has moved towards a “running back by committee” system and I feel like that term implies a mediocrity that really doesn’t exist (Again, on paper) for the Vikings.
They brought in former Oakland Raider Latavius Murray as their Jack of All Trades. Murray cleared 1,000 yards rushing back in 2015 and is really the anti-Peterson. He can block, he can catch passes out of the backfield (He had over 200 receiving yards each of his past two seasons) and he can hang onto the ball (Which makes him a better goal line option than AP was). Some people were rightly ecstatic when the Vikings signed Murray, who was widely considered the best back in free agency this season. He’s still young, as well, which means he’ll have time to grow and establish the new backfield in Minnesota alongside the Vikings first pick in last month’s draft, someone they traded up in the second round to acquire… Dalvin Cook. Now the story goes that when Spielman told Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur that Cook was still available, his “Jaw-Dropped” and from what I’ve heard from purplePTSD.com Senior Writer Joe Oberle and his press pass at OTA’s, it dropping wasn’t an overreaction.
Cook is far better suited for the zone running scheme that Shurmur employs than Peterson ever was or ever will be. He’s apparently got amazing vision, and while he has some similar issues as Peterson (ball security, picking up blitzes), the Vikings clearly won’t utilize him the way that they utilized Peterson (20-25 carries a game). This Vikings backfield will split carries, especially as Cook learns the game, and that’s a great thing. One of the most noticeable changes will come from the sheer amount of passes their backs will get fielding in 2017. That’s an entirely different aspect to the game a team like the Vikings, who you think would’ve loved to have in 2016 when they relied almost entirely on short passes in lieu of a running/deep ball offense, has had. So, really, they’re essentially going from extremely one dimensional to about as multi-faceted as is possible in today’s NFL. Talk about a turn around!
Beyond that, I really do believe that this year is a great opportunity simply because there aren’t really that many great teams out there right now. Especially in the NFC. Sure, the Packers are perennial contenders mostly because of Aaron Rodgers and the Dallas Cowboys could be good and scary for a really long time, but outside of that there really aren’t that many teams in the NFC that scare me. Sure, Atlanta is stacked, but look up teams that have lost a Super Bowl, just regularly and you’ll see a history that is full of teams imploding after imploding in the biggest game of their careers. Add on-top of that the way that these Falcons lost and it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to expect them to revert to their 2015 ways.
There really just aren’t that many great teams, period. The Vikings are as balanced as any, now, but still really should’ve beat the Cowboys last season during the second half of the season when things were falling apart. If Dalvin Cook can emerge as a top back in the league then they’ll be a very, very scary team to face especially as there’s really no weak-spot on that offense. Imagine trying to cover… Michael Floyd, Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Kyle Rudolph or a 6’6″ Bucky Hodges? Or even Laquon Treadwell who by all indications is having the breakout year the Vikings really hoped he would so far this off-season. So, teams drop their defenders back into coverage… Whoops, you just got burned by Dalvin Cook who has about as good of a nose for the end-zone as any young back coming out of college. Stack the box and you’ve got perhaps the deepest receiver corps in the game. Play the nickel and you have two giant pass catching tight ends. Oh, and don’t forget that the guy throwing the ball just broke the record for completion percentage.
The team(s) that is going to be able to beat this Vikings team is going to have to be extremely well-balanced. Keep in mind that this is a Vikings team that while showing some growing pains over the course of the past couple seasons, is extremely well-coached and still does have three current/former head coaches on it’s sidelines. With Pat Shurmur in control through training camp and into the season, this Vikings offense should no longer be hamstrung by Norv Turners archaic system. It’s really all just coming up purple and gold and I for one cannot wait for the season to begin. I was going to write about the Monday Morning Quarterback May Power Rankings (Which had the Vikings ranked 16th or 17th) last week, as I really wanted to touch on where I thought the disconnect between national and local writers was coming from when it came to my favorite squad. However, instead of doing that I figured I’d just really talk about why I’m excited for the 2017 season and even though I’m over 2,500 words into this… I feel like I’m only scratching the surface! And, to be honest, Zimmer is a master at exploiting bulletin board material so the more indifferent or negative press you can throw at this team, the better.
What do you think? Do you think the Vikes are on the precipice of something special! As always let us know what your thoughts are on this and check back in later this week for the second part… About the defense! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter or even Reddit!