Stefon Diggs, Sam Bradford and Nick Easton Ruled Out for Packers Game Sunday…
Joe Johnson
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Note from the Author: On last week’s purpleJOURNAL Podcast I was admonished for comparing the 2017 Vikings to the 2016 Vikings, while I also said that it was only a matter of weeks before Stefon Diggs acquired his yearly injury, oh, and I own a website called purplePTSD.com. So, at this point, I am just sick and tired of being right about this team. Also, I want to point out I clearly love this team more than life itself and want them to win. But some of our readers keep saying “have faith” in response to this piece and my reply is why have faith when it never has once turned out great for us? Also, I had faith before season started, more than anywriter but I know this team and the NFL and you can’t win without your best three players. That’s like Pittsburgh without Big Ben, Brown and Bell. Even when we’ve had healthy unstoppable teams we’ve blown it so of course my faith is shaken when our best three players on offense aren’t playing Sunday (With two being out either the whole year or close enough to it). Why would I have faith in that? To paraphrase Tupac, but I’m still here still smiling still [writing articles] but sooner or later I’m gonna go crazy…
As soon as it’s clear that the Vikings aren’t Super Bowl material, as it appears at this point (thanks to injury, again) Vikings fans typically look at the Packers games as our Super Bowl. So, hearing that Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs is out Sunday against those Packers, hurts. Sure, also hearing that QB Sam Bradford will be out, sucks too, but that was to be expected after the debacle that was the Bears game. On top of that, the injuries to the Offensive Line have begun as Nick Easton is out for the game, as well, which is just great because the Vikings cut Alex Boone, the other left guard (who was also the only bright spot on an offensive line that can only be described as the worst line in Vikings history (because injury of course) last season) is no longer on the team. All of this (outside of the Boone move) was announced a few hours ago by the team but I saw it on Pioneer Press’ website, TwinCities.com.
Now, I spend a decent amount online and I speak with quite a few writers in my day-to-day, so I’m actually semi-surprised that no one has written an article pointing out that the Vikings made a potentially season destroying mistake by bringing Sam Bradford back for the Bears game Monday. Whether it was Bradford pushing to return, Eric Sugarman (the head trainer) clearing him when he wasn’t ready or the doctor(s) who can’t seem to actually diagnose what the problem is to the coaching or management staff, it’s got to be someone’s fault. I’ve watched the NFL my entire life and really have never seen a situation like the one the Vikings created on Monday night. One of the announcers for Monday Night Football Jon Gruden, pointed out multiple times that Bradford needed to be out of the game way before he was pulled from the game. Bradford’s body language was almost like that of someone who had taken too much pain medication (if the size of one’s pupils is body language) as well, as he stared into the distance as the trainer(s) to mess with one’s knee and just looked generally out of it. The play where the pocket collapsed around him and he typically would’ve escaped or thrown the ball and he just fell over on his own into a fetal position showed that he was just not supposed to be out there (not to mention the safety).
Regardless of the why or the how the … Who and what turned out to be a disaster. The who is clearly Bradford who is going to be out against the Packers (and through the bye week, at least), which was the game they should’ve been aiming for if they really were rushing him back. The what is the reality we now find ourselves in, which is so much like 2016 that it pains me. The Vikings are without their starting running back and basically have Jerick McKinnon again (who played admirably against the Bears but there’s a reason the Vikings focused on bringing in two RB’s this off-season) and Latavius Murray (who is basically a better Matt Asiata), they are without their starting QB because of a left knee injury and it’s week six and they just lost their left guard and have limited depth at the position… Sound familiar?!? It’s still not clear why they parted ways with Alex Boone, but it’s thought that he asked to be let go after they asked him to take a pay cut. Considering what they were paying him and the fact that they had some salary cap space (and now he’ll be dead space against that cap), that was clearly not handled the right way. If Easton is out for awhile, the Boone situation could cast a pall over the season (if it wasn’t overshadowed by Bradford’s situation, or the Cook situation… Ugh, this team!).
So. Sure. Our defense is playing great. But they were playing like the 2000 Ravens before the Bye last season, too. When they have to be on the field 70% of the game, they’ll start coasting like they did in 2016 because they’re tired and they also have really nothing to get amped up about. Beyond that, I’m just really tired of watching this window close quicker than it should of because of injuries and bad management. While it’s next to impossible for a team to overcome injuries to positions like your starting QB (two years in a row) and starting RB (two years in a row, thanks to ligament damage) the issue(s) with depth at the O-line and even the injuries could’ve been prevented had the team drafted offensive lineman before the fourth round (which they hadn’t done from 2012-2016). So, now we’re going to watch Case Keenum hand the ball off to McKinnon and Murray while throwing on the run because of the offensive line to Adam Thielen and Michael Floyd (in his second week) and Laquon Treadwell against Aaron Rodgers and his justified ego?
Ugh. We were all so happy and optimistic after the Saints game and we didn’t even get a full week to celebrate that as Bradford’s injury was announced maybe 72 hours later? Welcome to being a Vikings fan, I guess, but as a child I remember the team blowing it in important games, not consistently losing all of it’s most important players piece by piece like a blind person playing chess and losing the entire season(s) because of it. I almost feel like something is happening, like there’s something to blame, or perhaps someone. That’s typically how people deal with emotions like these. But, it’s just got to be a string of bad luck as every team practices and plays on the same turf and also lifts the same amount of weights and gets hit the same amount of times in games. So, the only person to blame at this point is ourselves, as we’re the ones that continue to allow a team to get our hopes up only to dash them in what has become record-breaking fashion.
Perhaps purplePTSD wasn’t dark enough. I might have to buy purpleWTF.com at this point.