Thielen says it’s time for Vikings to put up or shut up
Joe Johnson
|
With Stefon Diggs living his, nay EVERY wide receivers dream in Buffalo, that leaves one de facto leader in the wide receiver corps in Adam Thielen. Thielen stopped by SiriusXM NFL Radio to speak with the two Bruces (Gradkowski and Murray) about the upcoming NFL season.
Many in the national media have picked the Minnesota Vikings to make a run for a championship this season, and while there are some of us that deem that about as impossible as winning the Powerball or a Packers fan not making an EKG machine explode once they’re connected to it, that sentiment has made it’s way to the Vikings themselves.
Thielen discussed that yesterday by essentially, saying he was tired of discussing it.
“I think it really comes down to, ‘Quit talking about it,’ right?”
Thielen continued:
“Like, we can talk about in the offseason how great we feel about our team, how great we feel about all the weapons we have and our defense and our defensive scheme, and our offensive scheme, how great all that is. Well, that’s great on paper, but that doesn’t win you games.”
He isn’t wrong. We can all sit here and debate whether the new look Vikings will be able to beat a 49ers team that embarrassed them on the level that lead to George Edwards being fired the same week with one of the best position-by-position rosters in team history, but at the end of the day it really comes down to execution.
Which is almost exactly what Thielen said (see? Like the middle brother in ‘The Godfather’, I’m SMAAAHT!):
“What wins you games is going out there and executing and using your playmakers and making the plays when the ball’s in the air. And that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to go out there and make those plays. You know, again, we did enough to make the playoffs and get to the second round, things like that. Which is great, and that’s a successful season. But at the end of the day that’s not our end goal.”
I know I sound snarky and negative, but I feel like I’m the only one in Vikings media who sees the reality of the current team. Why are they talking about things like this? I know that most NFL teams talk about going for a ring, but to act like this team isn’t dealing with a rebuild and a loss on offense that you can’t just overcome instantly.
Beyond that, the main weakness this team has had since 2016 has yet to be invested in or fixed. So, you’re down both starting corners and your nickel, three of four starting defensive lineman and the worst luck at nose tackle, the best deep ball receiver in the NFL, a glut at the slot position with your remaining receivers and tight ends
, and instead of one question mark at the guard spot on the offensive line you decided to cut Josh Kline and pay him over $4 million to (eventually) play elsewhere.
Anyway, Thielen continued:
“And so we need to figure out how to make those happen, and go back to work. Take advantage of every rep. Whether it be these walk-throughs we’ve been having because we can’t practice yet. The teams that are taking advantage of those and getting better on a daily basis, those are the teams that are gonna make a run and have a chance when it comes [in] February.”
That brings up another point which is that the limited pre-season this team will have in terms of … No pre-season games, and far less practice, means that all of that youth will go into the Week 1 match-up against the Green Bay Packers essentially with the preparation of a typical training camp Saturday night scrimmage.
So I agree with Thielen that talk is cheap (even though that’s kind of what I do for a living, but I also think that it’s strange that people haven’t seen the writing on the wall and expect the Vikings sans the above to IMPROVE on a 10-6 record despite that having a very complex defensive system that is also predicated on the guy next to you doing his job so you can focus on yours.
With that many rookies at positions that even Xavier Rhodes (and Trad Waynes) struggled to acclimate to in his second … and third season(s), and again the nose tackle position essentially becoming the Defense against the Dark Arts teaching gig at Hogwarts… And the offensive line as of the writing of this article being worse than the 27th-ranked unit in 2019…
… But you’ve heard all this from me before.
I guess I’m glad people are optimistic for the season. That means that they’re at least enjoying one aspect of what I take will be a very, very long 2020.