I'm not going to say my current TV is old, but I got it at Circuit City and happily paid about $1800 for it on sale...

I'm thinking of a Samsung 65" curved set...reviews on Best Buy seem mostly favorable...anyone have one or a better alternative around $1300?

If Mike Zimmer can go 3-1 the rest of the way, he will pass Jerry Burns by a half-game to have the second-best four-year start to his coaching career in Vikings history.Seven Vikings coaches have lasted with the franchise for four full seasons or more: Norm Van Brocklin, Bud Grant, Jerry Burns, Dennis Green, Mice Tice and Brad Childress. Mike Zimmer will join that group in four weeks.
And Zimmer is having great success. As it currently stands, his 36-24 regular-season record in his first four seasons (.600 winning percentage) trails Grant (35-18-3, .652) and Burns (38-25, .603). If Zimmer can go 3-1 the rest of the way, he will pass Burns by a half-game to have the second-best four-year start to his coaching career in franchise history.
Last year was a letdown for Zimmer, the team finishing .500 at 8-8 after a 5-0 start to the season. That came after a 2015 season when the Vikings went 11-5 and came within a missed field goal of winning its wild-card playoff game.
When the team entered this past offseason, it focused on one key issue it felt could solve a world of problems: the offensive line.
Zimmer explained how the Vikings went about that process, which has drastically changed their offense and has them one victory away from clinching a division title.
“The real story is that we tried to find the right guys, tried to find some athletic guys,” Zimmer said. “[General Manager] Rick [Spielman] found [Nick] Easton, he liked him coming out and then he was with a couple other teams and we made a trade with San Francisco. They wanted [linebacker] Gerald Hodges and we got [Easton].

The Vikings are stopping teams on third down 72.8 percent of the time this season — the highest rate since the 1998 Oakland Raiders (73.3 percent). They’ve allowed only 40 third-down conversions for the season, an average of 3.3 a game.
“That’s absurd,” Cosell said. “The number 40, to me, in 12 games, that blew me away. I don’t think they get their due. I think people recognize Mike Zimmer’s a good defensive coach, but I don’t think they say, ‘Wow, this defense is unbelievably great.’ ”
Which, considering how many cues the Vikings take from their coach, might be how they want it.
“That’s our goal, is to be the best,” linebacker Anthony Barr said. “We haven’t always been that. Each week presents a unique challenge, and you’re going to fail sometimes. But I think we’re successful more often than not.”
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-defen...463075123/

A look at the key departures, and what their absences have allowed for the Vikings in this above-average season.
The Minnesota Vikings are thriving despite three deconstructed knees and five constructive “nos.”
When the history of the Vikings’ 2017 season is written, the second or third paragraph will cite the team’s ability to overcome injuries to Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater and Dalvin Cook — two franchise quarterbacks and a budding star running back.
What may not be mentioned, yet could be just as important, is the Vikings’ willingness to part with five people who only a couple of years ago were considered vital to the franchise.
Here are the key departures, and what their absences have allowed:
1. Norv Turner: When the Vikings offensive line and season went south in 2016, Turner quit. Instead of devastating the program, Turner’s departure opened the door for Pat Shurmur, who is much more creative and adaptable, and has helped this year’s team go 10-2 with a backup quarterback, backup running backs and a remade offensive line. 
2. Matt Kalil: The third pick in the 2012 draft, Kalil produced one excellent season, then a series of disappointments. Even when healthy, he didn’t produce like a top draft pick, and his replacement, Riley Reiff, has become one of the most indispensable players in the league, turning a position that was a black hole into a brick wall.
3. Adrian Peterson: Even at his best, Peterson made the Vikings offense predictable and one-dimensional. As he went into decline yet expected the same role, he became a potential problem. 
4. Alex Boone: Desperate to improve their offensive line play in 2017, the Vikings released their most experienced offensive lineman, Boone, during their final cuts. With Boone out of the way, the Vikings remade the middle of the line with rookie Pat Elflein and former centers Joe Berger and Nick Easton, giving them three smart, versatile players working together. 

5. Cordarrelle Patterson: As a receiver, he was a less-accomplished version of Peterson, a player whose physical skills were so impressive that not giving him the ball always seemed to be a lingering problem for the front office and coaching staff. But you can’t play receiver in the NFL if the coaches and quarterbacks don’t trust you.
Without Kalil and Boone, a top pick and an expensive free agent, the Vikings line is far better. Without the renowned Turner, the offensive coaching is far better. Without Peterson and Patterson, two remarkable talents drafted in the first round, the offensive production is far better.
The 2017 Vikings offense is a triumph of intelligence and cohesion. Credit Rick Spielman and Zimmer for making tough choices and remaking their team on the fly.
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-multi...463075003/

Next Friday 9 pm on NFL network

Sean Payton’s message was clear in this sideline exchange with Davonta Freeman.


https://twitter.com/uSTADIUM/status/938980490459123712

The Minnesota Vikings have matched up with a number of versatile running backs this year and locked them all down.
According to Football Outsiders, the Vikings rank sixth in the NFL against running backs in the passing game, giving up just 35 yards through the air to running backs per game. And that’s coming against some of the best receiving running backs like Alvin Kamara, Chris Thompson, Duke Johnson and Theo Riddick.

But this week will be a different type of challenge as they face the Carolina Panthers and first-round pick Christian McCaffrey. Pro Football Focus has tracked McCaffrey as lining up at the running back position for 379 plays, in the slot 93 times, at wideout for 43 snaps, fullback 34 times and even once at tight end.
“You have to be patient with this offense,” linebacker Anthony Barr said. “That’s the biggest thing. You can’t see ghosts because there will be a lot of window dressing, a lot of misdirection, you really have to read your keys this week more than most weeks. They do so much shifting and movements and motions across the screen and flashes and fake handoffs and all sorts of stuff.”
McCaffrey has been targeted 90 times, catching 64 passes for 501 yards. He ranks as PFF’s No. 2 running back in receiving, only behind Kamara.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...challenge/

Vikings' successful season built in part by working savvy deals with PanthersOffseason moves with Panthers aided rebuilding by Vikings. 
Last spring, as both teams sought to rebuild their rosters from 2016 seasons that began with high hopes and ended in disappointment, the Vikings and Carolina Panthers engaged in a series of moves that functioned as a series of coincidental trades.
On March 9, the Panthers signed left tackle Matt Kalil to a five-year, $55.5 million contract that included $25 million in guaranteed money. The Vikings gave former Panthers tackle Mike Remmers a five-year deal worth $30 million March 10. That same day, the Panthers signed former Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson. And on March 11, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn turned down an offer to return to the Vikings, instead opting to rejoin the team that drafted him and signing a four-year, $17 million deal with the Panthers.
The moves were part of busy offseasons for both teams, and as the two clubs meet at Bank of America Stadium this weekend, the Vikings are closing in on a first-round bye at 10-2 while the Panthers are in the hunt for a playoff spot at 8-4. But as players on both clubs prepare for reunions this weekend, it’s worth noting how adroitly the Vikings have navigated replacing players it appeared they might miss.
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-succe...462924813/

Vikings DT Tom Johnson assumes unsung stalwart role once held by Gary LarsenThere were 255 players taken in the 2006 NFL draft and Tom Johnson was not among them but now is on on a defensive line made to win.

There are 11 players who made their careers with the Vikings in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and four are defensive linemen: Alan Page, Carl Eller, John Randle and Chris Doleman.
Jared Allen will make it in due time, and he spent six of his 11 NFL seasons and had 85½ of his 136 sacks with the Vikings. And some day, the veterans committee will do the right thing for Jim Marshall, as it finally did for Mick Tingelhoff, and the NFL’s ironman of line combat will gain a place in Canton.
As you go through the Vikings’ 57 years, all moments of glory have included excellence along the defensive line — most notably, of course, the Purple People Eaters that first carried and then helped the Vikings to their four NFL/NFC championships from 1969 to 1976.
Marshall was an original Viking in 1961; former Gopher Carl Eller joined as a first-round draft choice in 1964; Gary Larsen arrived in a 1965 trade that sent reluctant first-rounder Jack Snow to the Los Angeles Rams and, as the pièce de résistance, Alan Page came in 1967.
Marshall, Eller, Page and Larsen played every game alongside one another from 1968 through 1973, with all four making the Pro Bowls of 1969 and 1970. Doug Sutherland did a three-year apprenticeship and replaced Larsen as a starter at the tackle opposite Page in 1974.
“Gary Larsen … I’ve been told about that man,” said Tom Johnson, current Vikings defensive tackle. “People say that I’m like Larsen, the ‘other guy’ on a great defensive line.”
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-dt-to...462924783/