Just Need An Average O

[greediron]

And considering the D struggled the first quarter of the season without Harry and Van Ginkel. How good was it down the stretch? Pretty amazing run IMO.

Remember, we had 5 sacks against Seattle, in Seattle where the offense didn't show up and Seattle basically went into a shell once they got the lead and saw our offense wasn't a threat.

[JustInTime]

Huh?  What's your goal 10-7 and first round playoff loss.  lol

No. 

We were nearly 10-7 last year with an O that was:

30th in passing yards (ahead of the Jets and Browns)
29th in passing touchdowns (ahead of the Jets, Browns, and Titans)

Getting to an average O easily equates to another 2-3 wins assuming the D holds serve.

Doesn’t seem to far fetched to me.

[pattersaur]

No. 

We were nearly 10-7 last year with an O that was:

30th in passing yards (ahead of the Jets and Browns)
29th in passing touchdowns (ahead of the Jets, Browns, and Titans)

Getting to an average O easily equates to another 2-3 wins assuming the D holds serve.

Doesn’t seem to far fetched to me.

Agreed. I keep waffling between having faith in Flores to do what he always does, and knowing we need a talent infusion. I'm hoping our draft gives me a little more confidence on this front.

[MAD GAINZ]

No. 

We were nearly 10-7 last year with an O that was:

30th in passing yards (ahead of the Jets and Browns)
29th in passing touchdowns (ahead of the Jets, Browns, and Titans)

Getting to an average O easily equates to another 2-3 wins assuming the D holds serve.

Doesn’t seem to far fetched to me.

Getting to 11 wins may not even win the division and having a strong D and average offense won't equate to a Super Bowl run.  It your goal is to make the playoffs, sure let's hope for an average offense.  

If your goal is to win a Super Bowl this year, we better be expecting a top 8 offense.  Especially with Kyler Murray, our weapons, and one of the best offensive minds in the game calling the shots.  Anything less than that means something went terribly wrong.

[purplefaithful]

Getting to 11 wins may not even win the division and having a strong D and average offense won't equate to a Super Bowl run.  It your goal is to make the playoffs, sure let's hope for an average offense.  

If your goal is to win a Super Bowl this year, we better be expecting a top 8 offense.  Especially with Kyler Murray, our weapons, and one of the best offensive minds in the game calling the shots.  Anything less than that means something went terribly wrong.

I do think Murray will help a bunch.

But do TJH, Mason and AJ Sr really strike an inordinate amount of concern in DC's? 

I think Mason is the one with good tread/best years left. 

I wonder if we're looking at our Offense through purple glasses sometimes?

[Waterboy]

No. 

We were nearly 10-7 last year with an O that was:

30th in passing yards (ahead of the Jets and Browns)
29th in passing touchdowns (ahead of the Jets, Browns, and Titans)

Getting to an average O easily equates to another 2-3 wins assuming the D holds serve.

Doesn’t seem to far fetched to me.

You're making a lot of assumptions and though we went 9-8, it was a very soft 9-8.  Another 2-3 wins would be okay but still doesn't put us near the Rams or Seahucks or 49ers.  We went 14-3 and were mostly pretenders.  We're further away now than we were then.

[MaroonBells]

I do think Murray will help a bunch.

But do TJH, Mason and AJ Sr really strike an inordinate amount of concern in DC's? 

I think Mason is the one with good tread/best years left. 

I wonder if we're looking at our Offense through purple glasses sometimes?

Sersiously? I think it's just the opposite. Viking fans, especially the ones on this board, tend to forget how unusual it is to have a WR/WR/TE/LT/RT combo this good. Name a team with a better combo. You can't. Now if we've added a qualified QB to that? Oh my. 

Yes, the backs are mid. But at the end of the day, they're just backs. Who were the 4 starting backs in the conference championships? It wasn't Bijan, Gibbs, Barkley, Taylor, Cook or McCaffrey.

[JustInTime]

You're making a lot of assumptions and though we went 9-8, it was a very soft 9-8.  Another 2-3 wins would be okay but still doesn't put us near the Rams or Seahucks or 49ers.  We went 14-3 and were mostly pretenders.  We're further away now than we were then.

Two assumptions: 

BFlo can hold serve. And he appears to be perfectly capable of turning chicken shit to chicken salad.

Our O, particularly the passing game, isn’t absolute dog shit two years in a row.

Not exactly a huge leap of faith.

[medaille]

Sersiously? I think it's just the opposite. Viking fans, especially the ones on this board, tend to forget how unusual it is to have a WR/WR/TE/LT/RT combo this good. Name a team with a better combo. You can't. Now if we've added a qualified QB to that? Oh my. 

Yes, the backs are mid. But at the end of the day, they're just backs. Who were the 4 starting backs in the conference championships? It wasn't Bijan, Gibbs, Barkley, Taylor, Cook or McCaffrey.

All 5 of those positions had down years last year.  Was some of it QB related?  Sure.  Was all of it QB related?  Certainly not.  Hockenson can barely run and can’t chip and then run a route.  We also lost Nailor and Ham and out of our 6 “starting” IDL/S positions, we have 2 functional starters and 4 warm bodies and the hope of a rookie or two playing well day one.

This team has to get multiple starters through the draft (or maybe Hitman comes back).

I think the offense and the team as a whole are going to live or die with how healthy the Oline is.

[purplefaithful]

Sersiously? I think it's just the opposite. Viking fans, especially the ones on this board, tend to forget how unusual it is to have a WR/WR/TE/LT/RT combo this good. Name a team with a better combo. You can't. Now if we've added a qualified QB to that? Oh my. 

Yes, the backs are mid. But at the end of the day, they're just backs. Who were the 4 starting backs in the conference championships? It wasn't Bijan, Gibbs, Barkley, Taylor, Cook or McCaffrey.

Hey, I'm in a seriously discerning state of mind today! 

I think we tend to gloss over the offense and just make assumptions its going to be kick ass...I hope so (and the upside is there) but some stuff has to be seen by me to be believed. 

Three things have to happen imo:

1). Murray has to play well, stay healthy and can he lift all boats on that side of the ball? Yes, the WR's should feast
2). Frank Smith has to work his magic, especially with the run game and non under-center scheming. 
3). Darrisaw has to return to previous form and thats no gimme with that injury

As an aside, I have no idea what TJH can provide on-going with the passing game (yes, I know Murray knows how to feed a TE) but Hock aint the guy he was when we traded for him. I think the Vikings know this and cut his contract term.

Questions in my mind on TE and RB's...So it's just not a slam dunk to me this is going to be 01, 09 or 98 redux. 

I hope it is...