lmao, these guys, man....these F-ING guys....

Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/mike-florio-minnesota-vikings-keep-finding-way-win

This is a very good 5 minute listen...

@"purplefaithful" said: Their stockpile of close victories — and their lack of blowout wins — is one of the facts cited most by those who question their legitimacy as a contender. There is a certain amount of randomness in tight games, the thinking goes, that makes a pattern of close victories unsustainable; a last-second, game-tying field-goal attempt, for example, might not always fall harmlessly to the ground after hitting an upright and a crossbar. There's a growing belief in the Vikings' locker room, however, that they've acquired enough situational awareness and mental fortitude to win a majority of such games, especially after having played in so many through the first 13 weeks of the season. After Sunday's win, in which the Vikings kept the Jets from scoring touchdowns in five of their six trips to the red zone and turned New York away not once, but twice, in the final two minutes, it became a little tougher to argue with them. "We always talk about, 'We don't have to make it that way,'" safety Harrison Smith said. "But it's good practice for us. It's not always what we want, but if you're getting great reps — that's a high-stress environment. Like, all these games are playoff environments in the fourth quarter. That's not how you draw it up, but that could pay dividends." https://www.startribune.com/vikings-jets-kirk-cousins-tough-people-chip-scoggins/600232964/

@"MaroonBells" said: Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

This team is legit, I think they can actually be much better with more consistency in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

@"Skodin" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

Beat the Giants and we are 6-2 (with 3 road wins) vs the two best divisions in football (each division has 4 playoff caliber teams, 3 will make it from each).  

This team is legit, I think they can actually be much better with more consistency in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Skodin" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

Beat the Giants and we are 6-2 (with 3 road wins) vs the two best divisions in football (each division has 4 playoff caliber teams, 3 will make it from each).  

This team is legit, I think they can actually be much better with more consistency in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

its the offense going into hibernation for the the middle part of the game that is creating these close games,  they dont move the ball,  the defense is left on the field more and as a result,  they get tired and give up points,  if this O could just play half as good as they do in the 1st and 4th quarters in the middle 2... completely different results and possibly an even better record.  they need to address the 3 and outs in the middle part of the game IMO,  also,  I know why they are run run run inside of 5 minutes with a lead, but the 3 and outs at the ends of the games just to try and get the opposing teams to burn their timeouts needs to be rethought as well IMO.   getting first downs and burning even more clock is a pretty good way to get them to burn their timeouts,  and also doesnt leave them as much time either.

@"Wetlander" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Skodin" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

Beat the Giants and we are 6-2 (with 3 road wins) vs the two best divisions in football (each division has 4 playoff caliber teams, 3 will make it from each).  

This team is legit, I think they can actually be much better with more consistency in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

its the offense going into hibernation for the the middle part of the game that is creating these close games,  they dont move the ball,  the defense is left on the field more and as a result,  they get tired and give up points,  if this O could just play half as good as they do in the 1st and 4th quarters in the middle 2... completely different results and possibly an even better record.  they need to address the 3 and outs in the middle part of the game IMO,  also,  I know why they are run run run inside of 5 minutes with a lead, but the 3 and outs at the ends of the games just to try and get the opposing teams to burn their timeouts needs to be rethought as well IMO.   getting first downs and burning even more clock is a pretty good way to get them to burn their timeouts,  and also doesnt leave them as much time either.

I think we'd have seen O'Connell be more aggressive on the final drive if we weren't in our own end zone.  Like you hope you get two positive runs to give you 3rd and short and some breathing room, but we got like 3 yds on two runs.  If it was 3rd and 3 from the 8 yds line... I think we'd have gotten creative to get the first, but at that point it was more important to make the Jets burn their last timeout and make sure you don't have a sack or penalty that results in a safety and Jets ball down 3 with a chance to tie.

@"StickyBun" said: https://twitter.com/DailyNorseman/status/1599532626984960000

Now we're F'd...I'n still scarred from Nate Poole

@"MaroonBells" said: So how does a team with a QB having a horrible day beat a playoff team with a top 5 defense? In his locker room speech, KOC reveals the answer: situational football.  "By no means was that our best day. But I'll tell you what I felt, each and every time adversity hit, I felt you guys come together even closer. You know what that normally entails? Situational football. On the day, our defense held them to 19%, 3-of-16 on third down and 1-of-6 in the red zone...And oh by the way, offensively we knew it was going to be a grind. That's what that side of the ball does. We did not turn the football over, we went 50% on third down and 3-of-3 in the red zone."

@"MaroonBells" said: Vikings drew the AFC East this year. With the possible exception of the NFC East, the best division in football. Bills, Pats, Jets and Dolphins. No team under .500. Vikings went 4-0 against this division. It's hard to believe even as I type it. 

@"greediron" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: So how does a team with a QB having a horrible day beat a playoff team with a top 5 defense? In his locker room speech, KOC reveals the answer: situational football.  "By no means was that our best day. But I'll tell you what I felt, each and every time adversity hit, I felt you guys come together even closer. You know what that normally entails? Situational football. On the day, our defense held them to 19%, 3-of-16 on third down and 1-of-6 in the red zone...And oh by the way, offensively we knew it was going to be a grind. That's what that side of the ball does. We did not turn the football over, we went 50% on third down and 3-of-3 in the red zone."

The 3-3 in the red zone is what won the game.  And that is a big change for our offense.