Vikings @ Giants

Week 1 is such a crapshoot and we really have only seen the depth play in August.

I have no idea what we got overall.

Losing Hunter and Cousins is huge, I hope I'm not lamenting that much of the year.

I agree it would be nice to steal this one on the road. For a team trying to jell with a new QB, no TJH or Addison? That first 1/4 of the season is brutal.

StickierBuns wrote:
It will be interesting. Winnable road game to kick off the season. I've said my piece about Darnold: from this point on, I'm on the Sam Darnold Train. Only positivity, because I've already said I find it highly doubtful he pulls it off. If he fails, I won't pile on. Hopeful to be wrong. Let's do this.

Fair enough, thats probably the most fans can do given his tape. 

On offense, I suspect most of our wins will be Darnold making "enough plays" and the running-game being better than last year.

One of these teams will have to get very lucky to win this game and it's not the purple team.

With turnovers, bounces, and calls being even:
Vikings 27
Giants  10

Giants D can bring pressure and make Darnold look like...Darnold. I expect Malik Nabors to be the next great WR in this league. Unfortunately he's got Daniel Jones for a QB, aka the opposing team's secret weapon.

I expect an ugly game. No idea who'll win.

Daniel Jones sucks. The QBs aren't going to decide this game. Vikings have a better OL, offensive skill players, better defense, and better kicker (Will "Russian Assassin" Richard).

We win this one easy and KOC gets some revenge for the playoff loss to the Giants two years ago and getting snubbed for Coach of the Year. The media loved big dude Daboll after his first year, but KOC has more wins in 2022 and 2023 and will stack one more on the Andy Reid wannabe in Week 1.

I think winning this game will be determined by the Vikings defense. If Aaron Jones has good stats on offense, the Vikings win, unless they have turnovers.
I'm anxious to see if all the turnover on defense adds up to improvement or decline. Against this QB, Vikings defense should dominate.

Vikings have the better WR, RB,and OT's. Giants have the better QB (yes even Jones has been less of a trainwreck than Darnold). I think the Vikings D is more talented, but with seeing hardly any starters in preseason that's an uneducated guess.

Who wins? If the Vikings can run the ball enough to limit Darnold's chances to screw up, we win. If KOC bails on the run and lets Sam throw it 40 times, we're toast.

Either way this is going to be a slog rather than a track meet. Final score 20-17 for whichever QB Fs up less.

Close game that we find a way to lose late is my guess. Lots of lineup unknowns, we're on the road, it's the home opener for the other team so the fans and refs will be helping them along.

And we have an infuriating recent history of losing "winnable" games early in the season. Sadly I think this game gets added to that list.

I think we take this game, and we see the beginnings of the Sam Darnold Redemption Tour. Having Jefferson and Addison out there as targets is a helluva way to get a QB re-focused on his job. Plus, KOC will hopefully embrace a real running attack again.

Flores will be in year 2 with the team, the spotlight on him will be brighter as he attempts to get back to real head coach consideration...so, he's got plenty of reasons to be calling his best games.

I'm hoping we win by 10 or so, an amount that feels more decisive than lucky.

If we have any hope to contend season, it starts by winning this game in the NFC against a beatable opponent.

There are only 2 keys to win in this game to me. Contain Dexter Lawrence and Malik Nabors. We do that we win this game on talent alone 9 out of 10 times.

Brian Burns, the former Carolina Panther, is the big offseason get for them. They also have Kayvon Thibodeaux who played well last season as a rookie. Both players can rush the passer & make it a long day for our OL. Have to contain both players.

StickierBuns wrote:
The good news: Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) was practicing today during the portion open to reporters. The bad news: WR Jalen Nailor (unknown) was working on a side field.

This was reported yesterday. Unreal if Nailor is injured AGAIN.

Knucklehead wrote:
Brian Burns, the former Carolina Panther, is the big offseason get for them. They also have Kayvon Thibodeaux who played well last season as a rookie. Both players can rush the passer & make it a long day for our OL. Have to contain both players.

Good call. The reason I didn’t put them as keys was because they are going against Darrisaw and O’Neil.

StickierBuns wrote:
The good news: Vikings WR Jordan Addison (ankle) was practicing today during the portion open to reporters. The bad news: WR Jalen Nailor (unknown) was working on a side field.

This was reported yesterday. Unreal if Nailor is injured AGAIN.

shouldnt that be prefaced with "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before"

or " It Goes Without Saying "

Waaahhh. I'll take your first half schedule over ours any day of the week and twice on Sunday....

From Bigblue: The schedule, with winnable games at home against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 and on the road vs. the Washington Commanders in Week 2, offers them an opportunity to get off to a good start.

That is followed by this difficult six-game stretch:

Week 3 at Cleveland Browns
Week 4 vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 5 at Seattle Seahawks
Week 6 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers

Crazy to think it is officially game week! Losing JJ definitely took the excitement out of the season for me, feels like a more tempered excitement. With JJ there was the anticipation of when he would take over and even if we didn't win, he would be getting the necessary experience. Now it kind of feels like a continuation of last year after Cousins got hurt in that we are dependent on someone who has never performed consistently at QB, so likely another year of surprising great QB play followed by clunkers.

The Purple Persuasion@TPPSkol

According to @DWolfsonKSTP via @SKORNorth, he “fully expects” @Vikings WR Jordan Addison to play on Sunday. Addison injured his ankle during the joint practices with the #Browns.

MaroonBells wrote:
The Purple Persuasion@TPPSkol

According to @DWolfsonKSTP via @SKORNorth, he “fully expects” @Vikings WR Jordan Addison to play on Sunday. Addison injured his ankle during the joint practices with the #Browns.

That would be good news - hopefully he's close to 100%?

We really dont know the extent of that sprain

I think the injury reports come out today.

I feel pretty apathetic and unexcited about the year so far. We’ll see if that changes seeing them in a real game. Obviously, I’d prefer wins and solid games, but I’m probably going to just ride the low expectation, hoping to be pleasantly surprised train.

The Purple Persuasion@TPPSkol
Per #Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell on injuries:

1. WR Jordan Addison “is in a good spot” and feels “pretty good” about him playing.
2. WR Jalen Nailor suffered an ankle injury in practice but is “progressing well”.

VikingzFanPage@vikingzfanpage
Justin Jefferson on facing the #Giants:

“I got something a little extra for them. We played them in a more crucial spot and lost in the playoffs 2 years ago. Im trying to let everyone know that I didn’t lose my groove.”