Can a leopard change his spots?

@"Ralphie" said: Until that INT in the 4th quarter, I had no major problems with Cousin's play yesterday.  Yes he fumbled getting sacked and his head-first slide almost lost another.  But the first INT is squarely on Diggs and his "sticky" hands.  He also lost a fumble and had several crucial drops that regrettably get reflected in Cousin's passing stats.  And the overthrow to Diggs happens to every QB, even the great Erin.

But we lost by 5 on the road in stadium world renowned for it's home cookin' after getting steamrolled by three TD's in the first quarter.  Baily cost us 3 points.  Diggs 1 via his childish penalty and Baily's extra long XP miss.  The refs took 6 from Diggs (7 if you think Baily would have hit the XP) and got Thielen with another phantom OPI in the end zone.  

But our main takeaway is Cousin's late 4th quarter boneheaded INT?  Sorry, this "loaded" roster needs to step up.

I don't think Diggs even touch the ball on that INT.  The defender knocked it away before it got to him.

Edit: can't get the Twitter link to work.

Edit again: There it is.

Just curious if the "leopard changing his spots" mantra also applies to GM's?

I have seen the USUAL suspects being called out, HC, OC, QB, Kicker, knucklehead WR, etc . But NO mention of the leopard that put this team together, and has been in charge of personnel since June 2006.

Because after 13 seasons and 2 playoff wins, I've connected the spots/dots and see that Spielman CLEARLY can't field a TRUE championship contender. I don't have to wait until January to see that Kirk IS NOT the guy. 

The Vikings can change QB's, HC's and coordinators all they want, but allowing the lone common denominator remaining from the Childress days to make these critical decisions is the height of stupidity. You know, that old saying about the definition of insanity? 

If fans really want change, it's gotta start at the top. The owners aren't going anywhere, so it must be at the FO executive level.

Call me a one trick pony all you want, but so is Ricky......decent in regular season, atrocious in post season. Wash,rinse, repeat.

@"ArizonaViking" said: Cousins was brought in as another "Game Manager".  Look at the first game against the Falcons, up 28 points in the 3rd quarter Cousins didn't need to take any risks and attempted only 10 passes.  Against the Packer down 21 points after the first quarter, he was put in a position he had to take risks and made boner mistakes.  The fumbles, bad passes and the interceptions.  He's not and will never be the "Comeback Kid".

Yeah, well you dont pay a game manager $84m. If he’s going to be paid as a top tier QB he needs to at least be average. He wasnt even close to average yesterday. 

@"Jor-El" said: I liked the acquisitions of both Bradford and Cousins, but now I think it's the wrong approach to try to get a quarterback that another team has given up. Why would our management know the health or potential of these guys better than the management of the team that's been coaching and watching them? QB is so valuable in the NFL, we should always have grave doubts if a team is willing to hand over one that has had significant experience.

This is exactly what I thought all along. The approach is wrong. With the way the salary cap is structured and how loaded this team is, why not follow the model the Eagles used. Identify one of the top talents and package the picks and get him.
We can keep trying but not many coaches are Andy Reid (who has a good idea of what a good QB is).
I know that Rick will not do this so I guess we need to get a GM who has the balls to address the qb position without tip toeing around it.
We tip toes around the O line and finally decided to pay attention to it. (The jury is still out if we truly solved it)
Maybe the Leopard comment also applies to Rick

I suppose a leopard could be a panther, in which case, it might actually be a jaguar or perhaps even a mountain lion...

so... uh... that's good for Kirk i think...

@"Wetlander" said:

@"FSUVike" said: Couple of things; some franchises go through protracted stretches of awful management. To say you can't get a good FA QB is ignoring how stupid the FO of teams like the Raiders, Browns, and yes, the Skins have been for the last 5+ years. Not saying  KC is the guy we hoped for but to say you can't get a Franchise QB in FA is simply not true.

Also, why the f did Stefanski throw the ball on the that game - killing INT?

I've been reading articles all morning and while folks are certainly crushing Kirk for his performance Stefanski is also drawing a lot of criticism, and rightfully so. He got too cute a few times and it really coat the team.

1st and goal is always a good time to play-action pass to get an easy score if the defense is playing the run hard.

The offensive coordinator shouldn't have to protect his veteran QB by running it 3 times...  And he should expect his veteran QB to throw it away if his first two reads are covered.  Not force a throw that isn't there.

@"MaroonBells" said: The only correct answer is we just don't know yet. There are a lot of declarative statements being made right now that I've heard before. For years, it was said that John Elway couldn't win the big one. Until he did 14 years into his career. And then he won back to back Super Bowl. 

Cousins is going to have good games and he's going to have bad games in the remainder of the season. And the balance of that will determine whether we draft a QB in the 1st round next spring. But two things I know for certain: Yesterday's game, by itself, will not determine that. And Cousins will be our QB next season. 

The 60% figure is a problem and will be for anyone under center.   He is probably always going to be a screw up but it could be lessened enough by better line play to maybe still contend.   Whether they can get there this year is still a big question mark.

Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

@"FSUVike" said: Hmmm. National media is talking about how gassed and ready to throw in the towel the Packers Defense was so why pass it there. Meanwhile, Vikings fans can only see the horrible throw. Interesting.

Two more runs and they probably would have scored and taken more time off the clock in the process.  But it was still a bad interception.  One though where Zimmer should have challenged DPI.

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

Bench him? For Mannion? lol, now that would be the end for everyone on the staff and personnel. The Vikings will be riding Cousins, for better or worse, to the end of his contract. His leash is long, like around the block long. 

If for some reason the Vikings crash and burn, the Vikings are in a really tough spot: No heir apparent at QB (so they'll draft one) but a team loaded with talent and up against the cap. Nightmare time. But I don't see that. This team is a good one. 

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

I’m not sure I’d consider a poor team just yet.  I mean they just beat Philadelphia, who I considered to be a good team.  

@"StickyBun" said:

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

Bench him? For Mannion? lol, now that would be the end for everyone on the staff and personnel. The Vikings will be riding Cousins, for better or worse, to the end of his contract. His leash is long, like around the block long. 

If for some reason the Vikings crash and burn, the Vikings are in a really tough spot: No heir apparent at QB (so they'll draft one) but a team loaded with talent and up against the cap. Nightmare time. But I don't see that. This team is a good one. 

There are only two answers.

1. You suck bad enough during a good QB Draft Class to get a once in a generation can't miss QB prospect.
2. You keep drafting QBs until you find a Russell Wilson.

I'm of the belief that QB is important enough that you need to draft them frequently, like every other year, or every 3rd year at the latest.  It needs to be part of your culture so that no one gets hurt feelings.  I also don't believe in burning everything to the ground when the fans get pissy.  You upgrade your QB when you find a better one, not throw the one you have away and roll the dice on a guy who has just as good a chance at being worse than better.

@"medaille" said:

There are only two answers.

1. You suck bad enough during a good QB Draft Class to get a once in a generation can't miss QB prospect.
2. You keep drafting QBs until you find a Russell Wilson.

I'm of the belief that QB is important enough that you need to draft them frequently, like every other year, or every 3rd year at the latest.  It needs to be part of your culture so that no one gets hurt feelings.  I also don't believe in burning everything to the ground when the fans get pissy.  You upgrade your QB when you find a better one, not throw the one you have away and roll the dice on a guy who has just as good a chance at being worse than better.

Agreed. 

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

OK, this is getting out of control. Cousins had a bad game. His worst game as a Viking. It happens. He'll fumble and throw an ill advised pass every now and then, but this was the first time I've ever seen him be "off" on this throws too. The mistakes will continue because that's who he is, but the accuracy issues won't. 

Three, four weeks from now everyone will have forgotten this game and laugh that some thought we should bench him. Doesn't mean that Bad Kirk won't still be lurking in the shadows, waiting to terrify us in the playoffs... but we'll see a lot of Good Kirk in the meantime. 

 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

OK, this is getting out of control. Cousins had a bad game. His worst game as a Viking. It happens. He'll fumble and throw an ill advised pass every now and then, but this was the first time I've ever seen him be "off" on this throws too. The mistakes will continue because that's who he is, but the accuracy issues won't. 

Three, four weeks from now everyone will have forgotten this game and laugh that some thought we should bench him. Doesn't mean that Bad Kirk won't still be lurking in the shadows, waiting to terrify us in the playoffs... but we'll see a lot of Good Kirk in the meantime. 

 

@"KingBash" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

OK, this is getting out of control. Cousins had a bad game. His worst game as a Viking. It happens. He'll fumble and throw an ill advised pass every now and then, but this was the first time I've ever seen him be "off" on this throws too. The mistakes will continue because that's who he is, but the accuracy issues won't. 

Three, four weeks from now everyone will have forgotten this game and laugh that some thought we should bench him. Doesn't mean that Bad Kirk won't still be lurking in the shadows, waiting to terrify us in the playoffs... but we'll see a lot of Good Kirk in the meantime. 

 

You (all) might be right, and wow do I hope you are. But this team is primed to win now. Do we really think Cousins can overcome adversity in a close playoff game? 

You're right: Mannion almost certainly can't either. I'm just frustrated and don't have any faith in the guy.

@"KingBash" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"KingBash" said: Thoughts on benching Cousins?

I don't mean this week of course, I'm wondering if he has a short leash. His Chicago game in December (which was my Christmas present to my dad... goddammit) was abysmal. Win and you're in.

We beat up a poor Atlanta team at home since. And then he lays this egg.

I'm done with him personally. But how long before the rest of the fans start clamoring for a change? How many more fuck ups does he have?

OK, this is getting out of control. Cousins had a bad game. His worst game as a Viking. It happens. He'll fumble and throw an ill advised pass every now and then, but this was the first time I've ever seen him be "off" on this throws too. The mistakes will continue because that's who he is, but the accuracy issues won't. 

Three, four weeks from now everyone will have forgotten this game and laugh that some thought we should bench him. Doesn't mean that Bad Kirk won't still be lurking in the shadows, waiting to terrify us in the playoffs... but we'll see a lot of Good Kirk in the meantime. 

 

You (all) might be right, and wow do I hope you are. But this team is primed to win now. Do we really think Cousins can overcome adversity in a close playoff game? 

You're right: Mannion almost certainly can't either. I'm just frustrated and don't have any faith in the guy.

Unfortunately if we actually do entertain the idea of Mannion playing, and fuck it lets go all out and pretend he kills it out there.... he's on a one year contract.  Everything he does to "fix" or "solve" issues goes on his pending free agent resume, and a guy like Mannion would be stupid not to take every penny he could get off of that momentum.

In the Vikings offensive "play maker" positions, I totally believe KC is the weakest link.  I'm pretty sure that's not what we were to expect when he signed that huge 3 year deal. 

The QB play from both teams decided the outcome of that game.  Rogers played well enough early, along with KC crapping the bed late.

No, I don't believe KC will change.  This is exactly the guy that played for Washington.  Hope I'm wrong, of course, but I've lost faith in the guy.  He lacks that "Hero" leadership quality about him you get from the good NFL QBs.