SKOL - A Minnesota Vikings Blog

[majesty95]

Welcome to Skol! A new blog dedicated to the great Minnesota Vikings! This blog will be updated with relevant news and information related to the Vikings team, players and coaches. We hope that you subscribe and check back often for all of the latest on YOUR Minnesota Vikings!

2016 Season Preview​

 

[majesty95]

Vikings Re-sign Patterson and Loadholt

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The Vikings announced today that they had re-signed star wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and starting right tackle Phil Loadholt to multi-year extensions. This comes two days after re-signing star safeties Harrison Smith and Reshad Jones. These move leave the Vikings with just corner back Xavier Rhodes and defensive tackle Shariff Floyd left out of the starters whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the year.

Patterson, 25, has represented the Vikings in the Pro Bowl the past two seasons and become one of the most electrifying players in the game. Over the past two seasons, Patterson has amassed 143 receptions, 2,399 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns as well as 1,399 kick returns yards and one TD. Keeping #84 in purple and gold for the foreseeable future keeps the Vikings offense dangerous and a nightmare for opposing coaches.

Loadholt is the anchor of the offensive line and most veteran player up front. The former Oklahoma Sooner has been one of the best run blocking tackles in the game for many years and was been a big reason for Jerick McKinnon's rise to stardom at halfback. The Vikings now have four of their five starting linemen locked up for at least the next two years. If they can sign newcomer Michael Roos to an extension or find another stud lineman in the draft, this offense will be one of the most dangerous units in the league for the next several years.

 

[majesty95]

Vikings Lose McKinnon for the Season

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Bad news for the Vikings during the Saints game. Not only did the team fall 13-10 in a close battle, but they also lost star running back Jerrick McKinnon to a season ending injury. McKinnon left the game in the second quarter holding his shoulder. Vikings officials later reported that he had torn his rotator cuff on the play, would need surgery and would miss the remainder of the season. This is a big blow for the Vikings as they played without the third-year pro for much of the playoffs, including a 41-7 loss to New Orleans in the NFC Championship game.

The Vikings did sign Carlos Hyde in the offseason as an insurance policy for just this sort of thing. Unfortunately, you never really want to have to use your insurance policies. The Vikes will look to Hyde and second-year back Brody Love to provide a running game in McKinnon's absence. There has also been rumors that the Vikings will look to bring in another back, possibly Ahmad Bradshaw or Dennis Johnson (who they signed to replace McKinnon in the playoffs a year ago.)

 

[majesty95]

2016 NFC Championship Game Preview

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings

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2016 Recap

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Record: 12-4 (Won NFC South)
Playoffs: 1st Round, BYE; 2nd Round, def. PHI 27-6
Regular Season Leaders
Passing: Mike Glennon 92.8 rtg 221-339 65% comp 2,823 yds 23 td 17 int
Rushing: Doug Martin 296 att 1,484 yards 5.0 avg 12 td
Receiving: Mike Evans 58 rec 862 yds 14.9 avg 4 td
Defense - Tackles: Mason Foster 79, Sacks: George Selvie 10, INT: Jatlen Cooper 8

Minnesota Vikings
Record: 15-1 (Won NFC North)
Playoffs: 1st Round, BYE; 2nd Round, def. NO 27-3
Regular Season Leaders
Passing: Teddy Bridgewater 95.2 rtg 226-324 69% comp 2,724 yds 20 td 16 int
Rushing: Carlos Hyde 272 att 1,196 yds 4.4 avg 14 td
Receiving: Cordarrelle Patterson 59 rec 868 yds 14.7 avg 6 td
Defense - Tackles: Anthony Barr 65, Sacks: 3 Tied With 8, INT: Two Tied With 5

OFFENSE

The Tampa Bay and Minnesota offenses mirror each other in many ways. Both offenses look to establish the running game, have young quarterbacks whohave three wide receivers and a tight end with which they feel comfortable throwing the ball. The biggest difference would be that Tampa Bay will take shots down field with a little more frequency than the Vikings. Bucs' QB Mike Glennon has one of the most powerful arms in the game. Glennon will use that toair the ball out and can also be very effective on deep out routes and comebacks. Minnesota's Teddy Bridgewater, meanwhile, doesn't have quite the arm action as his counterpart, so the Vikings try to feature a lot of mid range passes as evidenced by Bridgewater's remarkable 69% completion percentage. The area where Minnesota has a huge edge though is on the offensive line. All five of the Vikings starting offensive linemen made the Pro Bowl and they led the way for the league's 2nd best rushing attack. Even though Tampa Bay's Doug Martin won the league's rushing title, he has to rely on talent to generate a lot of those yards. The Viking's Carlos Hyde and backup Brody Love can usually just put their nose into the back of one of their lineman and push forward for three or four yards. That's a huge plus when trying to play ball control as the vikings so frequently do. The Vikings' line is also better in pass protection, allowing just 17 sacks all season compared with Tampa Bay's 36.That means that the Bucs are going to have to find a way to contain the running game and pressure Bridgewater or else they will be facing a lot of 10 and 12 plays drives which will favor the Vikings as the game progresses.

EDGE: Vikings

DEFENSE

Once again, each team is very similar in the way that they approach their defense and the way they use their players. The Vikings, however, were a little bit better as evidenced by their leading the league in total defense by nearly 500 yards over the 2nd ranked Bills. The Vikings also led the league in points allowed at just 10 points per game, more than three points per game better than the #2 49ers. The Bucs weren't far behind, ranking 8th, but allowed more than six points per game more than Minnesota. Although the Vikings don't have a bonafide superstar on their defense (and zero Pro Bowlers), they feature 11 guys (12 including their nickle back), who have Pro Bowl talent. There is just not a weakness that you can single out and attack and that makes them very difficult to prepare for. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has a few playmakers surrounded by solid role players. The biggest playmaker on their defense is strong saftey Jaylen Cooper. The rookie, who played at nearby at Florida in college, lead the team with eight interceptions. He is paired in the back end with free safety Dashon Goldson (6 INT) to form one of the most dangerous safety tandems in the league. The Bucs also have a very good middle linebacker in Mason Foster (team leading 79 tackles) along with Lavonte David and Zach Brown. That makes the Bucs hard to run against or pass against down the middle. If there was a weak spot for the Vikings it would be their linebackers. While the trio of Anthony Barr, Brian Coker and Jelani Jenkins are solid, they leave their safeties to make far too many tackles and can be beaten in the pass game. All thing considered, though, the Vikings were one of the league's best defenses historically and that cannot be overlooked in the biggest game of the year to this point.

EDGE: Vikings

SPECIAL TEAMS

The kicking game certainly favors the Vikings as they possess one of the league's most accurate kickers in Blair Walsh (21-22 FGs) and one of the league's best punters in Jeff Locke (43.8 AVG). However, the return game is certainly won by Tampa Bay. The Bucs' Dosha Swain ranked 9th in the league with a 25.5 kick return average including one that he took 108 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings primary kick returner, Timario Stallworth, averaged only 20,9 per kick return which was better than star receiver Cordarrelle Patterson's 20.5 early in the season. Swain has the ability to swing a game following a score and that can be a huge asset in a game of this magnitude.

EDGE: Buccaneers

 

[majesty95]

Inside the Numbers - Super Bowl III Edition

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The Super Bowl is upon us and it one of the most highly anticipated games in recent memory. Both the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings finished the regular season at 15-1, among the best regular season records ever. Neither team has played each other in the three season that the league has been in existence either. Both owners have known each other for years outside of football and the game is being played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Broncos owner woodsmall12 lives about 30 minutes from the Stadium and Vikings owner majesty95 had lived in that area for almost 30 years before relocating to San Antonio a few months ago. There are a lot of interesting factors at play in this game and we are going to take a look at some of them in Inside the Numbers.

17 - Broncos QB Brock Osweiler, who wears number 17, won the league's MVP Award after a stellar season. It is going to be crucial for the Vikings defense to keep him from getting in a rhythm and utilizing his terrific group of receivers.
28 - The total sacks allowed by both team. Osweiler endured the fewest sacks of any starting QB this year with 13. The Vikings' Teddy Bridgewater was close behind at 15.
2,074 - Minnesota finished 2nd in the league in team rushing yards with 2,074. Starting RB Carlos Hyde finished 3rd in the league with 14 rushing TDs. The run game will certainly be a focal point of the Vikings offense.
1 - Denver led the NFL in total offense this year with 5,721 total yards. That offense is tough to contain once it gets in a rhythm.
468 - The Vikings led #2 Buffalo by 468 yards in total defense. They also led the league in points allowed and were one of the greatest defenses in league history statistically. It will be interesting to see whether the Broncos offense or Vikings defense reigns supreme.
59% - Both the Vikings and Broncos converted third downs at a 59% clip, tied for best in the league.
0 - The amount of 4th down conversions that the Broncos converted this year (on only two attempts), the only team with zero.
28 - Minnesota allowed the fewest trips inside the red zone this year with just 28.
38 - The Broncos finished 2nd in the league with 38 red zone TDs.
+/- 2 - Denver finished the year +2 in turnover ratio while the Vikings finished at -2.

 

[majesty95]

2017 Season Preview with Vikings Owner majesty95​

The Minnesota Vikings fished last season just 3 points shy of their first ever Super Bowl title. The Vikings did, however, win the NFC North for the second-consecutive year and fished tied for the league's best record at 15-1. As the team heads into it's fourth season under owner majesty95 we wanted to sit down with the Vikings owner and discuss what last season was like, how the offseason went and what the team expects in this upcoming season.

Skol Blog: Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. Tell us about last season and what it meant to the franchise?
majesty95: Last season was great. I think it was huge for us as a team, the first year in our new stadium, and to make it to the Super Bowl. The fan support has been tremendous. You can definitely feel the energy around this team.

S: Talk about the Super Bowl. It was the first appearance for the team in 40 years (1976). That was the 4th longest Super Bowl drought behind the Lions, Jets and Browns. What was that game like? Falling behind 17-0, coming back to tie it and then losing on a last second field goal. What was like that for you and the team?
M: It was heart breaking obviously. Any time that you can get to a Super Bowl, you want to win it. However, I think the way our team battled back, it didn't hurt as bad. We were down 17-0 and came back to tie it. We just scored a little too quickly and gave Denver time to kick the winning field goal. There's no shame in that. They did a great job. We played a great second half. It just didn't go our way.

S: What would it have meant to have Jerrick McKinnon healthy for that game?
M: That's hard to say Carlos Hyde did great for us last season. He even broke as big run on that 4th down conversion. We love Jerick and are excited to have him back this season, but I'm not sure you can say how it would have affected the game. Could it have helped? Sure. Would we have won? We will never know.

S: McKinnon is back again this season and playing for a contract. What is the team's plan for him and how much does his injury history the past two years play into your strategy with the team's backfield?
M: Its hard to know what will happen with Jerick. He's missed significant time the past two seasons, including at least some of the playoffs. Is that a trend or is it just a freak occurrence? Obviously we are concerned but we were last year too. That's why we are happy that we have Brody Love. Last year we were fortunate to sing Carlos. This year we have Theo Reddick also. I think we will be ok either way, but obviously having Jerick healthy makes us a better team. As far as a contract, we will just have to see how that plays out. We're not likely to do anything until after the season to see if we can keep him healthy for a full season. but remember, this was a concern when he was drafted. He is not a big running back. There was never any assurance that his body could handle being an every down back. We may have just been lucky in 2014. I hope not, but only time will tell.

S: The team made a big splash in the offseason by trading Srariff Floyd, Jarius Wright and David Yankey to the Seahawks and then then trading two of the picks that you acquired to add an additional first round pick. You guys have done really well in the draft the past few seasons. What was the thought process there and how do you think it worked our for the team now and in the future?

M: Well, we knew we had a lot of contracts coming up. All three of the guys we traded had contracts coming up in the next year or two. We knew we would not be able to sign all of them. So, we figured our best option was to move them for draft picks. A first round draft pick you have for four years. We gave up quite a bit but we like the guys we got in the draft.

S: One of those guys you got in the draft was DT Angel Hernandez. You got him with the pick from the Bears (via the Seahawks picks). You also got a guy in the third round named Jorell Beachum. What do you project from them this season and in the future?

M: Well, Hernandez was the guy we were targeting in the draft when we decided to move Floyd. We thought we were getting a similar player and would have 3 more years with him than versus possibly not resigning Floyd. We thought he would be available when it got to us and we were fortunate that he was. We expected to have him start in Floyd's place this season but another guy, Whil Lockett, our 3rd round pick two years ago, really played well in the preseason and beat Angel out. That's not a knock on Hernandez who played well himself, but Whil played really well and earned the starting job. Now we have great depth at defensive tackle and that is a great thing to have. Beachum was another guy that we had targeted before the draft. He wasn't high on a lot of team's radar but we knew at least one or two other teams were going to be looking at him. We actually thought about using our rd round pick on him but decided it wasn't worth the risk and took him in the 2nd round (he was projected in the 6th by most scouting services). We are glad we did. Dorell was a tremendous player in the preseaoson and won the starting left end job over Scott Chrichton who we initially thought would be the starter after waiving Brian Robison.

S: Robison was interesting move. A lot of fans were skeptical of that move. Can you explain the thought process behind it?

M: Well, with all do respect to our fans, we cannot let our emotions or loyalty to a player decide what is best for the team. Scott Chrichton had played very well when he was given an opportunity to and we felt comfortable that he could play at a similar level to Brian but with a much smaller price tag. That's just part of the economics of this game. You only have so much money to spend and have to decide how to allocate it in a way that gives your team the best chance to win.

S: The Vikings went 3-1 in the preseason and had some great performances by Teddy Bridgewater and a few of the receivers. There we also some really nice performances by the linebacking group. How does the season look for the Vikings this year?

M: I like our team a lot. Obviously, we would like to make it back to the Super Bowl and win it. But so many things can happen during the course of a season and the playoffs. Our job is to put the best 53 guys out on the field that we can. I think we have done a good job with that. Teddy is continuing to progress into one of the best passers in the league and we are deeper now at almost every position. I think that gives us a great chance to be in the think of things again at the end of the season.

S: Last question and we will let you go. We all know that Bridgewater's contract is up at the end of this season. What is the prognosis on securing a long-term extension with him? What about all of the other free agents to be on this team?

M: Just like last year, we will have some tough decisions to make. However, signing Teddy to a long-term deal and ensuring he is the Vikings' quarterback for many years to come is at the top of our priority list. I feel pretty confident that we can make that happen. I also feel confident that we will do what is necessary to keep this team competing not only this year and next year but for many years to come.

There you have it Vikings fans. We may not always like what ownership does, but when they produce the results that this team has and seem to a have a blueprint that they follow closely; you can't help but to be optimistic and expect great things in the future. Here's to hoping for a great season and another Super Bowl run! Skol!