This Week's Enemy Fan Forums: The Minnesota Vikings

Man that was a satisfying win! Can't imagine why... Also an entertaining game with lots of ups and downs, and big plays! Sucks about Jimmy though. I think he would have been huge for the last few games and hopefully playoffs. But as Brock said on KIRO today, it takes some pressure off of Bevell to utilize him, and he can just go back to what he's done the last couple years, which turned out pretty good. So now the Vikes, a pretty decent team, in their house, in the dreaded 10 am time slot. We win this one, and I'll be thinking we've turned a corner and the playoffs are gonna start looking like a pretty good bet. C'mon Hawks! Let's DO THIS THANG!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!


Viking Update (Scout)

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=63

Purple Chat

http://rubechat.kfan.com/viewforum.php? ... 78aaa4b975

Vikings Talk

http://vikingsmessageboard.com/viewforu ... 056df24634

Football's Future

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/v ... m.php?f=24


If you know of any I missed, please post below.

Pretty good discussion over here:

"HOW DO WE STOP RUSELL WISON?"
http://www.scout.com/nfl/vikings/forums ... sell-wison

Compared to reading other "enemy" forums, this one is not only NOT blatant ignorance and homerism, but some good discussion and awareness (combined with what I'd call a natural level of homer knowledge)

Some of the more interesting comments

"QB like him (good QB plus has the ability to run) have had a history of doing well against the Vikings. I'm more worried about Wilson than any other QB on the Vikings 2015 schedule outside of Rodgers and Wilson has better receivers than Rodgers. Wilson is at worst a top 12 QB who also happens to be the best runner not named Cam Newton.

It is taxing on a defense when they can play perfect coverage and then the QB squeaks loose and picks up a key first down. "

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Yeah Baldwin is no Julio Jones, but we also doubled Jones a lot today. I don't think we can afford to double Doug Baldwin. That's why I said he worries me. Rhodes will have to single cover him the way Seattle loves to run the ball and considering Rawls ran for 200+ 2 weeks ago, he's very capable of putting up decent numbers like Tevin Coleman did today

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Sea played crap defenses the last 2 weeks. Pitt and SF. I have ZERO worries about our game against Sea. We're going to blow them out to the tune of 31-14.

Sea is a shell of what it was before. RW had only put up ONE 2 TD game in week 2 before facing the lowly SF and Pitt Defenses.


ZERO worries about Wilson. He's as overpaid as Kaepernick. 2 QB's who got huge contracts due to great defenses and a solid run game masking their average skill set.

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He has a ring and 2 SB appearances so... He aint bad.

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And in response to someone saying Wilson sucks:

LOL how does Wilson suck rolleyes

For the year he has a 102.9 QB rating. I sure wish we could of had such sucky QB play before Teddy. Has more TDs and less INTs than Teddy. In his rookie year he tied mannings TD record and has a ton of GWD and 4th quarter comebacks

Wilson is on pace to get about 4000 yards passing and 600 yards running.

Let me also add that the Seahawks in every single game they have lost have had a lead in the 4th quarter..so tell me how its Wilsons fault the D choked it up

Kaepernick is nowhere near Wilsons ability and Kaep will more than likely be a backup QB in the future

Lynch has been off and on all year so he really hasnt gotten help from Lynch like everyone always says. Rawls has played better than Lynch this year and he was a undrafted FA. Trying to incorporate Graham who sucks at blocking seemed to take a while and then he gets hurt when it looked like it was starting to work. The Oline is worse than the Vikings, a tie at best

And the final point, I dont think we even need to mention how bad Bevel is at play selection. Norv might be bad but Bevel loves throwing WR screens that take forever to develop and going 5 wide no RB every single 3rd down play

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Funny. I was gonna link that thread too. A lot of them think their team is a lot better than they are. But that last guy you quoted has done his homework... Just betcha he's a fantasy player...

Have been following the Vikings for a couple years and scroll through their forums during games. Not a bad fan base, but they have their fair share of dumbasses. Pessimism seems quite common and I think this is the first year in a long time they have things to really feel good about.

byau":3e241z42 said:

Pretty good discussion over here:

"HOW DO WE STOP RUSELL WISON?"
http://www.scout.com/nfl/vikings/forums ... sell-wison

Compared to reading other "enemy" forums, this one is not only NOT blatant ignorance and homerism, but some good discussion and awareness (combined with what I'd call a natural level of homer knowledge)

Some of the more interesting comments

"QB like him (good QB plus has the ability to run) have had a history of doing well against the Vikings. I'm more worried about Wilson than any other QB on the Vikings 2015 schedule outside of Rodgers and Wilson has better receivers than Rodgers. Wilson is at worst a top 12 QB who also happens to be the best runner not named Cam Newton.

It is taxing on a defense when they can play perfect coverage and then the QB squeaks loose and picks up a key first down. "

Click to expand...

Yeah Baldwin is no Julio Jones, but we also doubled Jones a lot today. I don't think we can afford to double Doug Baldwin. That's why I said he worries me. Rhodes will have to single cover him the way Seattle loves to run the ball and considering Rawls ran for 200+ 2 weeks ago, he's very capable of putting up decent numbers like Tevin Coleman did today

Click to expand...

Sea played crap defenses the last 2 weeks. Pitt and SF. I have ZERO worries about our game against Sea. We're going to blow them out to the tune of 31-14.

Sea is a shell of what it was before. RW had only put up ONE 2 TD game in week 2 before facing the lowly SF and Pitt Defenses.


ZERO worries about Wilson. He's as overpaid as Kaepernick. 2 QB's who got huge contracts due to great defenses and a solid run game masking their average skill set.

Click to expand...

He has a ring and 2 SB appearances so... He aint bad.

Click to expand...

And in response to someone saying Wilson sucks:

LOL how does Wilson suck rolleyes

For the year he has a 102.9 QB rating. I sure wish we could of had such sucky QB play before Teddy. Has more TDs and less INTs than Teddy. In his rookie year he tied mannings TD record and has a ton of GWD and 4th quarter comebacks

Wilson is on pace to get about 4000 yards passing and 600 yards running.

Let me also add that the Seahawks in every single game they have lost have had a lead in the 4th quarter..so tell me how its Wilsons fault the D choked it up

Kaepernick is nowhere near Wilsons ability and Kaep will more than likely be a backup QB in the future

Lynch has been off and on all year so he really hasnt gotten help from Lynch like everyone always says. Rawls has played better than Lynch this year and he was a undrafted FA. Trying to incorporate Graham who sucks at blocking seemed to take a while and then he gets hurt when it looked like it was starting to work. The Oline is worse than the Vikings, a tie at best

And the final point, I dont think we even need to mention how bad Bevel is at play selection. Norv might be bad but Bevel loves throwing WR screens that take forever to develop and going 5 wide no RB every single 3rd down play

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A couple of them are pretty good at breaking down RW. The large majority of them are SeaChase..esque

BlueThunder":3vy73m3u said:

Funny. I was gonna link that thread too. A lot of them think their team is a lot better than they are. But that last guy you quoted has done his homework... Just betcha he's a fantasy player...

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Yeah that guy's last paragraph nails it. One of the smartest comments made by an opposing team's fanbase I've seen all year.

That comment he makes about Bevell and 5 wide on third down is so spot on... I rage every time I see it.. It does work on a rare occasion..

Wait.......one of the Viking's fan actually said Wilson has better receivers than Aaron Rodgers......I thought Aaron Rodgers made the receivers and not the other way around...

I have been paying close attention the Vikes this year.

Zimmer is a fun coach. He coaches his guys up the right way, and good for him calling Fisher and the Rams Dirty.

Teddy is prone to WTF throws, but overall is a very Hasselbeck kind of guy. Not fast, but will scramble effectively. When he is in his rhythm, deadly on the timing throws. His receivers are a bit underrated, they have some real talent at WR that is a bit on the not quite polished side of things. AP is getting good right now. They can get after a QB, but like us their pass rush disappears at times.
They feel a little like the 2012 Hawks, good, but not even they really know that yet. Dangerous, talented, mistake prone, just as capable of a great game as a clunker.

Notes. Teddy is a bit fragile. They won't spread us out like the Steelers did, and if Teddy tries to make some of the throws Ben did there will be interceptions to be had. AP is AP, but if he doesn't have early success he does throttle down a bit. He still has a fumbling issue. Greenway is fun to watch, he should get more national attention than he does. And just because you have not heard of their pass rushers doesn't mean they aren't good.

Overall, this feels like the type of team our D is constructed to handle, and the type of O-line we can get around, but also feels like their defense could be a bad matchup for our O. a slow start by our O could not sink the whole day, if they get into a rhythm with AP, it will be a long day. Still, weather is TBD, early start, all that stuff.

I get a feeling sharps money will be on the Hawks in this one.

Scottemojo":3gyvia7y said:

I get a feeling sharps money will be on the Hawks in this one.

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I'm not so sure about that, betting on home underdogs whenever possible is sharps betting 101. Seattle is slightly favored, so the sharps will probably go for Minny.

That said, Seattle's 22.7 DVOA is within striking distance of #1, whereas Minnesota's -4.7 DVOA paints them as a pretender (those numbers don't yet include last week's games). If Seattle plays a good game they will probably win.

AP hasn't had a good game against Seattle since 2012, versus a much weaker and less experienced LB group. It seems like a distant memory now, but there was a time when Wagner was not very good against the run. AP is terrific but if he has a huge game I'll be disappointed.

Bridewater will need to channel 2012 Stafford or 2012 Tannehill and play the best game of his life to barely win. I think if Minny scores more than 20 points, it will either be because Bridgewater played a career game or because Seattle's D made a ton of mistakes.

According to the playoff odds report on football outsiders, Minny's WEI DVOA has risen to almost +6% which is good but not great. It does suggest that Minny's record is largely a chimera driven by an exceptionally easy schedule to this point. 10am start notwithstanding, I feel fairly good about this game. Truth be told I felt much better about the potential matchup against Minny than I ever did against the Steelers.

Polaris":2f1usogb said:

Truth be told I felt much better about the potential matchup against Minny than I ever did against the Steelers.

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I actually feel the reverse. Bridgewater strikes me as that maddening, careful QB who does just enough dink-and-dunking to win against our defense. Guys like Austin Davis and Nick Foles have beaten us because they have the patience that guys like Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning don't always have.

I'm expecting a low-scoring game that comes down, as any Seahawks game does, to the fourth quarter.

MontanaHawk05":27k702dz said:

Polaris":27k702dz said:

Truth be told I felt much better about the potential matchup against Minny than I ever did against the Steelers.

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I actually feel the reverse. Bridgewater strikes me as that maddening, careful QB who does just enough dink-and-dunking to win against our defense. Guys like Austin Davis and Nick Foles have beaten us because they have the patience that guys like Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning don't always have.

I'm expecting a low-scoring game that comes down, as any Seahawks game does, to the fourth quarter.

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Well the reason I felt as I did (and do) is that this year, our defense has been vulnerable to the medium-long to long ball when thrown precisely. That takes a good veteran QB. Big Ben is such a QB (so is Carson Palmer). Bridgewater is not.

kearly":2jyljgnn said:

Scottemojo":2jyljgnn said:

I get a feeling sharps money will be on the Hawks in this one.

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I'm not so sure about that, betting on home underdogs whenever possible is sharps betting 101. Seattle is slightly favored, so the sharps will probably go for Minny.

That said, Seattle's 22.7 DVOA is within striking distance of #1, whereas Minnesota's -4.7 DVOA paints them as a pretender (those numbers don't yet include last week's games). If Seattle plays a good game they will probably win.

AP hasn't had a good game against Seattle since 2012, versus a much weaker and less experienced LB group. It seems like a distant memory now, but there was a time when Wagner was not very good against the run. AP is terrific but if he has a huge game I'll be disappointed.

Bridewater will need to channel 2012 Stafford or 2012 Tannehill and play the best game of his life to barely win. I think if Minny scores more than 20 points, it will either be because Bridgewater played a career game or because Seattle's D made a ton of mistakes.

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Perhaps you are right.

One thing the Hawk D has hung it's hat on this year is stopping the run. I think we will try to put this game into Teddy B's cold hands.

Offensively, Plan A is Rawls. We want to get one of their safeties to move up. Which should not be too tough, this will be the first game all year where nobody is scheming to take away the TE. In fact, I do expect Willson to be a bigger part of the gameplan just because of that.
Specials is a tossup. Patterson might be a dullard, but he sure can return a kick. If the weather is doing funky stuff, I like the opportunities that provides Lockett with a his straight ahead style and potentially wind carried punts that out kick the coverage.

Our tackling has to be better this week. They have a couple of WRs that are pretty damn fun to watch, and if Earl is trying to tackle like last week, watch out.

Polaris":6n3mrsaq said:

MontanaHawk05":6n3mrsaq said:

Polaris":6n3mrsaq said:

Truth be told I felt much better about the potential matchup against Minny than I ever did against the Steelers.

Click to expand...

I actually feel the reverse. Bridgewater strikes me as that maddening, careful QB who does just enough dink-and-dunking to win against our defense. Guys like Austin Davis and Nick Foles have beaten us because they have the patience that guys like Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning don't always have.

I'm expecting a low-scoring game that comes down, as any Seahawks game does, to the fourth quarter.

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Well the reason I felt as I did (and do) is that this year, our defense has been vulnerable to the medium-long to long ball when thrown precisely. That takes a good veteran QB. Big Ben is such a QB (so is Carson Palmer). Bridgewater is not.

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Bridgewater can make those intermediate timing throws. He also throws accurately on the run and makes plays similar to Wilson. He just isnt as consistent and doesnt have the deep ball accuracy of Big Ben or Wilson although his receivers can get open deep. Main reason his production is so low is because they aspire to be the Seahawks offense albeit with AD as option 1.

Norv's playcalling works well with Bridgewater's skillset so far. He also includes AD and Asiata as receiving threats. Dont be surprised how often they use their versatile tight ends: Rudolph and Ellison. Its been our weakness to defend good TE at times.

On defense the Vikings have a young underrated group. Linval Joseph can be one of the nastiest nose tackles in the league. Linebacker Anthony Barr is a fast powerful rangy athlete at 6'6" 260 lbs who not only rushes the qb but deflects passes at the LOS. Last game he twice ran down Atlantas Coleman and was step for step with Coleman 20 yds downfield to deflect a sure td pass. Pairing him with Griffen who already is a solid DE is a nightmare. Kendricks and Greenway with Barr makes their linebacking group quick to the ball and sure tacklers but the Vikings defense have had lapses defending runs up the middle at times. Their defense ranks 29 against the run. However their secondary is underrated with Waynes, Rhodes, Newman and Sendejo contributing to the 4th best passing defense.

If we put pressure on Teddy and corral AD we win this easily.
Rawls runs well up the gut and is the quick strong back they have trouble with.
If weather isnt a factor:
We win this 24-13.

Scottemojo":ac42licj said:

Perhaps you are right.

One thing the Hawk D has hung it's hat on this year is stopping the run. I think we will try to put this game into Teddy B's cold hands.

Offensively, Plan A is Rawls. We want to get one of their safeties to move up. Which should not be too tough, this will be the first game all year where nobody is scheming to take away the TE. In fact, I do expect Willson to be a bigger part of the gameplan just because of that.
Specials is a tossup. Patterson might be a dullard, but he sure can return a kick. If the weather is doing funky stuff, I like the opportunities that provides Lockett with a his straight ahead style and potentially wind carried punts that out kick the coverage.

Our tackling has to be better this week. They have a couple of WRs that are pretty damn fun to watch, and if Earl is trying to tackle like last week, watch out.

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I heard a lot of talk this week that Seattle's passing offense does better against zones and that Pittsburgh's combination of blitzing and soft zones was a magic recipe for our receivers and Russell. By contrast, press man is tougher on smaller WRs and Seattle has a small receiving corps, especially post-Graham. Do we really have a pass catcher that Russell can identify pre-snap as a guy that can beat man coverage?

Does Minny run a lot of man and do they run it well? I'd be worried about this game if Minnesota is capable of a quality four man rush and a good press man coverage. Also, how good are they at spying QBs?

I guess the Vikings aren't worried about the Seahawks running game this week. I hope Rawls heard this.
http://www.scout.com/nfl/vikings/forums ... who-s-that

Surprising number of fans predicting a Hawk win in the prediction thread. Don't see that very often in fan forums.