Are both the Packers and Vikings Rebuilding?
The Minnesota Vikings put the wraps on an interesting, and crucial, mini-camp held in Eagan, Minnesota. Along with the release of Dalvin Cook, new defensive coordinator Brian Flores was hard at work installing the new Vikings Defense. The former Dolphins Head Coach and New England Patriots legend is trying to get a 31st ranked defense in shape. He has his work cut out for him.
The offense wasn’t a problem in Minnesota. And as much as fans like to “hate” on Kirk Cousins, he did have a strong statistical season. He threw for 4,547 yards. (As a point of comparison Aaron Rodgers threw for 3,695.) He just never seemed to be able to put it all together at the end of the year. For the Packers defeating Minnesota is always a key to respectability in the tough NFC North.
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The team still went 13-4. But no one, maybe even themselves included, took them seriously in the playoffs. They lost in week one (Wild Card week) to the Giants 31-24. If the Vikings are going to be a Super Bowl contender it is going to be because they outscore their opponent.
The Vikings were the 7th ranked offense in terms of yards generated per game ( 361) and they were able to put up plenty of points. But the Central Division Champion struggled to stop other teams. The Vikings gave up 388 yards a game.
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So how did camp go?
According to Vikings beat reporter Kevin Seifert,
“The Vikings hired Flores to fix a defense that ranked 31st in yards allowed per game. They didn’t buttress him with many personnel upgrades. They bid farewell to six starters and backfilled with one significant veteran replacement cornerback Bryon Murphy Jr. So the shape, size and scope of their turnaround will largely depend on Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme.”
The team also added a cornerback and a safety in rounds three and four and are hopeful those two players can produce immediately.
The possible distraction in mini-camp for the team didn’t turn out to be much of one at all: Cousins will be a free agent after this season. “I think we’ll probably talk about the contract next March, and until then just focus on this season and the job to do right now,” Cousins said. Of course if the Vikings get off to a hot start this may or may not end up growing as a story in the national media.
Otherwise after Cook was released it looks like his back-up Alexander Mattison is set to take over. This also seems to be proof-positive that running backs don’t tend to get the benefit of the doubt in the NFL (Not for Long league). What impact this could have on Aaron Jones remains to be seen? However, the Packers appear to be more than willing to keep the 28 year old around.
Minnesota starts the season off against a Tampa Bay team at home that most everyone feels should be an easy win. The Packers play Tampa Bay at home on Dec. 17th.
The Packers face off against the Vikings in week eight at Lambeau. That game will do a lot to see if Packers QB Jordan Love can keep up with Kirk Cousins. The 34 year old Kirk Cousins is ten years older than Love (24 years old).
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