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ORIGINAL: SoMnFan
Barnwell's 2018 Lessons
No team is one player away
During their cap disaster era earlier this decade, the Saints seemed capable of convincing themselves that they were perennially one player or one fix away from winning the Super Bowl. On one hand, we've seen how good they can be with Drew Brees and a good defense over the past two seasons, but the reality was that they were always a few players away. After going 11-5 in 2013, they handed a huge contract to star Bills safety Jairus Byrd, even though the deal required an onerous structure to fit into an already tight cap. He was a disaster in New Orleans and is now out of football. The Saints didn't turn things around until they had a killer draft in 2017.
The Vikings had their killer drafts before making their big free-agent move, but it was fair to look at what they did in this offseason and view them as serious Super Bowl contenders. After making it to the NFC Championship Game and returning virtually everyone from a dominant defense, the Vikings raised their floor at quarterback by replacing Case Keenum with Kirk Cousins on a $28 million per year deal. I liked the move, and I wasn't the only one.
Sixteen games later, Vikings fans aren't as enthused. The goalposts have begun to move in the way they often do when teams aren't satisfied with their quarterback. After grumbling about Cousins' record in prime-time games, he seemed to satiate Vikings fans with a 342-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Packers in Week 12, but that wasn't enough.
The impotent offense led Mike Zimmer to fire offensive coordinator John DeFilippo in December, and while Cousins and replacement offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski helped push the offense to 68 points over two subsequent games, Vikings fans always seemed one rough series or quarter away from booing the offense again. In a must-win game on Sunday against the Bears, Cousins and the offense gave those fans plenty of opportunities to holler. Minnesota went three-and-out on its first four drives, racked up just three first downs by halftime, and finished with just 10 points.
With two fully guaranteed years left to go on Cousins' deal, the Vikings are basically tied in with him with precious little wiggle room to make changes for the foreseeable future. (There will certainly be Vikings fans dreaming of a scenario in which they trade Cousins and use the freed-up cap space to re-sign Teddy Bridgewater, and while it's theoretically possible given that Cousins' money is tied into a base salary, he would need to give his written consent for any trade.) After thinking they were one player away from a Super Bowl run, the Vikings are realizing that it isn't quite that simple.
Lesson: Be realistic about which elements of your team's play are likely to recur. During the offseason, fans often get hopeful about their team by counting on everything that went right to stay great while expecting everything that went wrong to improve. Teams can be just as optimistic internally. The Vikings had an incredibly healthy defense with an unsustainably great third-down rate in 2017. Their offensive line stayed healthy, and it allowed Keenum to post what would have been an impressive season for Cousins. I can't fault Minnesota for going after Cousins, but the front office probably now wishes it had re-signed someone like Bridgewater or Keenum and used the money to supplement the offensive line.
I seriously do not remember anybody in here gushing about Cousins being the “Final piece to the puzzle.”
Quite frankly I was extremely uncomfortable when I heard it all the time on TV, and radio.
I recall many like myself thinking Cousins was an upgrade to Keenum, but certainly not a world beating/ elite QB.
The more removed I get from the season the more questions I raise as to why in the hell couldnt Spielman/Zimmer/George Paton/ any other Vikings personnel executives see what MOST of us in here and around the country plainly saw. Our OLine was below average, and then lost Joe Berger to retirement. Then lose Nick Easton to injury.
Spielman’s answer-
Sign freaking Tom Freaking Compton
Draft cb Mike Hughes ahead of numerous OLine prospects and a run on OLineman in the draft.
Draft Brian O’Neill (Who I think even they perceived a project)
Low grade trade for a Giants backup center (Jones) who came in and got pushed all over the place, and then benched.
I’d have to say the Vikes got lucky that O’Neill came in and played as well as he did or it could’ve even been WORSE..
Serious GM Malpractice on the OLine...
Cousins is probably just a slightly above average QB with better pass pro, certainly not someone you ride to victory...
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