0-2 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The first 2 games for the Vikings have looked horrendous and I am freaking out about it as much, if not more, than you are. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE NEED TO TANK. I’ve taken a few days to think about it and I have concluded that there are 3 scenarios that could happen this year. The good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good
This first one is for the optimists. The people who saw the loss on Sunday and said to themselves, “You know what, these rookies didn’t have a preseason or a regular training camp. Everyone just needs a few weeks to get back in the groove and we can still be a playoff-caliber team.” This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened to a playoff-caliber team. As Dustin Baker, Writer for The Viking Age tweeted out earlier this week, the 2007 Giants started the season losing week 1, 45-35, and losing week 2, 35-13. They ended up going 10-6 and winning the Super Bowl. In fact, the last time Kirk Cousins went 0-2 he made the playoffs. Hope is not lost, there is no need to panic yet. If this describes you now is the time to exit this blog. If this does not describe you please read on.
The Bad
Okay, enough of that nonsense. Here is the plan that I crafted on Sunday halfway through the fourth quarter of the Vikings game.
First of all, there is still no reason for the Vikings to tank. If they are as bad as you think they are then there is no reason for them to tank. Maybe they are in the process of tanking and you didn’t even know it. Either way, if they continue what they are doing I expect them to be no better than 6-10. Last year the one team that went 6-10 was the Lions and they ended up with the 8th pick in the NFL draft. Teams that went 5-11 made up picks 5 through 7. So in this scenario, expect the Vikings to get a draft pick somewhere in the top 10.
This strategy is very similar to the one the Chiefs used in 2017 to draft Patrick Mahomes except less expensive. In 2016 the Chiefs went 12-4, were first in their division, but lost in the first round of the playoffs. Alex Smith had a sub-par year with 15 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions with a 91.2 passer rating. They realized that he had reached his peak and it was time to move on.
Spielman. If you are reading this I hate to say it but it is time to move on. Kirk showed you his peak last year and unless we improve our line (that we have been working on for the past 5 years) it isn’t going to work. This brings me back to our top 10 draft pick.
With the 8th pick in the NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select…….JUSTIN FIELDS. You heard me, Justin Fields. Justin Fields will be able to take some pressure off of the offensive line with his ability to extend plays. You might be wondering what we’re going to do with Kirk. We still owe him half of our salary cap in the next two years. Well, do exactly what the Chiefs did using this strategy. Play Kirk for another year and let Justin Fields sit and learn as Patrick Mahomes did, and if all goes well we can cut Kirk before the 2022 season and save ourselves $35 million.
With this strategy, all of you Kirk defenders can defend him for another year and all of you Kirk haters can look forward to the face of our franchise.
The Ugly
#TankForTrevor
