Oh my, then the brainlessly bashing Schottenheimer thread will be like the never ending Gobstoper from willy wonka. You beat me to the punch about Turner, that whole Minnesota offense is excited about his offense and what they could accomplish when they get more weapons. I would not mind Turner as a HC to help develope Winston or Mariota if we can get either one. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have endured quite a season, losing star running back Adrian Peterson to legal issues, three-fifths of their offensive line to injury and never really threatening in the NFC playoff picture after midseason. In the end, all the drama off the field and the struggles on it may be worthwhile for first-year coach Mike Zimmer. That’s because Teddy Bridgewater is finishing the season on a high note and appears ready to put an end to the franchise’s seemingly endless search for a long-term solution at quarterback. The rookie first-round draft pick has completed more than 70 percent of his passes in four straight games. He has topped 300 yards in two of those games and thrown seven touchdowns and four interceptions — one on a desperation pass at the halftime buzzer — in that stretch. It’s a promising trend that backs up the faith Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner have expressed in him all season. “Early in the year I just struggled and I wasn’t playing good football,” Bridgewater said after a 37-35 loss in Miami on Sunday. “Norv Turner said something to us a couple of weeks back and he told us that we were going to be playing the best football in December. If you think about it we’ve been playing pretty good for the most part.” Bridgewater was pressed into duty sooner than the Vikings had planned when Matt Cassel was lost for the season with a foot injury against the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 21. Bridgewater threw for 317 yards in his first career start to beat the Atlanta Falcons, but struggled with inaccuracy, especially on throws down the field, through the first half of the season. He threw three interceptions in a loss to the Lions and was just 21 of 37 (57 percent) while missing several wide open receivers in a 24-21 loss to the Packers on Nov. 23, typical issues for a rookie quarterback. Since then, he’s been much sharper. He went 19 for 26 for 259 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against the Dolphins’ fourth-ranked pass defense on Sunday and continues to impress coaches and teammates with his unflappable demeanor. Turner opened his weekly news conference last week with an impassioned defense of Bridgewater, lauding his ability to keep playing in a makeshift offense that includes a No. 1 receiver in Charles Johnson who was signed off the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad in September. “It’s pretty incredible to me what he’s done, how he’s handled it, the things he’s gotten done and what he’s really done is made everyone around him better and that’s a quality that you’re looking for,” Turner said. The Vikings (6-9) host the Bears (5-10) on Sunday in the season finale, one more chance for Bridgewater and the offense to build some momentum going into the offseason. “I think the last five games you can kind of tell our offense is playing a lot better and we’re starting to play well in Norv’s system,” left tackle Matt Kalil said. “He’s a great offensive coordinator. Once you kind of get things clicking on all cylinders, it could be a great offense.”
Is there any chance Sean Peyton is done in NO? If he is then there is no consultant's needed to tell woody he is the man to get
Perhaps I don't know enough to say, but it seems to me that the problems he's had are on him and not lack of coaching. He hasn't shown enough to think it realistically likely that he will ever improve enough. Time to move on.
To be clear I have not seen a substantial amount of the Vikes other than the game against them, but stat wise Turner is getting great results out there given both that Bridgewater is a rookie and then they had to go into this season counting on Peterson and then not having him. Very impressive.
I do agree with you about Norv this year. I got the impression during the Vikings game that he was doing a good job with Bridgewater.
yup i watched. saw the same things that were ailing this team before idzic arrived. sorry if i can't blame idzic for those things
Isn't he supposed to have fixed at least SOME of those issues?! I'm not sure he has fixed any of them.
rex has been handed 40 drafted players from 2 g.m.'s. 2 bad drafting g.m.s or not a good coach for developing young talent? i tend to look at the common denominator.
It's not as if Rex Ryan is coaching the 1970s Steelers or Cowboys. The good players he had to coach generally played well. Unfortunately, nowhere close to 40 of those drafted players are good players. Half of the 2nd-rounders aren't even on the team...Rex Ryan reached the AFC Championship game twice. When he had a reasonable amount of talent he produced.
the h.c. needs to be able to groom talent. i don't think rex is a good teacher. tanny/mangini had some pretty good drafts,gholston aside. tanny rex was horrible. so what happened? tanny forget how to draft. i just can't indict idzic for these drafts when you look at what was happening before rex arrived and has happened after tanny left.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. First of all, "Gholston aside..." is a ridiculous statement. You can't whiff on a first rounder. It just can't be done. And, please, the number of 2nd-round whiffs the Jets have had--in their history, not just during the GM eras you mention--are way too numerous. Moreover, the Jets had good drafts because they weren't actually winning under Mangini: Gholston was the SIXTH pick, so NOT a winning season then. You damn sure should be able to get some good players. Bottom line, the good players were taken in the first round--Gholston aside--so, yeah, they didn't completely fuck up drafts like Idzik did this year. But, there are so many poor draft picks from rounds starting with the second round that make your statement absolutely farcical.
So there should be plenty of examples of gms who never whiffed on a first round pick. here's something I may have overlooked but haven't seen mentioned on here. idziks first draft was using all the scouts he inherited because of the cycle scouts go on and when he started. I don't think any sane person can say with a straight face that we don't have a better set of skill players on offense, a better dline and a beteer special teams unit than when idzik took over. thats chery picking a bit but people act like we haven't seen any roster improvement since he's been here. that's patently false.
Could have been great, take Cooper in 2015 and we have a nice foundation. Cooper and Teddy also have chemistry, played together in high school.
1. gholston, as horrible as he was, was the 6th rated player in tht draft. i don't blame them for the pick, just like i don't blame san diego for taking ryan leaf. sometimes it doesn't workout, thats the draft. 2. i only mention the g.m.'s eras that are relevant to the conversation. what happened before that has no bearing. fact is rex has had 2 g.m.'s 2 qb's 3 oc's and 40 draft picks and the roster has continued to deteriorate. common denominator
what the fuck does "common denominator" actually mean here? Rex was here. So were plenty of Jets cheerleaders. Neither IS the GM. Neither was tasked to stock the team with talent. I mean, seriously, you're saying that the "common denominator" made the current GM spend 3 picks on irrelevant WRs when elite WRs were available and he had the draft resources to obtain one? Or that the "common denominator" made the previous GM draft Stephen Hill--not on anyone's active roster--or Vlad Ducasse? Or lose Howard and replace him with a lesser Howard? Or sign Patterson vs. a good corner? Neither GM during Rex Ryan was/is a GM with a credible record of being a good GM. Is that the common denominator you're referring to?
did you miss the casserly quote where he said that being outside the organization it's hard to say who's responsible for the final say? it's almost like you're purposely ignoring that.
