Takeaways from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell’s Final Press Conference & the 2023 Offseason

That comeback against the colts was 🔥

Well I think Duke Shelly and Irv Smith should play with the Minnesota Vikings next year and I think Duke Shelly and Patrick Patrick because they both done very well this year and season as the Minnesota Vikings.

Well I think the Minnesota Vikings should get in the NFL Draft is WR from LSU Kayshon Boutte and CB from lllnois Devon Witherspoon

I loved all of them and hopefully we keep Camerson Dantzler, Patrick Peterson, Jordan Hicks Kalon Barnes, Theo Jackson, Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith, Chandon Sullivan, C.J Ham, Eric Kendricks, Jalen Reagor, Duke Shelly, Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and Camryn Bynum hopefully some improvement from the Rookies of Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth Jr and Akayleb Evans and some others. That insane comebacks of the year against the Colts and Bills was incredible and I couldn’t believe it at all.

https://youtube.com/shorts/3_JCStmokHE?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/czIdPTBEdj4?feature=share

That was definitely two fumbles by Chandon Sullivan for the 2 touchdowns and I can’t believe this with the referee because they were terrible and weren’t let KO review it the first one because they like nah and I think they were lied because the announcers said it was definitely fumble and two touchdowns. I think Chandon Sullivan had a day but took the fumble and 2 touchdowns away. I know that I how felt about it and it was definitely two fumbles and two touchdowns by Chandon Sullivan and I can’t believe it the referee did that and KO should definitely review it but referee would take it and I knew they were lied about that cause obviously it was definitely two touchdowns and announces said it too.

I feel bad for Chandon Sullivan I can’t believe it happened twice and KO should review and the announces said it was definitely two touchdowns by Chandon Sullivan.

Now we’re not gonna see Donatells “New Innovative Defense”

10 man front w/ Greg Joseph at NT
And, wait for it,,,,, Oli Udoh on the goal line playing Free Safety

the game has changed, the gunslinger style no longer works, (brady, brees, rodgers) so our defense needs to change to match these new styles. Running QBs are the norm now. Just look who’s left in the playoffs, 7 of the top 15 Qbs rushing are still in the playoffs.

It’s still a good feeling to think that even if the whole defensive scheme changes (fire donatell/ trade or cut key starters) we still went 13-4 with the worst defensive in the NFL so there’s no where else to go but up.

Kirk in the 2nd year of this offense will take a huge step. Hoping we draft a QB that can be “redshirted” behind Kirk this upcoming season. Love the NERD shoutout #757

Looking for Ed Ingram to take a huge step from year 1 to year 2, adding more strength this offseason

Interesting observations/opinions from Tatum, Kevin & Gabe! As a follow-up, I’d like to share some important ‘food for thought’ that fans can digest, if they wish:

When it comes to evaluating how things went in all three phases of the game, things aren’t as simple as they may seem. The success of any phase of the game depends on the symbiotic relationship between (a) coaching style/philosophy, (b) scheme, (c) roster talent/experience/health, (d) play-calling, and (e) player performance on the field. If any of these things are not well-understood & well-connected, the success of that phase of the game will suffer.

For fans, we tend to focus primarily on the individual pieces of the symbiotic relationship, and it is difficult – if not impossible – for fans to know what has gone into building/fixing the connections between all of these moving parts. Obviously, the Vikings fan base has justifiably focused on the thoroughly inadequate results from this year’s defence….and to most fans, who aren’t aware of the internal decisions being made on a daily basis, it is quite easy to say that ‘the buck stops here’, blame it all on the DC, and complain when the firing doesn’t happen within 24 hours of the end of the season.

However, as a fan, I will say, “Let’s be realistic!”. When Kwesi A-M and KO’C do their end-of-season evaluations & formulate a plan going forward, they must ask some ‘big-picture questions’ that deal with the underlying issues within any phase of the game, including the defence. For example, I am sure Kwesi A-M and KO’C are mulling over the following:

(a) “Were the poor results with the defence all about inadequate coaching/scheme?”
(b) “Were we just over-optimistic regarding how well/how quickly the transition to a new defensive scheme would progress?”
(c) “Was there a fundamental lack of athleticism that resulted in a good scheme not being executed adequately?”
(d) “Was the coaching unable/unwilling to adapt the scheme to a roster that was not suited to/not talented enough for the scheme?”
(e) “If we had the right kind of players on defence (..in terms of athleticism, experience, etc.), would the defence have done a lot better with the DC they had?”
(f) “Would a different DC with different methodology & philosophy have gotten more out of the talent that was available?”
(g) “If we keep the same DC or change the DC, how easy will it be to modify the roster to ensure a maximum amount of improvement?”,

and so on, and so on! lol

These are questions that are difficult to answer, and they all require gathering as much data as possible….so it should not be a surprise that Kwesi A-M and KO’C will need at least a week before any concrete decisions are communicated to fans and the media.

p.s. for those who still think that Kwesi A-M and KO’C are taking is too much time, please remember that the Vikes’ ‘hard-arse coach’, Mike Zimmer, also stated that he needed time to transition from the emotional end to the season to a more rational frame of mind before making any decisions regarding coaches & the roster.

Kirk threw more picks because he’s throwing balls into tighter spots than he ever has. That’s confidence in his receivers. He made some of the BEST throws of his career too.

I’m tired of them talking about championships (Wilf’s, Kwesi, & KOC). They can’t even win the division (Detroit 5-1, Vikings 4-2). Handcuffing veteran contracts, maxed out salary cap, and four draft picks don’t exactly spell success for next year. Write this down, Vikings will not even compete for an NFC Championship in the next three years let alone win one!

We set a bar this year as 13 and 4 with terrible defensive scheme we can’t be worse again have to keep getting better

I think Chris Kuper is an unsung hero of the coaching staff and how much he helped the offensive line improve. We don’t hear a lot about Chris Kuper but he deserves some recognition.

Love Kirk at the helm. Well done Kevin , Tatum and Gabe.

Everyone just relax and enjoy the process. #SKOL

❤ Kirk’s toughness

Great front office!
Great coach(s)!
Great players!
Great locker room!
GREAT SEASON!!!

They have to draft a quarterback, a center a guard, a tackle, a safety, a linebacker, a defensive tackle, a defensive end, and may be another wide receiver & running back at the very least to make up for all the great players that might be gone… they are going to have a very difficult schedule next year and with the losing of 3 to 6 players that are all pros. I hope they play at least a 500 record and barely get in as a wildcard. Listening to the GM and the head coach sounded like blah blah blah. They keep bragging about that. They won 13 games and won the division but they are light years away from being a playoff team. They just don’t have the sense to go and talk to past Minnesota Vikings that were in four Super Bowls and all the Hall of Fame Players that are still living they just won’t do it. It’s very foolish very foolish. The only way to win and get in the Super Bowl is to look listen and learn and open your mind up to people that have been there before and the Minnesota Vikings have great players that played in the 60s 70s 80s 90s and they’re not going to them for help. That’s why Minnesota is going to go nowhere next year like they have been for the past 20 years I’ve been a fan for 61 years and I know this team very well and this team is not a BUD GRANT TEAM…

I’ve watched every Vikings game for the past 50 years…But if Donatell comes back, I will not watch another.

Imo, Kirk was decent this year, I wouldn’t extend him though and the reason for that is players tend to play better in contract years.
That’s why we had some great play from some unexpected players, Bradbury being one of them, so looking at the whole picture and body of work, he was average on his best days.

So the Vikings have two options, pretty much like last off season, and that is resign/extend core players/vets and replace the old dead weight through the draft or FA, OR gut the team of veterans through trades and rebuild with rookies and young FA.
Although with the latter, the Vikings faithful will have to be patient because I couldn’t see them making the playoffs with an entire revamp in 2023.
That is the reason why the front office didn’t do anything extreme last off season, because they knew the fans couldn’t deal not going to the playoffs 3 years in a row and would have called for everyone’s head even after one season, so they took the safe approach and evaluated their talent and KOC told KAM that we have enough good players to make the playoffs and they were right.

Fast forward to 2023, with a year under their belts and coming off a season where the Vikings made the playoffs and had a 13-5 overall record, I feel they will do some extreme roster moves now.
The old dogs will need contract restructures if they plan to stay in Minnesota because there are some talented young players coming up that are hungry for some playing time.

So my last thought or take is this: Kirk is a good QB and tough as hell. He was sacked probably close to 50 times and peeled himself off the turf several times due to lack luster O line play.
I understand most fans opinions on him and most of them are valid, but saying “Kirk must go” is not one I can stand behind, why? who else would you get to take his place? Via trade, Free Agency, draft? I mean there are better QBs in the league, but none the Vikings can touch/afford and the rest are about the same or way worse than Cousins.
So be happy they have a QB that can lead a team to 13 wins. I agree Kirk can be conservative at times, but this year his coach told him to take some chances, and he did, hence why his interceptions were up and completion percentage was down.
My feeling is the Vikings always get QBs through trades/FA and not the draft, because of their history of drafting QBs have always turned out as crap shoots and usually never pan out with the exception of two: Culpepper (short lived) and Tarkenton (50 years ago)
So sticking with Cousins isn’t the worse thing they could do. Hey at least as Vikings fans we can always say, “there’s always next year”, not a lot of teams are that lucky.
I feel 13 wins is a great start to a new era. #Skoltide

My team feels that the decision was made E11even days ago to fire Easy Ed. They will pull the pin at 11:11 am PST this Friday. Cheers !