Throwdowns > Closed

Rudedog: Thankful said 08/08, 09:49 PM
Here's the dilemma I find myself in...

*Green Bay is the easy choice
*Chicago had a fluke season
*Detroit is cursed

That leaves Minnesota. Call it a homer pick, but I think it's the most reasonable one. And here's why I think they can win it.

History proves it's hard to repeat. I heard earlier today on Mike & Mike that, on average, there are 5 new playoff teams a year. Divisions routinely flip-flop and no one typically dominates a division. The Packers lost some key role players (Cullen Jenkins, Nick Barnett). They didn't add much and I don't like that.

The Vikings fixed their weakness. Coming into this year, the big question mark for the Vikings was the quarterback. McNabb has come in and I'm sold on him. Washington just wasn't a good fit for him. He has a fresh start with do-or-die consequences. I think he'll succeed.

The Vikings have the weapons. Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Jared Allen, Chad Greenway just to name a few. All big players, all coming off big years. AP will be more involved in the pass game this year and Percy is set up for a breakout year. Allen and Greenway were bright spots on the defense last year.

MMTC. GL

Rudedog: Thankful said 08/09, 09:42 PM
Bringing in McNabb is nothing like Culpepper in Detroit. McNabb can, and I believe will, be a successful QB this year. He had one bad year in a bad system with a bad coach in Washington. Given the weapons he has, I don't think he'll be bad. The offensive line is subpar, but McNabb has played with that before and is a good scrambling QB.

To me, the Packers are set up too good. They suffered some key injuries last year but won the SB. This year, everyone is healthy and the expectations are sky high. They are a SB or bust team. The problem is, look at the past SB winners in the following year

Saints - 11-5, 2nd in division
Pittsburgh - 9-7, 3rd in division
Patriots - 11-5, 2nd in division
Colts - 13-3, 1st in division
Pittsburgh - 8-8, 3rd in division

Once in the last 6 years has a SB champion came back the next year and won the division. The team got hot late and rode that wave to the title. In reality, if you slow Rodgers down, you put a big wrench in their gameplan. They haven't had a run game in years. Defensively, the secondary is aging fast.

Minnesota, however, has a much more balanced offense and the defense is young and improving

Rudedog: Thankful said 08/10, 09:38 AM
So let's recap your argument. The Packers are going to win the division because they won the Super Bowl and the Vikings won't because they sucked last year.

You provided no stats or anything to support the Packers winning. Instead you got all the Packers homers to vote for you.

You are over-exaggerating the Vikings changes. They had Frazier and Pagac last year. The only new thing is the offense. And given that they have plenty of veterans offensively, including Michael Jenkins who played under Musgrave, I forsee them being fine come Sept 11.

Greenbay also has a tough schedule. They host New Orleans, go to ATL, go to San Diego, host Tampa, and go to Kansas City.

The Vikings have an easier start with 3 of the first 5 games at home. Their road games are at SDG, KAN, CAR, and Washington. Given how good the Vikings are at home, I'm very confident in their chances at winning the division

So theres some stats for ya, something you chose to totally ignore. You never replied to my comment about past SB champs. You just are convinced the Vikings can't possibly win because they sucked last year and McNabb can't possibly recover from last year