LaCanfora: Vikings to win NFC North

[Rory Sparrow]

JLC >>> FanSided

 

[Outlaw Josey Cutler]

I don't know what he's basing this on. The defense is too talented to not be among the best, and i can't imagine why offensively they would regress in the second year of Nagy. They weren't very good last year. Regress to what, and why?

Much tougher schedule might see them win a game or two less but not really seeing them be a worse team.

I agree with you, but the bolded is exactly why he would say it under the Parcells line of thinking:

You are what your record says you are.

I don't agree with LaCanfora at all though and think it is very possible that the Bears can go 11-5 or 10-6 and still be overall better at football than they were when they went 12 -4.

 

[Mdbearz]

The total concept of giving Cousins a "few more leads and good things happen" is just a WOW are you really that stupid moment. Cousins is supposed to be the one providing the lead, no?

I watched Cousins for far too long now (Redskins are local) to think that he has changed his stripes and will win any important games to include Division games.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

The total concept of giving Cousins a "few more leads and good things happen" is just a WOW are you really that stupid moment. Cousins is supposed to be the one providing the lead, no?

I watched Cousins for far too long now (Redskins are local) to think that he has changed his stripes and will win any important games to include Division games.

I'm not a fan of Cousins, but he did win a division title with Washington. No small feat considering how bad that franchise has been under Snyder.

 

[Kazu2324]

RIP Vikings. Gonna finish dead last in the division since LaCanfora thinks they'll win. It's almost guaranteed whatever the idiot thinks, the opposite will happen.

 

[Mdbearz]

I'm not a fan of Cousins, but he did win a division title with Washington. No small feat considering how bad that franchise has been under Snyder.

Yes he did exactly what JLC said that season and beat enough mediocre teams. I am not going to say he has not played some good ball at times, but every single fan that I spoke to in that 2015 run said the same thing, "yeah but"... and he went on to prove it by choking in the playoff game. A lot of people will go back and look at the stats and say that he was sacked six times and that is the reason they lost the game, and that could not be further from the truth.

He froze...held on to the ball too long, and looked very similar to Rex Grossman at the end, bailing out to the pocket and run straight into a sack.

Vikings have a good team, but they made a huge mistake giving Cousins that contract.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

Vikings have a good team, but they made a huge mistake giving Cousins that contract.

I agree. It was a risk-aversion 'strategy' that played out in predictable fashion.

 

[FirstTimer]

Oh cool. Predictions in May about December football standings..............

 

[ZOMBIE@CTESPN]

I guess we should just cancel the season since the Baghdad bob of sports gurus has spoken

 

[Les Grossman]

Yes he did exactly what JLC said that season and beat enough mediocre teams. I am not going to say he has not played some good ball at times, but every single fan that I spoke to in that 2015 run said the same thing, "yeah but"... and he went on to prove it by choking in the playoff game. A lot of people will go back and look at the stats and say that he was sacked six times and that is the reason they lost the game, and that could not be further from the truth.

He froze...held on to the ball too long, and looked very similar to Rex Grossman at the end, bailing out to the pocket and run straight into a sack.

Vikings have a good team, but they made a huge mistake giving Cousins that contract.

While I agree to some extent, what options did MIN have? Would they have been better off paying Keenum? Definitely not.

 

[FirstTimer]

While I agree to some extent, what options did MIN have? Would they have been better off paying Keenum? Definitely not.

Also, FWIW, it's not like Cousin's was "bad" last year. He improved over his last year in Washington, had a 3:1 TD to INT ratio, had the second highest passer rating of his career and was really efficient. I guess I viewed Minnesota's issues last year more as they had zero ability to run the ball, the OL was a mess, and the run defense was terrible.

 

[Les Grossman]

Also, FWIW, it's not like Cousin's was "bad" last year. He improved over his last year in Washington, had a 3:1 TD to INT ratio, had the second highest passer rating of his career and was really efficient. I guess I viewed Minnesota's issues last year more as they had zero ability to run the ball, the OL was a mess, and the run defense was terrible.

Yeah, statistically Cousins had a damn good year for a QB. His problem was not playing up to the competition. He had (has?) no "clutch" gene.

It's kinda funny, Cousins is like much like the antithesis of any Bears QB ever. There has never been a particularly impressive or prolific Bears QB in modern times, one that "puts up stats". It seems the best the Bears can ever do at QB is get find a guy that doesn't fuck up too much and maybe, hopefully, gets on a hot streak long enough to win some playoff games.

 

[gpphat]

Oh cool. Predictions in May about December football standings..............

I didn't even click on the link for this reason...to me, who wrote the article made no difference. At this point things are still such an unknown with the upcoming season reading anyone's thoughts on final standings holds little weight. Training camps haven't happened, teams will have major injuries, new coaches haven't even implemented an offense/defense. Predicting final standings is nothing more than generating clicks during the offseason. At this point in the offseason, no matter who he put as the winner of the NFC North, the other 3 teams fanbase (maybe not so much the Lions) would take offense to them not winning the division

 

[Mdbearz]

I didn't even click on the link for this reason...to me, who wrote the article made no difference. At this point things are still such an unknown with the upcoming season reading anyone's thoughts on final standings holds little weight. Training camps haven't happened, teams will have major injuries, new coaches haven't even implemented an offense/defense. Predicting final standings is nothing more than generating clicks during the offseason. At this point in the offseason, no matter who he put as the winner of the NFC North, the other 3 teams fanbase (maybe not so much the Lions) would take offense to them not winning the division

Yeah agree, it is way too early to predict anything

 

[FirstTimer]

Yeah, statistically Cousins had a damn good year for a QB. His problem was not playing up to the competition. He had (has?) no "clutch" gene.

It's kinda funny, Cousins is like much like the antithesis of any Bears QB ever. There has never been a particularly impressive or prolific Bears QB in modern times, one that "puts up stats". It seems the best the Bears can ever do at QB is get find a guy that doesn't fuck up too much and maybe, hopefully, gets on a hot streak long enough to win some playoff games.

Define "clutch gene"

Over the last 7 games where the Vikings went 3-4 and basically cost themselves the playoffs Cousin's completed 68% of his passes. Threw 13 TDs to 5 INTs had a passer rating of 96 and was pretty damn good. I just don't buy the "clutch" argument here or the "played to his competition" since over the last 4-5 seasons he's been pretty fantastic and he's not playing all scrub teams. I think the overall frustration with the Vikings failings went onto Cousin's last season, which is the nature of the position and expectations, but I'm not really sure how in reality it's based. Not sure how high of a bar this is but I'd still take Cousins over Trubz in a second.

 

[iueyedoc]

[

His job is to generate traffic for the site he writes for, his secondary job is what you listed. How many just on this board have clicked the link provided...how many other Bears MB have posted the same link and have had users visit the site to read his nonsense? How many other NFC North team MB have done the same? He may suck at providing thoughtful insight or have a @Grimson type record of #calledit's...but people still read his stuff and it generates traffic to the website he writes for, which by definition is him being good at his job.

True, but it is like slowing down to look at an accident type viewing, I imagine a network wants it's reporters and insiders to be right more than wrong. Eventually, the amusement of his ineptness fades. I, in honesty, just read Bama's synopsis and didn't bother clicking on the article, as I had no interest at investing in more than Bama's version. The guy certainly has made a nice living on what he knows, and that is the skill I see him having. As he is a unattractive, non-former player/coach, non- minority/female that somehow rose to where he is with little real insight value. Kudos to him.

 

[Les Grossman]

Define "clutch gene"

Over the last 7 games where the Vikings went 3-4 and basically cost themselves the playoffs Cousin's completed 68% of his passes. Threw 13 TDs to 5 INTs had a passer rating of 96 and was pretty damn good. I just don't buy the "clutch" argument here or the "played to his competition" since over the last 4-5 seasons he's been pretty fantastic and he's not playing all scrub teams. I think the overall frustration with the Vikings failings went onto Cousin's last season, which is the nature of the position and expectations, but I'm not really sure how in reality it's based. Not sure how high of a bar this is but I'd still take Cousins over Trubz in a second.

It's subjective, which is why I used quotes around the term. It's not new information that Cousins struggles against good teams; teams with winning records.

Kirk Cousin Career Stats

Record In Primetime Games: 5-13

Record vs Winning Teams: 4-24

Record vs Winning Teams This Year: 0-5

Career Road Record: 12-23-2

Career Record On Monday Night Football: 0-7

 

[xvflutop]

while I disagree with your assessment, I agree that Jason La Confora is the Teddy KGB of journalism

Mr. Son of a bitch.

 

[FirstTimer]

It's subjective, which is why I used quotes around the term. It's not new information that Cousins struggles against good teams; teams with winning records.

Kirk Cousin Career Stats

Record In Primetime Games: 5-13

Record vs Winning Teams: 4-24

Record vs Winning Teams This Year: 0-5

Career Road Record: 12-23-2

Career Record On Monday Night Football: 0-7

I guess, but wasn't there stuff years ago about Aaron Rodger's record against similar stuff and it wasn't great..... I don't think anyone with a brain would be jettisoning Rodger's based on it or second guessing the Packers going with him.

 

[Bearly]

Archie Manning's record by any tangible metric was not great. Not a hall consideration but he was a lot better than his record. QBs can't do it on their own. Stats and wins aren't what define it for me. Unfortunately, the eye test is that variable which leaves much to be desired as a metric. How does Manning perform on the Steelers? How does HOF Bradshaw perform on the Saints?