The Vikings lost to the Buffalo Bills. There isn’t anything to discuss. But, as much as I love the Vikings, the National Football League is rigged to make significant money, increase ratings, and gather more interest. It is all fixed, trust me, and believe me. The worst part is, the Vikings are always a team where the NFL fixes against.

The NFL wants all of the first round QB rookies to start this year. When a rookie starts and does well, the NFL rakes in the moolah.

Here is a quick rundown of the proof. Sam Darnold starts right away for the Jets. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs makes grown men look like toddlers. Baker Mayfield comes in and leads the Browns to victory on Thursday Night Football, to make a grand narrative, against Sam Darnold and the Jets. Tyrod Taylor wasn’t hurt. It was all fixed so that the NFL could have that narrative. Now Baker “Money Maker” is named the starter for Cleveland. We also have Lamar Jackson giving Joe Flacco a run for his money. When was the last time that we saw Flacco play this well? He was in auto-pilot for the previous three years. Oh, and yes. Josh Rosen is starting over Sam Bradford in Arizona. What else happened in the last ten days of the football season? Well, the NFL went out and fixed another narrative, and it had to be against the Vikings once again.

What was that narrative?

Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, made the Minnesota Vikings look like the Bad News Bears. Yes, he made the Vikes look so bad that it seemed the Vikings weren’t even playing the right sport last Sunday.

How often does Anthony Barr look foolish out on the field?

Imagine the sound of me crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it away.

On to LA to face another young star quarterback, Jared Goff.

It is time for Thursday Night Football. A night in the City of Angels, where our “Mighty” Vikings will take on the Hollywood Rams, an A-list roster filled with stars.

The Vikings have a significant weight on their shoulders. With Philadelphia coming up the following week, we cannot afford to lose this game against LA. With that, anything can happen on short weeks when it comes to TNF. It will be a spooky night in Tinseltown.

Don’t count the Vikings out yet, because here are my thoughts on what needs to happen for the Vikes to win.

Throw, Kirk, throw. Catch that ball, Adam! Score that touchdown, Dalvin. No, it more should go like: “BLOCK FOR THE QUARTERBACK – MAKE HOLES FOR THE RUNNING BACK!”.

If we want to talk Super Bowl or even a win against The Hollywood Rams, the offensive line has to start looking more like, well, a line.

Dalvin, you need to cook something up. If we don’t rush for a total of 200 yards on the ground against the Rams, well then we won’t have a chance to win. Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray will be the offense’s key to winning the Super Bowl. If they can rush for 200 yards a game, then we will win every game, despite having a mediocre line.

Oh, and dont’chya know. Everson Griffen is having some off-field issues, and he probably won’t play. Our defensive line looked atrocious without him, and it seems like he won’t be playing anytime soon. So Danielle, you better make that money. It’s your time to shine, baby.

Sack that pretty boy Hollywood quarterback.

Overall, the key to this game defensively is to have our corners and safety’s shut down LA’s pass game. Even without Griffen, I’d still take our chances facing Todd Gurley head-on. It is a big game for Dalvin Cook. The running back is making his TNF debut in Hollywood with an opportunity to show up Todd Gurley. If he does so, he will make a name for himself on a big stage. This would put the Vikes back on the map.

Vikings 27 – Rams 24 with a Dan Bailey field goal to win.

Wouldn’t that be a fantastical Hollywood Blockbuster narrative?

BOOM. BOOM. SKOL.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

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It’s not fair that Aaron Rodgers plays for the Packers, a team I have despised since I was a young lad. Couldn’t he play in the AFC for the Buffalo Bills? Why can’t we have him on our team? Oh, wait. We now have a great QB, and his name is Kirk Cousins. Our Messiah.

Cousins is only getting started.

Here are my thoughts about the Vikings border battle tie with the Packers.

A prior predictions pre-season of mine was Daniel Carlson, our newly drafted kicker, was going to be a bust. I knew this because I didn’t think a 20 some year old kid was going to be able to withstand the animosities of NFL game pressure to kick ourselves to the Super Bowl with four seconds left. Maybe this tie was a blessing for us to find the missing piece to the puzzle, which is now Dan Bailey. Gary Anderson started our lack of confidence in our kicking game in 1998, and hopefully, Dan Bailey will be the answer to this kicking curse that we have along with Kirk Cousins being the solution to our historical quarterback carousel.

Lambeau Field is hostile, and Aaron Rodgers is no easy task even with one leg. He could play with a blindfold and still keep his team in the game to win. It doesn’t matter how much better the Vikings are, every game against Green Bay is never a given. Playing The Packers at Lambeau can cause players like Laquon Treadwell, with poor mental toughness, to drop balls and disrupt the team’s momentum on the road.

Why didn’t we draft Michael Thomas?

When I was in high school, we played a hockey team who had always been a state title contender in the middle of the season. They were ranked third in the state, and we were ranked number two. Both of us were bound to play in the State Tournament, and this game was going to affect the seedings. Despite outshooting them 45-20 and outplaying them, we tied. It was the worst feeling ever, just like this Sunday’s loss – I mean tie to the Packers. My coach said he walked by their locker room after the game, saying they were celebrating as if they had won the World Series. With that tied up tang in our mouths, we went out and won every game for the rest of that season and became State Champions. As for the other team, they lost a majority of the rest of their games that year and fizzled away.

The Minnesota Vikings must come out of this tie STRONGER than Green Bay. We have a better team, and we need to stop making tiny mistakes, like getting our punts blocked.

On to Buffalo.

We need to blow these guys out as soon as possible. Then we can give our starters rest before we play The Los Angeles Rams on the road on Thursday Night Football, a team that we can beat because anything can happen on Thursday. Seriously, we need to go 3-0-1 to start the year if we are going to avenge that tie.

Wouldn’t that send the league a message, now?

The Vikings need to play other receivers against the Bills because we need to figure out who our number three option will be to create a three-headed monster receiving core.

Please spread out the run game between Cook and Murray. Tay Train was a superstar in Oakland, and Cook is playing so tentatively on his ground game. Use one for the air and one for the ground – mix and match, destroy, then repeat.

Last, the defense needs to tighten up tackles, and special teams need to be flawless.

My prediction:

Vikings 35 Bills 10

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

After five days of watching highlights, listening to pro football analysts, and coming up with my own opinions about the Minnesota Vikings week one performance against the 49ers: here are my thoughts for you to indulge. I hope you enjoy them.

Beating the San Fransisco 49ers was a good week one win. If Kirk Cousins were to throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns, we would expect that from him every week and anything less would be a disappointment. Cousins is comfortable playing within himself, buying into the culture that Mike Zimmer has created. It is good to see the defense and offense make mistakes this early in the season, meaning that we have room to improve. If the Vikings came out and blew out the Niners this week, we would all be feeling sky high like Baltimore Ravens fans right now, when the reality is that they set the bar high for their hopes for the season. The fact is with that type of pandemonium in your belly from a week one blowout, the expectation and let down will hit you hard. The Ravens struggled against the Bengals as we saw them lose on Thursday Night Football. This was a good week one win for Mike Zimmer and the Minnesota Vikings. Now, on to Lambeau.

Here are some quick notes:

Be patient with the offensive line and Dalvin Cook. The Vikings’ O-line is like a game of Tetris right now because they are trying to find the right fit to protect Cousins. On another note, Dalvin Cook will get better from the line of scrimmage as our line becomes more of a synergized moving wall.

The Vikes need to use Latavius Murray more to give Cook rest. They cannot overuse Dalvin Cook due to his injury from last year, and because of the talent that Murray brings to the table. The NFL is a two running back league, and we need to use Latavius Murray in the situations that we are paying him for.

As mentioned before, Kirk Cousins played within himself, and we need to accept that. We don’t need him to do what he did in Washington every Sunday. He was under a lot of pressure to throw 4,000 yards a year for Washington because of how incomplete his roster was, and he only had one good offensive coordinator during his tenure. As long as we keep the chains moving, do not fumble, and throw interceptions, we will continue to win. Right now, Cousins needs to establish his leadership role before he becomes the messiah that we make him out to be.

Not everything will happen overnight with our big time QB investment.

Next, the Vikes need to eliminate minor defensive mistakes. There were blown coverages, and a few missed tackles but that will correct itself over time, and we will see this against the Packers. Sheldon Richardson is quite the pleasant surprise, and it will be nice to see what he brings to the table because there is a new cohesiveness with the defensive line that is blooming slowly beneath our eyes. It will be exciting to see how this will blossom over the season.

Treadwell needs to play better. The first round draft pick needs to become a primary third down and red zone threat. I’d love to see Thielen, Diggs, and Treadwell all obtain each a thousand receiving yards within the next few years. So, why not make it happen this year?

My thoughts about the next matchup against Green Bay.

Aaron Rodgers is in jeopardy with his health, career, and folklore. Despite how severe or minor his injury is, his ego is getting in the way of him doing what is right for himself and the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers has a strong vengeance to win against the Vikings due to the Anthony Barr incident last year. This may be a huge mistake for him to play. If Green Bay were to play Miami last week, he wouldn’t have come out and played in the second half. Since they are playing another divisional game against the Vikings, he will play no matter what.

Mike Huges and Jayron Kearse will be a big factor because Rodgers will be throwing quick, early, and often. Since Hughes will be lined up on the outside and Kearse will be playing nickel corner, they will be defending short passes more often. But who knows, this may not be part of our defensive game plan. They can create a significant impact on the game if they can make some plays. These are my picks for our X-factors on defense.

Diggs needs a breakout money making game. Show us what you’re worth.

Cousins needs to protect the football, throw downfield, and take advantage of the inexperienced young defensive back core that Green Bay has. WHEN the Vikes win on Sunday, it will be the biggest win of Cousins career on a big stage game. He has never proven that he can win a big game dating back to college, and this is the start that he needs for the Vikings to make it to the promise land this year.

Win this game, and build momentum.

The Vikes need to make a statement to the NFC North and Packer fans. I would love to hear Packer fans silenced. In fact, I want Rodgers to be 100% healthy, so there is no excuse towards why they lost. After hearing analysts express their preseason concerns about the strength of the Vikings’ schedule, new coordinator, new quarterback, and the difficulty of our first six games, the Vikings need to come out and make a statement on Sunday.

My prediction:

Vikings 28 – Packers 17.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon