Minnesota v. Dallas comparison

[dboyz]

The Vikings are a popular pick to be improved this year, and even a Super Bowl team. After looking at both teams on paper, however, I don't think the Vikings are better than the Cowboys. But maybe I'm being a homer. Here goes:

OL

Vikings:

B. McKinnie
Liewinski
M. Birk
Goldberg
A. Rosenthal

Cowboys:

Flozell Adams
Larry Allen
Al Johnson
Marco Rivera
Torrin Tucker? (or someone else)

Slight edge to Cowboys. The tackles are pretty even. Center the edge goes to Minnesota, but Dallas’ guards are much better.

QB:

Vikings: Daunte Culpepper

Cowboys: Drew Bledsoe

Big Advantage Vikings. Enough said.

RB's

Vikings:

M. Bennett
M. Moore
C. Fason

Cowboys:

Julius Jones
A. Thomas
M. Barber

Slight edge to Cowboys. Michael Bennett was really something a few years ago, but I didn’t see that same burst last year and I think not having Onterrio Smith could be a problem for them. Last year made me a believer in Julius and Dallas has good depth.

WR-TE's

Vikings:

Kleinsasser
Burleson
M. Robinson
T. Taylor
Troy Williamson

Cowboys:

Witten
Campbell
K. Johnson
Terry Glenn
Q. Morgan

Slight edge to Cowboys. This may surprise people, but I give the slight edge to the Cowboys, because I’m not ranking based on raw talent. The Vikings lost Moss and it will take Williamson a while to become productive, IMO. Keyshawn and Glenn are proven and Witten is a rising star and is a better possession guy than the Vikings have.

DL

Vikings:

Kneche Udeze
Pat Williams
Kevin Williams
Darrion Scott
Erasmus James

Cowboys:

Greg Ellis
J. Ferguson
Laroi Glover
Marcus Spears
(DeMarcus Ware)

I would say this is pretty even. Both have talent and some potential as well.
LB’s

Vikings:

Napoleon Harris
Sam Cowart
D. Thomas

Cowboys:

Shanle
Nguyen
Ware
Singleton/Burnett

Neither team blows you away, but both have potential. I would say even.

Secondary:

Vikings:

F. Smoot
Winfield
Chavous
Sharper

Cowboys:

Newman
Henry
Roy Williams
Keith Davis

I may be a homer on this one, but I would say slight edge to Cowboys, with Roy being the biggest difference maker.

I will not bother with special teams, although I think our coverage teams are a little better.

Conclusion: Offensively, I think we are better on paper, except at the most important position. Defensively, things are very even and frankly a lot depends on how the young guys progress, how the fa’s work out and how our transition to the 3-4 goes.

Ultimately, I think we may be a better team than some are giving us credit for. But after looking at the teams on paper, I think the Vikings may not be as good as some expect. They picked up some people, but losing Moss, (while I agreed with the logic of the trade), I don’t think they are immediately better without him.

Coaching is clearly weighted in our favor as Tice has a lot to prove.

Thoughts?

 

[Muhast]

Well Matt Birk is out for the year, or for a while at least, so Dallas def. has the advantage there

 

[sad_otter]

And don't forget that Minny lost their Offensive Coordinator this off-season.

 

[scottsp]

Dallas would first need to prove - on the field - they can compete with the Vikes.

I like the direction the Cowboys seem to be headed in, but we really don't know how that will translate on game day just yet.

 

[Eddie]

We need to prove we can not only beat the Vikings but the Iggles ... something we haven't been too successful with lately.

All other comparisons are null and void.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think Minny's secondary is better than ours and with that huge advantage behind center I would say they are the better team at this point.

 

[THUMPER]

The Vikings are a popular pick to be improved this year, and even a Super Bowl team. After looking at both teams on paper, however, I don't think the Vikings are better than the Cowboys. But maybe I'm being a homer. Here goes:

OL

Vikings:

B. McKinnie
Liewinski
M. Birk
Goldberg
A. Rosenthal

Cowboys:

Flozell Adams
Larry Allen
Al Johnson
Marco Rivera
Torrin Tucker? (or someone else)

Slight edge to Cowboys. The tackles are pretty even. Center the edge goes to Minnesota, but Dallas’ guards are much better.

I would agree with your assessment here. At Center, Birk has the edge in experience but Johnson has a lot of talent so he isn't far behind. Our biggest weakness is at RT but I am not too concerned about it. Our Guards are far superior to theirs which gives us an overall edge on the O-Line.

QB:

Vikings: Daunte Culpepper

Cowboys: Drew Bledsoe

Big Advantage Vikings. Enough said.

RB's

Vikings:

M. Bennett
M. Moore
C. Fason

Cowboys:

Julius Jones
A. Thomas
M. Barber

Slight edge to Cowboys. Michael Bennett was really something a few years ago, but I didn’t see that same burst last year and I think not having Onterrio Smith could be a problem for them. Last year made me a believer in Julius and Dallas has good depth.

I agree, Jones has real talent and Thomas & Barber give us some quality depth. No question they have a BIG TIME edge at QB.

WR-TE's

Vikings:

Kleinsasser
Burleson
M. Robinson
T. Taylor
Troy Williamson

Cowboys:

Witten
Campbell
K. Johnson
Terry Glenn
Q. Morgan

Slight edge to Cowboys. This may surprise people, but I give the slight edge to the Cowboys, because I’m not ranking based on raw talent. The Vikings lost Moss and it will take Williamson a while to become productive, IMO. Keyshawn and Glenn are proven and Witten is a rising star and is a better possession guy than the Vikings have.

Interesting take, I wouldn't have thought so at first but I find that I agree with you after reading your comments. Our TE-combo is far superior to theirs although Kleinsasser was pretty good a few years ago, but was hurt all of last year.

DL

Vikings:

Kneche Udeze
Pat Williams
Kevin Williams
Darrion Scott
Erasmus James

Cowboys:

Greg Ellis
J. Ferguson
Laroi Glover
Marcus Spears
(DeMarcus Ware)

I would say this is pretty even. Both have talent and some potential as well.

Here I disagree with you. I think our D-Line has more talent than theirs although they have a size advantage on ours mostly due to Pat Williams.

IMO Ellis, Ferguson, Glover, & Spears are as good as any front-4 in the league and that is without Spears having played a down in the NFL yet. That's one of the reasons why I would rather see us play the 4-3 more than the 3-4 but I understand Bill's reasoning on keeping guys fresh.

LB’s

Vikings:

Napoleon Harris
Sam Cowart
D. Thomas

Cowboys:

Shanle
Nguyen
Ware
Singleton/Burnett

Neither team blows you away, but both have potential. I would say even.

I would give the Vikes the edge here if for no other reason than experience as we will likely have 3 guys on the field with zero or minimal NFL experience.

Secondary:

Vikings:

F. Smoot
Winfield
Chavous
Sharper

Cowboys:

Newman
Henry
Roy Williams
Keith Davis

I may be a homer on this one, but I would say slight edge to Cowboys, with Roy being the biggest difference maker.

Again, I would have to give the edge to the Vikes here as they have 4 quality, proven players while we have only 1 or 2 that fit that description.

Conclusion: Offensively, I think we are better on paper, except at the most important position. Defensively, things are very even and frankly a lot depends on how the young guys progress, how the fa’s work out and how our transition to the 3-4 goes.

Ultimately, I think we may be a better team than some are giving us credit for. But after looking at the teams on paper, I think the Vikings may not be as good as some expect. They picked up some people, but losing Moss, (while I agreed with the logic of the trade), I don’t think they are immediately better without him.

Coaching is clearly weighted in our favor as Tice has a lot to prove.

Thoughts?

I think we will be very competitive on both sides of the ball. Our offense is built to control the ball and the clock with the running game, play-action passes, short passes to the TEs, and the occasional deep ball to our WRs. Hopefully, our defense will live up to expectations and will pressure the QB and force mistakes and turnovers (assuming Zimmer gets a clue).

We have a definite advantage in coaching, and just like us, the Vikes have a lot of new players to integrate into their team. Our coaching should give us an advantage in players buying into the system plus we have focused on bringing in guys with good character and team attitudes so that should also help them to assimilate.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

On a neutral field I'm betting Minny would be favored by at least 4.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

On a neutral field I'm betting Minny would be favored by at least 4.

You can start this comparison at QB and you can end it there as well. In the final analysis, Culpepper is at a point in his career where he makes a difference. We don't have that.

 

[TheHustler]

Giving the cowboys a slight edge on WRs if pushing it. Nate Burlson has over 1000 yards and like 9 TDs last year. Marcus Robinson had streches when he was unstoppable, scoring 3-4 TDs a game. Add in a first round WR with deep speed and it's not even close.

I like Key, Glenn and Morgan as much as the next guy, but the Vikings WRs are better.

 

[cannonball44]

The Vikings have the best chance to dethrone the Eagles than ANYONE in the NFC.

 

[tyke1doe]

I would still say Minnesota is a bit better than the Cowboys with some caveats of course.

I think if our defense is better and plays above its youthfulness (I'm talking about Spears, Ware, Canty and Burnett) then we take an early lead over the Vikings.

We were hanging with the Vikings for at least two quarters, maybe three in the first game of the season. But we couldn't get a consistent running game to mount long drives and to keep our defense from getting winded, and we couldn't stop Moss when we had too, though we shut him down as far as yardage is concerned.

The Vikings have improved on defense, but that's on paper. They've loss Moss which may be addition by subtraction (personally, I think their offense will be better balanced), but there's no denying Moss' big play capability, and the Vikings no longer have that.

The loss of Orrentin Smith can be offset by Ciatrick Fason and the running ability of Dante Culpepper.

Again, I'd give Minnesota a slight edge because it was the better team last year. But the game has yet to be played.

 

[THUMPER]

Giving the cowboys a slight edge on WRs if pushing it. Nate Burlson has over 1000 yards and like 9 TDs last year. Marcus Robinson had streches when he was unstoppable, scoring 3-4 TDs a game. Add in a first round WR with deep speed and it's not even close.

I like Key, Glenn and Morgan as much as the next guy, but the Vikings WRs are better.

The comparison was for receivers, WRs and TEs together, which is why I gave us the edge, because our TEs are much better than theirs while their WRs are only a little better than ours.

 

[THUMPER]

I would still say Minnesota is a bit better than the Cowboys with some caveats of course.

I think if our defense is better and plays above its youthfulness (I'm talking about Spears, Ware, Canty and Burnett) then we take an early lead over the Vikings.

We were hanging with the Vikings for at least two quarters, maybe three in the first game of the season. But we couldn't get a consistent running game to mount long drives and to keep our defense from getting winded, and we couldn't stop Moss when we had too, though we shut him down as far as yardage is concerned.

The Vikings have improved on defense, but that's on paper. They've loss Moss which may be addition by subtraction (personally, I think their offense will be better balanced), but there's no denying Moss' big play capability, and the Vikings no longer have that.

The loss of Orrentin Smith can be offset by Ciatrick Fason and the running ability of Dante Culpepper.

Again, I'd give Minnesota a slight edge because it was the better team last year. But the game has yet to be played.

I think a good point is that the Vikings, like us, have made a lot of additions to their starting lineup, particularly on defense.

They have added 5 players in FA that will likely start on defense this year for them: NT Pat Williams, MLB Sam Cowart, OLB Napolean Harris, FS Darren Sharper, and CB Fred Smoot. Throw in DE Erasmus James via the draft and that is a lot of players to integrate into the team.

On offense, they have added 2 new WRs in Williamson and Taylor. Their TE Jim Kleinsasser was out all season, and their RT position is as up in the air as ours is with the guy penciled in as their starter, Mike Rosenthal, having all of 2 starts in his career.

Culpepper took a lot of sacks last year and if he goes down they will have to rely on Brad Johnson to come in. I guess that's better than us with Henson but at least he will get better while Johnson is going downhill fast.

All of that to say that both teams have a lot of new faces at key positions and it may come down to coaching where I believe we have an edge.

Bledsoe already knows Parcells' offense and is familiar with Glenn so he shouldn't take a whole lot of time to adjust. Also, given time he can still be very effective. We gave Vinny a lot of time last year even without having Glenn, Campbell, or Julius Jones for a majority of the season so I am fairly confident that we will protect Drew and give him the time he needs as well as more weapons than Vinny had last year.

 

[junk]

How about coaching?

BP > Tice

However,

Bag of apples > Tice

 

[dboyz]

Philadelphia is still the class of the NFC. The question is who has the best chance to dethrone them. Most people say Minnesota. I think we have as good a chance as Minnesota. We'll see.

As far as Minnesota being favored by 4 points on a neutral field, I agree they would be based on last year and conventional wisdom. However, in my IMO their records will be very similar this year.

The Culpepper advantage is huge, but by my analysis the rest of the offensive personnel favors Dallas. That has to count for something.

As for the WR's, Burleson is an excellent #2 guy. Taylor and Robinson are decent players but definitely not #1 guys. Williamson will take a while. He is very raw. The Vikings have no one close to Witten's ability.

 

[ravidubey]

Franchise quarterbacks carry you in this league.
Daunte Culpepper is a franchise quarterback.
Drew Bledsoe is no longer a franchise quarterback.

The Minnesota defensive line will hands down be one of the best in the NFL with Kevin Williams, Udeze, Pat Williams, and James.

- Pat Williams is a better 4-3 run stopper than Fergy is a 3-4 NT.
- Udeze and Kevin Williams are budding stars while Ellis and Glover are headed for the bench.
- Erasmus James may be just as good, worse, or better than either Ware or Spears, and is not being counted upon to start.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Franchise quarterbacks carry you in this league.
Daunte Culpepper is a franchise quarterback.
Drew Bledsoe is no longer a franchise quarterback.

The Minnesota defensive line will hands down be one of the best in the NFL with Kevin Williams, Udeze, Pat Williams, and James.

- Pat Williams is a better 4-3 run stopper than Fergy is a 3-4 NT.
- Udeze and Kevin Williams are budding stars while Ellis and Glover are headed for the bench.
- Erasmus James may be just as good, worse, or better than either Ware or Spears, and is not being counted upon to start.

I think your analysis is right on, hands down. I break both positions down exactly the same way Rav. Good analysis indeed.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think your analysis is right on, hands down. I break both positions down exactly the same way Rav. Good analysis indeed.

ABQ I'm back to agreeing with you... or you agree with me... yeah, that sounds better.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Hopefully, our defense will live up to expectations and will pressure the QB and force mistakes and turnovers (assuming Zimmer gets a clue).

Sure you want to go out on that limb with Zimmer?