Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Vikings are a Top Four Team (enjoy it now).

Football Outsiders has posted the Week One VOA rankings. In a few weeks it will be DVOA rankings, meaning that the numbers are adjusted for the strength of the opponent. That's important to keep in mind.

Still, the Vikings currently rank 4th in total team VOA, helped by a -41.2% defensive VOA (on defense, a negative number is good). Interestingly enough, though the offense scored just 10 points and failed to reach the red zone, the offensive performance was above average (10.9% above average). Football Outsiders measures a team's productivity for each play, so the ability to move the ball effectively according to down and distance means more than points or total yards.

Again, these numbers haven't been adjusted for the strength of the opponent. But it's still an encouraging sign that both the offense and defense make the team look good here.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5:03 PM

    "Enjoy it now." I think we can enjoy it for a couple/few weeks, actually. Looking at the schedule, I see 4-0 or 3-1 going into the bye week (@DET, @KC, GB). Then all of the usual hype will start up and I'll get over-excited and the Vikes will go 1-3 or 0-4 weeks 6-9 (@CHI, @DAL, PHI, SD). They coule possibly win @CHI or hosting PHI, but I won't put any money on it. Not yet, anyway.

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