8 minutes, and shot from the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium (a term that I found unusually hard to spit out for some reason today)

Pregame:

* Teddy Bridgewater and Latavius Murray are buddies.  It makes sense, as they and Shariff Floyd worked on the far field by themselves in training camp as all three were rehabbing from injury.  Bridgewater found Murray right before the game any gave him a big good-luck hug

* The Stadium 1 - The Georgia Dome sits right next to the new Mercedes Benz Stadium.  It is in mid-implosion and looks like a dry version of the rotting Titanic.

* The Stadium 2 - It was a MUCH nicer stadium than it shows on TV.  The lighting is poor because the "nest" at the top is opaque. Had they used the same material as US Bank Stadium, it would have brought nice sunshine in.  But, this is a state of the art facility and ranks above the other away stadiums we have visited this year, although Pittsburgh is nice.

* The Stadium 3 - It isn't finished.  It look like it was still under construction inside

* The Stadium 4 - They announced a crowd of 71,000.  It was not even close  It MIGHT have been half full, and about one-third of those there were wearing purple.

* Pregame meal - they feed the press, and oh my goodness did they do it well in Atlanta.  Buffet with thick pork chops, cuban sandwiches, prime beef and more.   1st class - I felt like royalty

The Game:
* The Vikings looked a bit lethargic on offense at first, but that was not flatness.  The Falcons were taking away the deep stuff, and the 2 defenses basically had the same strategy - stop the #1 WR (Thielen and Jones) and hope the other WR (Sanu and Diggs) would not burn them.

* Murray is the real deal.  He runs too upright, but, that is his style.  He has an almost imperceptible wiggle in the hole, and find yardage.

* CJ Ham - you need a yard, he will get you two.  How long has it been since we had that?  And, as a former feature back, he can catch and he is a vicious blocker.

* Adam Thielen - he works so hard in routes, that even when doubled, he found space.

* LaQuon Treadwell - what can we say, we have no idea why he still starts and plays so much.  He does not get open, and even if he is a good blocker, how many WRs are primary blockers?

* David Morgan - he was sorely missed in pass protection when he left, and that is why the Falcon rush was a problem in the 2nd quarter.  Blake Bell stepped-up and played better in the second half (see our interview with this engaging and likable player after the game)

* It is concerning sometimes the way the defense fails to stop the run at times.

* The pass rush has not been as effective lately, and when QBs have time to throw in the NFL, they will find receivers.

* Eric Kendricks - heavens, he hits like a ton of bricks

* Xavier Rhodes - he handled Julio Jones single-handedly all game and Jones was not a factor.

* Ryan Quigley - almost no one can even name our punter, but he flipped the field several times this game.

Post Game:

* The loudest of the loud is Everson Griffen - he is very emotional as he comes up the tunnel...some of the things aren't printable!

* Mike Zimmer, who is always escorted by his own security person (who does a good job, while still being a good guy), and today, for the first time since we've been covering the team, he was smiling broadly!

* Case Keenum was last up the tunnel and he was hooting and hollering the whole way.  He is having the time of his life!

* David Morgan got a concussion during the game (and NFL rules forbid us interviewing anyone in concussion protocol), but it was nice to see Kyle Rudolph and Blake Bell checking on him, and joking with him.  David had a hoodie on, but we wished him well, and he is always pleasant thanks like you just gave him a million dollars.  I wish all fans could meet him.  Eric Sugarman came in to check on him too.

* The pooled interviews were with Adam Thielen, Jerick McKinnon, and Xavier Rhodes.  We don't participate in those, but they are inundated with 12-15 microphones in their face and bright lights.  We prefer the one-on-ones

* The press corps have swelled as the victories have mounted.  At least 30 press members were in the Viking locker room tonight.  At Pittsburgh, there were 6 of us!

* Strangely, few talk to any defensive linemen except Everson.   But, we asked Tom Johnson to speak to us, and he was so obliging, and seemed almost happy to get some recognition for the line.

* Harrison Smith again came up and asked us how we'd been.  Harrison is a very quiet individual, but such a nice person.

* We thanked Stefon Diggs for giving us interview time last week, and he said, "oh, man, you don't have to thank, I'm always glad to talk to the fans".  He seemed almost shocked that any media member thanked them for their time.  We are sure to shake every players hand after they give us an interview, and thank them for their time.  Most media members just walk away.  I wouldn't like that as a player.

* After all the reporters left Adam Thielen, we talked about his son's first Thanksgiving.  You could tell he was relieved to talk about his other passion - his family, and not just football, football, football.  He said his son's first words were "mama" and that he was at home a month ago when his son took his first steps.  You think Adam looks like a nice guy?  You have no idea.  He is genuine and unaffected.

* We talked briefly with Kai Forbath - he is nice enough, but he is introverted, and is not a big talker.

* We were the only ones to interview reserve TE Blake Bell, but he is a very engaging personality and has some tremendous size.

* Teddy Bridgewater got dressed VERY quickly.  The press has to stay outside the locker room for 10 minutes while Zimmer talks to the team.  When we walked in, Teddy was fully dressed and leaving the locker room.  He smiles, but I imagine this QB situation is not what he was envisioning.

* Zygi Wilf entered the locker room like a kid on Christmas Morning.  Just a big grin.

* Pete Bercich and I did the postgame show for our site on the field after the game.  When done, he took me over to the section on the field where all the friends and family of Viking players met with the players.  It is stunning how many family members came to the game, well over 100.

This team is confident, and that is 90% of what makes a winner.  Yet, they did not play their best, and still got a road win.

We will let you know what we see in Charlotte next week.

Gosh its hard cheering for the seachickens but we need to kill an eagle or two before the season is done. 

On the play today where Keenum floated the one over the
middle to Floyd, he is clearly and squared hit in the face / head by the
opposing player. Once again no call.


 


Are the officials graded or reprimanded for these missed calls?


 


Do the Vikings send them in for review and explanation?


 


Gets under my skin that so called franchise QB’s are treated
differently.


 

He is a bigger cog in this unit than most realize.  It is why Bucky Hodges was cut after preseason.  Bell is seen as a big target who can run and block.  Good sense of humor.

Tom is a great guy - we ask him a question about how he'd do on Offense.  Side Note - Tom is solid as a rock - a massive man in the upper body

One of my favorite lines...


Another... Look at the Falcons' 3rd Down efficiency:


Case outplayed Ryan, and the Vikings defense outplayed the Falcons offense. Our D was #1 3rd Down defense going up against the top 3rd down offense. Looks to me like we won that battle pretty handily.

This year, Case has a 111.8 QB Rating in the Red Zone, and a QB Rating of 105.7 backed up in his own 1-20 yard line.

Better, he has 139.5 rating in the last 2 minutes of a half, and a rating of 103 1 on the road.

I'd say the guy is playing with a horseshoe!

“I think they believe,” Zimmer said. “I think they believed before, but the more you win and you go into somebody else’s stadium and win against a good football team, I think it continues to add to your confidence as we go forward. They were happy in the locker room, but they understand that we haven’t done anything yet.”
As cliche as it might be for coaches to talk about winning “all three phases,” the Vikings were excellent on offense, defense and special teams. On offense they scored on both red zone attempts and controlled the ball with 34 minutes of possession time and converted huge third downs through the game. On defense, the Vikings forced Matt Ryan into bad throws and held top receivers Mohamed San and Julio Jones to five total catches. Even punter Ryan Quigley added a coffin corner kick.
“That’s what it’s all about, finding ways to win,” running back Latavius Murray told the media following the game. “This one was tough, physical, not a high scoring game especially when you have two good defenses. We were able to make a few more plays.”
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...g-believe/

We got only a minute with Eric before the throng of reporters hurried over!  Still, he was a big reason for the win today

https://youtu.be/BZAudLSSq0Y

He just committed two penalties on the same play (holding and facemask) and his guy still wrecked Newton. lol