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Lets start with the day and pregame:
* Carolina has a nice stadium for games with the biggest concourses I have ever seen. The field was in remarkable condition, given they had some snow and ice they had to clear from the natural turf field. But, the sun was so intense in pregame, when we filed the pregame report, I literally could not see the camera, much less the cameraman. Trust me, drops by Rudolph, Diggs and Thielen were a result of that sun. Not even sure they could see some of those passes until they were right on them.
Press Box - Zygi Wilf showed up about an hour before the game with his wife. You can tell that he is more than an owner, he has the infectious enthusiasm of a team that has had such surprising (to many of us) success on the field.
The Game
* The Panthers were stacking the box, waiting for the inside runs that the Vikings prefer to give to Latavius Murray. Unfortunately, Pat Shurmur probably went to that well a few times too many. With a replacement center, replacement tackle and replacement tackle, and 2 of the 3 playing out of position, running up the middle on a stacked front was doomed.
* Jerick McKinnon was the better run choice, as he has the vision and speed to cut back when holes are closed, and he made quite a few nice runs off the end.
* Case Keenum did not have a great game, but the stats lie a bit on how well he did. The first INT was caused because he threw the ball to the outside, and Thielen had to turn around, and could not make a play on the defender. That is still on Case, but at that point, an interception 45 yards down field was as good as a punt. He put the ball where players could make a play, and with the Rudolph TD, he threaded it between 3 defenders. You can't throw any better than that. Best of all, against a tough Panther defense, he directed a key comeback TD and FG drive, and he made plays with his feet. He is a gamer, and still had 280 yards passing, and 40 rushing.
* The facemask penalties - these were not "grabbing and grasping the facemask" as the referee call would indicate. These were brush jobs. I miss the 5 yard non-automatic first down facemark calls we used to have. On the 80 yard Panther TD drive, 30 yards were from facemark calls
* The defense had trouble getting off the field on third downs. The pass rush was effective early making Cam uncomfortable, but, in general, the pass rush gave Newton too much time to convert 3rd and longs.
* The Vikings lost the time of possession battle, and that is the #1 barometer this year to Viking wins. Vikings hold the ball at least 4 minutes more than the opposition, they are 10-0.
* On penalties, it remains astounding that Viking defenses get called for everything, yet Case Keenum was clubbed to the head on one of his runs and there was no call at all. I guess when the Vikings are on offense, the referees are deciding to just let the defensive fellas play!
* The Panthers had a good strategy to help Matt Kalil. We expected Greg Olson to help chip on Everson Griffen. But there was no TE help, but don't be fooled, Kalil had plenty of help. His gameplay (the coaches game plan) was to take Everson outside, and force him inside, where the Guard doubled Everson on most plays. That said, it was surprising how little success the rest of the Defensive Linemen had.
* Linval Joseph had a monster game, and I suspect he was enthused about playing back in his hometown. He went to college at East .
* Jarius Wright - ever notice, when he is in the game, he is always open?
* If the Vikings plays the Panthers again in the Playoffs, this is a very beatable team. Nothing was very impressive about Carolina on offense. McCafferey is simply Jerick McKinnon, which is good, but he is very small out of the backfield.
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