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- Stat of the Day: The Vikings are the first team ever to win in London and win the following weekend. There is a reason most teams choose the bye week after playing in Europe. KOC took a risk and was rewarded. I think it also accounts for the Vikes losing a little steam in this game. They definitely took their foot off the gas at 21-3. Personally, I can't blame them as I almost decided to go out to lunch with my wife and daughter at that point and watch the game on delay. Being able to put your foot back on the gas when all the momentum is against you is fairly impressive. In the long run, Cousins being able to rally the team will pay more dividends than the Vikes cruising to an easy victory.
- Pass Defense: I correctly guessed that Fields would pass for more than 159.5 yards. Until the Vikes figure out how to create more pressure, they are not going to stop passing attacks -- even one's as anemic as the Bears. You throw in a QB that can scramble and the rush is even harder to generate as the ends have to think about contain.
- Why: (1) why do teams rush wide on D. Hunter's side? He sets a mean edge and has the speed to run down ball carriers. (2) why don't the Vikings rush more wide to Darrisaw's side? After last week, he was the #1 rated run blocking tackle and he was road grading all day.
- PP: May have to roll safety help over to PP more. Despite his great career, he does not respond well to double moves.
- The Run: I loved how the Vikes in the second half (especially the last drive) leaned heavily into the run game. It was clock management and not panicking all wrapped into one long drive. Every week the Oline grows more cohesive and Cook feels more confident that holes will open up. I actually thought Cook left a lot of yards on the field today.
- Special Teams: Stop reading your press clippings.
A tale of two halves, ask Green Bay how that went for them. Offensively, I expected the Vikings to come back. Wasn't concerned that they wouldn't get close enough for a FG, but wanted the TD. And they got it. Makes it a completely different kind of comeback when its more than a FG led from the Bear's point of view.
A W is always best, like Harrison Smith said: 'Its rare to be winning and learning new systems at the same time. We've got a lot more to show when we get things figured out'. Paraphrasing there on my part as I don't think that's the actual quote. But close.
Quote: @"StickyBun" said:
A tale of two halves, ask Green Bay how that went for them. Offensively, I expected the Vikings to come back. Wasn't concerned that they wouldn't get close enough for a FG, but wanted the TD. And they got it. Makes it a completely different kind of comeback when its more than a FG led from the Bear's point of view.
A W is always best, like Harrison Smith said: 'Its rare to be winning and learning new systems at the same time. We've got a lot more to show when we get things figured out'. Paraphrasing there on my part as I don't think that's the actual quote. But close.
“If you can learn while you’re winning, that’s pretty awesome. It doesn’t happen all the time. I think that kind of shows you how good we can be. We’re just scratching the surface,” Smith said. “We need to get better but we’re going to savor these wins. They’re hard to come by. Look around the league every week. Stuff happens that you don’t think should happen. It’s just how it works.”
I will add a couple of misc thoughts after watching the highlights. Two things I love seeing.
- That line surge on Cousins sneak, wow they got a push. The interior of the line blew the bears off the ball and I love seeing KJ in there behind Cousins as well.
- Someone mentioned this a year or so ago, but JJ is tough to bring down. Far from the diva WR that dives to the ground to avoid being tackled, he is so strong, breaking tackles, driving through contact to score. His TD was amazing and even the 2 point conversion he took the contact and was still able to get the ball over.
And I should add a bit of crow to my plate. Kudos to Dantzler, making big tackles and getting up after missing the tackle on ISM to come back in and rip the ball out. Big hustle. The quick tackle on the tunnel WR screen shows perhaps shows some film study.
Would love for him to turn the corner into a professional CB.
Quote: @"greediron" said:
And I should add a bit of crow to my plate. Kudos to Dantzler, making big tackles and getting up after missing the tackle on ISM to come back in and rip the ball out. Big hustle. The quick tackle on the tunnel WR screen shows perhaps shows some film study.
Would love for him to turn the corner into a professional CB.
I think that is it though... Film study. Dantzler even mentioned he was able to recognize that screen play in his post game comments (his words were "I kinda knew it was coming from studying film").
I suspect a big reason he was in Zimmer's dog house had little to do with talent, it was acting like a professional. Doing your job, knowing your assignments, studying film, not taking plays off. Hopefully he keeps listening to PP. Reading between the lines on his comments and PP's comments about Dantzler... Seems like he recognized he was a talented guy who needed to learn how to be a pro.
Quote: @"StickyBun" said:
A W is always best, like Harrison Smith said: 'Its rare to be winning and learning new systems at the same time. We've got a lot more to show when we get things figured out'. Paraphrasing there on my part as I don't think that's the actual quote. But close.
I can definitely see this with the offense, there were times yesterday when it looked like things were really clicking and you could see that the offense has the potential to be unstoppable and one of the best in the league.
I have not seen anywhere the same thing on the defensive side, I have not seen any glimpses where it seems like there is potential for success, it just seems so forced, I just don't think the scheme is ever going to fit the personnel that we have. Players seem so out of position.
Quote: @"Wetlander" said:
@"greediron" said:
And I should add a bit of crow to my plate. Kudos to Dantzler, making big tackles and getting up after missing the tackle on ISM to come back in and rip the ball out. Big hustle. The quick tackle on the tunnel WR screen shows perhaps shows some film study.
Would love for him to turn the corner into a professional CB.
I think that is it though... Film study. Dantzler even mentioned he was able to recognize that screen play in his post game comments (his words were "I kinda knew it was coming from studying film").
I suspect a big reason he was in Zimmer's dog house had little to do with talent, it was acting like a professional. Doing your job, knowing your assignments, studying film, not taking plays off. Hopefully he keeps listening to PP. Reading between the lines on his comments and PP's comments about Dantzler... Seems like he recognized he was a talented guy who needed to learn how to be a pro.
Those are huge reasons for a defensive player to be in a doghouse. We had seen it several times through the first 4 weeks with him, either not knowing his job or not doing it. So for a defensive head coach, yeah he was in the dog house.
But as you say, seeing him step up and recognize it, perhaps because PP has been public about it as well, is a big deal for this D.
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