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Had to time shift the game which always results in a different type of watching (as I fast forward through plays as I get anxious). Here are my thoughts on the game:
- Osborn: He has become a very good receiver and it appears Cousins has more and more confidence in him. I see WR2 in his future for the team (next year).
- Situational Football: One thing I like about KOC is that he doesn't seem wedded to any particular scheme, etc. He seems to have a lot of flexibility and doesn thing that matches the personnel, the opposing team and situation. Donatell seems like the complete opposite. He made some adjustments today but he does not seem to adjust his defense very much situational. Except for very short yardage situations where he packs the box, he seems to keep the same shell defense allowing teams to easily get 1st downs.
- Defense: I think the Packers being so young and not being able to scout the Vikings 1st team defense during the preseason really assisted the Vikings in the first game. But it seems like the Eagles and Lions knew exactly what to expect from the Vikings defense. Again, the Vikings seemed unable to mentally stress Goff. I thought one of the strengths of the 3-4 was the ability to apply pressure and it certainly does not feel like the Vikes can apply pressure without some exotic stunts or blitzes. Worse still, the defense does not look physical. It also does not look like it is designed to be opportunistic.
- Patrick Peterson and Eric Kendricks: They showed up in pass defense today. Hicks also.
- Cook: Is it just me, or does Cook always come up injured when he fumbles the ball?
- Metellus: Beat my expectations and I thought the Lions would make more of an effort to attack the safeties.
- JJ: I think you need to get JJ involved early -- when he is mostly a decoy, he seems more disinterested in the game.
- Oline: Frankly, I think they are gelling. Was there a single penalty on the Oline today? They do seem to be well coached and disciplined. Frankly, the whole team seems much more disciplined.
Good points
I thought the same thing about Cook, but then thought maybe he fumbles due to the injury.
JJ was double and triple covered all game. Like he said post game that opens things up for the other receivers.
Cook is really good but too fragile.
Agree about the OL, they seem to be doing pretty good.
We won’t go far if JJ is just a decoy. We have to find ways to get him involved. Maybe the saints will see that if he is covered Thielen and Osborne will burn them but JJ just has to be involved. Also, we won’t go far if Hunter and Z don’t bring pressure, or if we never blitz. So far, neither of those things have happened.
Agree about the OL discipline. It's a whole different team in many ways, good and bad, but I like the discipline. On a related note, teams are going to continue to blitz us until we can make them pay for it.
I think the only way to get the attention off JJ is to hurt them elsewhere. And unfortunately, I don't think that what Thielen, Cook and KJO did yesterday is enough. Vikings need a couple 40 or 60 yard Cook runs and a 100-yard, multi-TD game from one of the other receivers to do that.
The team is a huge work-in-progress will all the newness. Especially the Defense. I am most surprised by our lack of pressure when you have Hunter and Smith. They played well against a banged-up GB line but not so well vs two of the better OL's in philly/lions. Next two against Saints and Bears our pressure should jump back up. Again, learning curve and I just want to see improvement along the way. The red-hot teams right now might be peaking early, and I want us to peak later 
Somehow, we won the game yesterday that we would have found a way to lose the last few years under Zimmer.
2-1 with 2-0 in division is a nice place to be but it has not been pretty that is for sure.
Couple thoughts...
Like Minny (and a few others) have said, you take 2-1 and 2-0 in the division any day of the week. First year HC with brand new schemes on both sides of the ball... nothing better than winning while the team is trying to figure things out.
The last two weeks both teams have good OLs... didn't get any consistent pressure. The big reason we moved to a 3-4 (according to O'Connell) is to disguise where the pressure is coming from and confuse opposing QBs. I haven't seen much creativity in that regard. I don't think the Vikings have the right personnel (yet) to run this defense to it's full potential.
That said... thru 3 weeks the Vikings defense has only given up 17 points in the second half of those games. Pretty stingy 2nd half defense even if the first half has been somewhat ugly the past couple weeks.
Surprised I haven't seen more kudos for Kirk leading a 4th quarter comeback. I'm not a huge Kirk guy, but you have to give him credit for buckling down in the 4th quarter. He made the throws we needed to win that game (now I ask myself why he failed to do that last week in a similar situation).
It'll be interesting to see how we do in London this weekend. Historically we've had good luck there... and this Saints team is not very good. Be nice to get the dub over there and then come home to face a vulnerable Bears team.
Quote: @"Wetlander" said:
Couple thoughts...
Surprised I haven't seen more kudos for Kirk leading a 4th quarter comeback. I'm not a huge Kirk guy, but you have to give him credit for buckling down in the 4th quarter. He made the throws we needed to win that game (now I ask myself why he failed to do that last week in a similar situation).
On that final drive I said to my bro-in-law "Ok 30 million dollar man, be a hero and win this".
After the TD I said "Alright, way to go Capt'n Kirk - you did it!" B)
Quote: @"Wetlander" said:
Couple thoughts...
Like Minny (and a few others) have said, you take 2-1 and 2-0 in the division any day of the week. First year HC with brand new schemes on both sides of the ball... nothing better than winning while the team is trying to figure things out.
The last two weeks both teams have good OLs... didn't get any consistent pressure. The big reason we moved to a 3-4 (according to O'Connell) is to disguise where the pressure is coming from and confuse opposing QBs. I haven't seen much creativity in that regard. I don't think the Vikings have the right personnel (yet) to run this defense to it's full potential.
That said... thru 3 weeks the Vikings defense has only given up 17 points in the second half of those games. Pretty stingy 2nd half defense even if the first half has been somewhat ugly the past couple weeks.
Surprised I haven't seen more kudos for Kirk leading a 4th quarter comeback. I'm not a huge Kirk guy, but you have to give him credit for buckling down in the 4th quarter. He made the throws we needed to win that game (now I ask myself why he failed to do that last week in a similar situation).
It'll be interesting to see how we do in London this weekend. Historically we've had good luck there... and this Saints team is not very good. Be nice to get the dub over there and then come home to face a vulnerable Bears team.
I watched the Eagles game again Sunday morning. There was a span of about 4 minutes in that game that sealed our fate and turned what was probably going to be a very close game into a blow out.
1:41 left in the half, Cousins hits Irv in the hands for what would've been a sure TD, making the score 21-14. With about a minute left, the Eagles drove the field for a FG as time expired. If Irv catches that ball, the score at the half is 24-14 with the Vikings getting the ball to open the 2nd half.
Vikings open the 3rd quarter by driving to the 19 yard line. 1st and 10. JJ was wide open over the middle. If Kirk sees him, he scores, making the score 24-21. Instead he hits Mattison in the flat for no gain. Next play, JJ runs a lazy route (I'm guessing due to frustration over the previous play) and the throw is picked off.
Two plays go our way and this would have been a completely different football game. It's the little things that kill you.
Quote: @"VikingOracle" said:
Had to time shift the game which always results in a different type of watching (as I fast forward through plays as I get anxious). Here are my thoughts on the game:
- Osborn: He has become a very good receiver and it appears Cousins has more and more confidence in him. I see WR2 in his future for the team (next year).
- Situational Football: One thing I like about KOC is that he doesn't seem wedded to any particular scheme, etc. He seems to have a lot of flexibility and doesn thing that matches the personnel, the opposing team and situation. Donatell seems like the complete opposite. He made some adjustments today but he does not seem to adjust his defense very much situational. Except for very short yardage situations where he packs the box, he seems to keep the same shell defense allowing teams to easily get 1st downs.
- Defense: I think the Packers being so young and not being able to scout the Vikings 1st team defense during the preseason really assisted the Vikings in the first game. But it seems like the Eagles and Lions knew exactly what to expect from the Vikings defense. Again, the Vikings seemed unable to mentally stress Goff. I thought one of the strengths of the 3-4 was the ability to apply pressure and it certainly does not feel like the Vikes can apply pressure without some exotic stunts or blitzes. Worse still, the defense does not look physical. It also does not look like it is designed to be opportunistic.
- Patrick Peterson and Eric Kendricks: They showed up in pass defense today. Hicks also.
- Cook: Is it just me, or does Cook always come up injured when he fumbles the ball?
- Metellus: Beat my expectations and I thought the Lions would make more of an effort to attack the safeties.
- JJ: I think you need to get JJ involved early -- when he is mostly a decoy, he seems more disinterested in the game.
- Oline: Frankly, I think they are gelling. Was there a single penalty on the Oline today? They do seem to be well coached and disciplined. Frankly, the whole team seems much more disciplined.
KOC wanted Donatell because that D was hard for the Rams to beat. But not everyone runs the Rams offense. I think the problem is, we don't have good corners, so they run a soft shell to protect them. Kind of the same issue Zimmer had the last two years. Hopefully Donatell will figure something out with these guys, or the young DBs need to step up.
On Cook, perhaps when he gets hurt, he fumbles. Not sure exactly what happened, but taking a shot to the shoulder probably affects the ability to hold the ball.
Anyone else glad Hughes was playing for the Lions? Missed the tackle on Mattison and turned KJ loose for the TD.
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