02-05-2019, 07:41 PM
Quote: @Jor-El said:
honestly I think at times this year we had to many guys playing for their next contract and not necessarily playing for the team.. we know that when the players buy in that Zims defenses are damn tough, but we had guys out of position all year long and that just led to more guys being out of position as they tried to do to much.@JimmyinSD said:
@Jor-El said:
you are looking for a fight that isnt here. our defense had a down year, i never said they were great, i simply said that points allowed is the most important stat IMO and that the Vikings were ranked 9th which wasnt saying that they were good in that dept. the whole 21 points thing might have been different if our team could have held the ball a little. we left our defense on the field way to much early in games which then turned into a lot of points the other way.@TBro said:
@JimmyinSD said:
Jimmy,@Jor-El said:
the only defensive stat that really matters IMO is points allowed and we were 9th in the league.@TBro said:
So true - we were 18th in takeaways, 20th in interceptions, and always middle-of-the-road in those areas. Opponents don't fear our defense because getting forced to punt isn't as worrisome as a turnover.@JimmyinSD said:
what strikes me is our miserable offense hung 31 on that rams defense in their own stadium, and the worlds greatest QB, coached by the worlds greatest coach, could only muster 13 points in a neutral site. I think too many people get enamored with the stat sheet for our Vikings Defense instead of the impact they are having on the game. We struggle at forcing turnovers and taking the ball away and to me that is the true mark of a Championship caliber defense.
This is what we gave up against playoff teams:
Rams-38 Loss
Eagles-21 Win
Saints-30 Loss
Bears-25 Loss
Patriots-24 Loss
Seattle-21 Loss
Bears-24 Loss
Points allowed is another meaningless stat when it's averaged out for all 16 games.
We were 1-6 against Playoff Teams which to me is a better indication of where this team is at. Their record is their record for a reason. We are not that good and were outcoached in a lot of games.
Remember when people were saying that Zimmer's defense is so great that we need our offense to "just" score 21 points per game? There were stats bandied about showing how the defense was so good at holding teams to 20 or less.
The defense isn't doing that any more, is it? 21 points would only have salvaged 1 of the 6 losses to playoff teams. Our offense exceeded 21 points in another loss (Rams) and a tie (Packers).
In 2017, our defense held opponents under 21 points in 12 games - and we won 11 of those. In 2018, we only did it 7 times (and won all 7).
THAT is the key stat for this team's 2018 disappointment. Blame Cousins if you like, but his only flaw was that he didn't cover up a weaker defense.
my whole point to this thread wasnt about the Vikings defense, it was the fact that our often shitty O was able to hang over twice as many points on the Rams vaunted defense, in their stadium, as the eventual world champs could do in a neutral site.
I'm not looking for a fight, but this is a good discussion. (If it seemed like my "blame Cousins if you like" comment was aimed at anyone, that was in error - some people blame him but I wasn't singling anyone out.)
I do think total ppg for a season is far less relevant than per-game situational control. Maybe our offense could have held the ball more, but our defense didn't "stifle" anyone.
Mostly, I'm weary of a defense-centric team with lots of coaches and resources invested in that side of the ball always pointing out that the offense didn't support the defense sufficiently. It's always, "We have a great defense IF (insert complaint about the offense)". Truly great defenses take over games when their offense is coming up short.
