Thoughts on 49er game

[Guest]

Isn's that what we're supposed to expect from super talented players? Super talented plays?

Ask Cheese fans in Lamblow last night about that...

[Guest]

So many thoughts...

1. It's  Week 1, weird stuff happens. The Steelers aren't that bad. The Ravens aren't that good. There were a TON of really sloppy games, though weather played a part in several of them.

I think Week 1 ugliness is going to be the new norm with the current CBA's rules against practice time. So I'm not going to get too up or too down about anything I saw the Vikings do yesterday.

Having said that....

2. Who replaced our HC that doesn't trust youngsters with that dude that played nearly the whole Defensive Roster yesterday?

Seriously, Weatherly, Bowser, Johnson and Parry were all in at the same time at one point. Hughes and Hill got PT because of injury. To my recollection nobody on the Line got hurt, though.

It seems like every offseason Mike identifies an area that he personally needs to improve on and then does it. He said he'd rotate more and boy he wasn't kidding!

Understand that there will be growing pains. There will be crucial downs where Griff or Hunter or Richardson will be on the bench. Entire drives even. And the opponent will go right at the backups and have you shouting at your screen to get the Starters back out there.

Trust me, it's worth the heartburn and even a dropped game. The 2nd String Unit played great against Jacksonville's Starters in the Preseason. And that wasn't any kind of vanilla Offense. The Jags were trying very hard to score to get Bottles headed in the right direction. And they were running a lot of traps, screens, and underneath stuff. The Seahags were also running their playbook, and didn't do much better against the backups.

The kids have flat out earned playing time. And you can see how excited that is making the vets. Having that much depth on the Line and in the Secondary will pay off big time in the Playoffs.

3. But Alexander needs to get healthy. Hughes flashed, but also was exposed a few times by a Rookie WR. He's going to be picked on a ton by OCs going forward. I would rather ease him in while Mac gets the bulk of the snaps.

4. Big Nickel is this year's wrinkle. A great way to combat teams using their TEs. The Vikings don't have a CB that can handle TEs unless you use Rhodes. Sendejo is awful covering them and between the NFCCG and yesterday I've seen Harry have some serious struggles as well.

So how does Big Nickel help? It won't be Kearse getting the reps. He earned some PT I'm sure. But I think it was more about George not being ready to go yet. Look for Iloka to be the guy tasked with watching TEs. As he emerges Gedeon, who stinks BTW, will see less playing time. That will go a long way to shutting down the TE passing game.

5. But the Defense needs to also tighten up against the run. Play Action Passes to the TEs and Backs worked because the 9ers were getting plus yardage on running plays. No team can stuff every run, but there were too many 1st down runs of 4+ yards. That really lets the OC open up the Playbook.

6. The Three 3 & Outs. Bad playcalling. Period. Too many first down handoffs to Cook looking to run between Jones and Compton for zero yards. The Vikings couldn't run to the left much at all yesterday. But D-Flip kept trying. Yet running between Jones and Remmers worked much better. Disappointing that he didn't see that and make the adjustment.

Take one of those drives and convert it into a Field Goal and the game's over. I suspected it would take time for John to find his sea legs again calling plays and we saw that yesterday. I'm sure he's also keeping wrinkles under wraps for the big name opponents, but more aggressive playcalling on any if those 3 possessions ends the game.

7. Kirk isn't all the way there yet with Diggs and Thielen. Missed both of them a few times for what would have been big gains. Chemistry between QBs and great WRs can take time. But once he knows exactly how each man will tweak his route based on the Defense and once they know which throws their QB prefers to make watch out!

8. Learned behavior. Cleveland and the Bears demonstrated that they haven't fully learned how to win yet. For Minnesota the behavior they need to learn is that of the conqueror. When your opponent bares his neck you step on it. Zimmer and his Staff need to learn how to put teams away. And so do the Players. Too much mental stress can accrue over the course of a season when you keep playing games closer then they should be. Time to figure out how to go Hulk Smash mode!

Over all not too much to get too up or down about but still a ton to think about. Pretty typical Week 1 Game, IMO.

[Guest]

This thing about rotating the D line sounds good and it sounds like a major lesson learned but I didn't like reading this...
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer still doesn’t sound convinced, however. After starters Danielle Hunter, Sheldon Richardson, Joseph and Everson Griffen held the 49ers in check in the first quarter, the second team came in and immediately gave up a scoring drive that ended with a 42-yard Robbie Gould field goal. “I don’t know,” Zimmer said. “I know at the end our starters need to go out there and play and try and win the football game, and that’s what we’re trying to do.” Ends Tashawn Bower and Stephen Weatherly, and tackles Jaleel and David Parry, all played but combined for zero tackles. Making his Minnesota debut, Richardson led the line with six total tackles and combined with Griffen on a sack of Jimmy Garoppolo.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/09/mi...-rotation/

[Guest]

Ok, maybe I'll be the first to compare JDF to Shurmur...I seem to recall a lot more movement and players coming wide-open last year vs what I saw yesterday. So I agree FSU that Flip has to get his sea-legs and it needs to start at one of the most difficult venues to play at for an early season North Show-down week 2. 

This is a game where the offense has to sustain and keep Rogers on the sideline - its the best defense in the world. 

That said, I fully admit this is just one game, the sample size is tiny and the offense will take time to jell, especially with the OL weakened without Elf. 

I was surprised to see Kearse out there vs Iloka...I suspect (hope) playing Jimmy Graham this week that George is truly ready to go.

You are correct in that our 2 current safeties (as magnificent as Dirty Harry is) are challenged with athletic tight-ends. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
Isn's that what we're supposed to expect from super talented players? Super talented plays?

Ask Cheese fans in Lamblow last night about that...

Yep...but sometimes you win games by doing things on both sides of the ball that your opponent just doesn't have an answer for. This was not one of those games. I guess I shouldn't have said the game plan wasn't "sound." It just wasn't what won the game for us. 

This was a game, IMO, where we played things very close to the vest and we maybe don't win without a handful of impressive plays by very talented individuals. That pass breakup in the end zone by Trae Waynes is one that comes to mind. Two years ago Waynes doesn't make that play. Few corners in the NFL make that play.

Of course, I'm fully aware that if the game had been closer, we likely would've seen a few more wrinkles. I saw a few teams yesterday who looked like they pulled out all the stops in an attempt to beat a better team. The 49ers did. The Bears did, KC, etc. Mind you, I'm not complaining one bit. Winning without showing much is a very good thing. 

[Guest]

@ThunderGod said:
This thing about rotating the D line sounds good and it sounds like a major lesson learned but I didn't like reading this...

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer still doesn’t sound convinced, however. After starters Danielle Hunter, Sheldon Richardson, Joseph and Everson Griffen held the 49ers in check in the first quarter, the second team came in and immediately gave up a scoring drive that ended with a 42-yard Robbie Gould field goal. “I don’t know,” Zimmer said. “I know at the end our starters need to go out there and play and try and win the football game, and that’s what we’re trying to do.” Ends Tashawn Bower and Stephen Weatherly, and tackles Jaleel and David Parry, all played but combined for zero tackles. Making his Minnesota debut, Richardson led the line with six total tackles and combined with Griffen on a sack of Jimmy Garoppolo.
https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/09/mi...-rotation/

I mean its not a requirement that ALL the 2nd guys are in there at the same time. 

[Guest]

@Vikergirl said:
Until Jimmy G beats a winning team, I am not crowning him anything. Pretty good sure, elite time will tell. Harrison had a fantastic game. He was huge in the win. Hughes showed why he was picked. I know his play was set up by Kendricks but that is good team defense. Richardson definitely helped underneath and helped Linval be able to be more active. The defensive rotation is going to help keep guys healthy and fresh. The OL is still problematic. Cousins has to get rid of the ball quickly. Diggs and Thielen are amazing weapons. I am glad Dalvin is back and it was smart to use the run to settle in. It was also smart to use Murray more in the second half. It was a good test. 

Garoppolo beat three playoff games in a row last year.  Titans, Jaguars and Rams.  I'm not a fan of his, but he's beat teams with a winning record.

[Guest]

He sure can throw darts.
I would not want to face him twice a year in our division.

[Guest]

@silverjoel said:

@Vikergirl said:
Until Jimmy G beats a winning team, I am not crowning him anything. Pretty good sure, elite time will tell. Harrison had a fantastic game. He was huge in the win. Hughes showed why he was picked. I know his play was set up by Kendricks but that is good team defense. Richardson definitely helped underneath and helped Linval be able to be more active. The defensive rotation is going to help keep guys healthy and fresh. The OL is still problematic. Cousins has to get rid of the ball quickly. Diggs and Thielen are amazing weapons. I am glad Dalvin is back and it was smart to use the run to settle in. It was also smart to use Murray more in the second half. It was a good test. 

Garoppolo beat three playoff games in a row last year.  Titans, Jaguars and Rams.  I'm not a fan of his, but he's beat teams with a winning record.

Ok that's fair. I will have to check those games out. I still need to see more before I am sold. Also I will be interested to see which way he goes when other teams figure out his tendencies more.

[Guest]

@FSUVike said:
So many thoughts...

1. It's  Week 1, weird stuff happens. The Steelers aren't that bad. The Ravens aren't that good. There were a TON of really sloppy games, though weather played a part in several of them.

I think Week 1 ugliness is going to be the new norm with the current CBA's rules against practice time. So I'm not going to get too up or too down about anything I saw the Vikings do yesterday.

Having said that....

2. Who replaced our HC that doesn't trust youngsters with that dude that played nearly the whole Defensive Roster yesterday?

Seriously, Weatherly, Bowser, Johnson and Parry were all in at the same time at one point. Hughes and Hill got PT because of injury. To my recollection nobody on the Line got hurt, though.

It seems like every offseason Mike identifies an area that he personally needs to improve on and then does it. He said he'd rotate more and boy he wasn't kidding!

Understand that there will be growing pains. There will be crucial downs where Griff or Hunter or Richardson will be on the bench. Entire drives even. And the opponent will go right at the backups and have you shouting at your screen to get the Starters back out there.

Trust me, it's worth the heartburn and even a dropped game. The 2nd String Unit played great against Jacksonville's Starters in the Preseason. And that wasn't any kind of vanilla Offense. The Jags were trying very hard to score to get Bottles headed in the right direction. And they were running a lot of traps, screens, and underneath stuff. The Seahags were also running their playbook, and didn't do much better against the backups.

The kids have flat out earned playing time. And you can see how excited that is making the vets. Having that much depth on the Line and in the Secondary will pay off big time in the Playoffs.

3. But Alexander needs to get healthy. Hughes flashed, but also was exposed a few times by a Rookie WR. He's going to be picked on a ton by OCs going forward. I would rather ease him in while Mac gets the bulk of the snaps.

4. Big Nickel is this year's wrinkle. A great way to combat teams using their TEs. The Vikings don't have a CB that can handle TEs unless you use Rhodes. Sendejo is awful covering them and between the NFCCG and yesterday I've seen Harry have some serious struggles as well.

So how does Big Nickel help? It won't be Kearse getting the reps. He earned some PT I'm sure. But I think it was more about George not being ready to go yet. Look for Iloka to be the guy tasked with watching TEs. As he emerges Gedeon, who stinks BTW, will see less playing time. That will go a long way to shutting down the TE passing game.

5. But the Defense needs to also tighten up against the run. Play Action Passes to the TEs and Backs worked because the 9ers were getting plus yardage on running plays. No team can stuff every run, but there were too many 1st down runs of 4+ yards. That really lets the OC open up the Playbook.

6. The Three 3 & Outs. Bad playcalling. Period. Too many first down handoffs to Cook looking to run between Jones and Compton for zero yards. The Vikings couldn't run to the left much at all yesterday. But D-Flip kept trying. Yet running between Jones and Remmers worked much better. Disappointing that he didn't see that and make the adjustment.

Take one of those drives and convert it into a Field Goal and the game's over. I suspected it would take time for John to find his sea legs again calling plays and we saw that yesterday. I'm sure he's also keeping wrinkles under wraps for the big name opponents, but more aggressive playcalling on any if those 3 possessions ends the game.

7. Kirk isn't all the way there yet with Diggs and Thielen. Missed both of them a few times for what would have been big gains. Chemistry between QBs and great WRs can take time. But once he knows exactly how each man will tweak his route based on the Defense and once they know which throws their QB prefers to make watch out!

8. Learned behavior. Cleveland and the Bears demonstrated that they haven't fully learned how to win yet. For Minnesota the behavior they need to learn is that of the conqueror. When your opponent bares his neck you step on it. Zimmer and his Staff need to learn how to put teams away. And so do the Players. Too much mental stress can accrue over the course of a season when you keep playing games closer then they should be. Time to figure out how to go Hulk Smash mode!

Over all not too much to get too up or down about but still a ton to think about. Pretty typical Week 1 Game, IMO.

Really good recap, Thanks!