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Welp. Sigh.
We screwed ourselves, refs didn’t help, and we played against Patrick Mahomes.
The last two of those things are beyond our control but the first one… ugh.
Kirk was just a bit off all day and the passcatchers did him zero and I mean zero favors. Idk how many will go down as official “drops” but we had so many balls bounce off guys’ hands it was unbelievable. Hockenson himself had three I counted, Mattison had a brutal one that pretty much sealed our doom, and even JJ had one.
Oh, and now JJ’s hurt. Bad bad bad.
The good-
Defense played okay. That’s a big improvement over last year. Greg Joseph has been good when asked. And the offensive line was solid. Running game was kind of okay when we went to it (rarely). It’s the defending champions so I will take mostly okay.
KOC- not his best day. Dumb challenge, all timeouts gone at like the 9:00 mark in the fourth, another communications-related delay of game in a critical spot, and bad clock mgmt in general on the final drive. That might be Kirk’s fault too though, who knows.
I have other thoughts but what this team is right now is a big meh. If JJ is hurt for any real amount of time, stick a fork, a knife, and the back end of a spoon in us because we’re done.
I didn't get to watch the second half as closely as usual, but what I did see;
- the opening play fumble by Oliver that the Chiefs turned into a TD was the difference in the game.
- I thought the defense played pretty well overall, but God damn...how do we not have two bodies on Mr Pfizer in the second half and make these other guys beat you.
- Hunter, Bynum and Hicks continue to stand out on defense. Mattelus had a good game today.
- Hockensen is a good player, but I still question the trade and making him the highest paid TE in the league.
- I'm close to saying Akers > Mattison. The Mattison drop on the screen was killer
- Game ends on Ingram getting beat in pass protection and we don't even get the play off. Wash, rinse, repeat..
- I'm not feeling good about going to Chicago next weekend.
I give Cousins an A+ for this game, he did all he could to keep us in the game and was a Mattison drop from despite all the bad breaks tying the game up. He got very little help from the rest of the team and once again took a complete beating, but he is like the Terminator in that he just keeps getting up and fighting back.
Addison was impressive and played really hard, not sure why we are not getting him more involved in the offense, all the wasted passes to KJ and TJ should be going to him. Also thought Powell played really hard when he came in.
Outside of Cousins, Addison and Powell, I did not see a lot of effort on this team. TJ Is by far the biggest disappointment of the season, looked great last season and this year is a complete waste of space, is not going to do anything extra or go out of his way to make a play, can't stand watching him just go through the motions.
Smith is another big disappointment this season, does not have his head in the games and not a lot of fire, how many years has he been in this league and can't turn around for the ball on the play that could have been the difference in the game.
Overall this is one of the worst coached Viking teams ever, the ineptitude is like nothing we have seen in years, the wasted timeouts, the poor challenges, the lack of preparation or adjustments. Those running this team right now are taking it into the ground.
Let's compare the PI call on Hitman to the PI call on Addison that was changed to not PI.
The PI on Addison was 10 times closer to PI than the one called on Hitman. Even if they wanted to change it from PI, it was clearly holding by the DB. I am confused that the flag was picked up. I have been watching the NFL for 55 years. I've seen many bad calls. This was the correct call, it was PI and there was no reason at all to change it.
Missed opportunities. Way too many.
I think ball placement had a lot to do with the drops, yes receivers are going to take some hits, but they are getting killed to often this year and that leads to drops, especially when the ball is high, late, or at the ends of outstretched arms. JJ had one that he flat out made a business decision on. Mattisons, well I can't even guess what was going on there except lack of focus.
Kirk is tough as nails, but even nails get bent and won't drive straight, his accuracy is his best attribute and he's been off all year and the receivers have paid the price. IMO Today was just a culmination of QB and receivers taking to many shots .
Quote: @pattersaur said:
Welp. Sigh.
We screwed ourselves, refs didn’t help, and we played against Patrick Mahomes.
The last two of those things are beyond our control but the first one… ugh.
Kirk was just a bit off all day and the passcatchers did him zero and I mean zero favors. Idk how many will go down as official “drops” but we had so many balls bounce off guys’ hands it was unbelievable. Hockenson himself had three I counted, Mattison had a brutal one that pretty much sealed our doom, and even JJ had one.
Oh, and now JJ’s hurt. Bad bad bad.
The good-
Defense played okay. That’s a big improvement over last year. Greg Joseph has been good when asked. And the offensive line was solid. Running game was kind of okay when we went to it (rarely). It’s the defending champions so I will take mostly okay.
KOC- not his best day. Dumb challenge, all timeouts gone at like the 9:00 mark in the fourth, another communications-related delay of game in a critical spot, and bad clock mgmt in general on the final drive. That might be Kirk’s fault too though, who knows.
I have other thoughts but what this team is right now is a big meh. If JJ is hurt for any real amount of time, stick a fork, a knife, and the back end of a spoon in us because we’re done.
Yeah, frustrating game. Can't make mistakes against a team like that and we made several.
Through all five games, there seemed to be a lack of focus and intensity that runs from the coaching staff through several players. All of them made mental errors in this one. Game and time management, numberous dropped passes, Oliver's fumble, the screen pass Kirk sailed. Those are all mental errors.
If you're leading the league in turnovers and those turnovers are really the only reason you're 1-3 instead of 3-1, the last thing on my bingo card would be a fumble on the first play from scrimmage. LOL.
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