O-line benefiting from cohesion/time to gel

[StickierBuns]

They may have some weaknesses, but I'd wager Minnesota's O-line is top 12 in the league. Brandel has been a nice add. Bradbury playing his best ball of his career. Ingram still the inconsistent wildcard, but at least I've seen him beat down some dudes this year. The RBs have had some holes and Darnold has had some nice pockets to throw from. 

They aren't perfect, but look around the league: 90% aren't. Would love to see another OG starter in FA/Draft to replace Ingram in 2025....make Ed the backup OG and then let him go via free agency in 2026.

[Montana Tom]

They may have some weaknesses, but I'd wager Minnesota's O-line is top 12 in the league. Brandel has been a nice add. Bradbury playing his best ball of his career. Ingram still the inconsistent wildcard, but at least I've seen him beat down some dudes this year. The RBs have had some holes and Darnold has had some nice pockets to throw from. 

They aren't perfect, but look around the league: 90% aren't. Would love to see another OG starter in FA/Draft to replace Ingram in 2025....make Ed the backup OG and then let him go via free agency in 2026.

I agree that Bradbury has upped his game.  He added some weight too, didn't he?
And between Aaron Jones and Ty Chandler, we're moving the ball on the ground seemingly much better than last year.  Weren't we 27th in rushing last year?  We are sitting at 14th after 2 games right now, but 9th in avg yards/rush.  An improvement, for sure.

If I had to choose between a stud OG and a stud DL (think about this:  another Steve Hutchinson or another Aaron Donald...yeah, I'm enjoying my midday mango margarita LOL), I'll let ya know after Week 18.

I was frankly apprehensive about how the pocket would hold up with Darnold, and for example, I watched the video of Jets 97 yard catch over and over for just the pocket protection as Darnold was back in the middle of the end zone.  You can see the trust he's built with his OLine.  That was a ballsy play call.

[StickierBuns]

I agree that Bradbury has upped his game.  He added some weight too, didn't he?
And between Aaron Jones and Ty Chandler, we're moving the ball on the ground seemingly much better than last year.  Weren't we 27th in rushing last year?  We are sitting at 14th after 2 games right now, but 9th in avg yards/rush.  An improvement, for sure.

If I had to choose between a stud OG and a stud DL (think about this:  another Steve Hutchinson or another Aaron Donald...yeah, I'm enjoying my midday mango margarita LOL), I'll let ya know after Week 18.

I was frankly apprehensive about how the pocket would hold up with Darnold, and for example, I watched the video of Jets 97 yard catch over and over for just the pocket protection as Darnold was back in the middle of the end zone.  You can see the trust he's built with his OLine.  That was a ballsy play call.

Go get it, Tom! I'm 30 minutes from a nice glass of Scotch with a big cube.

We can have both, actually. Give me DT Deone Walker out of Kentucky in the Draft and sign a nice OG in free agency. Boom! (for Wet).

[purplefaithful]

I still dont trust the IOL much, but agree that overall the OL looks to have progressed some. Better RB's make em look better too.

I admit to having envy watching the Philly and ATL OL's last night.

Next year iol, dl and cb are all needs. I'd add rb to the consideration set too.

[Montana Tom]

Sometimes when there is no news, you forget how bad it's been.
For instance...FUMBLES.

I was just looking at the stats on team fumbles after two games.
Three of the NFC Norris division sit in the top 7 of fumbles.
Green Bay tied for #1 with 5
Detroit #3 with 3
Chicago #7 with 2
We're sitting at #20 with 1
Turnovers are the name of the game. Doesn't it feel nice not being in the Top 10 in this category?

[Kentis]

Not sure if it was good OL play or poor defensive fronts last night. Neither team could stop the run or pressure the QB. That overtime drive looked like 11 on 11 training camp drills. 

[StickierBuns]

Not sure if it was good OL play or poor defensive fronts last night. Neither team could stop the run or pressure the QB. That overtime drive looked like 11 on 11 training camp drills. 

Agreed. Cousins didn't really play well until that last drive and Philly just sat back and watched Kirko eat their lunch. It was weird. Cousins had like 185 yards before that, he wasn't going off at all. The D-coordinator for Philly is a blitz machine, but not then.

[Montana Tom]

While I'm at it, I thought I'd take a look at some Passing stats (dependent on the OLine AND an accurate passer)

We're sitting at 8th in avg yards per game, and 9th in completion percentage for Darnold (72%). For those keeping track at home, Cousins in ATL is 17th at 65.5%
But we're sitting 3rd in avg yards per completion (a 97-yarder will up your average, for sure!)

Wrap all these stats together in a cohesive package, and it does a pretty good job of explaining why we are 2-0 (instead of 0-2) after two games.

[JimmyinSD]

the best part of the early part of the season... stats are useless, to small of a sample size, its the very short time of year where all we can do is sit back and enjoy the blind love of the game.

[purplefaithful]

Just gotta run and enjoy the good when its here.

I only asked for an enjoyable 2024 season.

So far they've delivered