Game Day / NFL observation Cardinals

[StickierBuns]

From the jaws of defeat, victory was snatched. Super Sam to the rescue and the D found their teeth just in time. The Cardinals gameplan of conservative offense and stunting, strong D almost led them to a W....almost. 10-2 is just a continuous 'wow' for me considering what I thought this team would be like. 

• Not much to say about most of the game for Minnesota, other than lethargic and checked out. Quietest I've heard U.S. Bank on TV in a long time.
  
• Aaron Jones: please, PLEASE don't be this guy. PLEASE. 
  
• The Vikings need to play attention this offseason to the interiors of both lines. Job 1. 
  
• With a talented guy like Darnold and that big, live arm....KOC can call any play. And the D has to respect that ability. Darnold turned it on and won the game.
  
• 10 wins is huge, obviously.....I think there are playoff clinching scenarios for the Vikings next Sunday. Vikings beat Atlanta and the Rams lose and Minnesota clinches a playoff spot.
  
• Kirko Chainz and 4 INTs to sink the Falcons. Yikes. 
  
• What has happened to Justin Tucker? My God......its unreal. Same with the Falcon's kicker.
  
• Lots of flags thrown around the NFL yesterday. LOTS. Good for the game?
  
• The 49ers are toast and McCaffery is one big injury waiting to happen. What kind of contract would you give Brock Purdy?
  

Abbreviated version this morning, the game was a bit of a buzzkill although the late victory is awesome, of course.

[JimmyinSD]

Purdy is pretty much in Daniel Jones territory IMO, did enoigh to warrant an extension with more money, but no way do you pay him near the top money for multiple years. Worse case scenario is you let him play on a tag for a year or two, but be actively trying to bring in competition for him. He is a good not great QB in a league that needs greatness from that position unless the rest of the team is stacked, and its hard to stack the roster unless that QB is playing for peanuts.

[StickierBuns]

I sense more confidence from Darnold....he looked unflappable at the end. Smiling more in interviews and you can see he views this as his team.

[MaroonBells]

I noticed that about the crowd too. About half way through the 1st quarter I remembered it was a home game. Sure didn't feel like one. Anyone who was there have a different take? Cards probably weren't a big draw so maybe a lot of casual fans in attendance?

Don't like that Cousins threw 4 picks THIS week. He rarely has two bad games in a row. 

Darnold was spectacular late in the game. I read he now has 10 games with a rating over 100. Only Culpepper (00) and Favre (09) have had as many. And Darnold has 5 games left. 

Disagree about job 1. To me that's corner. I have this sneaking suspicion that our mediocre talent at corner is going to be the thing that ends our season this year. Even crap teams have at least one good corner. Our best guy is a hundred years old. It's duck tape and chicken wire back there. An illusion conjured by a good pass rush and QB confusion. AND... none of our top three corners is under contract in 2025.

[purplefaithful]

I sense more confidence from Darnold....he looked unflappable at the end. Smiling more in interviews and you can see he views this as his team.

Them is some big words. Thats the first time I've heard Sam vocalize publicly how much he loves it here and the team. I'm not surprised.

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I noticed that about the crowd too. About half way through the 1st quarter I remembered it was a home game. Sure didn't feel like one. Anyone who was there have a different take? Cards probably weren't a big draw so maybe a lot of casual fans in attendance?

Don't like that Cousins threw 4 picks THIS week. He rarely has two bad games in a row. 

Darnold was spectacular late in the game. I read he now has 10 games with a rating over 100. Only Culpepper (00) and Favre (09) have had as many. And Darnold has 5 games left. 

Disagree about job 1. To me that's corner. I have this sneaking suspicion that our mediocre talent at corner is going to be the thing that ends our season this year. Even crap teams have at least one good corner. Our best guy is a hundred years old. It's duck tape and chicken wire back there. An illusion conjured by a good pass rush and QB confusion. AND... none of our top three corners is under contract in 2025.

The crowd was bored and so was I most of the game. 

^^ at the bold - I felt the same way lol! Kirko is due to turn this around. He's many things and competitive is one of them. 

DB and IDL are our top priorities next season. Flores has been able to cobble it together with confusion as you said. As teams have gotten more tape, the confusion angle is harder to pull off. I think their undoing will be a physical team that can run like hell at em. 

To me there is Philly/Detroit and then #2 GB/MN tiers. 

MN needs to get a bit stouter to make that next step. 

This bears repeating - we feasted (5/0) against teams that are 21/40 the last month. ITs $$ time now.

[Riphawkins]

I sense more confidence from Darnold....he looked unflappable at the end. Smiling more in interviews and you can see he views this as his team.

In this interview he alsmost seemed sad that he probably wasnt going to return next season. I think he. Knows KOC and the Vikings restarted his career and he’d rather be here than anywhere else.
I like the guy!

[pattersaur]

Aaron Jones-- How worried are we here?

He's been worth every cent but seems to be wearing down. Akers and Chandler are just guys. We could really use THE Aaron Jones if we want to go anywhere in the playoffs. I think he'll get less carries (for a few different reasons) over the next month if we are still looking like a playoff team/have clinched.

I agree with everyone in the Jeanty thread-- RB is priority FA or more likely, priority draft pick.