That 56 yard return....

[purplefaithful]

Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels called it “sickening” to walk off the field Sunday after his group allowed a 56-yard kickoff return by Chicago returner Devin Duvernay to help set up the Bears’ game-winning field goal.

“I’ve been in the league now eight years, played football a long time in this league, and I have never felt the way I felt after that football game,” Daniels said Tuesday. “You’d just rather get beat a different way.”

A large part of Daniels’ frustration stemmed from the fact the Vikings had practiced that exact return leading up to the game, but guys tried to make big plays instead of sticking to their assigned roles.

In the locker room postgame Sunday, first-year outside linebacker Tyler Batty explained that at least two teammates were supposed to be in the lane between him and Tavierre Thomas that Duvernay slipped through on the field side to make his return in Chicago’s 19-17 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“It really boils down to this: We live in a world where attention spans are very, very short and are shortening,” Daniels said. “There’s a belief of wanting this instant gratification, and everyone wants to be the guy that makes the play. ... The 10 guys covering are basically thinking, ‘[I’m going to] be the guy that makes the play.’ As a result, we lose discipline in our lane coverage, and as a result the ball winds back to the field, and there’s the explosive that comes with it.

“Not every single play is yours to make. As long as you do your job, the plays will come to you. Simple as that.”

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell spoke in a similar regard about the play Monday, saying the desire to win sometimes beats out “the discipline of what is my job on the play.”

The Vikings have allowed an average of 26.6 yards per kickoff return this season. Before Sunday, they had given up only one return of 40-plus yards. That was also against the Bears in Week 1, when wide receiver Luther Burden III returned a kick at the end of the first half 44 yards.

Vikings opponents this season have started only six drives beyond their own 35-yard line off 43 kick returns.

Daniels noted that the Vikings were in a similar situation in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns in London.

The Vikings had just taken a 21-17 lead when Will Reichard kicked off with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. The Vikings allowed only a 26-yard return, and the Vikings won after two futile deep ball attempts by Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

The difference this time around, Daniels said, was “guys got greedy out there.” Though he said he understands to a degree, he again pressed the need for discipline.

Daniels said he does not anticipate any personnel changes on kickoff returns yet, but that could be reassessed if problems persist.
“Young players have to learn through the fire,” Daniels said. “Sometimes you’re gonna get burnt, and obviously we got burnt in that situation.”

Strib

[hogjowlsjohnny]

Special teams shouldn't take the blame for poor offensive performance which is the real reason for the loss.

[Mattyman]

A large part of Daniels’ frustration stemmed from the fact the Vikings had practiced that exact return leading up to the game, but guys tried to make big plays instead of sticking to their assigned roles.


I see this happening on the Vikings defense as well. Players aren't following the coaching

It happens on offense too, Ingram was doing the same thing, it's why he failed as a Viking.

players followed the coaching and had discipline last year, and it worked, they won 13 games. I didn't see players going rouge this year .. but I see it happening

[StickierBuns]

Special teams shouldn't take the blame for poor offensive performance which is the real reason for the loss.

In this instance, it is why they lost. Straight up. Its like saying a fumble at the opponents 10 yard line with 5 seconds left isn't the reason for a loss. Timing and situation is everything. You allow a 56 yard kickoff return at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, yeah....not the reason. You allow a 56 yard kickoff return with 45 seconds left and down by one, yeah that's the reason.

[JimmyinSD]

In this instance, it is why they lost. Straight up. Its like saying a fumble at the opponents 10 yard line with 5 seconds left isn't the reason for a loss. Timing and situation is everything. You allow a 56 yard kickoff return at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, yeah....not the reason. You allow a 56 yard kickoff return with 45 seconds left and down by one, yeah that's the reason.

Throwing an interception while in FG range before the half has the same impact on result,  that was the same 3 point swing.  Lots of plays can be pointed to as a reason we lost,  not simply the last mistake because we happened to have finally taken the lead.  We can look at many plays over the 60 minutes and say if that had gone differently we would have won the game.  Hell the D was just as likely to have given up a major gain on the very next play after the kick return to set up the same field goal.

[MaroonBells]

I was in such a state of shock and disbelief that the Vikings were actually—wait, what? WINNING!!??—that game at the time, that I think I suppressed the kickoff return. Don't really remember being upset by it. Or it could've been the Paulaners.

[rf54]

they could have been perfect and given them the ball inside the 30 and I still think we lose that game, too much time left on the clock.

[pattersaur]

they could have been perfect and given them the ball inside the 30 and I still think we lose that game, too much time left on the clock.

This. I was pumped we scored and were winning but they still had almost a minute on the clock and some timeouts to get off a FG try. So I kept a fairly even keel and when the big kickoff return happened I just sighed.

Price had a doozy in that game also but we've also had so many big returns called back with holds this year. It's really been the achilles heel of that unit because they've been solid otherwise.

Well, except for the return that cost us the game this week. And Price's fumble that cost us the game last week. And maybe a few other things that cost us a few other games that I can't recall. But overall! Special Teams really has been decent-- shoutout to Reichard and Wright.

[purplefaithful]

I agree, too much time left on the clock, but it was do-able. I didnt get too giddy when we went-up at games end for that very reason. But I was happy to see anything positive from McCarthy.
Hell, you just gotta get over midfield now as Kickers are so good these days, especially indoors.

Maybe it was the way it was written, but this struck me as a very public instance of the coach blaming the players. Usually not this blatant.

[medaille]

There’s never any one reason why you lose. There’s always a multitude of things that happen that you can point at and say “Well if that was different, the game would have ended different”

I think a consistent factor in this team is that we are undisciplined. Whether it’s 8 false starts in a game, or the holding we get on every big kick return we have, or the inability to defend the run that we had for several games.

Beyond that, I think you have to ask yourself, how do we play winning football faster? I think it’s much easier to get the guys defending the kick return to stay in their lanes then it is to develop a QB. It’s much easier to eliminate false starts than it is to fix JJM’s mechanics midseason. So while we definitely should be trying to get JJM back on track as soon as possible, in a parallel path, we need the other players to play up to the standards we need them to be playing at. It’s hard to win with a rookie QB. You’re expecting them to carry the QB through the growing pains. Between the stuff listed earlier, and the massive amounts of drops we’ve had on the balls that were accurately placed, both the Bears and Ravens games probably would have been won if the supporting cast played up to how we expect them to play.