Brees is very good, and arguably the best QB in the league, but he's also human. About any starting QB will hit open receivers if they're given time. I wasn't seeing the Vikings D getting close to Brees enough in the second half. No middle push, and he was able to step up and make his throws.
If Foles has time to throw, he's good enough to hit his receivers too. They do plenty of quick throws to their TEs, RBs, and shorter routes to the WRs too. Ask Atlanta if they respect the Eagles offense now. The Eagles outplayed them, and Foles was solid, especially as the game wore on.
The Vikes D played well enough to squeak out that win, but blowing a 17-0 lead at home isn't something I would've ever expected from them. Maybe my expectations are too high?
This will be a tough game Sunday evening, but I also think both the AFC teams remaining are better than this Foles led Eagles team.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Not against Philly. Zimmer admitted he made some mistakes in this game and you can bet he'll get that cleaned up. And a re-charged Vikings defense against Nick Foles should be (may not be, but SHOULD be) a laugher.
But I'm way more concerned about the Patriots than I was before.
Phillys offense isn't a joke. They have play makers. Hopefully Rhodes is up for the task on Jefferies. But their run game is stout and their OL is decent. There's a reason they're the last one standing.
My biggest concern was the player who was blown sideways on the blocked punt
The lack of pass rush has a lot to do with Brees and Kamara/Ingram. Brees gets the ball out as quick as anyone. Even when he doesn't he has a really good feel for the pocket and makes very subtle movements to buy himself enough time to get the ball out. To really give him problems you need to get pressure up the middle and force him to a single side of the field. Kamara has also been his best friend since you can tell D-line don't want to over pursue and get burned. In the first half MN did a very good job of keeping Brees in the pocket and forcing him to throw through traffic. Even when there wasn't a pass rush the D-lineman were getting their hands up in the passing lanes (think Everson deflection).
Midway through the 2nd quarter and throughout the 2nd half the Saints started moving Brees and running a lot more misdirection. The one weakness of the Vikings defense is that they can get a little too aggressive at times and allow big gains out the back door. New Orleans play called towards that. They also exposed Mac on Ted Ginn a number of times. It isn't that Mac can't cover Ginn in man-to-man coverage, he just was giving him way to much cushion.
I wouldn't worry about the defense much moving forward since they still pounded the Saints on 3rd down and likely learned to not exert all of their energy early in the game. That is a common problem when you play pumped up at home though.
Quote: @Tom Moore said:
@ kmillard said:
this has been a trend for over a month now. Offense has reeled in to conservative levels, no pass rush. No need to hide anything next week. They are going to have to do more than play vanilla to win on sunday.
Offense was not vanilla for the 1st half and opened it up. Yes, the second half was very conservative (or, better said, they did not execute as well)
I Think my frustration is watching how NE and BB handle a big lead. They just keep playing and don't get into trying not to lose mode. Love Zimmer and this team, but that is one aspect that bothers me. True, it would probably have been just fine had they scored a TD on that opening drive in the 2nd half, 24-0 was game over at that point but it was not. One thing I have learned is they need more help on the line in the draft (interior), not liking this lack of Pass Rush.
I hope they can dial it up for the Eagles.
I think people expect too much when they say #1 defense or one of the best defenses. Fans start to think that they should stop EVERYTHING and win every down. That's not going to happen against excellent offenses and/or elite quarterbacks, especially in the playoffs. Brees only took 20 sacks for the season because he's good at getting the ball out quickly. He's one of the best passers in history so when it comes to making plays when it matters he's going to do better than most. We should just hope that they limit the opposing offense, prevent big plays and keep their scoring low... and also that the Vikings offense doesn't make a lot of mistakes.
At the very least we can be happy they didn't give up 42 points and 545 yards like the Jags #2 defense... 300 more passing yards than their average.
Quote: @AGRforever said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Not against Philly. Zimmer admitted he made some mistakes in this game and you can bet he'll get that cleaned up. And a re-charged Vikings defense against Nick Foles should be (may not be, but SHOULD be) a laugher.
But I'm way more concerned about the Patriots than I was before.
Phillys offense isn't a joke. They have play makers. Hopefully Rhodes is up for the task on Jefferies. But their run game is stout and their OL is decent. There's a reason they're the last one standing.
Yeah, and that reason is on IR.
No game in the NFL is easy on the road, but Philly doesn't belong here with Foles as their QB. I will be very surprised if we lose this game. I like how we match up. Zim will likely sell out to stop Ajayi forcing Foles to beat them. And he'll have to play out of his mind to do that. And with Rhodes limiting Jeffery, I like our chances.
Quote: @Tom Moore said:
No. This is Drew Brees. The defense bent because the offense let up off the gas pedal and got way too conservative. The defense still allowed only 2 of 9 third down conversions.
The defense is elite, but teams will get their yards in a league where the rules very much favor offense and scoring.
When you worry about the Viking D, is the days they are not disciplined in stopping the run - 1st Detroit Game, Carolina. when that happens, there is trouble
Yes, the D got tired at the end and still came through with a big stop to hold them to a FG and give the offense a chance.
Sacks are nice, but Zimmer knows what he is doing. We didn't blitz much, but the one I remember got home with Harrison and BRob. Griff got one strip sack as well. But I think our LBs were much more focused on the RBs in the pass game. The had to be covered and the means EK and Barr were rather busy.
I think Philly will be a different story. I expect us to come after Foles. Especially if Sendejo is back. I wouldn't count on that tho, he was knocked out, is that correct?
14 of their 24 points came after we gave them the ball on our end of the field -- the bad INT and the blocked punt.
It was the same recipe as our loss to the Lions at home earlier in the season.
Our D is phenomenal, but not perfect. If they would have had to drive the length of the field, our D would have had more chances to stop them.
Quote: @greediron said:
@ Tom Moore said:
No. This is Drew Brees. The defense bent because the offense let up off the gas pedal and got way too conservative. The defense still allowed only 2 of 9 third down conversions.
The defense is elite, but teams will get their yards in a league where the rules very much favor offense and scoring.
When you worry about the Viking D, is the days they are not disciplined in stopping the run - 1st Detroit Game, Carolina. when that happens, there is trouble
Yes, the D got tired at the end and still came through with a big stop to hold them to a FG and give the offense a chance.
Sacks are nice, but Zimmer knows what he is doing. We didn't blitz much, but the one I remember got home with Harrison and BRob. Griff got one strip sack as well. But I think our LBs were much more focused on the RBs in the pass game. The had to be covered and the means EK and Barr were rather busy.
I think Philly will be a different story. I expect us to come after Foles. Especially if Sendejo is back. I wouldn't count on that tho, he was knocked out, is that correct?
being knocked out doesnt make him more/less likely to play this week. I have been KOd several times, once i was fine after about a day ( no lingering issues) another time i was feeling concussed for about a week. This is just a wait and see thing.
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