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The win in Buffalo didn't belong to the starters. This loss, they played better IMO but still came up short.
Overall, in that loss the Vikings looked better to me than they did a
week prior. I liked what I saw from Sam. I liked what I saw from the
OL. I liked what I saw from Cook, even though he had some directional
issues with picking the wrong path... but his vision should improve with
reps. He is not strong enough to run people over... yet. But I liked
what I saw just the same. Ham looked good. So our backfield will be
Cooked Ham.... and if the run's up the middle it could be Cooked
Ham Berger. =)
D
looked just about the same... giving up big plays at exactly the wrong time. I will say BRob playing DT still gets the
respect of the O. He ate up a double team that left Hunter one on one
for his sack. Hunter was in the backfield more than just that one time
so I'm not taking anything away from him... just noting that BRob is a
complete football player and will be missed when he hangs up his cleats. #20 isn't ready to be a starter, he had a bad night. Newman looked old during the first 2(?) series.
OL looked a bit better too,,, Cook had some running room and was able to hit the hole untouched at times. It was good to see.
Cooks game is going to be elusive and speed, he aint going to truck anyone ala Earl Campbell...But he can still be scrappy and move the chains. That's why we got LM though too.
Been great to see Dalvin get the rep's. I think he's pretty much cemented himself as RB1 (knock wood) and he & LM should make a nice combo!
I am more encouraged by the OL. There was actually blocking. I like Ham (the player as well as the food). It was nice to see Cook do more. I was wondering about his footing a bit though. Sam had time to make some things happen so that was a plus as well. That will help add more balance during games. Hunter of course was a beast. The defense needs to continue to work. It was nice to hear Coach Zimmer happier with the offense.
I was somewhat encouraged, though it sucks to be in Seahags territory during and after a loss like that.
The o-line, down starters, looked better. Sam looked better, and a couple of his misses looked like missed routes more than anything else. I also got a feeling of extreme vanilla in the overall playcalling, so preseason remains kinda infuriating when it comes to evaluating the team at this point. I love preseason because I get Vikings football again, but I hate it because it's at least 50% dedicated to teams evaluating their new acquisitions, so actually game intensity is rare and inconsistent.
I think the team will look about 500% more vicious against New Orleans, and the playcalling will be much more intriguing.
Same here, I will take a Vanilla preseason and lose all of them for no injuries and a great season when it matters
Quote: @Vikergirl said:
I am more encouraged by the OL. There was actually blocking. I like Ham (the player as well as the food). It was nice to see Cook do more. I was wondering about his footing a bit though. Sam had time to make some things happen so that was a plus as well. That will help add more balance during games. Hunter of course was a beast. The defense needs to continue to work. It was nice to hear Coach Zimmer happier with the offense.
Could not watch the whole game, but I did notice the OL was engaging the DL more and getting some movement. In the first game, they were getting stood straight up way too often, especially the interior line. They are making progress. Berger did better than I expected and I wonder if the era of Boone is already passing.
Quote: @Ponifan said:
@ Vikergirl said:
I am more encouraged by the OL. There was actually blocking. I like Ham (the player as well as the food). It was nice to see Cook do more. I was wondering about his footing a bit though. Sam had time to make some things happen so that was a plus as well. That will help add more balance during games. Hunter of course was a beast. The defense needs to continue to work. It was nice to hear Coach Zimmer happier with the offense.
Could not watch the whole game, but I did notice the OL was engaging the DL more and getting some movement. In the first game, they were getting stood straight up way too often, especially the interior line. They are making progress. Berger did better than I expected and I wonder if the era of Boone is already passing.
I like that they are switching Elflein and Easton back and forth between center and guard. Have to test the versatility and see who wins out. They are improving so there is that. It's not like they were playing against a crappy defense or something.
I thought the offense looked pretty good on the whole. Bradford looked sharp, amazing what some pass protection will do. Dalvin Cook is going to be a good one. However, they have to figure how to stop the drive killing penalties in the red zone, a definite bad carry over from last season.
Didn't think the defense looked too good, gave up way too many yards in the air. However, I'm assuming some of that was due to the fact that Sendejo (really never thought I'd utter those words) and Waynes weren't playing. Alexander has a ways to go and will hopefully improve.
Hopefully we'll see some of the dinged up starters next week and get a little better look at what the team's going to actually look like this season.
Quote: @1VikesFan said:
I thought the offense looked pretty good on the whole. Bradford looked sharp, amazing what some pass protection will do. Dalvin Cook is going to be a good one. However, they have to figure how to stop the drive killing penalties in the red zone, a definite bad carry over from last season.
Didn't think the defense looked too good, gave up way too many yards in the air. However, I'm assuming some of that was due to the fact that Sendejo (really never thought I'd utter those words) and Waynes weren't playing. Alexander has a ways to go and will hopefully improve.
Hopefully we'll see some of the dinged up starters next week and get a little better look at what the team's going to actually look like this season.
That is basically my exact take away from the game. On defense remember that we weren't necessarily game planning anything either and I wonder if that left the corners even more so out on an island.....
This was the first I got to see of them. Its great to have football again, but preseason sucks, kinda like drivers training, ya never get the feel of a stomped accelerator.
Watched GB and KC and gotta say, its better to see an offense that is practicing stuff they already do well as oppressed to watching new stuff being tried. We gotta get the O-line and what our offensive game plan established.
Watched the D more, watching Hunter, Gedeon and Bower was the best part. That sack by Hunter, BRob was playing tackle, heard someone mention that was a great combo.
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