Great way to start the season -- dominating win and winning a bet with my nephew. Here are my misc. thoughts:
- Confidence. There are a couple of examples of confidence in this game which I took note. First, Bradford looked like he had a lot more confidence in his receivers than last year. There were a lot of throws to open receivers but there were also a number of throws to covered receivers. Rarely, last year, did Bradford feel confident enough in the receivers to throw the ball even when the receivers were covered. This resulted in a lot of check downs. Last night, as the night went on, Bradford seemed more and more confident in throwing to covered receivers (such as one of Diggs' TDs). This could have been just due to Bradford's general growing confidence in the game or it might be the product of the off season work. It will be something that I will be watching going forward. The second example of confidence was the fact the Vikes ran a pitch play to Dalvin Cook with less than 2 minutes to go. Obviously, there is more of a risk in a pitch play than a straight handoff -- I thought it showed great confidence in Cook. Also, do you realize the three rookies are in the top 5 of rushing the first week? That is pretty remarkable in itself.
- Peterson. Did anyone get the feeling that Sean Payton wanted to get AD a touchdown in the Vike's house? I don't think AD will finish the season with the Saints.
- Barr/Kendrick. I was surprised to see Barr had more tackles and TFL (8; 1.5) than Kendricks (6; 0). I thought Barr played well but Kendricks seemed to be everywhere. Regardless, Linval presents the canvas upon which the backers paint their artistry.
- Elflein. I have memorize how to spell his name because I feel I may be writing about him often. It is not often that a Olineman catches my eye but Elflein seems very athletic and able to get to the second level. He may follow a long line of athletic Viking centers.
- Thielen/Diggs. One word to describe each. Thielen -- inspirational. Diggs -- dynamic.
- Quick questions in my mind. Jaleel Johnson inactive? Treadwell, being brought along slowly or not ready for prime time? Another missed extra point?
- One Coaching Criticism. I know I shouldn't complain about anything but this stuck out in an otherwise near perfect game. In the 4th quarter, Thielen was marked just short of a first down when he went out of bounds. Time stopped. Zim should have challenged the spot. Vikings had 3 time outs. Burning a challenge at that point only had upside. The only think I could think of was that Zim didn't want to freeze his own kicker. Small criticism but I felt I had to find something.
Good take...spot on. As far as Bradford goes with throwing to covered receivers I think a lot had to do with the extra time he had in the pocket. It's as if though he didn't feel rushed to checkdown and had the time he needed to look over all his receivers.
Great write-up as usual VO. Always look forward to your thoughts.
Your thoughts bring up some thoughts of mine;
-Disagree on the challenge. The spot was poor, but AT was no where near a first down. He did reach the ball forward which the ref failed to account for, but he was still well short.
- Bradfords comfort, I would think it has to do with comfort with the offense, timing with the WRs and in general being around for an off-season. Last year had to be so difficult without all that. But yes, that throw to Wright was amazing. From Bradford's view, he couldn't even see Wright. The 2 sideline catches (1 in endzone) to diggs were timing for sure, that back shoulder stuff is hard to defend and hard to throw, but they make it look so easy.
- JJohnson was a late round pick and will likely be brought along slowly. TJ and BRob will be getting most of the snaps anyway, so he has time.
Agree with most except the challenge. At first, I was thinking like you and would be well worth a challenge, and (same as you) even wondered if Zim was worried about icing his own kicker... But, like greediron said, eventually came around to the fact that Thielen was short of the first down.
In any case, good write up as always VO!
It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...
BOOM
Quote: @Wetlander said:
It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...
BOOM
That is so funny that I still misspelled his name. I kept going back to the roster because I couldn't believe his name started with "Elfl" -- I thought it was "Elf" no additional 'l' -- and it is kind of hard to see the additional l onscreen. Now I know it has the additional 'l' and defies spelling convention.
Quote: @VikingOracle said:
@ Wetlander said:
It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...
BOOM
That is so funny that I still misspelled his name. I kept going back to the roster because I couldn't believe his name started with "Elfl" -- I thought it was "Elf" no additional 'l' -- and it is kind of hard to see the additional l onscreen. Now I know it has the additional 'l' and defies spelling convention.
Yeah, it took me multiple Google searches to get his name right this off-season, so don't feel bad about it... LOL
Elflein. Elflein. Elflein.
BOOM
replayed the Saints opening drive and still can't figure out how the refs called it.
1st down; AD for 9 yards
2nd down; AD doesn't make it to the LOS.
3rd down incomplete pass.
TV announcers says 3 and out
and now it's 2nd down?
Someone please explain this?
Quote: @FLVike said:
replayed the Saints opening drive and still can't figure out how the refs called it.
1st down; AD for 9 yards
2nd down; AD doesn't make it to the LOS.
3rd down incomplete pass.
TV announcers says 3 and out
and now it's 2nd down?
Someone please explain this?
not I, was dumfounded as well...
They gave him a yard and a 1st down on his second run: (why I have no idea since he was clearly stopped before the line to gain. He barely reached the LOS)
- New Orleans Saints at 15:00
- 2-K.Forbath kicks 68 yards from MIN 35 to NO -3. 33-T.Edmunds to NO 19 for 22 yards (30-C.Ham).
- 1-10-NO 19(14:56) 28-A.Peterson right guard to NO 28 for 9 yards (42-B.Gedeon).
- 2-1-NO 28(14:17) 28-A.Peterson right tackle to NO 29 for 1 yard (92-T.Johnson; 54-E.Kendricks).
- 1-10-NO 29(13:29) (Shotgun) PENALTY on NO-67-L.Warford, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at NO 29 - No Play.
- 1-15-NO 24(13:15) (Shotgun) 9-D.Brees pass incomplete short left to 82-C.Fleener (54-E.Kendricks).
- 2-15-NO 24(13:11) (Shotgun) 41-A.Kamara up the middle to NO 27 for 3 yards (98-L.Joseph). PENALTY on MIN-98-L.Joseph, Face Mask (15 Yards), 15 yards, enforced at NO 27.
|
