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Despite sucking the holiday joy away from many fans, there are some notable positives yesterday. And they bode well for the team down the stretch.
Obviously JJ. shoulda had 22 more yards and a TD because he certainly wasn't out on that great back shoulder catch. He continues to impress more and more. His body control and getting more and more in sync with Cousins.
Speaking of Kirko, tell me, when has anyone see Kirk more pocket aware and moving fluidly in the pocket. His ability to step up, to the side and find a throwing window this year is astounding. He also makes throws in the face of getting smashed. This certainly bodes well for the offense.
Getting CD back. Look forward to having our best lineman out there.
Ive forgotten how important Harrison Smith still is to this D, until yesterday. Looking forward to getting him back for the stretch run.
Despite loss to Lions, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins turns some of his best work this season On Sunday, the Vikings' defense forced just two punts, allowing the Lions to score on five of their last six possessions. Their running game produced only 22 yards on 17 carries. And with center Garrett Bradbury and left tackle Christian Darrisaw both out because of injury, the Lions pressured Kirk Cousins on 36.4 percent of his dropbacks, sacking him three times and forcing him to shake off eight hits.
It provided the backdrop for the kind of day, in a 34-23 loss, when Cousins is often either expected to produce or said to be incapable of delivering.
He completed 31 of his 41 passes, throwing two touchdowns and passing for 425 yards, which matched his total from a 2018 Week 2 tie in Green Bay for his most in a Vikings uniform. In the second half alone, Cousins was 14 of 19 for 243 yards, helping Justin Jefferson break Sammy White's single-game regular-season receiving yardage record.
"He was attempting to will our football team to a victory," coach Kevin O'Connell said of Cousins. "Justin's adjustments he made since the last time he played against these guys, I thought he played incredibly fast and explosive and Kirk was right there with him every step of the way. I am really proud of those guys and I think that will help us continue to help us moving forward. We did a lot of different things today in the pass game to kind of have a plan of attack based off of what we saw the last time [against the Lions]. Pair that with a little bit better of a day running the football and I think that [puts us] offensively in a place where we feel like we can compete."
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Cousins was only expected to complete 58.1% of his passes Sunday, given the difficulty of the throws he made in the game. He finished with a 75.6% percentage — 17.5 percentage points over expectations, the fifth-highest such figure in the NFL this season.
He did it while the aforementioned pressure tested his footwork and durability. With the Vikings unable to run the ball effectively and facing a double-digit deficit for much of the second half, the Lions were able to send pass rushers after Cousins with few reservations. The quarterback rolled to his right to avoid a sack in the second quarter, firing for Jefferson along the sideline, and avoided a sack on the next series before a 13-yard completion to Jefferson.
"You're going to get hit; you understand that," Cousins said. "You've got your chiropractor, your tissue person lined up for Monday afternoon. I'll do my same routine I've been doing for five seasons here in Minnesota and beyond, going back to Washington, just keep employing my same routine and get put back together. We dropped back a lot today, and it was on the road, so there's some challenges that come with that. I just was proud of the way protection held up, and receivers and tight ends getting separation between coverages."
O'Connell's point about the running game is an important one; without an effective complement to keep the Vikings out of obvious passing situations, it's tough to imagine their offense will be sustainable against the quality of pass rush they could see against Dallas, Philadelphia or San Francisco in the playoffs.
On Sunday, though, Cousins and Jefferson turned in some of their best work when everyone knew what was coming. It might have done more to shape the narratives about the quarterback had it come in a victory, but it was noteworthy nonetheless.
https://www.startribune.com/kirk-cousins-vikings-lions-justin-jefferson-best-work-passing-statistics/600235135/
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
I think the gloom and doom is the reality of a 32nd ranked D.
Its not often the Vikings are that bad on that side of the ball. So ugly got pretty fugly yesterday minus the hitman.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
I think the gloom and doom is the reality of a 32nd ranked D.
Its not often the Vikings are that bad on that side of the ball. So ugly got pretty fugly yesterday minus the hitman.
We've had a crap defense for three years. Honestly, the inability to run the ball is far more frustrating and confusing to me.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
I think the gloom and doom is the reality of a 32nd ranked D.
Its not often the Vikings are that bad on that side of the ball. So ugly got pretty fugly yesterday minus the hitman.
We've had a crap defense for three years. Honestly, the inability to run the ball is far more frustrating and confusing to me.
The lack of run game is a real concern to me. They were missing Darrisaw, Bradbury and for awhile Brandel so that definitely factors in. Still, they need to figure this out.
The defense just flat out sucks. They can't keep giving up 400+ yards a game and keep winning, it's not sustainable. This defense is the worst of the last three years for sure. Not how they adjust it at this point of the season...guess we will see.
Kirko's accuracy was spot on yesterday and he held on to the last minute before the hits came in. He is also much more animated and expressive than ever before. I think it's because of comfort level and input with the offense. Kudos to Kirk and of course to Jefferson for his out of this world elite level of ability. He is redonkulous.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
I think the gloom and doom is the reality of a 32nd ranked D.
Its not often the Vikings are that bad on that side of the ball. So ugly got pretty fugly yesterday minus the hitman.
We've had a crap defense for three years. Honestly, the inability to run the ball is far more frustrating and confusing to me.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
This is a much better team with Darrisaw, Bradbury, and Harry. And I think Akayleb Evans has the brightest future of all our corners. Hopefully we get them all back by playoffs.
It wasn't until I watched the highlights that I remembered/realized just how close this game was. (I was in a sports bar in Denver where Tommy Kramer was signing autographs, so it was a little chaotic and hard to follow). This game basically turned on 3 or 4 unusual plays. It was not the blowout that the prevailing mood seems to suggest.
I think the gloom and doom is the reality of a 32nd ranked D.
Its not often the Vikings are that bad on that side of the ball. So ugly got pretty fugly yesterday minus the hitman.
We've had a crap defense for three years. Honestly, the inability to run the ball is far more frustrating and confusing to me.
This. With a running game, this game would have a different outcome. That's on KOC. And one more thing. Despite KOC saying that's on me in press conferences, He pulled out the lack of execution card out at the press conference, and I don't like that. He has some challenges with his play calling on offense, but that's more of an evolutionary learning process than a problem. It is a problem when ignores the defensive shitshow, and doesn't even mention it. Reminds me a little of the Denny Green years!
No team has ever prevent defensed their way to a superbowl win.
KOC has guided the team to a good spot. But please don't piss down your leg in December. We Vikings fans have seen this too many times before. Man up and prove you are different. Find a way to beat teams with better talent. That's the hawlmark of a great coach.
One of the best games ever for Cousins, he couldn't be stopped and they could not cover our WRs who were wide open all day. How we only scored 23 was totally on KOC with some really awful decisions. There was also no reason to keep forcing the run and it constantly put us in 3rd and long all day. This is not the 80s, you do not have to run the ball to win, go with what the defense is giving you, Buffalo and KC seem to doing okay abandoning the runs in games when it is not there for them.
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