To beat Eagles, Case Keenum must cut down risky plays

[purplefaithful]

Case Keenum’s ability to make plays outside the pocket and create on the fly has created some of the best moments of the Minnesota Vikings’ season.There was his throw on the run for a touchdown to Adam Thielen in London, a 22-yard run against Chicago, another wild throw with pressure in his face to Thielen against the Rams and on and on. But, as Vikings fans are well aware from having watched Brett Favre throw across the middle of the field in the 2009 NFC title game, the gunslinger mentality can do as much damage as good.

Keenum’s gunslinging nearly kept the Vikings from being in the NFC Championship.
With the way it ended – on a 61-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs – it’s easy to forget about the other 59:35 of last Sunday’s game. There were certainly some good moments for Keenum. He completed a pass to Diggs in which he roamed the pocket for over 10 seconds. He also picked up 54 yards on Defensive Pass Interference calls against the Saints on long bombs down the field. Without being wiling to throw it up, the Vikings don’t get those calls.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/0...sky-plays/

[Guest]

I think Keenum calls the plays the coaches send in and executes them as they taught him.  
The question is does he hit the hot rought even though its covered to stretch the field when they decide the time is right or just hit the safe check down like Sam would so often do.

I dont know and Im glad i dont have to make those decisions!

[Guest]

His risky plays are part of what has got us to this point...can't handcuff him now...dance with who you brought to the dance...

[Guest]

He had 7 INT’s in the regular season and 0 fumbles. I’m not sure he is as bad as the writer wants us to believe. How much more can he cut back without becoming Check Down Charlie?

[Guest]

@"BarrNone55" said:
His risky plays are part of what has got us to this point...can't handcuff him now...dance with who you brought to the dance...

Agreed. Those 'risky' throws have paid huge dividends and had minimal damage thus far. But in a one game scenario, it could hurt the team on the road. So be it. Like you say, can't handcuff him now. Case has to be Case and the team needs to not be conservative because I think they'll need all the points they can gather. 

[Guest]

@"BarrNone55" said:
His risky plays are part of what has got us to this point...can't handcuff him now...dance with who you brought to the dance...

Damn right.

sling it kid!

[Guest]

I've seen him take some chances, but that pick last Sunday was dumb
and everyone knew that duck was going to be picked from the moment he let it go
Shit happens in the heat of battle & he has resilience & a short memory
that has earned him a level of trust
Since day one of the Zim regime, he has wanted a dominate D & a QB that doesn't screw the pooch
im so glad they are not handcuffing him like they did with Ponder and TJ 
The horseshoe quote sums it all up

[Guest]

risky plays are what makes him succeed,   its not the risky plays he needs to limit at all,  its the boneheaded one here or there that we would like to see eliminated,  get rid of the once in a while ill advised throw like last Sundays pick and his decision making is pretty damn good.

[Guest]

@Riphawkins said:
He had 7 INT’s in the regular season and 0 fumbles. I’m not sure he is as bad as the writer wants us to believe. How much more can he cut back without becoming Check Down Charlie?

Moderation doesn't sell newspapers (or generate clicks).  So no he isn't as bad as all that.

But there is good risk and bad risk in plays.  That play where he danced for about 10 seconds and then threw back across the field to a covered Diggs was not a good risk.  It worked, but oh my did that bring flashbacks.  The INT was not a good risk.

Most of the other plays were good risks.  Thielen, Wright, Diggs all made good plays to capitalize on those throws.  So I like Case.  I like his moxie and leadership.  Seems the guys are really buying into him as the leader of the team.

[Guest]

The single biggest risk to us losing this game (or any game)
is offensive turnovers.


“Risky” is a spectrum. 
I don’t think anyone is asking Case to completely turtle.  But there’s a huge difference between
throwing it up and trusting your receiver to come down with it, and throwing
the ball straight in the air while in the grasp of the defender.  The ball that was intercepted by Williams
should never have been thrown. 
Never.  Not in a million
years.  It was a hope and a prayer.  There was an incredibly high likelihood that
something bad would happen and an incredibly low percentage that something good
would happen.  If he did not make that 1
bad decision, the likelihood of the Saints winning goes down dramatically, they
never take the lead, and there’s no need for late game heroics.  We just win boringly.


A lot of the plays that I think people are calling risky,
aren’t as risky as that play.  There’s
maybe a 20% chance of something bad happening a 40% chance of something great
happening and 40% chance that we just lose the down.  A lot of times he’s throws against the grain
or scrambles around for a while his passes actually have a pretty high margin
for error, because he’s throwing to relatively wide open players or defenders
aren’t even looking for the ball.


I’m fine with those “risky” plays, but he absolutely needs
to avoid the “hope and prayer” plays.  We
just aren’t going to need those heroics to win.