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- Cowboys: I will start with a simple statement, this weeks game against the Cowboys is the most significant Viking game ever for Cousins and Zimmer. Not just for this season, but for their respective careers. Since 2014, the Vikings are now 0-13-1 against teams with winning records in an outdoor stadium on the road. Kirk Cousins is now 6-27 against teams with a winning record. Since Zimmer became coach, including playoffs, the Vikings are 13-29 against teams that had a winning record coming into the game.This is the game to break the narrative for both Zimmer and Cousins.
- Hurry Up Offense: I would start every game on the road in a hurry up offense. I think Cousin overthinks his mistakes instead of just moving on to the next play. A hurry-up offense would prevent him from lingering on the prior pass/play and make him act more instinctively. When employed in the past, it seemed to help him find a groove.
- Cornerback Whisperer?: I think Zimmer's reputation as a CB whisperer is taking a big hit. Think of the draft capital spent on CB on this team: 3 first round cornerbacks and a second round cornerback. Compare that with what Patterson has done with defensive line picks. This team should have the best defensive backfield in the league.
- Zimmer's Guys: Zimmer is too loyal to certain players. We have seen Rhodes deteriorate with no real accountability. I don't think you can even say Elfien has deteriorated, he has simply never improved. Compare that to the Patriot way where they kick players to the curb even before the player starts to deteriorate. It is frustrating to see players hold their jobs when it looks like there are better options on the bench.
- The Defense: It is weird knowing that these players have been in this system for many years, yet in the Chiefs' game there seemed to be a lot of blown assignments. In fact, I think I have seen more blown assignments this year than the entirety of the last 2 years combined. It really is strange and you have to wonder if players are beginning to freelance a little bit out of frustration.
- Play Calling: I thought the play calling was fairly poor on both sides of the ball. I do think the Vikes expected more blitzing and they adjusted to what the Chiefs were doing. As for the defense, it seems Zimmer always gets more conservative when playing a back-up quarterback than a starter. I guess he is playing the odds but I find ti odd.
I don't disagree with the first 2 items.
But the zimmer guys? How have we seen Rhodes deteriorate with no accountability? He has not been as good since the rule changes last year took away a big part of his game. But I don't recall him being targeted much against KC. Elflein has been a good part of the resurgence of the offense. He has a few bad plays in pass blocking, the defender got him jacked up and on his heels on one noticeable play. But how many good plays did he have?
13-29 against teams with a winning record. And yet folks get touchy when the Realists in this group call for change.
Minnesota will lose to a meh Cowboy team but will be in it most of the way and have a chance to win at the end. That seems to be good enough for a very surprising number of people here.
Rule Changes aren't what's hurting Xavier. He's slow. The slowest and most tentative at the LOS I've ever seen him. The Chiefs weren't targeting him because he wasn't covering their only 2 weapons, Kelce and Hill.
Quote: @VikingOracle said:
The rule changes for 2018 that severely limited the amount of contact allowed by the DBs.
Quote: @FSUVike said:
Rule Changes aren't what's hurting Xavier. He's slow. The slowest and most tentative at the LOS I've ever seen him. The Chiefs weren't targeting him because he wasn't covering their only 2 weapons, Kelce and Hill.
Seems to me that he's just too big to be fluid. And I have no idea how fast he is because I can't remember the last time I saw him sprint in a straight line.
Quote: @VikingOracle said:
It was widely talked about, everywhere. It is why Zimmer had to switch up his D after the Rams game.
here is one blurb from a year ago.Quote:Rules against defenders has changed everything. Receivers are getting
open more consistently and the NFL has shifted towards passing offenses
instead of steady ball control. Even running backs are now expected to
be more complete and able to catch passes.
Quote: @greediron said:
It was widely talked about, everywhere. It is why Zimmer had to switch up his D after the Rams game.
here is one blurb from a year ago. Quote:Rules against defenders has changed everything. Receivers are getting
open more consistently and the NFL has shifted towards passing offenses
instead of steady ball control. Even running backs are now expected to
be more complete and able to catch passes.
I think it wasn't a rule change but rather a new point of emphasis to more strongly enforce the earlier rules. Not disagreeing with you just was trying to line up Griffen's decline with changes in the rules (or strengthening the enforcement). Regardless of whether it is a decline in ability or ability no longer aligned with the rules, I think we can all agree that Rhodes is not nearly as effective as he was a few years ago. That being said, at what point do you replace him with Hughes? Can probably say the same thing with Waynes. It just seems to me that Zimm gives his players too many chances to bounce back. I really hope that I am wrong and that Zimm does his magic and helps Rhodes play at a high level for the next few seasons -- maybe I am not as patient as Zimmer.
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