Brian Baldinger tape

Yes, saw all that live and several times since. Sam was horrible. He couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle. Then he just didn't see, missed or ignored a handful of open receivers. The game was too big for him, which is a really odd thing to say since this was his 17th game this season, and has been, for the most part, spectacular.

KOC is going to have to find a way to calm him down and get his groove back in LA or the season will end on Monday night.

I see it as an outlier and expect him to be fine Monday. What I find sad is the Vikings would have won that game if Sam hit his throws. In other words, if they get it together and get back to Detroit, they are more than capable of beating Detroit.

Jerod Goff threw 5 pics against Houston bad games happen to every player it just sticks out like a sore thumb when it’s the quarterback position. By in  large he has been fantastic - one of the three or four best years in the history of the Vikings franchise. He will bounce back Monday night.

hogjowlsjohnny wrote:
I see it as an outlier and expect him to be fine Monday. What I find sad is the Vikings would have won that game if Sam hit his throws. In other words, if they get it together and get back to Detroit, they are more than capable of beating Detroit.

Agree. There were other players that didn't play particularly well (Robinson, Brandel, Reichard, even Jefferson), but if Sam hits half of his throws, sees half of the open receivers, converts half of our four red zone trips, this is a completely different ball game, even with those poor performances. 

I expect him to play better in LA, but here's the thing. All year, Sam has been able to bounce back from the miscues. It was our biggest concern going into the season and he surprised all of us by  proving himself worthy. Right now, his head is likely filled with self-doubt, if not sheer terror. If he starts poorly, will he be able to bounce back this time? Or will the demons from The Disaster at Ford Field be too loud to overcome?

DH11 wrote:
Jerod Goff threw 5 pics against Houston bad games happen to every player it just sticks out like a sore thumb when it’s the quarterback position. By in  large he has been fantastic - one of the three or four best years in the history of the Vikings franchise. He will bounce back Monday night.

Thats what my gut says as well...The entire offense needs to play better. 

Reichard needs to play better. 

The flip side for me as a fan? If Sam's poor play continues on MNF, my hesitancy to sign him again would grow exponentially.   

More broadly, the Dimes situation needs to be managed as well. Did he just want a few months to steep here or longer? Whats his goal?? 

Is 21 year old JJM ready to take the reigns of a 14 win team? 

Very interesting next 5 weeks coming-up. Would love to be a bug on the wall and listen in on KOC/KAM/Grigson discussions.

I think the key to Sam playing better is getting the protection $hit fixed. The Lions blitzed the hell out of the Vikings, 14 of them being cover zero all out blitzes, and the team wasn't ready. Sam looked frantic and out of sorts. He was pressured on 49% of his drop backs. It's the coaches jobs to have Sam and his protection ready for this pressure.

He did shit the bed, I've watched the game and several videos like this yesterday. Worst game as a Viking. Was he under a bunch of pressure? Hell yes. Did he miss many throws and not see wide open guys also? Yep.

I'm slowly putting this behind me. The money game is coming up in Los Angeles in the Wildcard game. It won't be a hostile environment. Weather won't be a factor. The Rams have got momentum and are well coached. Uncle Sammy has the opportunity to make people forget about this game. If its another bed-shitter, he won't be back in Minnesota. And a Buyer Beware sticker will be placed on him for the rest of the league. He's a good dude, I hope he balls like a motherf#$&er. I just don't know what will happen.

hogjowlsjohnny wrote:

I see it as an outlier and expect him to be fine Monday. What I find sad is the Vikings would have won that game if Sam hit his throws. In other words, if they get it together and get back to Detroit, they are more than capable of beating Detroit.

But we've lived on ifs, ands and buts in Vikingland forever. I was hoping maybe they broke the mold a bit this year with some big regular season wins, but was let down Sunday night. Its ok.....the takeaway is Detroit is the better team, but Minnesota can play with them if they themselves play well. Cool. Now they get the chance, as you mention, to put this loss in the outlier category against Los Angeles with a win. Get back to the 1-0 mentality.

Plenty of people jumping off the Viking's bandwagon in droves.....but not everyone. Bill Simmons agrees with your take, he thinks it was just a bad game and nothing more. We'll see.