The Receivers...

How happy was everyone with Beebe redeeming himself? Awesome, good for the kid. 

Bisi just loves subbing for Thielen, doesn't he?

It was nice to see Cousins spread the ball around and to have the receivers step up with Thielen and Smith out. Bisi looked solid last year and then he got lost in the shuffle, so hopefully he can be more involved in the passing game going forward. You can tell that Kubiak trusts Beebe. They use him a lot on 3rd downs even with some designed plays and they have even started lining him up in the backfield for a different look. The muffed punt was still bad, but I'm happy that he took advantage of the chance to redeem himself.

I think Cousins locking onto AT has been a problem the whole season,  he is getting more comfortable with JJ,  but he has left a lot of plays on the field this year because he is going to AT first and even when he comes off of him he often goes back to him and ignores the TEs and 3rd WRs when they are out there.  Thats the difference between Cousins and the upper tier of QBs,  they have their stars,  but when defenses take those guys away they go to their other guys and make the defense pay for over playing the stars,  Cousins keeps trying to force the issue and holds the ball to long or forces a bad throw.  No reason for this offense not to be much more explosive and that means getting the ball to all the play makers more consistently,  not just a couple.  that also keeps those guys more into the game,  hard to expect somebody to really be engaged when they get 5 snaps a game and are usually a decoy or run blocker.

Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

@"prairieghost" said: Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

I honestly didn't know Sharpe was still on the roster.  I remember the signing, but can't remember seeing him in any games this season.

@"HappyViking" said:

@"prairieghost" said: Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

I honestly didn't know Sharpe was still on the roster.  I remember the signing, but can't remember seeing him in any games this season.

@"JimmyinSD" said: I think Cousins locking onto AT has been a problem the whole season,  he is getting more comfortable with JJ,  but he has left a lot of plays on the field this year because he is going to AT first and even when he comes off of him he often goes back to him and ignores the TEs and 3rd WRs when they are out there.  Thats the difference between Cousins and the upper tier of QBs,  they have their stars,  but when defenses take those guys away they go to their other guys and make the defense pay for over playing the stars,  Cousins keeps trying to force the issue and holds the ball to long or forces a bad throw.  No reason for this offense not to be much more explosive and that means getting the ball to all the play makers more consistently,  not just a couple.  that also keeps those guys more into the game,  hard to expect somebody to really be engaged when they get 5 snaps a game and are usually a decoy or run blocker.

That is definitely a frustration of mine with Cousins. He locks into his top one or two options and tends to force the ball to them rather than let the complimentary guys take advantage of the favorable matchups. To be fair, he can be rewarded for trusting guys like Thielen and Jefferson to make plays, but he does overlook easier plays and I think that locking in on his top options can contribute to his interceptions since the D knows where the ball is going and they jump the routes or he forces a pass that bounces off of the receivers hands and gets picked.

@"prairieghost" said:

@"HappyViking" said:

@"prairieghost" said: Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

I honestly didn't know Sharpe was still on the roster.  I remember the signing, but can't remember seeing him in any games this season.

The camera caught him congratulating Beebe from his seat on the bench after the go ahead TD. Before that, I didn’t know he was still taking a roster spot either...

When Cousins doesn't have the security blanket of Thielen, he spreads the ball around more. They have to mix it up more. Super happy to see Jefferson get the ball more and for the rest of the guys to step up. What a roller coaster for Beebe to go from muffing the punt to the game winning touchdown. 

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"prairieghost" said:

@"HappyViking" said:

@"prairieghost" said: Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

I honestly didn't know Sharpe was still on the roster.  I remember the signing, but can't remember seeing him in any games this season.

The camera caught him congratulating Beebe from his seat on the bench after the go ahead TD. Before that, I didn’t know he was still taking a roster spot either...

I believe he had a drop earlier in the game.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"prairieghost" said:

@"HappyViking" said:

@"prairieghost" said: Question: What’s the dealio with Sharpe? I really have to wonder why the heck they signed this guy. I know perhaps the coaching staff thought Jefferson would take longer to develop but Sharpe can’t even get past Beebe or Bisi for a rep or two. 

I honestly didn't know Sharpe was still on the roster.  I remember the signing, but can't remember seeing him in any games this season.

The camera caught him congratulating Beebe from his seat on the bench after the go ahead TD. Before that, I didn’t know he was still taking a roster spot either...

I believe he had a drop earlier in the game.

@"HappyViking" said:

I'm not kidding that I almost had forgotten we still had Bisi Johnson on the roster.  Bisi definitely showed up getting his opportunity with AT out.  While it appeared that JJ was the #1 WR for the game (2 TDs will do that), all of the receivers played big and Kirk spread it around very well.  It looks like Bisi, and Beebe are really starting to develop and get more comfortable in games.  JJ is already an NFL star as a rookie.

Bisi:    7 for 74JJ:       7 for 70 with 2 TDsRudy: 7 for 60Beebe: 7 for 63 1TD

Who's missing in that summary? 

Hint:  a high draft pick, 2 years ago...not named DK Metcalf.  

@"savannahskol" said:

@"HappyViking" said:

I'm not kidding that I almost had forgotten we still had Bisi Johnson on the roster.  Bisi definitely showed up getting his opportunity with AT out.  While it appeared that JJ was the #1 WR for the game (2 TDs will do that), all of the receivers played big and Kirk spread it around very well.  It looks like Bisi, and Beebe are really starting to develop and get more comfortable in games.  JJ is already an NFL star as a rookie.

Bisi:    7 for 74JJ:       7 for 70 with 2 TDsRudy: 7 for 60Beebe: 7 for 63 1TD

Who's missing in that summary? 

Hint:  a high draft pick, 2 years ago...not named DK Metcalf.  

@"JimmyinSD" said: I think Cousins locking onto AT has been a problem the whole season,  he is getting more comfortable with JJ,  but he has left a lot of plays on the field this year because he is going to AT first and even when he comes off of him he often goes back to him and ignores the TEs and 3rd WRs when they are out there.  Thats the difference between Cousins and the upper tier of QBs,  they have their stars,  but when defenses take those guys away they go to their other guys and make the defense pay for over playing the stars,  Cousins keeps trying to force the issue and holds the ball to long or forces a bad throw.  No reason for this offense not to be much more explosive and that means getting the ball to all the play makers more consistently,  not just a couple.  that also keeps those guys more into the game,  hard to expect somebody to really be engaged when they get 5 snaps a game and are usually a decoy or run blocker.

I agree with Cousins holding the ball too long and it seems like he locks in on the #1 target and doesn't move through his progressions as well as the Top tier guys.  I felt the same way but decided to crunch some numbers (yes I am Covid unemployed:).  Without boring everyone with stats Cousins has a similar target % of passes to his number one WR (Theilan with JJ very close) of 23% as Wilson and Mahomes.  Rodgers is the most reliant on Adams with 26% of his targets.  Not catches but targets.  Big Ben is the least reliant on his #1 at 21%.

Then when I add in their second WR most targeted Cousins is the same as Mahomes and Wilson at 46%.  Ben and Rodgers are lower around 40% but that is because they targeted their #1 too much.  Stats don't tell the whole story but they give a perspective.  I really only scrutinize the Vikings/Cousins to any extensive degree.  I do watch other teams but not with scrutiny so I do see what others are saying but I guess from my sampling that Cousins is not really far off from other Top QB in this specific regard. 

I know you mention, not just a couple WR's and spreading the targets so the above is a each teams top 2 targets.  Even when adding the top 5 Cousins is pretty much the same as the above.  

This last game with the 7 catches for 4 different players here is the breakdown on targets/catches:

JJeff - 7 of 13 targets
Bisi  - 7 of 7
Ruddy - 7 of 8
Bebbe - 7 of 7
Dalvin was also 4-4

So the other 3 caught almost ever ball thrown their way to achieve the 7 catches and show great distribution.  But again Cousin's is no different in my larger sampling and without my Purple scrutiny.

I do see him hold the damn ball too long, seems to scramble his way into sacks and doesn't step up sometimes even without interior pressure so I agree with that.  I think that is what he lacks to be a Top QB and not really target distribution.