Miscellaneous Thoughts – Vikings vs Saints
Great way to start the season -- dominating win and winning a bet with my nephew. Here are my misc. thoughts:
- Confidence. There are a couple of examples of confidence in this game which I took note. First, Bradford looked like he had a lot more confidence in his receivers than last year. There were a lot of throws to open receivers but there were also a number of throws to covered receivers. Rarely, last year, did Bradford feel confident enough in the receivers to throw the ball even when the receivers were covered. This resulted in a lot of check downs. Last night, as the night went on, Bradford seemed more and more confident in throwing to covered receivers (such as one of Diggs' TDs). This could have been just due to Bradford's general growing confidence in the game or it might be the product of the off season work. It will be something that I will be watching going forward. The second example of confidence was the fact the Vikes ran a pitch play to Dalvin Cook with less than 2 minutes to go. Obviously, there is more of a risk in a pitch play than a straight handoff -- I thought it showed great confidence in Cook. Also, do you realize the three rookies are in the top 5 of rushing the first week? That is pretty remarkable in itself.
- Peterson. Did anyone get the feeling that Sean Payton wanted to get AD a touchdown in the Vike's house? I don't think AD will finish the season with the Saints.
- Barr/Kendrick. I was surprised to see Barr had more tackles and TFL (8; 1.5) than Kendricks (6; 0). I thought Barr played well but Kendricks seemed to be everywhere. Regardless, Linval presents the canvas upon which the backers paint their artistry.
- Elflein. I have memorize how to spell his name because I feel I may be writing about him often. It is not often that a Olineman catches my eye but Elflein seems very athletic and able to get to the second level. He may follow a long line of athletic Viking centers.
- Thielen/Diggs. One word to describe each. Thielen -- inspirational. Diggs -- dynamic.
- Quick questions in my mind. Jaleel Johnson inactive? Treadwell, being brought along slowly or not ready for prime time? Another missed extra point?
- One Coaching Criticism. I know I shouldn't complain about anything but this stuck out in an otherwise near perfect game. In the 4th quarter, Thielen was marked just short of a first down when he went out of bounds. Time stopped. Zim should have challenged the spot. Vikings had 3 time outs. Burning a challenge at that point only had upside. The only think I could think of was that Zim didn't want to freeze his own kicker. Small criticism but I felt I had to find something.
Good take...spot on. As far as Bradford goes with throwing to covered receivers I think a lot had to do with the extra time he had in the pocket. It's as if though he didn't feel rushed to checkdown and had the time he needed to look over all his receivers.
Great write-up as usual VO. Always look forward to your thoughts.
Your thoughts bring up some thoughts of mine;
-Disagree on the challenge. The spot was poor, but AT was no where near a first down. He did reach the ball forward which the ref failed to account for, but he was still well short.
- Bradfords comfort, I would think it has to do with comfort with the offense, timing with the WRs and in general being around for an off-season. Last year had to be so difficult without all that. But yes, that throw to Wright was amazing. From Bradford's view, he couldn't even see Wright. The 2 sideline catches (1 in endzone) to diggs were timing for sure, that back shoulder stuff is hard to defend and hard to throw, but they make it look so easy.
- JJohnson was a late round pick and will likely be brought along slowly. TJ and BRob will be getting most of the snaps anyway, so he has time.
Agree with most except the challenge. At first, I was thinking like you and would be well worth a challenge, and (same as you) even wondered if Zim was worried about icing his own kicker... But, like greediron said, eventually came around to the fact that Thielen was short of the first down.
In any case, good write up as always VO!
It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...
BOOM
@"Wetlander" said: It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...BOOM
That is so funny that I still misspelled his name. I kept going back to the roster because I couldn't believe his name started with "Elfl" -- I thought it was "Elf" no additional 'l' -- and it is kind of hard to see the additional l onscreen. Now I know it has the additional 'l' and defies spelling convention.
@"VikingOracle" said:@"Wetlander" said: It's Elflein. Not Elflien. Memorize it my man... It defies the whole "i" before "e", except after "c" saying...BOOM
That is so funny that I still misspelled his name. I kept going back to the roster because I couldn't believe his name started with "Elfl" -- I thought it was "Elf" no additional 'l' -- and it is kind of hard to see the additional l onscreen. Now I know it has the additional 'l' and defies spelling convention.
Yeah, it took me multiple Google searches to get his name right this off-season, so don't feel bad about it... LOLElflein. Elflein. Elflein.
BOOM
replayed the Saints opening drive and still can't figure out how the refs called it.
1st down; AD for 9 yards
2nd down; AD doesn't make it to the LOS.
3rd down incomplete pass.
TV announcers says 3 and out
and now it's 2nd down?
Someone please explain this?
@"FLVike" said: replayed the Saints opening drive and still can't figure out how the refs called it.1st down; AD for 9 yards
2nd down; AD doesn't make it to the LOS.
3rd down incomplete pass.
TV announcers says 3 and out
and now it's 2nd down?
Someone please explain this?
not I, was dumfounded as well...
They gave him a yard and a 1st down on his second run: (why I have no idea since he was clearly stopped before the line to gain. He barely reached the LOS)
- New Orleans Saints at 15:00
- 2-K.Forbath kicks 68 yards from MIN 35 to NO -3. 33-T.Edmunds to NO 19 for 22 yards (30-C.Ham).@vikings#contentId=0ap3000000843399">
- 1-10-NO 19(14:56) 28-A.Peterson right guard to NO 28 for 9 yards (42-B.Gedeon).@vikings#contentId=0ap3000000843396">
- 2-1-NO 28(14:17) 28-A.Peterson right tackle to NO 29 for 1 yard (92-T.Johnson; 54-E.Kendricks).
- 1-10-NO 29(13:29) (Shotgun) PENALTY on NO-67-L.Warford, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at NO 29 - No Play.@vikings#contentId=0ap3000000843397">
- 1-15-NO 24(13:15) (Shotgun) 9-D.Brees pass incomplete short left to 82-C.Fleener (54-E.Kendricks).
- 2-15-NO 24(13:11) (Shotgun) 41-A.Kamara up the middle to NO 27 for 3 yards (98-L.Joseph). PENALTY on MIN-98-L.Joseph, Face Mask (15 Yards), 15 yards, enforced at NO 27.
As soon as we missed that extra point I thought to myself... just go for two every time.
@"greediron" said: - JJohnson was a late round pick and will likely be brought along slowly. TJ and BRob will be getting most of the snaps anyway, so he has time.
Ehhhh....Johnson was the 2nd pick in round 4, I wouldn't call that "late round". Gedeon was picked later and started. You may be right, but I had hoped we were getting away from the "Zimmer doesn't let rookies play" philosophy. Opinions about Tom Johnson obviously differ greatly, but I think Jaleel would bring more fire (and bulk). I expect his status will evolve as the season proceeds.
@"GermanVike" said: They gave him a yard and a 1st down on his second run: (why I have no idea since he was clearly stopped before the line to gain. He barely reached the LOS).Refs still thought Peterson was a star player they were supposed to give special treatment.
@"Jor-El" said:@"greediron" said: - JJohnson was a late round pick and will likely be brought along slowly. TJ and BRob will be getting most of the snaps anyway, so he has time.
Ehhhh....Johnson was the 2nd pick in round 4, I wouldn't call that "late round". Gedeon was picked later and started. You may be right, but I had hoped we were getting away from the "Zimmer doesn't let rookies play" philosophy. Opinions about Tom Johnson obviously differ greatly, but I think Jaleel would bring more fire (and bulk). I expect his status will evolve as the season proceeds.
okay, not late, but 3rd day pick.Point being, he has potential and showed that against the 2s and 3s in preseason. But obviously he still has some work to do before making the field.
@"greediron" said:@"Jor-El" said:@"greediron" said: - JJohnson was a late round pick and will likely be brought along slowly. TJ and BRob will be getting most of the snaps anyway, so he has time.
Ehhhh....Johnson was the 2nd pick in round 4, I wouldn't call that "late round". Gedeon was picked later and started. You may be right, but I had hoped we were getting away from the "Zimmer doesn't let rookies play" philosophy. Opinions about Tom Johnson obviously differ greatly, but I think Jaleel would bring more fire (and bulk). I expect his status will evolve as the season proceeds.
okay, not late, but 3rd day pick.Point being, he has potential and showed that against the 2s and 3s in preseason. But obviously he still has some work to do before making the field.
Yea, Jaleel looked really good in the 3T vs 2's and 3's showing some nice power moves and a burst to the QB.I wasn't able to tape the game so did Tom Johnson play the 3T the whole game or did Stephen play some and also NT? Curious because Stephen was being used as Joseph's backup in preseason and Zimmer loves his rotations.
I will be shocked if Jaleel isn't part of that rotation very soon.
@"minny65" said:Yea, Jaleel looked really good in the 3T vs 2's and 3's showing some nice power moves and a burst to the QB.I wasn't able to tape the game so did Tom Johnson play the 3T the whole game or did Stephen play some and also NT? Curious because Stephen was being used as Joseph's backup in preseason and Zimmer loves his rotations.
I will be shocked if Jaleel isn't part of that rotation very soon.
watched most of it on my phone, so I am not sure who was on the interior. BRob was in quite a bit on the interior, had a series or 2 at DE as well. So not really sure. I can recognize Brian easily, his signature shoulder shrug and all that.
@"greediron" said:@"minny65" said:Yea, Jaleel looked really good in the 3T vs 2's and 3's showing some nice power moves and a burst to the QB.I wasn't able to tape the game so did Tom Johnson play the 3T the whole game or did Stephen play some and also NT? Curious because Stephen was being used as Joseph's backup in preseason and Zimmer loves his rotations.
I will be shocked if Jaleel isn't part of that rotation very soon.
watched most of it on my phone, so I am not sure who was on the interior. BRob was in quite a bit on the interior, had a series or 2 at DE as well. So not really sure. I can recognize Brian easily, his signature shoulder shrug and all that.
So Tom Johnson and BRob were probably rotating on the interior leaving no snaps for Jaleel.
Miscellaneous Thoughts – Vikings vs Saints
Great way to start the Minnesota Vikings season — Dominating win against the New Orleans Saints and winning a bet with my nephew. Here are my misc. thoughts: Confidence. There are a couple …
So glad to see VikingOracle posting his thoughts again this year! One of my favorite pieces.
@"Mike Olson" said: So glad to see VikingOracle posting his thoughts again this year! One of my favorite pieces.
I feel the same way... always a thought provoking read.
@"Wetlander" said:@"Mike Olson" said: So glad to see VikingOracle posting his thoughts again this year! One of my favorite pieces.I feel the same way... always a thought provoking read.
Thanks guys. I hope my posts stimulate thoughts and comments. regardless, there is a cathartic element to my posts (especially when the Vikes lose)!One thing I forgot to mention is I believe the Vikes saw a way to exploit the Saints kickoff coverage teams. Didn't work but it appeared to me that they tried to run the kickoff return a few times and that McKinnon had the green light to test the Saints coverage unit.
Agreed @VikingOracle I think they gave him the green light to return everything until later in the game. I like that sort of aggressiveness.
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