After 2 preseason games, 1st string O-line pretty dicey...

A work in progress is a lot more then Im giving them credit for. I’ve thought its looked worse then last year. 

I would say work in progress too...How many times did our QB's get sacked the last 2 games?

I would say our DL without Linval looked more worrisome to me. Wilson was way too comfortable back there. 

Edit -- w/out Linval.

@"purplefaithful" said: I would say work in progress too...How many times did our QB's get sacked the last 2 games?

I would say our DL with Linval looked more worrisome to me. Wilson was way too comfortable back there. 

@"StickyBun" said: It sucks that O'Neill hasn't been in there. Elflein seems very inconsistent. Not sure what you can take from preseason, but my impression is its still a work in progress at this point. We'll see moving forward. No sacks allowed (that's good) but lots of pressure (that's bad). 

@"StickyBun" said: It sucks that O'Neill hasn't been in there. Elflein seems very inconsistent. Not sure what you can take from preseason, but my impression is its still a work in progress at this point. We'll see moving forward. No sacks allowed (that's good) but lots of pressure (that's bad). 

Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

@"MaroonBells" said: Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

I think they'll stick with the run a lot more than year-ago and we'll see a lot more under center vs last year too. 

D is going to have to keep things close in order to pound the rock as much as Zim would like. I'm still not convinced this is a Top 5 D in 2019. 

It's a work in progress and will continue to be one. There are still moving parts. It's going to take time.

Haven't been able to watch much, but will offer this up.  No sacks, we controlled (as in YUGE) the time of possession, ran the ball well.  Didn't seem like a ton of pressure, Mannion was able to deliver the ball, although on the INT looked like the pressure affected him.
Don't see how it could look worse than last year.  0 sacks and lots of yard running pretty much eliminates last year being better.

@"MaroonBells" said: Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

But I also get the impression they're going to pass more. I think Zimmer was taken out of context a lot last year when he wanted to run the ball more. What he really is looking for is the ability to control the tempo of the game. The Vikings defense has always been built on the premise that they'll bend but not break when they're backed into their end of the field. That strategy works really well until your offense goes 3 & out and burns 2 minutes or less of the clock. 

When the starters were in they ran 10 time and passed 9. They ate up 10 minutes of game time on those two possessions along which is very encouraging. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

It is looking like they're going to incorporate stretch zone but really want to be a multiple offense. In my mind its the twist Stefanski is putting on the Kubiak offense. 

But I also get the impression they're going to pass more. I think Zimmer was taken out of context a lot last year when he wanted to run the ball more. What he really is looking for is the ability to control the tempo of the game. The Vikings defense has always been built on the premise that they'll bend but not break when they're backed into their end of the field. That strategy works really well until your offense goes 3 & out and burns 2 minutes or less of the clock. 

When the starters were in they ran 10 time and passed 9. They ate up 10 minutes of game time on those two possessions along which is very encouraging. 

@"pattersaur" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

It is looking like they're going to incorporate stretch zone but really want to be a multiple offense. In my mind its the twist Stefanski is putting on the Kubiak offense. 

But I also get the impression they're going to pass more. I think Zimmer was taken out of context a lot last year when he wanted to run the ball more. What he really is looking for is the ability to control the tempo of the game. The Vikings defense has always been built on the premise that they'll bend but not break when they're backed into their end of the field. That strategy works really well until your offense goes 3 & out and burns 2 minutes or less of the clock. 

When the starters were in they ran 10 time and passed 9. They ate up 10 minutes of game time on those two possessions along which is very encouraging. 

I 'third' the notion that we're going to pass a lot. DeFilippo clearly wasn't perfect and should've had Cousins under center way more, but especially with Dalvin Cook hurt last year it's hard to fault the guy for trying to get the ball to Thielen and Diggs. They're the best 2 offensive players on the team. The coaches are going to force them the ball, as they should.
I also totally agree with Guru about how time of possession is what's really important to Zimmer and is key to the Vikings winning games.

@"pattersaur" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Still haven't seen a lot of wide zone with the starters in. It could just be me, but it seems they wait until the 2s and 3s are in to run it with any frequency. Also, I get the impression that this team is going to pass a lot more than we thought. 

It is looking like they're going to incorporate stretch zone but really want to be a multiple offense. In my mind its the twist Stefanski is putting on the Kubiak offense. 

But I also get the impression they're going to pass more. I think Zimmer was taken out of context a lot last year when he wanted to run the ball more. What he really is looking for is the ability to control the tempo of the game. The Vikings defense has always been built on the premise that they'll bend but not break when they're backed into their end of the field. That strategy works really well until your offense goes 3 & out and burns 2 minutes or less of the clock. 

When the starters were in they ran 10 time and passed 9. They ate up 10 minutes of game time on those two possessions along which is very encouraging. 

I 'third' the notion that we're going to pass a lot. DeFilippo clearly wasn't perfect and should've had Cousins under center way more, but especially with Dalvin Cook hurt last year it's hard to fault the guy for trying to get the ball to Thielen and Diggs. They're the best 2 offensive players on the team. The coaches are going to force them the ball, as they should.
I also totally agree with Guru about how time of possession is what's really important to Zimmer and is key to the Vikings winning games.

FWIW,  zero sacks allowed...

Get Trent Williams here while there's still a couple of weeks before the season. He would make LT a strength rather than an "adequacy", Reiff is hardly the ideal athlete for a wide zone scheme, and Elflein's play may improve next to a great OT.
Williams is clearly serious and Redskins are starting to panic about their line without him. Send Reiff and a draft pick - our 2nd might seem high but the Vikings are built to win now, and it will be almost a 3rd if this season is a success. Hell, swap Treadwell for Josh Doctson as part of the deal - lets both teams get rid of their 2016 busts with less shame.

@"Jor-El" said: Get Trent Williams here while there's still a couple of weeks before the season. He would make LT a strength rather than an "adequacy", Reiff is hardly the ideal athlete for a wide zone scheme, and Elflein's play may improve next to a great OT. Williams is clearly serious and Redskins are starting to panic about their line without him. Send Reiff and a draft pick - our 2nd might seem high but the Vikings are built to win now, and it will be almost a 3rd if this season is a success. Hell, swap Treadwell for Josh Doctson as part of the deal - lets both teams get rid of their 2016 busts with less shame.

@"Jor-El" said: Get Trent Williams here while there's still a couple of weeks before the season. He would make LT a strength rather than an "adequacy", Reiff is hardly the ideal athlete for a wide zone scheme, and Elflein's play may improve next to a great OT. Williams is clearly serious and Redskins are starting to panic about their line without him. Send Reiff and a draft pick - our 2nd might seem high but the Vikings are built to win now, and it will be almost a 3rd if this season is a success. Hell, swap Treadwell for Josh Doctson as part of the deal - lets both teams get rid of their 2016 busts with less shame.

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Jor-El" said: Get Trent Williams here while there's still a couple of weeks before the season. He would make LT a strength rather than an "adequacy", Reiff is hardly the ideal athlete for a wide zone scheme, and Elflein's play may improve next to a great OT. Williams is clearly serious and Redskins are starting to panic about their line without him. Send Reiff and a draft pick - our 2nd might seem high but the Vikings are built to win now, and it will be almost a 3rd if this season is a success. Hell, swap Treadwell for Josh Doctson as part of the deal - lets both teams get rid of their 2016 busts with less shame.

While Trent Williams would look good on about any team, Elflein is the bigger issue they need to figure out. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Jor-El" said: Get Trent Williams here while there's still a couple of weeks before the season. He would make LT a strength rather than an "adequacy", Reiff is hardly the ideal athlete for a wide zone scheme, and Elflein's play may improve next to a great OT. Williams is clearly serious and Redskins are starting to panic about their line without him. Send Reiff and a draft pick - our 2nd might seem high but the Vikings are built to win now, and it will be almost a 3rd if this season is a success. Hell, swap Treadwell for Josh Doctson as part of the deal - lets both teams get rid of their 2016 busts with less shame.

While Trent Williams would look good on about any team, Elflein is the bigger issue they need to figure out. 

I know Elflein hasn't played particularly well, but what's the scoop? Is the team frustrated by his performance? I read somewhere that Dozier might be playing better than Elflein right now. 

Both lines haven't looked great so far. There hasn't been much pass rush and I worry that our options at UT/3-technique are adequate at best. Hopefully, they get on track once Joseph is back and they are playing for real. The run blocking with the 1st team OL concerns me. Backs were routinely getting hit in the backfield, which makes it hard to evaluate the running backs. It's preseason, so no reason to be too concerned yet, but I'd like to see more from both lines.