Granted, much of Ponder's production came in the short passing game against the Jaguars' soft Cover-2 scheme, which is useless when their corners don't tackle. He didn't have a completion longer than 29 yards all day. But he was smart with the football after the early errors and made several clutch throws -- none better than a 26-yard strike that got the Vikings to the edge of field-goal range late in regulation. They were running three verticals and Ponder's first read was covered, so he went to his second, saw two defenders inside and stuck the ball on the receiver's outside shoulder. That's veteran stuff.
Felton seemed to be everywhere, sticking lead after lead with authority and holding up well in pass protection, too. What an upgrade from Ryan D'Imperio.
So far, so good for the Vikings' first-time starters. They used chips or extra-man protections 17 times (65.4%) but gave minimal help to LT Matt Kalil (59 snaps), who didn't allow a single quarterback pressure. The top draft pick did have some issues in the run game -- most notable, allowing DT D'Anthony Smith to beat him outside and wrap up Peterson for a 4-yard loss in overtime. The problem doesn't appear to be Kalil's power as much as getting sloppy which his technique, which might be a product of trying to settle into the scheme.
dead_poet wrote:Film analysis series by Tom Pelissero:
Is it just me or does a 29 yard completion seem pretty long? It's not a bomb but if I recall correctly, that pass was to Rudolph on a deep sideline route.
But he was smart with the football after the early errors and made several clutch throws -- none better than a 26-yard strike that got the Vikings to the edge of field-goal range late in regulation. They were running three verticals and Ponder's first read was covered, so he went to his second, saw two defenders inside and stuck the ball on the receiver's outside shoulder. That's veteran stuff.
I loved it.
Felton seemed to be everywhere, sticking lead after lead with authority and holding up well in pass protection, too. What an upgrade from Ryan D'Imperio.
His blocking was one of the most pleasant surprises of the game. I hope he gets even better as the season progresses.
I was surprised how often the Jaguars had both safeties deep so often. Looked like a Vikings defense! Finally figured it out though, wonder how it's going to look moving forward. No completion over 29 yards but once teams start playing the line of scrimmage more maybe it will open that stuff up.
Demi wrote:I was surprised how often the Jaguars had both safeties deep so often. Looked like a Vikings defense! Finally figured it out though, wonder how it's going to look moving forward. No completion over 29 yards but once teams start playing the line of scrimmage more maybe it will open that stuff up.
Mothman wrote:
Hopefully, Simpson's return will too.
Yes, you're exactly right. Simpson's return is going to be important to the team because he will help stretch the field.
Simpson obviously isn't Randy Moss but they have some similarities in their game. Like Moss, Simpson reads the safeties well and cuts decisively. And also like Randy, Simpson has excellent sustained speed and can jump for the ball.
When Simpson comes back and if he can open up the passing game with some deep catches, then we'll probably see safeties frequently in deep coverage. I think Adrian Peterson will like that a lot.
Demi wrote:I was surprised how often the Jaguars had both safeties deep so often. Looked like a Vikings defense! Finally figured it out though, wonder how it's going to look moving forward. No completion over 29 yards but once teams start playing the line of scrimmage more maybe it will open that stuff up.
i said that while watching the game too. they looked like the vikes safeties playing 30+ yards behind the line of scrimmage!
Great. Now I'm worried that the Vikings DL isn't getting to the QB.
OTOH, good work by the Vikings OL. I hope they can gradually get better as the season progresses. The outcome of the war in the trenches is still the key to most wins and losses.
Adrian Peterson's big day should have been even bigger
In the locker room Monday afternoon, receiver Percy Harvin noted that Peterson was one block away from breaking into daylight. So I went back and looked at that run again and it seems safe to assume that had Stephen Burton held his block just a second longer on Will Middleton that Peterson could have closed the game with a 62-yard touchdown run. Imagine how crazy that would have been with Peterson finishing his day with 16 carries, 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Q: That last Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph incompletion late in the fourth quarter, what happened?
A: This was asked about during the chat and I’ve since had a chance to go back and watch the play several times. Indeed, Rudolph showed an uncharacteristic case of alligator arms, prematurely flinching as Jacksonville’s Dawan Landry closed in. This was one of those key miscues for the Vikings that gets brushed under the rug because of the final result. But going forward, the Vikings absolutely need to capitalize on plays like that. Yes, Rudolph had a wonderful game with five catches for 67 yards. But that missed opportunity came on a third-and-13 play with 5:43 to play and the Vikings trying to add to a 17-15 lead. A catch and the Vikings get first-and-goal at the Jacksonville 9 and may have been able to add a game-sealing touchdown. Instead, they settled for a 42-yard Blair Walsh field goal and let the Jags hang around.
Fusco (+4.6), Robison (+9.8 ) (special mention to Walsh)
This time last year Boling was working his way onto the bad day team after looking horribly unprepared for life in the NFL. Now? Well he’s only gone and put his name at the top of the guard charts with a superb performance in the opener. Fellow sophomore Fusco was limited to 26 snaps as a rookie, but really delivered the goods in his first NFL start thanks to some hugely encouraging run blocking.
Over in Minnesota Robison continues to excel on opening days of the season, posting the highest score of any defensive player this week. That was, by and large, the result of constantly beating whoever the Jaguars had at right tackle to the tune of three hits and six hurries.
How can you look past Blair Walsh, the rookie kicker who sent a 55 yarder in as time expired to help the Vikings to overtime, before then kicking the game winner in the extra period … It was almost Pat McAfee but the booming kicks of Thomas Morstead edged it
dead_poet wrote:Adrian Peterson's big day should have been even bigger Q: That last Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph incompletion late in the fourth quarter, what happened?
Worth the entire read for interesting takes on some questionable ref calls (and their impact) as well as the questionable defensive call on the Shorts TD: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 17936.html
Thanks for the link on this, DP. You're right. This is worth the entire read. Truly interesting questions and comments.
It's also a reminder about how complex any play is for both the offense and defense.
dead_poet wrote:Worth the entire read for interesting takes on some questionable ref calls (and their impact) as well as the questionable defensive call on the Shorts TD: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 17936.html
Thanks for the link! There was good, solid info there.
It's amazing to me that the NFL is apparently emboldened by the performance of the replacement refs this weekend rather than embarrassed. There were fundamental errors like the one described in that article in a number of games this week. It is not okay for officials to hand a team 7 extra yards near midfield in a close game because they mis-applied a rule, to give a team an extra timeout (this happened in the Seahawks/Cards game) or to allow a coach to challenge when the next play has already been run (Steelers/Broncos game).
they looked like the vikes safeties playing 30+ yards behind the line of scrimmage!
