Breaking down the tape: Vikes-Seahawks

[CalVike]

Very late, but I finally watched the game including all the 2nd half Vikings drives in coaches view.

Observations

The Vikings lost the 2nd half 10-3 and it was a one score game until well into the fourth quarter. The defense actually did a good job of ending Seahawks drives by stopping 3rd down conversions. The time of possession stat is misleading. The Vikings had 3 or 4 opportunities before it was a two score game.

The first drive of the 2nd half included a nice run by AD but also some cases where he was stopped. On a 2nd and 7, the Hawks did not blitz, Ponder had time in the pocket, Rudolph ran a short slant to the middle right in front of Ponder and was wide open. Ponder inexplicably tucked and ran. It was like he did not see Rudolph, frankly unbelievable.

On 3rd and 7 on the same drive, the Hawks blitzed over the right tackle. Loadholt whiffed on his guy and AD missed the blitz pickup completely despite being right there. There was another play earlier in the game where AD checked into a route and missed the blitz pickup completely. He is not progressing in that category, unfortunately. I still think they take AD out of the game too much on third down, they need his running as a threat on every down. But they rarely run him on third down even third and 5. Punt.

There were at least two other drives in the 2nd half where they were down one score. They ran a lot of short routes on these drives but did several things I do not understand schematically. On many pass plays there seemed to be a limited number of players running routes. On more than one pass play, they seemed to cluster their receivers routes in the same area of the field including two players running short crossing routes right to the middle of the field. It is not surprising receivers were covered. Other than the play mentioned above, I do not remember a single play where Rudolph was given an effective route to run. He seemed not even an available target on many of the pass plays.

The Vikings had their final drive with about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter after the Hawks went up by 10. The philosophy changed completely on this drive. They tried long passes. On 2nd down Ponder overthrew his receiver on a deep route badly. On 3rd down he threw deep for Harvin and it was intercepted.

Final observations

This statement early that Ponder's goal was to complete most of his passes on first and second down has worked out like the Randy Ratio. All the teams have figured it out to the point he's throwing for very few yards and ironically at 50%.

Ponder seems to have no ability to recognize a blitz is coming and audible into a successful play. He also does not have the ability yet to stand in the pocket and look through his progression of receivers. He seems he's so scared to have INTs after last year that his ability to play QB in an effective manner has been suppressed.

People make fun of Musgrave with his tiny card with the plays. But it is a fair criticism. The Vikings offense lacks imagination. It is very vanilla and not surprising the team is struggling.

Ironically, the Vikes were very close in the Seattle game much of the way. They only put up 3 in the 2nd half after 17 in the first. That inconsistency must change today.

Go Vikes!!!!

[Mothman]

The first drive of the 2nd half included a nice run by AD but also some cases where he was stopped. On a 2nd and 7, the Hawks did not blitz, Ponder had time in the pocket, Rudolph ran a short slant to the middle right in front of Ponder and was wide open. Ponder inexplicably tucked and ran. It was like he did not see Rudolph, frankly unbelievable.

On that play, Rudolph was open for a very brief window right after Ponder reached the top of his drop but Rudolph was basically running into coverage. If Ponder had immediately seen him and pulled the trigger he could have completed that pass into a tight window between the LBs but he didn't and then there was nothing there. It looked like his first read was downfield to the right so this may be one of those plays Rudolph talked about during the week where its not just a question of a receiver getting open but getting open at the right time. Rudolph came open very quickly on that play. Don't get me wrong, there was a play to be made but I think it required Ponder to look at Rudolph first.

It's certainly possible that Ponder screwed up in some way, whether by mis-reading things pre-snap and failing to recognize that Rudolph would be open, by taking too long on his first read or in some other way. It's hard to say but based on what I saw, I think he just didn't see Rudolph until the window for the throw had closed and IF his first read was downfield right, that's understandable.

People make fun of Musgrave with his tiny card with the plays. But it is a fair criticism. The Vikings offense lacks imagination. It is very vanilla and not surprising the team is struggling.

I agree. As you indicated above, many of the passing routes leave a lot to be desired.

Good post!

[CalVike]

On that play, Rudolph was open for a very brief window right after Ponder reached the top of his drop but Rudolph was basically running into coverage. If Ponder had immediately seen him and pulled the trigger he could have completed that pass into a tight window between the LBs but he didn't and then there was nothing there. It looked like his first read was downfield to the right so this may be one of those plays Rudolph talked about during the week where its not just a question of a receiver getting open but getting open at the right time. Rudolph came open very quickly on that play. Don't get me wrong, there was a play to be made but I think it required Ponder to look at Rudolph first.

It's certainly possible that Ponder screwed up in some way, whether by mis-reading things pre-snap and failing to recognize that Rudolph would be open, by taking too long on his first read or in some other way. It's hard to say but based on what I saw, I think he just didn't see Rudolph until the window for the throw had closed and IF his first read was downfield right, that's understandable.

I agree with your rebuttal of my assessment. I cherry picked that particular play for two reasons. The first was that Ponder had time in the pocket. The second was that Rudolph came open, albeit very briefly as you say, on a short route over the middle. A QB with more experience might have made a read and looked to that route sooner. Ponder may have missed it or may have been coached to look outside. With experience, maybe he would have picked out Rudolph on that play. Either way, it was great to see him make good decisions today.

Good post!

Thank you.

[Mothman]

I agree with your rebuttal of my assessment. I cherry picked that particular play for two reasons. The first was that Ponder had time in the pocket. The second was that Rudolph came open, albeit very briefly as you say, on a short route over the middle. A QB with more experience might have made a read and looked to that route sooner. Ponder may have missed it or may have been coached to look outside. With experience, maybe he would have picked out Rudolph on that play. Either way, it was great to see him make good decisions today.

Agreed on all counts! It was a genuine relief to see him bounce back from such a poor performance with such a good one.