Kudos to Zimmer and a thought about Bradford

[Mothman]

An ESPN puff piece about Zimmer, who deserves some accolades after the 4-0 start:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/1770 ... s-win-2016

"I only worry about my players," Zimmer said in his news conference when asked about Monday's extracurriculars between Beckham and cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who won this fight in a knockout. "I don't care about the other team's players."

And why should he when his players appear focused enough and team-minded enough to take the Vikings where they haven't been since Brett Favre threw that interception in the NFC Championship Game?

It's more than a little hard to believe too. The Vikings lost their promising young quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, and one the greatest running backs of all time, Adrian Peterson, and yet they have joined the defending champs in Denver as the only 4-0 teams, despite a circle of skill-position players who are suspect enough to notarize Zimmer as coach of the quarter-year.

Somehow, some way, Zimmer's offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, has Bradford looking competent and confident. Spielman has pieced together a defense out of the John Elway playbook. And Zimmer has made a fool out of all the owners and executives who passed on him over the years.

He got his first head coaching job in 2014 and won the Vikings' first division title since 2009 last season. Now he fields a contender that didn't blink when its starting quarterback and all-time great running back went down with injuries.

I love the line in bold above but I've seen this take about the Vikings overcoming the loss of Bridgewater many times now and I think the media is getting carried away with it. The team "didn't blink when its starting quarterback and all-time great running back went down with injuries"? I think immediately trading a first round pick and more for a starting QB qualifies as a "blink".

It's certainly not easy for a team to deal with the sudden, unexpected loss of their QB right before the season but it's not as if the Vikes have turned to an under-qualified backup. The article states "Zimmer's starting quarterback is Sam Bradford, a box-office bust who moves around the pocket about as nimbly as your grandfather negotiating a flight of stairs". I'm not attempting to take anything away from the job Zimmer and Turner have done by overcoming the loss of their intended starting QB and getting good performances out of Bradford on short notice. It's impressive but I think Bradford was an upgrade at QB when he walked in the door. It's not like they turned to Hill for 4 straight games and have gone 4-0 with him. They traded a first round pick and in my opinion, got a more talented (and definitely more experienced) starter than the one they had. While getting Bradford up to speed so quickly has been a challenge to overcome, I think Bradford himself should be seen as a key reason for the 4-0 start rather than practically being portrayed as an obstacle to success that the coaching staff has overcome, as he is in this article.

That's my take anyway.

Back to Zimmer: it's great to see a guy who labored so long as an assistant coach and was so frustrated in his quest to become a head coach having success in the latter role. It's clear his team has completely bought into his leadership. It shows on the field and fortunately, i don't think he's the type of guy to let the hype he's receiving go to his head. I think he'll stay focused and that likely means the Vikes will too.

[IrishViking]

I agree with your take. I think without a chance to see where bridgewater was at its hard to give a definitive answer but Bradford is one Giant step up from 2015 Bridgewater.


To me the most impressive thing he does is throw TDs in the redzone. We havent had that since Farve and before that probably Culpepper. Honestly inability to pass for TDs could be the defining characteristic of the last 15 years of Viking offense.

[mansquatch]

I agree on your take, but especially on the Bradford bit. You do not go through 3 games against the teams he's gone against and not throw a single INT without being a positive addition to the team.

I actually think there is a bit of lesson in what we are seeing from Sam this season for us on this board. Sam can make just about every throw with accuracy and velocity. They could easily start slinging it if they wanted to, Bradford has the tools to do it. Yet he has under 300 yards passing. Why? I think part of it is the play calling. They are keeping it conservative because they know how good the defense is. They took shots yesterday when they were there, but we are not seeing forced throws, or thows into really tight windows very often, if at all.

[Mothman]

I agree on your take, but especially on the Bradford bit. You do not go through 3 games against the teams he's gone against and not throw a single INT without being a positive addition to the team.

I actually think there is a bit of lesson in what we are seeing from Sam this season for us on this board. Sam can make just about every throw with accuracy and velocity. They could easily start slinging it if they wanted to, Bradford has the tools to do it. Yet he has under 300 yards passing. Why? I think part of it is the play calling. They are keeping it conservative because they know how good the defense is. They took shots yesterday when they were there, but we are not seeing forced throws, or thows into really tight windows very often, if at all.

He's thrown into some tight windows but he has the accuracy and velocity on his passes to do it effectively. However, I don't think he's forcing those throws, just recognizing favorable matchups and showing the confidence to throw the ball and trust his receivers. I agree that they're keeping things conservative because they trust their defense and they want to control the clock. It's sound "by the book" strategy but I hope it doesn't come back to bite them them at some point. We saw the potential for that last night when the Giants scored a TD to cut the lead to 7 but fortunately, both the offense and defense stepped up and put the game away after that.

[Mothman]

I agree with your take. I think without a chance to see where bridgewater was at its hard to give a definitive answer but Bradford is one Giant step up from 2015 Bridgewater.

That's what I meant. Maybe I should have phrased it that way. It's obviously impossible to know how Bridgewater would have performed this season.

To me the most impressive thing he does is throw TDs in the redzone. We havent had that since Farve and before that probably Culpepper. Honestly inability to pass for TDs could be the defining characteristic of the last 15 years of Viking offense.

Sad, but true. It's a refreshing change.

[halfgiz]

I think it helps Bradford not having to throw 50 times a game to win. Some of his throws are only short passes.

Zim reaction on the Walsh kick was amusing. no missing what he said.

[Texas Vike]

I agree with your take. I think without a chance to see where bridgewater was at its hard to give a definitive answer but Bradford is one Giant step up from 2015 Bridgewater.


To me the most impressive thing he does is throw TDs in the redzone. We havent had that since Farve and before that probably Culpepper. Honestly inability to pass for TDs could be the defining characteristic of the last 15 years of Viking offense.

THIS!

Especially given our situation at kicker. Bradford has thrown some nice passes in the red zone to get us TDs. His ability to do that also loosens up opposing D's a bit, which has resulted in some relatively easy running TDs too. The move to get Bradford was a great one and I think, as Mansquatch pointed out, they are using him intelligently.

Just when things started to get a little bit uncomfortable last night (Giants pulled within 7), they unleashed a more aggressive offensive attack and then the D stayed solid to put the game away.

Rhodes deserves a game ball for his performance last night. Love that guy.

[losperros]

Rhodes deserves a game ball for his performance last night. Love that guy.

Glad you mentioned Rhodes. I was really impressed with him. Rhodes plays aggressively and it worked well against the talented Giants WRs. In fact, the entire D secondary played full throttle throughout the entire game. It's great to see the Vikings D secondary finally developing into a formidable unit.

[Norv Zimmer]

I think someone still needs to talk to Norv on playcalling. Throw more on early downs. On thirds and long don't do a bubble screen, throw a 20 yard pass. Take more deep shots to stretch the field and maybe get a PI call our way for once. Run more tosses with lineman pulling. The one toss run play last night went for 10 yards and a nice looking play.

[Texas Vike]

I think someone still needs to talk to Norv on playcalling. Throw more on early downs. On thirds and long don't do a bubble screen, throw a 20 yard pass. Take more deep shots to stretch the field and maybe get a PI call our way for once. Run more tosses with lineman pulling. The one toss run play last night went for 10 yards and a nice looking play.

Actually, it went for more like 20. I agree with your points.

[mansquatch]

Their trio of talented WR were held to a combined total of just over 100 yards. (I think it was 103.)

Kendricks has got to be just beside himself on that dropped Pick. So close to a second TD.

An interesting thing to follow going forward is that the Giants tried to play quick release/max protect type passing against us out of fear of our rush. They succeeded in avoiding sacks on their QB, but their talented trio of WR couldn't get it done. That type of game plan is a natural reaction to an aggressive rush, but it didn't work. Kudos to our secondary on an awesome performance.

[petev_sj]

Bradford is most comfortable in shotgun and receivers spread out. It gives him easier reads where he has his 1 on 1 match ups. His pinpoint accuracy shows why was chosen number 1.

Last night Jon Gruden pointed out the route tree TE are suppose to run in Turner's offense. Bradford makes Rudolf look better than our last 2 first round QB draft picks. Overall, I am very happy about the direction this team is headed in with Bradford at the helm.

[IrishViking]

A future benefit to Having Bradford here right now is maybe our scouts are going


"oh THESE are the skills we should be looking for"

[Mothman]

A future benefit to Having Bradford here right now is maybe our scouts are going


"oh THESE are the skills we should be looking for"

[S197]

Bradford has always had the arm and his experience in the league has probably allowed the game to "slow down" a lot more than for Bridgewater. His main problem is making it through the season. That's what Bradford needs to show he can do.

The Vikings may have blinked but it was still an incredible move a WEEK before the start of the season. I mean there were a lot of names thrown out like Murray, Glennon, Mettenberger, and others that really wouldn't have saved this season. It was a gutsy move but I think it was the right call.

Lets not forget this team has already lost both tackles and maybe a starting guard. Not to mention AD. Let me take away a team's MVP and 60% of their line and see how great they deal with that. Norv isn't my favorite guy but what Spielman and the coaching staff have done in spite of the injuries is truly remarkable.