Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday?

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autobon7
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Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday?

Post by autobon7 »

I'm sick of seeing some of our supposed to be elite players not showing up. Barr comes to mind. And why is it we cannot get consistent pressure on opposing QBs? Don't think we recorded any sacks yesterday. Seems like our success has been tied to QB pressure.....we get it we win.....when we don't we lose. Simple right? I understand we had Harry and Waynes out but still. Don't get me wrong, I understand we will not be able to get 4-5 sacks each week but if we could have flushed Luck out of the pocket consistently we would have had a better chance for mistakes (by them). Lack of consistency is very concerning. Is Zimmer not being very adaptable to what he is being presented by the opposition? Kinda like the one thing we have all been harping on regarding the offense running up the middle on 1st down. If something is consistently not working time to change the plan.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Texas Vike »

autobon7 wrote:I'm sick of seeing some of our supposed to be elite players not showing up. Barr comes to mind. And why is it we cannot get consistent pressure on opposing QBs? Don't think we recorded any sacks yesterday. Seems like our success has been tied to QB pressure.....we get it we win.....when we don't we lose. Simple right? I understand we had Harry and Waynes out but still. Don't get me wrong, I understand we will not be able to get 4-5 sacks each week but if we could have flushed Luck out of the pocket consistently we would have had a better chance for mistakes (by them). Lack of consistency is very concerning. Is Zimmer not being very adaptable to what he is being presented by the opposition? Kinda like the one thing we have all been harping on regarding the offense running up the middle on 1st down. If something is consistently not working time to change the plan.

Agreed, especially the criticism of Barr. I watched him specifically on several plays yesterday and he looked anemic. I was surprised by how ineffective he was and how lacking his effort was.
IrishViking
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by IrishViking »

You suppose they might have "quit" on Zimmer or at least the season? I know we always talk about next man up and the grind and what not, but eventually a season like this, potential lost and lost early. Might drive even the most hard nosed player to "save it for next year"
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Purple Reign »

IrishViking wrote:You suppose they might have "quit" on Zimmer or at least the season? I know we always talk about next man up and the grind and what not, but eventually a season like this, potential lost and lost early. Might drive even the most hard nosed player to "save it for next year"
That's definitely a possibility, but this is the NFL and they are being paid good money to do their job whether they are out of it or not. There is always someone on the bench waiting to get their shot so if players think they can coast they are taking a big chance of losing their spot to someone that is willing to give it their best effort.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Just Me »

IrishViking wrote:You suppose they might have "quit" on Zimmer or at least the season? I know we always talk about next man up and the grind and what not, but eventually a season like this, potential lost and lost early. Might drive even the most hard nosed player to "save it for next year"
I wouldn't rule that out, but it doesn't seem likely to me. They were in a game that they really needed (and they were in other contests this year as well, where the game was in reach) and so I have a hard time swallowing the thought that a player (or players) would just decide to "pack it in" when there is (or at least was) a chance for playoff contention.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Crax »

Thought this article was interesting. From what I saw and what it's saying here, they forced us to cover with Harris and Greenway which completely exposed the defense.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2016/ ... -vs-colts/

Forced might be too strong of a word above. We could have tried something else, but didn't really.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by IrishViking »

Just Me wrote: I wouldn't rule that out, but it doesn't seem likely to me. They were in a game that they really needed (and they were in other contests this year as well, where the game was in reach) and so I have a hard time swallowing the thought that a player (or players) would just decide to "pack it in" when there is (or at least was) a chance for playoff contention.

I get your point, but, really? I am not sure. They aren't in charge of their own destiny, could have won out and still missed the playoffs, the injuries continue to pile up.and despite the "any given sunday" and getting "hot" they know as well as we do they aren't playing well and the odds of doing anything in the playoffs would be slim. I am not so sure they didn't just go into survival mode. Make it thru the next couple of a games and fix the problems in the off season.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by magster »

Hello Vike Fans

DRAFT PICKS,O LINE EXCUSES,THIS THAT. WHEN IS MINNESOTA EVER GOING TO BE A POWERHOUSE,NO WAIT EVEN A GREAT TEAM?,NO WAIT I'll settle for a sub-par team at this point.Minnesota needs to win a game ,at home,against a mediocre team and blow it big time,seems like all the time anymore.I think this whole organization has to rebuild themselves at this point.All the bonehead trades.Like this year giving up a #1 and #7 for Bradford.I knew it wouldn't work.Especially another Eagle pick=up.Look at Childress (sucked) . i also think AP is done.....look around at Green Bay,New england,Seattle,Dallas (vikes built during Aikman years) Pittsburgh.Whats the one thing they all have in common????A great organization,especially a coach that knows talent, and utilizes them to the best for the team.Sorry for the negativity,but I'm sick and tired of the same ole VIKING typical season......seems like it's always the same song and dance......Again another season watching the same teams in the playoffs and the vikes sucking their thumbs trying to figure out whats wrong.The vikes had great teams thru the early 70's just to be outplayed and out coached in every game.The best team to have made to playoffs (IMHO) WAS 98 JUST TO HAVE ANOTHER BAD COACHING DECISION TO COST THEM BIG TIME.Well another year goes by and no Purple playoff,SB time..........Sounds familiar doesn't it...........Merry xmas and new year to all.......maybe next year,but I doubt it.......
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halfgiz
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by halfgiz »

Andrew Luck not sacked for first time in 17 games. Zimmer attributes that to Vikings not stopping run, not playing well in coverage.
Wow Zim you think :lol:
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Purple Reign »

magster wrote:The best team to have made to playoffs (IMHO) WAS 98 JUST TO HAVE ANOTHER BAD COACHING DECISION TO COST THEM BIG TIME.
And what 'bad coaching decision' cost them the game? I assume you are talking about taking a knee at the end of regulation. In case you have forgotten, being aggressive at the end of the first half of that game didn't work out so well. Leading 20-7, the Vikings took possession at their 18-yard line with 1:17 to play before halftime. Two incompletions brought up third-and-10 and Cunningham got sacked and fumbled. The Falcons recovered the ball and scored a touchdown on the next play.

Taking a knee was not a bad coaching decision at that point, especially based on what happened earlier, and it definitely didn't cost us the game. It may have eliminated any chance of winning the game in regulation, but it definitely didn't cost us the game.

If you aren't talking about taking a knee, please inform us what coaching decision you are referring to.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by mosscarter »

irish viking makes a good point. i'll tell you this, i don't care how much someone gets paid at some point everyone has the capacity to get worn down or simply fed up. if i played on this defense, at this point i wouldn't even want to step on the field because my offense cannot contribute AT ALL to the outcome of the game. we don't have a football team right now, we have half a football team. and that half just looks exhausted. i'm not putting any blame on the defense anymore; they have both kept is in and won several games we had no business winning over the past 2 years. they just got tired of basically having to score points as well as stop the other team. in my lifetime, this is the worst vikings offense i have ever seen and until that changes don't expect much from the other end. and to tell you the truth, last year's was the second worst, so maybe we bottomed out. lets hope (last year we have peterson and look at how bad our passing game was). and back to the money point, their bodies are their only commodities, so on peterson's case why in the world would he play now?
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by S197 »

Football is about momentum and the Colts hog tied that up like Jared Allen. Their first two drives were very long and wouldn't have been too bad if it ended 6-0 like it should have but Linval apparently thought he was Superman and could jump his 350lb #### over the center on the FG. Momentum almost came back until Peterson's fumble in the red zone. After that it was over.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

Texas Vike wrote:
Agreed, especially the criticism of Barr. I watched him specifically on several plays yesterday and he looked anemic. I was surprised by how ineffective he was and how lacking his effort was.
I watched Barr, too. The screen pass to Turbin in the second quarter comes to mind. Barr got absolutely manhandled by the Colts' left guard. Just thrown aside like a rag doll. Terrible effort. Great linebackers shed blocks. And on the very next play, the ridiculous Turbin touchdown, he actually got blocked completely out of bounds.

The effort yesterday of the entire defense was just horrible. I never though I'd see a Zimmer-coached team play with such little passion. They got embarrassed.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by Laserman »

simply put , our Defense was a bit over rated by the media and when we went to the bye the team actually bought into what the media was saying about our "Great Defense" and the overconfidence caught up to us. Our defense is NOT great, it has improved under Zimmer and is Fairly decent. It is not a Great Defense in any way shape or form . Sorry to burst the bubble around here.
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Re: Somebody tell me where our awesome defense was yesterday

Post by TriceStyle »

Stats prove we are a Top 5 defense.

3rd in yards per game
3rd in passing yards per game
18th in rushing yards per game
7th in points per game
7th in sacks
11th in picks
17th in forced fumbles
6th in total penalty yards

We are overall a very good defense. Unfortunately you can't rely on them to win the game each week. Eventually they will break down.
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