Once again, this is some solid reporting and astute analysis. Wish you were a Vikings fan!nola4ever wrote:I agree with just about everything said here. The word in Nola is that the coaches were frantic about a potential pass interference penalty, so they kept warning everyone to do whatever they could do to avoid it. All the interviews I've seen with Marcus suggest that he headed for the receiver, and upon realizing that his timing was off, ducked away at the last minute to avoid a PI call. In the process, he also knocked Lattimore down, and Diggs (after making an acrobatic catch) was able to make the play. Initially, some Saints fans were angry with him, but they neglected to realize that his key INT got us back into the game. In 2009, we seemed to have an unexplainable magic, and I see the same thing happening with the Vikes this year. I agree. It was bad coaching by Payton and a rookie mistake by Williams, but you guys capitalized on it, and you deserve the win. I'm heartbroken over the loss, but I'm excited for you guys. SKOL!
Seriously though, I think the coaches' message was wrong. To my mind, it should have been "let them catch the ball, then tackle them" ... not "don't get flagged." In my experience, whenever you teach to a negative, you run a bigger risk of achieving the negative. Talk to the positive. Tell players what TO do, not what NOT to do.
Also, what was going on schematically? The Vikings had four receivers in the route. McKinnon stayed in to help with protection. Three receivers -- Diggs, Wright and Rudolph -- were to the right side, with Thielen to the left. Rudolph ran his route about 7 yards and headed to the sideline. He was never going to get the ball, but a Saints defender followed him. The Saints doubled Thielen. So we're at four rushers, someone covering Rudolph, and two covering Thielen. Doing the math, that should have left 4 more defenders. But only TWO Saints, Williams and Lattimore, were in the vicinity of Diggs and Wright. Where were the other two guys?
Anyway, I suppose it's easy to armchair quarterback four days after the fact. It just seems like the coaching staff dropped the ball on this, both schematically and from a communication standpoint.