Cliff wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:37 am
The team simply didn't play well. The offense was terrible outside of the first drive and 4th quarter when the Packers had such a commanding lead they softened up. I can't tell if Kirk doesn't trust the WRs to win their match-ups or if they simply weren't getting open at all but either way that passing game was terrible.
Of course the sample size on offense was limited because the defense was so much more terrible they didn't get much of a chance to prove themselves. The 4th quarter gives a little hope but it's kind of hollow for me. In a game like this with the score so out of hand by the 4th Greenbay was content to let the Viking offense run out the clock and then theirs would do the same.
The defense was as bad as I feared in the off-season. Certainly something I'm not thrilled to be right about. The CBs are young and getting taken advantage of. The defensive line was a concern *before* Hunter was out because the middle is soft. Rodgers had all day to throw and running lanes were wide open. There's just really nothing good to say about the defense.
The Vikings took a step back talent-wise in the off season and it shows. Some of it bad luck (Pierce) and salary cap casualties (Waynes). Diggs for Jefferson (basically) is still an unknown but I'm assuming for at least 1 year it'll be a downgrade. Hunter is out for an unknown amount of time.
I know one game in is a little early to be so gloomy about it but that was *bad*. Really, really bad. Enough to make me think already it's a rebuilding season. But hey, maybe that spanking was enough to wake the team up and they'll rebound.
I dont think it's a rebuilding season at all. Teams like Jacksonville are "rebuilding". Had a few talented players left on their roster and traded them or released them. Stripped their roster down. As I've said above, this team is just very
inexperienced right now. There is plenty of talent on this team still. It's just between Ngakoue being new to the fold, Jefferson, Gladney and Dantzler being rookies, etc. things are going to look a lot different. You cant expect these guys to walk into the building and fill the shoes of Diggs, Waynes, Rhodes, Griffen, etc. on day 1. Ngakoue will sooner than later but it takes time with rookies. Especially given there was no preseason.
Where I think Zim went wrong yesterday was NOT playing these rookies enough. If someone like Waynes, Alexander, Diggs, etc. were on this team still and Gladney, Dantzler or Jefferson were sitting the bench, I 100% understand. But the fact that it's Bisi Johnson, Mike Hughes and Holton Hill, that right there is inexcusable. I can already tell you day 1 that those 3 draft picks are already better players than the 3 that were on the field. And some hardly played. I would even make the argument of Cleveland and Elflein. Across the league there were so many rookies starting, playing significantly and being involved early and often. And we have our 4 top draft picks playing no more than what seemed like 20% of the snaps (cant find snap counts anywhere yet). I know Cleveland didnt even suit, Jefferson hardly played until the 2nd half, and Gladney wasnt in until about 4 minutes to go in the game. Dantzler played the most but I felt like he was out a lot in that 2nd half.