Vikings Message Board.Com

Can someone answer me this? Why on 3rd and long do they constantly run RB draws or some other dumb play that has like a .5 percent chance to actually pick up the first down? The 3rd and 30 play really grinded my gears. Running a RB draw with Asiata is almost on par with the WR screen the Texans ran on 4th and 16..... almost. Why not throw a deep pass there? What is the reason behind this thinking? Who knows? Maybe we would get a PI call, maybe a reciever would make a play, maybe they would pick it off which would equal a 40 yard punt. I just don't understand it.

Also, I was getting very mad at the refs yesterday. Seriously they need to call the game for both teams.

Norv Zimmer wrote:Can someone answer me this? Why on 3rd and long do they constantly run RB draws or some other dumb play that has like a .5 percent chance to actually pick up the first down? The 3rd and 30 play really grinded my gears. Running a RB draw with Asiata is almost on par with the WR screen the Texans ran on 4th and 16..... almost. Why not throw a deep pass there? What is the reason behind this thinking? Who knows? Maybe we would get a PI call, maybe a reciever would make a play, maybe they would pick it off which would equal a 40 yard punt. I just don't understand it.

Also, I was getting very mad at the refs yesterday. Seriously they need to call the game for both teams.

Situational football.

We were up big at that point, no reason to choose a high risk play that may get you 30 yards, but that may also end up getting you a pick 6. At that point, they were controlling the game by maneuvering for field position and letting our dominant D do their thing. We then receive a punt, which Sherels may return for a TD, and if not allows our O to start roughly at the same spot with a new set of downs.

I'm not saying I entirely agree with the play call, but it is conservative and prudent football, given the context.

That brings up another thing that bugs me about this team. It seems like when they do get ahead and get comfortable the offense takes its foot off the pedal. I would much rather see them stick a dagger in teams, much like the Patriots do.

It seemed like to me that midway through the 3rd they were playing a safe style of offense and taking time off the clock. That seems way too early to be doing this.

Norv Zimmer wrote:That brings up another thing that bugs me about this team. It seems like when they do get ahead and get comfortable the offense takes its foot off the pedal. I would much rather see them stick a dagger in teams, much like the Patriots do.

I would argue that if we had the Patriots offense we would do this. And that if the patriots had our offense and defense they would do what we did. Play to your strengths. We had the Texans in a position where they had to score more points in 30 minutes than any team has in 60 against us. Even without taking our TOP into it.

It's a bit ironic to hear these complaints when we are 5-0, IMO.

Part of our success is that we are playing smart football. We know who we are and we are using strategies that reflect that self awareness.

A major reason why Bradford has 0 interceptions and is playing so cleanly is because of the conservative philosophies in situations that call for it.

Lastly, with our OL as is, we don't need to expose Bradford to a 7 step drop and the time needed to throw a 30-35 yard route. Especially not when we have the game under control.

This is why we don't have as much of yards on offense compared to other teams. The Vikings like to use the clock and run it out. In my mind that's what seperate us from the Patriots, they will continue the momentum and run out the score, as the Vikings prefer to maintain the lead and run the clock out. That's why we always give up so many yards near the end of the game, garbage time yards that kill the clock.

IrishViking wrote:
I would argue that if we had the Patriots offense we would do this. And that if the patriots had our offense and defense they would do what we did. Play to your strengths. We had the Texans in a position where they had to score more points in 30 minutes than any team has in 60 against us. Even without taking our TOP into it.

I pretty much agree with what you're saying about the Pats offense and defense compared to the Vikings. And I agree the Texans were down so many points that TOP became the Vikings best weapon.

OTOH, I can't stand play-not-to-lose football. I thought yesterday was understandable but if the Vikings begin to wallow in conservative playcalling too often, it will come back to bite them in the behind. Never let the other team back in the game. There are too many intangibles in the NFL and teams do sometimes make walloping comebacks during games. That's also why I don't care for pass prevent defense.

Regarding the Vikings passing game, I think it's still a work in progress. But it's a good work in progress. As the season progresses, I expect Bradford and the receivers to be making bigger and more aggressive plays.

losperros wrote: I pretty much agree with what you're saying about the Pats offense and defense compared to the Vikings. And I agree the Texans were down so many points that TOP became the Vikings best weapon.

OTOH, I can't stand play-not-to-lose football. I thought yesterday was understandable but if the Vikings begin to wallow in conservative playcalling too often, it will come back to bite them in the behind. Never let the other team back in the game. There are too many intangibles in the NFL and teams do sometimes make walloping comebacks during games. That's also why I don't care for pass prevent defense.

Regarding the Vikings passing game, I think it's still a work in progress. But it's a good work in progress. As the season progresses, I expect Bradford and the receivers to be making bigger and more aggressive plays.

I know exactly what you mean. I couldn't watch the game entirely because I was busy but I kept checking in waiting for the slow climb back in by the texans.

Haven't really minded the playcalling up to this point.

As far as taking our foot off the pedal, there may be some truth to that, but it hasn't been like we can't floor it if we feel threatened again. Just kind of idle until someone gives us a reason not to.

I will say one call I vehemently disagreed with was the decision to kick a field goal on 4th and 1 from the one or two yardline. That was an opportunity to crush the larynx and we just didn't take it. One could argue our running game needs more work than our kicking game, and I think letting us try to smash it in would have been a much better call.

Not only that, but the field position we would have given the Texans had we failed, with our defense, would have been much more valuable than three points in that situation. Osweiler had no clue what was happening all day, he would have been even more panicky standing in his own endzone, and we could have drawn up some really aggressive blitzes.

I know shouldas, wouldas, and couldas are a trite bit of commentary when it comes to football, because no one knows what would have happened. However, I think most fans would agree that the Texans' best case scenario would have been a punt, which would have set us up an opportunity to get the 3 points we opted not to take initially right back.

The answer is they trust their defense. Why take a risk when your D is thoroughly owning them and you have a lead? Play field position and take calculated shots.

unfortunately, we just dont have the OL to say..."damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!....", Clemmings would have screwed up , etc...For goal line situations like that it would be cool if Norv took some of our Jumbo Defensive players and used them for runs up the middle..........Its gonna come up as the year goes on.....

95% of teams on 3rd and 30 are going to either draw, screen or run something underneath. This is not unique to the Vikings. As for taking the foot off the pedal, Bradford was throwing all through the 3rd quarter and into the 4th. In fact Bradford threw 4 passes in a row to end the 3rd quarter then found Patterson in the endzone in the 4th.

S197 wrote:95% of teams on 3rd and 30 are going to either draw, screen or run something underneath. This is not unique to the Vikings. As for taking the foot off the pedal, Bradford was throwing all through the 3rd quarter and into the 4th. In fact Bradford threw 4 passes in a row to end the 3rd quarter then found Patterson in the endzone in the 4th.

At the very least I would have thrown in the flat to Asiata.....which has more often than not gained good yardage. Prolly not 30 but better than the run we watched.

autobon7 wrote: At the very least I would have thrown in the flat to Asiata.....which has more often than not gained good yardage. Prolly not 30 but better than the run we watched.

If you're still probably not going to get 30 then why not go with the play that has the lower chance of a turnover?