Week 1 reaction thread

[Nunin]

I really think Treadwell and Floyd will have significant impacts as defenses learn to key down on Diggs and Thielen. If the line can make strides and stay relatively healthy, the potential for guys like Kyle, Cook and McKinnon to make huge plays in the passing game becomes exponential.
This team is totally stacked with playmakers on both sides of the ball, it has really been a case of protecting the QB.

I'm also in the camp that Bradford makes a huge difference in terms of willingness to pull the trigger and having the ability to make every throw with pace and accuracy.....but that's not to say a guy like TB couldn't put points up he the line plays like last night on a regular basis.

A real positive start to the season.

one thing I really disliked was the move on D to a prevent mode for the last 5 minutes of the game. I understand, but with the recent history of this team I would hesitate to instill any mentality of taking the foot off the pedal. I would rather see this defense focus on shutting teams out every game from start to finish. Just my preference, thinking it would pay dividends in any postseason action.

[petev_sj]

3rd down conversions were the key, will have to look at the replays to find out if the Vikings' O was that good or the Saints had the wrong personnel on defense.

[IrishViking]

I really think Treadwell and Floyd will have significant impacts as defenses learn to key down on Diggs and Thielen. If the line can make strides and stay relatively healthy, the potential for guys like Kyle, Cook and McKinnon to make huge plays in the passing game becomes exponential.
This team is totally stacked with playmakers on both sides of the ball, it has really been a case of protecting the QB.

I'm also in the camp that Bradford makes a huge difference in terms of willingness to pull the trigger and having the ability to make every throw with pace and accuracy.....but that's not to say a guy like TB couldn't put points up he the line plays like last night on a regular basis.

A real positive start to the season.

one thing I really disliked was the move on D to a prevent mode for the last 5 minutes of the game. I understand, but with the recent history of this team I would hesitate to instill any mentality of taking the foot off the pedal. I would rather see this defense focus on shutting teams out every game from start to finish. Just my preference, thinking it would pay dividends in any postseason action.

I think the gas pedal is more an issue for the offense and this offense went for it in a way I haven't seen a vikings team do it in over a decade! a DECADE! the prevent, while not sexy, is a useful end game tool, it essentially is giving up the chance of a big blow up play for the guarantee of time off the clock. a non prevent defense could give up a 80 TD in 10 seconds, a prevent D will 90% of the time make sure that takes a good couple of minutes. Which can be over half the ball game at that point.

[Nunin]

I think the gas pedal is more an issue for the offense and this offense went for it in a way I haven't seen a vikings team do it in over a decade! a DECADE! the prevent, while not sexy, is a useful end game tool, it essentially is giving up the chance of a big blow up play for the guarantee of time off the clock. a non prevent defense could give up a 80 TD in 10 seconds, a prevent D will 90% of the time make sure that takes a good couple of minutes. Which can be over half the ball game at that point.

i hear you about the timeframe issue, which is why i stated that i understand the sentiment of prevent.

i'm talking about the issue of any kind of mental conditioning that instills an attitude of 'let up'...whether it's offense or defense is moot to me.
it would be my preference to not see this teams starters let up. put the the scrubs in if you feel the game is salted away, which it was last night, and let them get some snaps against a 1st string offense.

no way the saints were coming back from 3 scores in 5 minutes, IMO.

hard to find anything to #### about...but that's it for me lol

[IrishViking]

i hear you about the timeframe issue, which is why i stated that i understand the sentiment of prevent.

i'm talking about the issue of any kind of mental conditioning that instills an attitude of 'let up'...whether it's offense or defense is moot to me.
it would be my preference to not see this teams starters let up. put the the scrubs in if you feel the game is salted away, which it was last night, and let them get some snaps against a 1st string offense.

no way the saints were coming back from 3 scores in 5 minutes, IMO.

hard to find anything to #### about...but that's it for me lol

except when Drew hits for a 60 yard TD and they manage the onside kick and burn a second stringer for another TD right? That happening over and over again is what eventually made the prevent an automatic. Its to prevent that.

[Maelstrom88]

Good point. I just wish there was more of a balance that didn't let them pick up big chunks but at the same time wouldn't open up the bomb. Maybe 2 man under?

[PurpleMustReign]

Barr is good when they let him rush the passer. I think he was good at covering because I don't recall him being beat I the pass fame at all. TEs used to feast on our Lbs, but thankfully we have some who can cover running backs and tight ends now.

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[Hunter Morrow]

State Of The Run Game

We got our first 100 yard rusher since winter 2015. We didn't have a 100 yard rusher for the entire year of 2016, now we just got one on opening day! Murray and McKinnon didn't really get touches but Cook was doing very well.

Dalvin Cook did very good as a blocker, didn't lose too many yards or have short runs, and had two nice, long runs. He did drop the ball I think 3 times? He seemed overeager, running up the field before he had the ball caught, you know?

Our Run D really showed up. We didn't give up any touchdowns to running backs, the longest run was only 9 yards, and the Saints only had 60 rushing yards on 21 attempts. We were blowing up running plays big time last night. It was also nice to shut down Peterson (6 carries, 18 yards, long of 9 which means on 5 carries he was averaging less than 2 yards!), Mark Ingram (6 for 17 yards), too.

I think this was easily the biggest area of improvement for the team. Getting 129 rushing yards on 30 attempts means our average yards per attempt was up almost a yard from where it was last year. We had almost sixty more yards rushing than in our average game last season and we finally got a 100 yard rusher!

[mansquatch]

You got it. The rushing attack in 2016 was so incredibly putrid. That was under reported reasons for why our offense struggled in 2016. Having a legitimate NFL caliber starting RB, plus a line that can actually block is a major factor.

Also, we held the Saints to 12 points up until the last 4 minutes of the 4Q. Not many teams are going to beat us in that scenario.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The one negative thing I'll say is the majority of the running plays that went negative was when NO stacked 7 sometimes 8 in the box. Sam needs to audible out and get it to his WRs. Diggs and Thielen both showed they can fight for the ball.

You could definitely see those 3's confidence rising as the game went on. Also, I liked that Shrmur played to win and not to lose. He did a good job of moving the clock but also going for 1st downs.

We only had two negative runs I believe. He audibled out of quite a few if I'm not mistaken.

[808vikingsfan]

Dalvin Cook did very good as a blocker, didn't lose too many yards or have short runs, and had two nice, long runs. He did drop the ball I think 3 times? He seemed overeager, running up the field before he had the ball caught, you know?

If he did have 3 drops and Bradford only had 5 incompletions, wow!

Our Run D really showed up. We didn't give up any touchdowns to running backs, the longest run was only 9 yards, and the Saints only had 60 rushing yards on 21 attempts. We were blowing up running plays big time last night. It was also nice to shut down Peterson (6 carries, 18 yards, long of 9 which means on 5 carries he was averaging less than 2 yards!), Mark Ingram (6 for 17 yards), too.

I think this was easily the biggest area of improvement for the team. Getting 129 rushing yards on 30 attempts means our average yards per attempt was up almost a yard from where it was last year. We had almost sixty more yards rushing than in our average game last season and we finally got a 100 yard rusher!

I know it's still early, but it seems like the Vikings addressed the two areas that needed improvement. Running and stopping the run.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Kendricks had a heck of a game. He's a star.

agreed 100%

Barr was invisible (to me on the plays I focused on him). I still want to see more, particularly in coverage and rushing. Maybe I'm used to his splashy 2015 but I need to see Barr make more of those individual splash plays.

Disagree 100% in the most polite way possible. I thought Barr played very well. He was up there in tackles, was in on a ton of run stuffs at the line and had a nice TFL that brought up 4th down. For some reason so many fans on here didnt start focusing on him until garbage time when we were in prevent. That's when his name started getting brought up on here. It's a prevent defense for a reason. We arent going to see those splashy plays.

Did my eyes deceive me or was Mac playing some on the outside when Rhodes went out? I didn't notice him much, which is a very good thing.

Yes I believe he was out there for a bit

Waynes...ugh. I'll give him to the bye to impress me and start not sucking but I'm pretty sure I saw a stat that Brees completed all but one pass in his coverage. I'm about to call for Mac on the outside and Brock in the slot. Waynes is shaping up as a bust. His awareness and ball skills are non-existent.

Again I'm not worried about Waynes to be honest. Yes he got beat on the deep ball but outside of that, it was mostly short passes for minimal gains. Fleener's TD catch couldnt have been covered much better IMO. That was a great throw and catch on their end. I dont blame Waynes for that.

Hey Jet, I know you housed one in the preseason, but how about not returning every kick 9 yards deep in your end zone? Just a thought. I also thought special teams blocking was pretty poor.

Agreed. He had a few good returns and then two really bad ones

Bradford was amazing. That pass to Wright might've been the best I've ever seen. Amazing what he can do with protection and legit weapons.

Also agreed. That throw to Wright was unreal. Side arm and under pressure.

AT and Diggs are so good. Diggs can be a top-10 receiver this year. AT can be up there, too. They won't always be that effective but my lord...I can't recall seeing two Vikings receivers that open that consistently since Carter and our newest Ring of Honor inductee.

I'm telling ya, those two are the real deal. My question is, which one do you focus on if you're playing us?? And if they're both shutdown for some reason, we have guys like Treadwell and Wright that can definitely pick up the slack IMO. This is the best group of WRs we've had since the Moss Carter Reed days.

Reiff made me have optimism! He'll face tougher tests but he was awesome. Nice debut from Elflein. Remmers was better than I thought he'd be for this one anyway. Easton was spotty but not consistently terrible. Not a great job run blocking for the unit as a whole but a step in the right direction.

Reiff looked excellent. I've always been an Easton supporter. I thought he held his own in their. Man Elflein is athletic. That one pass he was sprinting down field on....wow. He's going to be a pro's pro and start for a long time I feel. I cant remember the last bad game Berger had. Remmers does worry me. He did play well but there's times where he extends too far and dips his head similar to what Clemmings did. Just nowhere near as severe. The hold call on him was BS. Overall, I really like the OL. I've been saying it a lot. We just need to stay healthy

Cook...heck of a debut. I can't wait to watch more of him.

Man he hits the edge fast

Hitman had a solid game and I didn't hate Sendejo.

Smith is another one I think I've never seen a bad game out of. Sendejo is just a plain old average joe IMO

I honestly thought Griffen/Hunter would do a bit more terrorizing. Maybe my expectations were too high vs. those spotty tackles.

Agreed. They did get a lot of pressure at times but remember, Brees gets it out very quick. Big Ben does not.

Joseph was great and Tom Johnson didn't suck at the point of attack! How about that. I still want to see Jalel in there this year.

Really wanna see Jaleel but Joseph dominated. Johnson flashed but I want someone consistent in there

[autobon7]

I still feel that Wright can contribute although they may be throwing a few to him to set up as trade bait which I think would be a mistake. I would throw Adams (or perhaps cut him) on the PS and roll with Diggs, AT, Treadwell, Wright, Floyd, & Coley. Great game overall but the real test will come this weekend. Hope that the hunger continues.

[J. Kapp 11]

We only had two negative runs I believe. He audibled out of quite a few if I'm not mistaken.

Sam talked about this postgame. They were keeping it a bit conservative in the beginning, feeling it out and trying to get New Orleans to respect the run.

The difference here, to me, was that Shurmur used the pass to set up the run. They did this even on the first drive -- even though they only got a field goal, they held it for 15 plays. This is a big difference from last year, the hangover from of Norv's run-to-setup-the-pass philosophy that just didn't work.

Once they saw what they had after the first couple of drives, they started opening up downfield with great success. In the second half, the Vikings imposed their will in the running game once they were up 3 scores.

Really loved what I saw from an offensive philosophy standpoint.

[dead_poet]

Disagree 100% in the most polite way possible. I thought Barr played very well. He was up there in tackles, was in on a ton of run stuffs at the line and had a nice TFL that brought up 4th down. For some reason so many fans on here didnt start focusing on him until garbage time when we were in prevent. That's when his name started getting brought up on here. It's a prevent defense for a reason. We arent going to see those splashy plays.

I'll have to go back and re-watch the first quarter. I seem to be in the minority with this one. Other than the one TFL where he displayed great closing speed, I just didn't see a lot out of him. I noticed this (or rather, didn't) before the 4th quarter.

Again I'm not worried about Waynes to be honest. Yes he got beat on the deep ball but outside of that, it was mostly short passes for minimal gains. Fleener's TD catch couldnt have been covered much better IMO. That was a great throw and catch on their end. I dont blame Waynes for that.

He allowed a deep pass. He allowed multiple short passes. He allowed a TD pass. He allowed a QBR north of 140.0 in his coverage. I liked his effort tackling but his coverage skills are incredibly suspect. Luke Inman Tweeted out earlier that day that I completely agree with his take:

Trae Waynes has to be the #1 CB in the league at being right in position and never making a play

I seriously get Chris Cook flashbacks. I'll give him until the bye.