Vikings vs. Cardinals thoughts

[Maelstrom88]

Bad blocking, overthrow, Cousins indecisive, bebe bad hands, Rhodes sucks until further notice.

On a positive note....one good run.

[bsandhar]

Damn Kirk looks really bad. I never thought he was a great QB, just can put up numbers and get streaky. Too inconsistent for my liking. And honestly I don't have much faith that we improved the O-Line much. I had high hopes of 11-5 but it's slowly fading. Running the Ball and Playing defense has to be our gameplan if we want to go to the playoffs.

[Maelstrom88]

Sloter looks like the best QB on the team and they begrudgingly want to give him the third slot on the depth chart

[S197]

No significant injuries, which is huge. Abdullah perhaps banged up.

1st half was ugly. The Vikings have very little time to figure out the WR situation. Maybe Bisi Johnson should get a shot at WR3.

Cousins with a poor game. Missed too many throws and dealt poorly with pressure.

Run game was on point but blitz pickup still needs improvement.

Odenigbo and Mata’afa both with good games. I think Boone locked up RB3. Kearse also looked very good in place of Harry.

[halfgiz]

Cousins 3-13


@christomasson
50m
#Vikings QB Kyle Sloter's reaction to Mike Zimmer's comments was "I’m just going to react by playing well Saturday. So I’m just going to let my play do the talking.’’ He's doing that so far. twincities.com/2019/08/21/fol…



@Andrew_Krammer
27m
Kaare Vedvik nails the extra point, so he's clean on those. Just missed field goal tries from 43 and 54 yards this afternoon for #Vikings.


Zimmer in another kickers head....which leads me to think Zimmer is the problem.

[YikesVikes]

Boone needs to get some props. Guy has looked good two seasons in a row. I see almost no love for the guy.

[StumpHunter]

The only things to take away from today's game is that Cook is going to be great this year if he remains healthy, Vedvik has not been as good as Bailey at PK, and worse than Wile at punting this preseason, and Boone needs to be considered for the #2 RB spot and used heavily in the passing game along with Cook. We cannot count on any receivers not named Diggs or Theilen, so get creative with our pass catching backs.

We know what we have in Cousins and it is a lot better than we saw today. He wasn't going to magically turn into this elite QB with Kubiak's offense, but he also isn't going to be 3-13 most games. He is an above average QB regardless of what happened in this game.

I am also not concerned about the defense. Rhodes was going at about 75% in that game and will put in more effort when the real season starts. Same for Hunter, Griff and Barr.


Kearse was great today, btw, and I am excited to see where his career goes after this season. He will be starting somewhere, and I hope it is here.

[808vikingsfan]

Sloter looks like the best QB on the team and they begrudgingly want to give him the third slot on the depth chart

I think Mannion is a good #2. What I do want to see is the Vikings groom Sloter to push for the QB1 next year if Cousins can't lead this team deep into the playoffs this season.

Cousins looked horrible today. Without accuracy, he has nothing to fall back on.

[PurpleMustReign]

Sloter looks like the best QB on the team and they begrudgingly want to give him the third slot on the depth chart

I think Mannion is a good #2. What I do want to see is the Vikings groom Sloter to push for the QB1 next year if Cousins can't lead this team deep into the playoffs this season.

Cousins looked horrible today. Without accuracy, he has nothing to fall back on.

Other than the Pick-6, Mannion has looked good, plus he has starting experience. I think people don't like him because his name isn't Sloter. But, that's whi I want to see Sloter against something other than the 3s.

[Purple Martin]

I think Mannion is a good #2. What I do want to see is the Vikings groom Sloter to push for the QB1 next year if Cousins can't lead this team deep into the playoffs this season.

Cousins looked horrible today. Without accuracy, he has nothing to fall back on.

Other than the Pick-6, Mannion has looked good, plus he has starting experience. I think people don't like him because his name isn't Sloter. But, that's whi I want to see Sloter against something other than the 3s.

People don't like Mannion because he has played in the NFL and wasn't any good. He might be serviceable in an emergency but he hasn't shown any flashes of being more than that. Sloter has flashed more, even if its with the 3s.

[Maelstrom88]

I don't care that Sloter was playing third-stringers. They are all professionals and accuracy is accuracy. Mannion sucks and his play style is just as bland as his name. He is serviceable only if you want to get a top-three pick in the draft. I'm not saying Sloter is an all pro but from what we've seen on the field he's definitely better than Mannion and the fact that Zimmer doesn't recognize that is disturbing.

[StumpHunter]

Other than the Pick-6, Mannion has looked good, plus he has starting experience. I think people don't like him because his name isn't Sloter. But, that's whi I want to see Sloter against something other than the 3s.

People don't like Mannion because he has played in the NFL and wasn't any good. He might be serviceable in an emergency but he hasn't shown any flashes of being more than that. Sloter has flashed more, even if its with the 3s.

If this were a competition for starter I go Sloter all the way. He has the higher ceiling and that is what you want in a longterm answer. A guy who has the potential to win you games. For a backup though? You go with the safest option who you are pretty sure won't lose you games.

[Rhodes Closed]

Legit slow the Sloter wagon. We don't know how he would perform against the 1's. For all we know, he could blow chunks against bone fide starters.

Secondly, he still continually makes mental mistakes and is generally a frustrating player in practice. I would not presume him to lead our team when he is not ready yet.

Also I believe Cutting? was holding on field goals. Beebe was last week and we did alright.


We shouldn't be overreacting like this. It's preseason. It doesn't matter. It doesn't pay to overreact. Let's just enjoy the fact we got a win.

[fiestavike]

Bottom of the Class

Cousins, Rhodes, Vedvik - F

Top of the Class

Odenigbo, Kearse, Stephen, Griffen

Of Note

In the Boone v Abdullah contest, the big advantage for Abdullah is special teams and change of pace. Boone has looked good but is redundant with Cook and Mattison. In order for Boone to win out, the vikings are going to have be more comfortable with Bisi johnson (or another WR) handling primary KR and PR duties. Boone may be a guy who could fetch a 6th or 7th before cuts. More likely they try to sneak him onto the Practice Squad. Those bottom of the roster guys so often come down to versatility and special teams. I think Boone does not make the team.

Ifeadi Odenigbo has consistently created massive push against 2nd and 3rd team left tackles. He's been a standout all preseason. Mata-afa has been more inconsistent, but has flashed some of the same quickness and power. Shamar Stephen had an outstanding game at DT. Griffen looked like he might be back to his old self.

No excuses can be made for Cousins. He took a crap out there once again. His accuracy improved as he started throwing with more force instead of aiming it, but those passes lacked touch. His composure was dreadful as usual. I predict the Vikings find an escape hatch after this year (Trading or benching him) if they aren't able to find playoff success with Cousins.

[CharVike]

Legit slow the Sloter wagon. We don't know how he would perform against the 1's. For all we know, he could blow chunks against bone fide starters.

Secondly, he still continually makes mental mistakes and is generally a frustrating player in practice. I would not presume him to lead our team when he is not ready yet.

Also I believe Cutting? was holding on field goals. Beebe was last week and we did alright.


We shouldn't be overreacting like this. It's preseason. It doesn't matter. It doesn't pay to overreact. Let's just enjoy the fact we got a win.

If Sloter makes backup by year 4 I'd be shocked. He's in year 2. Half way.