Vikings @ Chargers post game

[makila]

Good win, going there especially. Pretty complete game. Eye test...Cole is playing better than Bradbury. Kirk didn't have the center being pushed into him every play. It's a nice change. Don't think Cole is the long term answer, it's nice though.

Kendricks played a great game too. As mentioned by others.

JJ is where our offense should be going. Make them keep safties back just on the threat of him getting behind them. When we never throw him the ball there is no threat. Keep feeding him the ball. It will open up so much more.

Also conflicted as I can never root for a loss, I don't want Zimmer staying though. Heh

[J. Kapp 11]

Expected a win against the Chargers since we matched up well against them. I was really impressed with how well the defense played considering who they were missing. Speaking of injuries/covid players, is Bradbury going to get his starting spot back with Cole actually looking competent starting?

Cole has played as well as, if not better than (or at the very least more consistently than), Bradbury IMHO.

Bradbury has been a major disappointment as a first round pick. Spielman should look to trade him if he can get anything for him.

Not saying Cole is the answer at center either. I still think the Vikings need to be looking for a long-term solution at that position, but Cole has proven he can handle it.

Here’s what Sam Monson had to say about the Cole-Bradbury comparison.

Cole earned a 74.6 PFF game-grade against Baltimore. Garrett Bradbury has only four games in his entire NFL career that can match that number, and none of them have come since Week 10 of 2020.

It’s hard when you draft somebody in the first round and he busts. But at this point, Garrett Bradbury appears to be a sunk cost. The Vikings would do well to move on. I’d say stay with Cole and see if they can improve for next year via the draft or free agency.

[psjordan]

A few random thoughts:

I have the feeling it’s not so much the play CALLING that is frustrating at times as it is the play BOOK. Looking around the league and watching other teams, I get the sense our offensive playbook is woefully out of date. That just might be me. But it is.

The Chargers are what, the worst against the run in the NFL? Not to rain on any parades, but yes our running game looked good against such a D. Let’s see what it looks like going forward.

One of the things I always look for when coaching is the players that are supposed to be vocal ARE being vocal. And the only way a player can be really vocal calling out schemes before a snap is if they KNOW what they are talking about (it’s just like public speaking, if you know your subject it is WAY easier). If my players didn’t talk LOUDLY it typically meant they did not know the O or the D we were in. If they were quiet in practice I’d make them yell out what they had for breakfast just to get them in the habit of yelling something. Then we’d hit the whiteboard so they knew what was what. That is a LONG way of saying that during the broadcast I could literally hear Cole making the line calls. Now maybe he was wrong at times or maybe it was an exceptionally clear broadcast during an away game, but I have never been able to hear Bradbury. Doesn’t mean he does not make the right calls, but IMO the louder the player making the call the more confidence he has that he is making the correct call. Long-winded way of saying leave Cole in there.

I failed to watch Darrisaw but my spidey-sense says that he did pretty well (one holding penalty I believe?). Anyways if anyone concentrated on his matchups I would love to hear thoughts.

Loved the aggressive 4th down calls. Quotes from Zim to reporters (Courtney Conin):
https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vik ... of-offense

“So, in his weekly sitdown with quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Vikings coach challenged his quarterback to be more aggressive. He told Cousins to make a concerted effort to get Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook the ball. He threw in some hints about what he felt was holding the offense back and the ways to fix it. He didn’t want to see any more five-yard checkdowns when Minnesota faced a second-and-18. He wanted Cousins to take the type of chances he’d often shied away from -- the crux of why his average pass entering Week 10 traveled 6.8 yards down field, the third shortest mark in the NFL.

“I do think that sometimes he needs to be aggressive with the football, and I thought he was [Sunday], especially in the second half,” Zimmer said. “He’s gotta trust everybody, and if he has to hum a couple in there and they get tipped or something, so be it. That’s why we’re a team.”

Sheesh. "That's why we're a team". About time. Maybe Gunslinger Zim is liking what he sees.

[Texas Vike]

Interesting quote there from Zimm. We seem to go back and forth assigning blame to Kirk or Zimmer, when really they are both naturally very risk averse human beings.

[Maelstrom88]

A few random thoughts:

I have the feeling it’s not so much the play CALLING that is frustrating at times as it is the play BOOK. Looking around the league and watching other teams, I get the sense our offensive playbook is woefully out of date. That just might be me. But it is.

The Chargers are what, the worst against the run in the NFL? Not to rain on any parades, but yes our running game looked good against such a D. Let’s see what it looks like going forward.

One of the things I always look for when coaching is the players that are supposed to be vocal ARE being vocal. And the only way a player can be really vocal calling out schemes before a snap is if they KNOW what they are talking about (it’s just like public speaking, if you know your subject it is WAY easier). If my players didn’t talk LOUDLY it typically meant they did not know the O or the D we were in. If they were quiet in practice I’d make them yell out what they had for breakfast just to get them in the habit of yelling something. Then we’d hit the whiteboard so they knew what was what. That is a LONG way of saying that during the broadcast I could literally hear Cole making the line calls. Now maybe he was wrong at times or maybe it was an exceptionally clear broadcast during an away game, but I have never been able to hear Bradbury. Doesn’t mean he does not make the right calls, but IMO the louder the player making the call the more confidence he has that he is making the correct call. Long-winded way of saying leave Cole in there.

I failed to watch Darrisaw but my spidey-sense says that he did pretty well (one holding penalty I believe?). Anyways if anyone concentrated on his matchups I would love to hear thoughts.

Loved the aggressive 4th down calls. Quotes from Zim to reporters (Courtney Conin):
https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vik ... of-offense

“So, in his weekly sitdown with quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Vikings coach challenged his quarterback to be more aggressive. He told Cousins to make a concerted effort to get Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook the ball. He threw in some hints about what he felt was holding the offense back and the ways to fix it. He didn’t want to see any more five-yard checkdowns when Minnesota faced a second-and-18. He wanted Cousins to take the type of chances he’d often shied away from -- the crux of why his average pass entering Week 10 traveled 6.8 yards down field, the third shortest mark in the NFL.

“I do think that sometimes he needs to be aggressive with the football, and I thought he was [Sunday], especially in the second half,” Zimmer said. “He’s gotta trust everybody, and if he has to hum a couple in there and they get tipped or something, so be it. That’s why we’re a team.”

Sheesh. "That's why we're a team". About time. Maybe Gunslinger Zim is liking what he sees.

Great post. Really what do they have to lose at this point? They should be extremely aggressive from here on out.

[CharVike]

It is an unusual sight seeing our center not get tossed around every play.

Anyway, leave it to the Vikings to generate so little interest even after a win against an above .500 team. I confess I watched about 1/4 of the game and then left the house to do other things. Normally I am glued to the TV all game. This can't be good for the Wilfs, new expensive Stadium and Practice Facilities and the fans are not coming to purchase your product.

We all just want A superbowl before we all die. It's been 60 years c'mon now.

I read the TV ratings are up 17% this year for the NFL. Somebody is watching. We sell out +. We are second in the NFL in attendance +. I posted the numbers a month ago. You act like the stadium is empty. You are like many of us old fans the game doesn't have the same meaning anymore. Everyone posting on here is a fan for many years nobody put us in a Super Bowl run. We get little interest because we don't have a marquee player. We don't have a guy on TV commercials. Rodgers gets interest. People know him. Lamar Jackson is in commercials and gets interest. Same with Dak. How many Super Bowls have they won? Zero combined. Once the stadium stops selling out + additional people the Wilf's will can the entire group. They are businessmen first.

[CharVike]

One play I was impressed by Cousins was a pass were a guy was coming straight at him and he stepped into and delivered the ball downfield and took the shot. Everyone seen it coming but he made the play. Nobody will mention that one. Not saying Kirk is any good but that's a play no analyst will even bring up. And yes he still needs to pack his bags. One game or play changes nothing. Next week will be a tough one. Wilson couldn't get a point on the board. Complete bum. It will be tough for Kirk.

[VikingLord]

One play I was impressed by Cousins was a pass were a guy was coming straight at him and he stepped into and delivered the ball downfield and took the shot. Everyone seen it coming but he made the play. Nobody will mention that one.

He gets props for his play against the Chargers.

He needs to play like that the rest of the year if he's going to change the deeper perception of him.

I personally hope he does, but I don't believe he will.

Prove me wrong, Kirk. I would never in my life like to be more wrong about something than this.

[VikingLord]

“I do think that sometimes he needs to be aggressive with the football, and I thought he was [Sunday], especially in the second half,” Zimmer said. “He’s gotta trust everybody, and if he has to hum a couple in there and they get tipped or something, so be it. That’s why we’re a team.”

If Cousins is getting the green light that can only lead to good things going forward.

Defenses have to worry about the entire field. If they can sit back and focus on the short and underneath stuff all game its going to be a long year and no chance of going anywhere. If they have to turn and run with our receivers, the Vikings have a chance to do something.

[Maelstrom88]

One play I was impressed by Cousins was a pass were a guy was coming straight at him and he stepped into and delivered the ball downfield and took the shot. Everyone seen it coming but he made the play. Nobody will mention that one. Not saying Kirk is any good but that's a play no analyst will even bring up. And yes he still needs to pack his bags. One game or play changes nothing. Next week will be a tough one. Wilson couldn't get a point on the board. Complete bum. It will be tough for Kirk.

The Packers defense has really impressed against Seattle and KC. They might be better than a lot of people think. One of their big tackles suffered an injury last game though so it would be nice to run the ball.

[Maelstrom88]

Getting a win out west is never easy. They played hard today. They deserved what they got. The only negative were the offensive penalties. Big penalties like holding on a TD and that face mask thing making it 1st and 25. That's digging your own hole and usually knocks a team out. We only staggered from it today which showed something. But all three phases played well enough to win and that's all you can ask. Dee Dee has some nice speed.

It's looking more and more like you were right about Mac Jones. Of course he also has great coaching. He's doing so well it makes me think McDaniels wouldn't be bad as a HC if Zimmer is canned.

[RandyMoss84]

Getting a win out west is never easy. They played hard today. They deserved what they got. The only negative were the offensive penalties. Big penalties like holding on a TD and that face mask thing making it 1st and 25. That's digging your own hole and usually knocks a team out. We only staggered from it today which showed something. But all three phases played well enough to win and that's all you can ask. Dee Dee has some nice speed.

It's looking more and more like you were right about Mac Jones. Of course he also has great coaching. He's doing so well it makes me think McDaniels wouldn't be bad as a HC if Zimmer is canned.

Are you kidding? McDaniels screwed the Colts out of a head coaching job and he destroyed the Broncos when he was head coach, I do not want ***hole McDaniels anywhere near the Vikings

[CharVike]

Getting a win out west is never easy. They played hard today. They deserved what they got. The only negative were the offensive penalties. Big penalties like holding on a TD and that face mask thing making it 1st and 25. That's digging your own hole and usually knocks a team out. We only staggered from it today which showed something. But all three phases played well enough to win and that's all you can ask. Dee Dee has some nice speed.

It's looking more and more like you were right about Mac Jones. Of course he also has great coaching. He's doing so well it makes me think McDaniels wouldn't be bad as a HC if Zimmer is canned.

When a QB that was highly rated falls to you that pick needs to be made. Those shots don't come along very often. Many felt the 49ers traded up to 3 for him. I didn't think the kid would step in and play like he has. I thought he would sit a year first. Watch him in the pocket. He looks like a vet. I was so happy when he fell to us I even yelled yes make that pick. Speilman did his typical BS. The worst part was we needed a QB. Cousins is done after next year. We have nothing behind him. You can't run a team like that.

[Maelstrom88]

It's looking more and more like you were right about Mac Jones. Of course he also has great coaching. He's doing so well it makes me think McDaniels wouldn't be bad as a HC if Zimmer is canned.

Are you kidding? McDaniels screwed the Colts out of a head coaching job and he destroyed the Broncos when he was head coach, I do not want ***hole McDaniels anywhere near the Vikings

I think he's a pretty good playcaller and clearly he's doing well with Mac which speaks volumes. He also made Tebow look like an NFL QB. I wouldn't give him power over the draft though. He did take Demarious Thomas so it wasn't all bad.

[RandyMoss84]

Are you kidding? McDaniels screwed the Colts out of a head coaching job and he destroyed the Broncos when he was head coach, I do not want ***hole McDaniels anywhere near the Vikings

I think he's a pretty good playcaller and clearly he's doing well with Mac which speaks volumes. He also made Tebow look like an NFL QB. I wouldn't give him power over the draft though. He did take Demarious Thomas so it wasn't all bad.

If McDaniels is Vikings head coach and he destroys the Vikings like he did with the Broncos, you are going to be wishing that he never came here