The Breeze wrote:O-line,bad penalties and shoddy tackling. The latter two are correctable......the former is going to cause some serious growing pains IMO.
Except that you can't call poor O-line play by this group "growing pains". They're all the same guys returning from last year. Not that anyone really expects Charlie Johnson or Brandon Fusco to be any better. Phil Loadholt has always had problems with speed rushers.
Kalil is the one I'm wondering about. What the hell is happening with that guy?
Eli wrote:
Except that you can't call poor O-line play by this group "growing pains". They're all the same guys returning from last year. Not that anyone really expects Charlie Johnson or Brandon Fusco to be any better. Phil Loadholt has always had problems with speed rushers.
Kalil is the one I'm wondering about. What the hell is happening with that guy?
That's why I said 'serious growing pains'....like growing a new line.
I can't help but wonder if they are drinking their own kool-aid with regards to ADs success last year. Someone needs to remind them that he got nearly 1000yds after contact last year.
In fairness to tonights game, I thought the blitz pickup was improved and it help to have Ponder more disciplined at stepping up rather than running out. Still, the 9ers O-line out classed them across the board IMO.
and I don't know what's up with Kalil.....I'm hoping AD helps tp stabilize it some....but hope is for dopes~
Eli wrote:
Kalil is the one I'm wondering about. What the hell is happening with that guy?
That's my concern as well. He completely broke down when he let Justin Smith through. Did he mess up, or was the guard not supposed to pull? Methinks the former. And it seems like Ponder is holding onto the ball WAY too long. Or are the WRs not making their breaks? Too many question marks for the offense at this point. The first team defense had a nice game.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa
MelanieMFunk wrote:
True. We have a few more positives to take from this game.
C Ponder (MIN) 17 of 23, 116yds, 2TD, 1INT
That's about right.
We showed some signs of hope. It'll be tons better with Peterson.
Oddly enough, I'm actually excited to see our last preseason game. Some of our backups have been exciting, especially after watching some of our starters.
What were the signs of hope. You know the BoyBlunder stats that look ok were against the 49ers 3rd-4th string D with our starting O right? Its hard to find any good from the O at ALL from that game, but whatever floats your boat.
PurpleKoolaid wrote:
What were the signs of hope. You know the BoyBlunder stats that look ok were against the 49ers 3rd-4th string D with our starting O right? Its hard to find any good from the O at ALL from that game, but whatever floats your boat.
Yep. Not to mention the terrible fumble left out of those stats above there.
PurpleKoolaid wrote:
What were the signs of hope. You know the BoyBlunder stats that look ok were against the 49ers 3rd-4th string D with our starting O right? Its hard to find any good from the O at ALL from that game, but whatever floats your boat.
Come on, man. It's preseason, the time of optimism and hope. Some of us like to wait until the season starts to proceed with the wailing and gnashing of teeth that comes with being a Vikings fan.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa
Well, I spent the summer holding back the dread and praying that Ponder spent the entire summer watching tapes of Great QB's who have good feet, know how to plant and throw. BUT, so far I still see him off balance, throwing on one foot for no reason, etc etc. Do we even HAVE a QB coach?!? We now have at least 2 WRs who can be considered NFL starters, Jennnings and Simpson. So Mr. Ponder has no excuse in that area. The OL was not too great but he DID get some good time in the pocket to see the field, make a decision, and throw. I sure hope the team is alot better prepared then they have seemed.
chicagopurple wrote:Well, I spent the summer holding back the dread and praying that Ponder spent the entire summer watching tapes of Great QB's who have good feet, know how to plant and throw. BUT, so far I still see him off balance, throwing on one foot for no reason, etc etc. Do we even HAVE a QB coach?!? We now have at least 2 WRs who can be considered NFL starters, Jennnings and Simpson. So Mr. Ponder has no excuse in that area. The OL was not too great but he DID get some good time in the pocket to see the field, make a decision, and throw. I sure hope the team is alot better prepared then they have seemed.
I'm telling ya, he looked like a riverdancer out there. Pondancer. (sigh)
Last edited by The Breeze on Sun Aug 25, 2013 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BGM wrote:
Come on, man. It's preseason, the time of optimism and hope. Some of us like to wait until the season starts to proceed with the wailing and gnashing of teeth that comes with being a Vikings fan.
I think I would have held off a bit, but watching Cassel struggle so much made the game that much more upsetting. Never have I felt worse going into a season, not even when Childress and Tjoke were running the show. I almost wonder if maybe the coachinf staff messed up Ponder ability more then they ever helped him. I never saw a lot of talent, and I hated the pick, but I wonder with the right coaching if he could have ran this simple offense we have.
What were the signs of hope. You know the BoyBlunder stats that look ok were against the 49ers 3rd-4th string D with our starting O right? Its hard to find any good from the O at ALL from that game, but whatever floats your boat.
Really? The Niners put in their third and fourth guys before their seconds or what? I get your point but let's not exaggerate. He wasn't playing against their fourth guys the whole time, and he was passing for completions. I was saying his stats seem normal for him and that was without AP. Seconds, thirds, or fourths...at least the offense managed to make a few plays. Better than last week, no?
I'm sorry you guys expected to look dominant against the NFC Champs and their D. Better luck next time. I do, however, find it hard to believe y'all expected much better than what you saw, considering your lack of confidence in Ponder with AD let alone without him, especially against a team like the Niners. Are you mad the Vikings are who you thought they were?
Echoing the Funkmiester, I thought the first unit played well against theirs. They were one play from winning the superbowl and have been to back to back NFCC games....they're a great team. I thought Sanford should've picked that pass in the 1st qr..... and until they(niners) got their run established they were at negative yards. Our D-line is still soft in the middle. How could you expect our offense not to struggle against that defense....especially without AD? I could understand hoping our offense would shine....but realistically?
MelanieMFunk wrote:
Really? The Niners put in their third and fourth guys before their seconds or what? I get your point but let's not exaggerate. He wasn't playing against their fourth guys the whole time, and he was passing for completions. I was saying his stats seem normal for him and that was without AP. Seconds, thirds, or fourths...at least the offense managed to make a few plays. Better than last week, no?
I'm sorry you guys expected to look dominant against the NFC Champs and their D. Better luck next time. I do, however, find it hard to believe y'all expected much better than what you saw, considering your lack of confidence in Ponder with AD let alone without him, especially against a team like the Niners. Are you mad the Vikings are who you thought they were?
No, not mad. Disappointed in being right about Ponder. And wondering if the rest of the team is as good as it was last year. We are younger, but are we any better?
The Breeze wrote:Echoing the Funkmiester, I thought the first unit played well against theirs. They were one play from winning the superbowl and have been to back to back NFCC games....they're a great team. I thought Sanford should've picked that pass in the 1st qr..... and until they(niners) got their run established they were at negative yards. Our D-line is still soft in the middle. How could you expect our offense not to struggle against that defense....especially without AD? I could understand hoping our offense would shine....but realistically?
Yeah. It was a pretty even game there for a little bit with the first units. I was content with that.
Going against such a great team with so much depth, I think we did okay. I wanted better but was prepared for how it played out. Looking okay against a great team is by far better than looking like poop against a below average team from just a week ago. So, I'm good. Super glad Williams is okay, and that is that.
I do think we are going to be better this year, but it's going to be hard to get our win/loss record to reflect that because of our brutal schedule. Either way, I'm excited it's almost football season.
Adrianpeterson28mvp wrote:
Really can't blame the Bears fans and Packers fans here. When you live in Illinois and Wisconsin, guess your best bet for entertainment is trolling on an internet fan board during a pre season game that doesn't even involve your team.
I haven't been trolling, and I live in New York you fool.
I hope one day you Vikings fans will realize that no body outside of the Midwest notices any discernable difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not to mention I'm fairly certain there is more to do in Illinois than either of the other two.
I'd watch my mouth if I came from some dirty swamp like Florida, but I suppose that's just me.
we simply don't have a quarterback, plain and simple. and if peterson is expected to carry the same load as he did last year don't be surprised if he gets hurt again. ponder simply cannot stretch the field whatsoever its painful to watch.
