Playcalling vs. Detroit

[The Breeze]

I completely agree with you on the Turnovers hurting, but I disagree that our defense relies on our offense to control the clock. In a sense all defenses rely on their offense to give them a break, however, I would argue that least year our offense relied on the defense a lot more than the other way around. This is why I think that while Ponder’s play certainly deserves criticism, the defense probably deserves an equal amount. If they play like they did in week 1 for the rest of the season then Ponder will have to play like a top 5 QB for us to even have a chance at a winning record. (This is what Rogers deals with week in and week out.) This is also why I think the point about their scoring 24 points is salient. If the defense gets it’s pooh together then 24 points is probably going to win more games than we lose this season.

It's certainly not my aim to cut Ponder or the defense any slack in the Lion game. I agree that 24 should win most weeks. I think that was our average last year. Also, I'm not remembering any games where the offense went 2-10 on 3rd down.

There are too many soft spots on the D side of the ball to cover up repeatedly. I'm not even convinced that KWill is going to make that big an impact.
So, turnovers aside, the offense has to function well enough to put together more than 2 drives.....because our defense will not do that to anyone IMO.

I would wager tha Vikings won the TOP in nearly every game last year...due to ADs production. It would be interesting to see that stat.

The TOs really skew the formula though. It's likely much ado until we have at least 4 games to compile data from.

It could be that the Lions have a lot of things figured out too.

[Mothman]

It could be that the Lions have a lot of things figured out too.

That's definitely a possibility. They're a talented team and adding Reggie Bush on offense makes a big difference. The safety they added from Houston (I forget his name) is an upgrade too.

Back to the playcalling: I'm re-watching the second half as I work and I'm seeing quite a few 3 or 4 WR sets from the Vikings so it looks to me like he made some effort to adjust. I also just watched the spectacular deep catch by Simpson again and I'm wondering if the reaction of some fans to that throw was due to Billick's comments. ponder threw it too far so Simpson had to stretch out for it (man, does he look better now that he's healthy) but Billick went on about what a bad position ponder put Simpson in and how that throw should have been to the outside because the safety was positioned inside. Okay, that makes sense to me and Billick knows a lot more about football than I do. However, it didn't seem to me like Simpson ran the route with any intention of turning outside. I think Ponder may have thrown it where he was supposed to and he just put too much on it (with that weak arm of his!).

Regardless of what was supposed to happen, it was a great play and a great call.

On the other hand, a perfect example of Musgrave outsmarting himself and trying to be too clever was that ridiculous 3rd and 1, left side rollout pass attempt to Carlson. I get the idea. He was trying to play against tendencies so they lined up in a tight, short yardage, run formation. However, why roll the right-handed QB to his left? Line up as if the run is going left and then peel the TE off the right side and have Ponder roll right...

... or just actually see if Peterson can get the yard on the ground.

[Lash Man]

That's definitely a possibility. They're a talented team and adding Reggie Bush on offense makes a big difference. The safety they added from Houston (I forget his name) is an upgrade too.

Back to the playcalling: I'm re-watching the second half as I work and I'm seeing quite a few 3 or 4 WR sets from the Vikings so it looks to me like he made some effort to adjust. I also just watched the spectacular deep catch by Simpson again and I'm wondering if the reaction of some fans to that throw was due to Billick's comments. ponder threw it too far so Simpson had to stretch out for it (man, does he look better now that he's healthy) but Billick went on about what a bad position ponder put Simpson in and how that throw should have been to the outside because the safety was positioned inside. Okay, that makes sense to me and Billick knows a lot more about football than I do. However, it didn't seem to me like Simpson ran the route with any intention of turning outside. I think Ponder may have thrown it where he was supposed to and he just put too much on it (with that weak arm of his!).

Regardless of what was supposed to happen, it was a great play and a great call.

On the other hand, a perfect example of Musgrave outsmarting himself and trying to be too clever was that ridiculous 3rd and 1, left side rollout pass attempt to Carlson. I get the idea. He was trying to play against tendencies so they lined up in a tight, short yardage, run formation. However, why roll the right-handed QB to his left? Line up as if the run is going left and then peel the TE off the right side and have Ponder roll right...

... or just actually see if Peterson can get the yard on the ground.

Ding Ding we have a winner give the man a Kewpie Doll ! Why the heck Muskrat tries to outsmart everyone when we have one of the best RB's of all time makes me yell at my TV every Sunday !