Vikings @ Bears Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 11

[maembe]

The bottom line in this game is that Teddy was terrible... again... He sure is starting to make me worry.
The defense (mostly Robinson) struggle badly at times, but managed to keep us in the game despite how poorly the offense was playing. This would have been an above average defensive performance for us last year, so I'm not too worried about Robinson or the defense in general at this point.

[TSonn]

A few observations...

- The Chicago Bears were supposed to be contenders this year. They began finding a little of their form against us. Their offense has some of the best talent in the NFL despite how they've played the past couple weeks.
- This was Teddy's first cold weather game of the season. It looked like he might not have trusted some of his throws to his WRs (until the 4th quarter). That could have been due to the cold weather. Hopefully he can get used it (at least until 2016)!
- Tackling. Where was it? Was that also a product of cold weather or rust from the bye week?
- Our WRs don't give 100% on their routes. Maybe it's because Teddy doesn't throw to them much? Maybe Teddy doesn't throw to them much because they give up on routes?
- I think the AD situation has the team distracted again. Since Zimmer gave the team a few days off during the bye week, if any of them turned on the TV, all they'd hear about the Vikings (and the NFL in general) was Adrian Peterson. It was clear that most, if not all, of the team wants him back. It's easy to see that a young team would start getting excited about their best and MVP player rejoining their team only to be a bit crushed and deflated when it doesn't happen.

Oh yeah, and Matt Kalil has become my least favorite viking. Just the way he watched Teddy get up by himself after Kalil gave up the sack was super disheartening. I hope the coaches make him watch that 100 times this week and tell him that if it happens again, he's benched.

[VikingPaul73]

I'll be posting a mock offseason soon now that I know AP will be back

Just curious, was something official announced that he will be back? Or are you just speculating based on the fact that it was bargained to a misdemeanor?
Trying to find out some info on his future......

[Pondering Her Percy]

Just curious, was something official announced that he will be back? Or are you just speculating based on the fact that it was bargained to a misdemeanor?
Trying to find out some info on his future......

I mean everyone and there mother are pretty much saying he will be back this season so....

[PacificNorseWest]

Unacceptable is the word that comes to mind for this game.

The team and Zim looked uninspired and lackluster. I expected much more coming off of a bye and after two straight wins.

[Purple Reign]

I mean everyone and there mother are pretty much saying he will be back this season so....

Everyone except the one's that really matter (Goodell and the Wilfs).

[chicagopurple]

on the J RObinson note...what I dont understand is WHY the coach left him alone all day to cover the WR? It was clearly a prob and why not have a second defender playing deep to double him up? It was a huge problem that was obvious early in the game and they didnt really make any changes in coverage scheme.

[frosted]

on the J RObinson note...what I dont understand is WHY the coach left him alone all day to cover the WR? It was clearly a prob and why not have a second defender playing deep to double him up? It was a huge problem that was obvious early in the game and they didnt really make any changes in coverage scheme.

He was supposed to have help from Blanton on the long TD he allowed, but Blanton was late getting there - at least that's how it appeared. Obviously, I don't have insight into the coverage on the play, but it was pretty clear.

At the end of the day, Josh was in position on every one of the catches he allowed, but he failed to use good technique and execute. He could have broken any of those passes up.

[Mothman]

He was supposed to have help from Blanton on the long TD he allowed, but Blanton was late getting there - at least that's how it appeared. Obviously, I don't have insight into the coverage on the play, but it was pretty clear.

At the end of the day, Josh was in position on every one of the catches he allowed, but he failed to use good technique and execute. He could have broken any of those passes up.

Perhaps but it's not just a question of technique. He was facing players with a significant physical advantage over him and that does matter. Brandon Marshall is at least 5+ inches taller and probably 30+ lbs. heavier than Robinson. That's not an easy disadvantage to overcome.

[LA Viking]

Perhaps but it's not just a question of technique. He was facing players with a significant physical advantage over him and that does matter. Brandon Marshall is at least 5+ inches taller and probably 30+ lbs. heavier than Robinson. That's not an easy disadvantage to overcome.

Thank you. All this ripping Robinson is ridiculous. He actually played pretty good defense for the most part, he just was physically outmatched. It would have been interesting to double Marshall with Smith - as he is much more physical, but that would have probably created other mismatches.

[PacificNorseWest]

When the Bears scored that last TD on Robinson and his look of dejetion on his knees was priceless. Poor guy had great coverage all game, he was just dwarfed by two beastly receivers.

And I don't think it's as easy as doubling on Robinson's side. Like I mentioned -- his coverage was there, he just wasn't tall or strong enough. We also don't know the scheme that was implemented for the game. Obviously, using another man to help Robinson means removing that man from somewhere else on the field. Given the passing weapons the Bears have in Alshon, Marshall, Bennett and Forte, you're just robbing Peter to help Paul because then it just creates another mismatch. Possibly an even more glaring one.

I think the issue was the lack of a pass rush. Cutler did a great job of releasing the ball quickly and he still has mobility to move outside the pocket and hurt the Vikings in that regard. Basically, Trestman and co. devised a great offensive gameplan that limited the Vikings pass rush and took advantage of Robinson's size and Forte's receiving ability. This loss is as much on Zimmer as it is on some of their players. They just got beat.

[Mothman]

When the Bears scored that last TD on Robinson and his look of dejetion on his knees was priceless. Poor guy had great coverage all game, he was just dwarfed by two beastly receivers.

And I don't think it's as easy as doubling on Robinson's side. Like I mentioned -- his coverage was there, he just wasn't tall or strong enough. We also don't know the scheme that was implemented for the game. Obviously, using another man to help Robinson means removing that man from somewhere else on the field. Given the passing weapons the Bears have in Alshon, Marshall, Bennett and Forte, you're just robbing Peter to help Paul because then it just creates another mismatch. Possibly an even more glaring one.

Possibly but at least that would force the Bears to find and exploit it. The Vikes coaching staff hung Robinson out to dry yesterday.

I think the issue was the lack of a pass rush. Cutler did a great job of releasing the ball quickly and he still has mobility to move outside the pocket and hurt the Vikings in that regard. Basically, Trestman and co. devised a great offensive gameplan that limited the Vikings pass rush and took advantage of Robinson's size and Forte's receiving ability. This loss is as much on Zimmer as it is on some of their players. They just got beat.

Well said and I agree. They were out-coached and out-played and coming off the bye, with extra time to prepare, that's not a good sign. How could they fail to anticipate that Chicago was going to to exploit their size advantage on the outside and if they didn't fail to anticipate it, why weren't they better prepared to handle it?

[Pondering Her Percy]

is worthy of your endless supply of positivity, but a fellow fan with higher expectations is not?

Lets be honest, just about everybody's expectations went out the door when we lost the face of our franchise, our best offensive lineman, our starting TE and our starting QB. If expectations were still high after something that detrimental to team then there is a problem. There isn't a team in the NFL that could overcome something like that. Take Peyton Manning, Ronnie Hillman, Julius Thomas and Ryan Clady off the Broncos and let me know how well that offense does. This goes for any team in the NFL. By no means am I trying to make up excuses but bottom line is, it's the truth.

Do you realize how important AP is to this team?? The fact that he is not only the best runner in the game, but the pressure he takes off of literally everyone around him. He takes massive amounts of pressure off of Teddy because we would actually have a legitimate threat in the backfield and Teddy will have more looks downfield. He takes massive amounts of pressure off our WRs because they will be seeing much more 1 on 1 coverage (especially CP, we saw how he flourished against the Rams not as a WR petah but as a runner). And he takes massive amounts of pressure off of this offensive line because teams have to respect him and not bring the house at a 22 year old rookie QB.

Plus when you add in losing one of the better guards in the game, a threat in Rudolph and having to force a rookie in before we wanted to at QB, my expectations flew out the door quick. As well as everyone on this offense having to learn a new scheme. Trust me I had extremely high expectations coming into this season but when you take that big of a hit, on one side of the ball no less, you're bound for some kind of failure.

So to sit here and say, "our offense sucks" repeatedly does nothing but state the inevitable. Did anyone think it would really be THAT good after seeing what happened at the beginning of this year? I sure hope not. That's a big reason why I don't sit on here and constantly complain about our offense. Because in all honesty, what did you expect?? That is why I continue to say, I just want to see improvement at this point. I want to see our young guys flourish and for the most part a lot of them have. IMO, this defense can only get better at this point. Our offense was bound for failure and there wasn't a thing anyone could do about it. Not when you take that big of a hit. You can blame Spielman, Turner or whoever you want but bottom line is, this would have killed anyone's offense no matter who you decide to choose. And when it all boils down, the easiest thing to do is point the finger and guys like Spielman and Turner. Point all you want, but there was no fixing the unfixable.

Just my two cents.....

[frosted]

Possibly but at least that would force the Bears to find and exploit it. The Vikes coaching staff hung Robinson out to dry yesterday.

I'm surprised Jim - this seems to run contrary to what I've often thought your view was on the coach/player relationship. On Jeffery's touchdown, Robinson was right there. It wasn't like Jeffery high pointed that pass either - it was just a failure to execute by Robinson. If Josh had turned and played the ball, he may have broken up or intercepted the pass. On the long touchdown pass to Marshall (which came later) it was quite clear that, an adjustment had been made - Blanton was supposed to have been in coverage, over the top, but got caught flat footed looking into the backfield, and thus didn't execute the defense as called, contributing to the touchdown. I think Gannon even alluded to this on the TV broadcast.

I know I'm not going to change your opinion on anything, I just wanted to throw my two cents in.

P.S - For my money, the biggest issue with our defense yesterday was our lack of pass rush.

[Mothman]

I'm surprised Jim - this seems to run contrary to what I've often thought your view was on the coach/player relationship.

I'm not sure why... you'll have to elaborate a little. Do you mean because I always talk about the importance of players executing?

On Jeffery's touchdown, Robinson was right there. It wasn't like Jeffery high pointed that pass either - it was just a failure to execute by Robinson. If Josh had turned and played the ball, he may have broken up or intercepted the pass. On the long touchdown pass to Marshall (which came later) it was quite clear that, an adjustment had been made - Blanton was supposed to have been in coverage, over the top, but got caught flat footed looking into the backfield, and thus didn't execute the defense as called, contributing to the touchdown. I think Gannon even alluded to this on the TV broadcast.

Keep in mind, I was watching from the stands so I didn't see the broadcast or hear what Gannon said. I haven't had a chance to watch the game on NFL.com yet.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the coaches made no adjustments at all or that Robinson has no responsibility for plays made against him. He certainly could have played that Jeffrey TD better. Against Marshall, he had little chance without help. Marshall is too good at using his body to "block out" defenders. Anyway, my point is that the coaches didn't adjust sufficiently and I'm not just talking about the TDs. Third down conversions against Robinson were part of the Bears "bread and butter yesterday. They were just too easy.

When I watch the game online, I'll keep an eye on Blanton on the long TD to Marshall. If he blew his coverage responsibility, that's on him, not the coaches.Thanks for pointing out that aspect of the play.

P.S - For my money, the biggest issue with our defense yesterday was our lack of pass rush.

It was a huge problem. Honestly, I don't even see one aspect of the defense I can point to as the biggest issue yesterday. They're tackling was bad. their run defense was weak. They couldn't figure out how to deal with the Bears outside receivers. It wasn't a very good performance.