Thoughts about the debacle

[mondry]

I thought Jarius looked solid yesterday. He's sure handed, much more so than Wallace, and is very close to the same speed. He's underrated.

The guy I want next year is Josh Doctson, WR TCU. He may drop to the 2nd/3rd round because of the injury that has kept him off the field during the most important stretch of their schedule, but this kid is a beast. OTOH, we need about 2-3 linemen and a safety really bad.

Agree about Wright, I feel Norv has simply classified him into a "wes welker" slot guy unfortunately but without the usage rate.

I have a feeling if we drastically improve the o-line though that some of our current WR's would be much more productive so I'm not super high on drafting one over offensive line and safety help.

[autobon7]

Agree about Wright, I feel Norv has simply classified him into a "wes welker" slot guy unfortunately but without the usage rate.

I have a feeling if we drastically improve the o-line though that some of our current WR's would be much more productive so I'm not super high on drafting one over offensive line and safety help.

Agree.....OL and safety is Num 1 priority. Maybe put out some feelers for a new OC??? Not sure if we need to go that route......yet!!

[Mothman]

Agree.....OL and safety is Num 1 priority. Maybe put out some feelers for a new OC??? Not sure if we need to go that route......yet!!

That's probably a non-starter anyway. If I'm not mistaken, Zimmer has made it clear that as long he's head coach in MN, he wants Turner to be his OC.

[autobon7]

That's probably a non-starter anyway. If I'm not mistaken, Zimmer has made it clear that as long he's head coach in MN, he wants Turner to be his OC.

I kind of thought so. I'm just on the fence about NT.

[S197]

My thoughts are we need to move forward, this is a hell of a schedule coming up and will really test the will of this young team. What would I do different?

I think the first thing is all the receivers not named Diggs needs to get involved a lot earlier in the game. I don't think Wallace or CJ had a catch and that's a problem. This offense works best when the ball gets spread around. Also, the offense needs to start attacking the middle of the field. It really wasn't until the seam route to Rudolph that we tested them over the middle. Teddy needs to gunsling a little. I know they're telling him to manage the turnovers but I think it's resulting in him being too conservative. If you look at the second half, a lot of those throws were VERY tight windows but those are the throws you need to make in the NFL. I have a feeling early in the game he's not trying to make those throws and it's only when the team's back is up against a wall that he starts to let loose.

Defensively, I think still think this unit is good, very good. Maybe not elite yet but when you hold Rodgers to under 50% and mostly field goals, you are doing a good job. One area I think they need to improve is upping the pressure. The TD to James Jones was a really good example of what happens when you give Rodgers all day to throw the ball. He's going to find someone no matter who is covering when he has 5-6 seconds to throw.

Honestly, this loss isn't as bad as the score made it seem. If Peterson doesn't fumble, and they get in the endzone, I think it's a totally different game. This defense does a good job on 3rd down. It really was a momentum breaker.

[losperros]

From Adrian Peterson:

"I think it's from the top to the bottom," Peterson said. "It's from the coaches on both sides and the players, as well. No matter what position we were in, we had calls, and we didn't execute on a lot of plays. It came back to hurt us. But it's the coaches' job to put us in the best position, as well."

I couldn't agree more. Peterson added that uncharacteristic mistakes, such as the eight penalties for 110 yards, really cost the Vikings. He said this about his fumble:

"Just me doing what I do -- trying to make a play," Peterson said. "I remember spinning out, and my legs got wrapped up, and the ball got away from me. The defensive lineman did what those guys do: They caught me slipping on that one, and it really hurt us."

http://football.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_ ... top-bottom

[VikingLord]

... and this gets back to coaching. Failing to better utilize the kind of talent Wallace and Patterson possess is inexcusable, in my opinion. There's not even a genuine effort to make use of Patterson's ability., even though the Vikes could clearly use more playmaking and scoring ability on offense.

I don't know - blaming the coaches for what appear to be consistent execution errors seems to be a bridge too far for me.

The receivers have consistently gotten open deep, and I'm sure as many times as they've been open deep they've been more open on the middle routes. The replays have shown this in every game since the debacle against San Fran to start the year. Bridgewater has consistently missed on these opportunities. Sure, he hit Diggs on what Diggs had to turn into a highlight reel layout to catch (when Diggs was comfortably open), but Bridgewater is consistently either A) not seeing/pulling the trigger on the mid and deep routes or B) badly overthrowing guys who are wide open deep. That is NOT a coaching problem. That is a player problem, and since Wallace, Diggs, Wright, et. al, can't even get to the ball to drop it, the blame for that has to fall squarely on Bridgewater's ability to execute on those throws.

All this banter about the OL, blocking, WRs, refs, is par for the course with the Vikings, but I'd bet it's similar for most other teams. But when there is something this obvious staring everyone in the face, it's time to call it out. Maybe Bridgewater is throwing short all the time because he lacks the confidence to throw deep. Or maybe the coaching staff lacks the confidence in his ability to throw deep. Whatever it is, a QB who can't hit wide open deep receivers is not long for the NFL no matter how badly Vikings fans want Bridgewater to be the answer.

If I'm Spielman I go and have a real heart-to-heart with Zimmer and Turner about this issue. What in their view is causing the issue? Can it be fixed? If I don't like the answers to those questions I'm looking to the draft for a QB again. And we as fans might just have to face the very distinct possibility that Bridgewater's ceiling is an NFL backup.

[mosscarter]

you can cite bridgewater's stats from yesterday they are very misleading. even when we went all out pass he still wasn't able to get us another touchdown. i don't care if he throws for 150 yards; i'm sick of him only having 1 or no touchdowns nearly every game. if you think we can beat rodgers putting up numbers like that dream on. brees threw for 7 td's in 1 game and teddy has 9 this entire year. unless our offense improves majorly i can see us ending up 8-8 in all honesty. he played better behind just as bad of an o-line last year. it seems it is the o-line's fault, wallace's fault, and johnson's fault. maybe the fact is bridgewater isn't making the throws he needs to make. the fact that we only tried one deep ball yesterday should be disturbing to everyone in here.

[Jordysghost]

you can cite bridgewater's stats from yesterday they are very misleading. even when we went all out pass he still wasn't able to get us another touchdown. i don't care if he throws for 150 yards; i'm sick of him only having 1 or no touchdowns nearly every game. if you think we can beat rodgers putting up numbers like that dream on. brees threw for 7 td's in 1 game and teddy has 9 this entire year. unless our offense improves majorly i can see us ending up 8-8 in all honesty. he played better behind just as bad of an o-line last year. it seems it is the o-line's fault, wallace's fault, and johnson's fault. maybe the fact is bridgewater isn't making the throws he needs to make. the fact that we only tried one deep ball yesterday should be disturbing to everyone in here.

Can I inquire as to how you would have attacked the opposing D yesterday? Because I think that would lend me a little more insight, into why you feel so strongly that Bridgewater played badly yesterday, something I vehemently and wholeheartedly disagree with.

[VikingLord]

Agree.....OL and safety is Num 1 priority. Maybe put out some feelers for a new OC??? Not sure if we need to go that route......yet!!

When I see players executing an ineffective scheme, then the OC's job should be in question.

When I see players not executing, then that is where the fix needs to come.

People talk about Wallace dropping passes, and it's true he has dropped several, but that issue can't fall on Turner. Wallace has to fix that and start making those catches because he is open and the ball is coming to him. Likewise, AD's fumbles don't fall on Turner. He has to clean that up himself. Turner can't be responsible if Bridgewater overthrows wide open receivers.

Those are all execution errors, and from what I have seen most of this year, those are the things mainly holding the offense back.

[TSonn]

Can I inquire as to how you would have attacked the opposing D yesterday? Because I think that would lend me a little more insight, into why you feel so strongly that Bridgewater played badly yesterday, something I vehemently and wholeheartedly disagree with.

Yeah Jordy! It's a weird world when Packer fans appreciate Teddy more than Viking fans.

The answer is pretty simple, mosscarter: we score a lot more TDs on running plays than the Saints and the Packers. We need to score more in general, but we have AD for the 5 yard scores and Asiata for the 1 yard scores. Yes, Brees threw 7 TDs in a game. They also had zero running touchdowns that game. Last night, Rodgers had 2 touchdowns. The Vikings also had 2 touchdowns (1 from Teddy/Rudolph and 1 from AD).

[J. Kapp 11]

you can cite bridgewater's stats from yesterday they are very misleading. even when we went all out pass he still wasn't able to get us another touchdown. i don't care if he throws for 150 yards; i'm sick of him only having 1 or no touchdowns nearly every game. if you think we can beat rodgers putting up numbers like that dream on. brees threw for 7 td's in 1 game and teddy has 9 this entire year. unless our offense improves majorly i can see us ending up 8-8 in all honesty. he played better behind just as bad of an o-line last year. it seems it is the o-line's fault, wallace's fault, and johnson's fault. maybe the fact is bridgewater isn't making the throws he needs to make. the fact that we only tried one deep ball yesterday should be disturbing to everyone in here.

Drew Brees threw for 7 TDs and barely won. The Saints are 4-6 and will be watching the playoffs on TV.

This is about winning, dude, not stats. It ain't fantasy. It's real.

Yeah, we lost yesterday. Yeah, the Packers are better ... for now. But we're moving in the right direction. We're 7-3 and solidly in a playoff spot. We're tied for the division lead, and if we happen to go into a Week 17 rematch with Green Bay and we're within a game, we'll win the division if we beat them. A guy like you would say that's impossible ... I would answer that Detroit beat them at Lambeau. Anything can happen in the NFL.

And I repeat ... Teddy Bridgewater ain't going anywhere.

[Norv Zimmer]

I really don't see the vikings keeping wallace next year. He is scheduled to make something like 11 million, no way we pay him that.
Idk what is up with johnson he kinda fell off the planet.

In the draft I think first two rounds we do OL/safety.
Next rounds more O line maybe a reciever.

[Mothman]

Yeah Jordy! It's a weird world when Packer fans appreciate Teddy more than Viking fans.

The answer is pretty simple, mosscarter: we score a lot more TDs on running plays than the Saints and the Packers.

Well, 1 out of 2 anyway. The Saints have more rushing TDs than the Vikes.

[Boon]

And in other news the bengals got jobbed last night. Good showing refs