Cowboys Postgame

[Fran the Man]

I'm not sure if anyone also mentioned it but it sure was nice not to see 'Zeke' do that stupid "Feed me" act. I don't think he had the opportunity to do it all night long. SKOL to our D-line!

[S197]

If I can ask a dumb question, why didnt we just take a knee a couple of times at 40 seconds left on the clock or are teams not aloud to do that anymore

Cowboys had 3 timeouts. 3 knees would be the worst way to run off the clock.

That toss play though... I still can’t believe they called that.

[ERIK the PURPLE]

That toss play reminded me of the Giants Joe Pisarchek play back in the early 80’s I think. Eagles recovered and ran it back for a game winning TD.

I about died when I saw that last night.

[ERIK the PURPLE]

Herm Edwards made the return for the TD.

[J. Kapp 11]

I'm not sure if anyone also mentioned it but it sure was nice not to see 'Zeke' do that stupid "Feed me" act. I don't think he had the opportunity to do it all night long. SKOL to our D-line!

Longest rushing play for Dallas ... 6 yards.

[Fran the Man]

I'm not sure if anyone also mentioned it but it sure was nice not to see 'Zeke' do that stupid "Feed me" act. I don't think he had the opportunity to do it all night long. SKOL to our D-line!

Longest rushing play for Dallas ... 6 yards.

Geez, didn't know that. Total domination.

[J. Kapp 11]

By the way, the Vikings are now 3-2 against teams that currently have a winning record.

[J. Kapp 11]

One more interesting stat.

We've been a little critical of the pass defense against the Cowboys. However, according to Next Gen Stats, Dak Prescott completed four of the least-likely completions of Week 12. Two of those were touchdowns.

Not a stat, but an observation ... Prescott also completed several passes when he escaped pressure and extended plays. Pretty hard for DBs to stay with fleet receivers when a quarterback extends the play past about 4 seconds. Bottom line: He's pretty good.

It bears repeating -- the Vikings' game plan was to stop Ezekiel Elliott and make the Cowboys beat the them through the air.

Yeah, well, we had to do that. We had to make them one-dimensional,” Zimmer said. “I wish we would have played better in pass defense than what we did. But we had to [stop Elliott]. They’re a good running football team, and I thought we did a really nice job in our run fits and the way that we tackled.

[StumpHunter]

One more interesting stat.

We've been a little critical of the pass defense against the Cowboys. However, according to Next Gen Stats, Dak Prescott completed four of the least-likely completions of Week 12. Two of those were touchdowns.

Not a stat, but an observation ... Prescott also completed several passes when he escaped pressure and extended plays. Pretty hard for DBs to stay with fleet receivers when a quarterback extends the play past about 4 seconds. Bottom line: He's pretty good.

It bears repeating -- the Vikings' game plan was to stop Ezekiel Elliott and make the Cowboys beat the them through the air.

Yeah, well, we had to do that. We had to make them one-dimensional,” Zimmer said. “I wish we would have played better in pass defense than what we did. But we had to [stop Elliott]. They’re a good running football team, and I thought we did a really nice job in our run fits and the way that we tackled.

Dak was on fire Sunday.

I was a little worried that the contract stuff that was announced during the week might light a fire under the guy, and I think it might have. He didn't miss on very many throws at all, going 16 for 23 on throws over 10 yards. Not only was he accurate, he was super aggressive and accurate.

[Cliff]

I thought this one was a loss so it was nice to see them come through. Though I was disappointed with how the half ended the defense really stepped it up to make the stop at the end. Overall, and considering Dallas has a pretty good offense, I think they did well.

Kirk played a pretty good game, I thought. We had to rely on some of the receivers making one-handed grabs which won't always happen but regardless, he put the ball where only his receivers could get to it and let them make a play. Still, I'm glad the game wasn't on his shoulders in the end.

Cook was out of his mind again. He continues to be the glue that holds the offense together. This team by far is at their best passing when Kirk can roll out and have a little time without a defender in his face. The amount of play action the Vikings run won't hold out without that continued play at RB. He really needs to stay healthy. I like the depth at RB but Cook is the best RB in the league right now.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... -benefits/

As he reviewed his career this offseason in search of areas to improve, one play inspired Kirk Cousins’s curiosity. He recalled a quarterback sneak that had keyed a Washington Redskins victory over the Green Bay Packers. If a sneak had been that important, he figured, he wanted to ensure he could convert another if needed. He asked members of the Minnesota Vikings’ analytics staff to tell him his success rate on quarterback sneaks.

“Then I said after that conversation, ‘Hey, this is good stuff,’ ” Cousins said. “ ‘If ever you have information that arises, please send it my way. Don’t be a stranger. I might not be smart enough to ask the question, but can you come to me?’ ”

Shortly thereafter, a Vikings analytics staffer provided Cousins information that helps explain an overlooked NFL trend. He showed Cousins his passing statistics with and without play-action. On straight dropbacks, Cousins’s numbers resembled those of a mid-tier NFL starter. When he faked a running play before throwing, Cousins looked like a superstar on paper.

I don't think it's an overlooked trend, personally, I just don't think most teams can run well enough for it to work consistently. As long as the Vikings can have such an explosive rushing attach and screen game the play action should keep returning those benefits. I am worried what the team might look like if Cook is shut down - kind of like what the Vikings did to Zeke this last game. Shutting down Cook is how the Bears beat us but most teams don't have Mack at LB. The Packers game was kind of a fluke, really. Cook had a good game and Cousins kind of got whooped. 2 INTs, 2 fumbles (1 lost). No matter your opinion on Cousins one can at least admit that many turnovers by him aren't normal. Plus Diggs lost one. KC was able to limit Cook a bit too.

As Kapp pointed out the Vikings are 3-2 against winning teams so far (as they stand now) which is a great trend though I've got my doubts they all finish the year that way (which is what that stat is looking at). Though Dallas is a pretty good team their schedule is killer. 5 of the next 7 games are Patriots, Bills, Bears, Rams, and Eagles. This was a good win against what seems like a quality team but it may not seem that way by the end of the season. Oakland is something of a wildcard. I expect Philly to end it with a winning record. They might go 5-6 in the short term (Patriots and Seahawks next two games) but they've got a pretty easy schedule after that.

Regardless, if the Vikings can keep doing what they're doing with the ground game they'll be able to keep winning. Even into the playoffs, which I previously thought simply couldn't happen with this particular team.

[VikingLord]

Also, our offensive coaches were nothing short of brilliant in this game. They knew Dallas' tendencies to stunt up front would be vulnerable to runs on the edges and screen passes. In the second half, they used the fullback wide with Cook cutting back inside his blocks. It was a great adjustment.

There is no viable argument against the idea that Zimmer and Stefubiak did a great job of coaching in this game.

I'm not trying to argue that.

What I was trying to say is that I didn't think the secondary played all that bad. I think they were a breath away from creating some huge plays. As the game went on the Cowboys found themselves seemingly in more and more 3rd-and-long situations. Normally the Vikings defense clamps down in those situations, but Dallas found a way to convert them. Dames seemed to imply that was part of Zimmer's master plan, giving the Cowboys a false sense of security that was later yanked way (at least, that's how I read it).

Still, 3rd-and-long for Dallas is exactly how Zimmer wanted things, and the fact he was consistently getting Dallas into those 3rd downs confirms that his plan to focus on taking Elliot away was working.

The coaching and gameplan were great.

I like "Stefubiak" as well.

[CharVike]

Also, our offensive coaches were nothing short of brilliant in this game. They knew Dallas' tendencies to stunt up front would be vulnerable to runs on the edges and screen passes. In the second half, they used the fullback wide with Cook cutting back inside his blocks. It was a great adjustment.

There is no viable argument against the idea that Zimmer and Stefubiak did a great job of coaching in this game.

I'm not trying to argue that.

What I was trying to say is that I didn't think the secondary played all that bad. I think they were a breath away from creating some huge plays. As the game went on the Cowboys found themselves seemingly in more and more 3rd-and-long situations. Normally the Vikings defense clamps down in those situations, but Dallas found a way to convert them. Dames seemed to imply that was part of Zimmer's master plan, giving the Cowboys a false sense of security that was later yanked way (at least, that's how I read it).

Still, 3rd-and-long for Dallas is exactly how Zimmer wanted things, and the fact he was consistently getting Dallas into those 3rd downs confirms that his plan to focus on taking Elliot away was working.

The coaching and gameplan were great.

I like "Stefubiak" as well.

The defense played a great game and executed the plan perfectly. Shut the run down and make that QB beat you. He isn't capable of that. I know their O is number 1 I think. I know they destroyed the Giants twice, Skins, Phins and the Eagles. They had some trouble against the Pack, Saints and Us. In other words if they play a decent team that O isn't close to No 1. The only thing I would have hoped from the D was more TOs. They were there. But that's not the approach we take. Looking how they stopped the run is Joseph really worth that CAP number?

[VikingLord]

The defense played a great game and executed the plan perfectly. Shut the run down and make that QB beat you. He isn't capable of that. I know their O is number 1 I think. I know they destroyed the Giants twice, Skins, Phins and the Eagles. They had some trouble against the Pack, Saints and Us. In other words if they play a decent team that O isn't close to No 1. The only thing I would have hoped from the D was more TOs. They were there. But that's not the approach we take. Looking how they stopped the run is Joseph really worth that CAP number?

I think they could have played a bit better against the pass (like, actually picking off some of those passes that hit them in the hands), but, as I noted earlier, I think the refs let the Cowboys get away with quite a bit, both in terms of holding against the pass rush and pushoffs. In my view, the first Dallas TD was a clear pushoff that wasn't called, and that steams me to think the Vikings had a score taken off the board against the Packers for much less and something much more questionable.

But overall, I have no problem with the gameplan. There are few teams that can win being one-dimensional on offense. Most teams need to be able to run the ball, and the Vikings shutting that down was key to Dallas being forced to go to the well one-too-many times.

On another topic, IIRC, the Vikings kept like 9 defensive linemen on the roster to start the regular season. With Linval out, they needed (and will need) that depth to show up, and it sure did against Dallas and I expect it to against their remaining opponents as well. They're getting some really solid situational play out of guys like Odenigbo and Watts. Philly rode defensive line depth to a Superbowl win, and the Vikings sure appear to have that kind of depth along their defensive line this season.

And while I'm on the subject of the lines, how about Dozier stepping in for Kline? I think Dozier might be the team's sleeper MVP to be honest. He's stepped in at both guard spots and the running game really doesn't miss a beat. Really nice to have some depth along the OL too.

[Bowhunting Viking]

I'm not sure if anyone also mentioned it but it sure was nice not to see 'Zeke' do that stupid "Feed me" act. I don't think he had the opportunity to do it all night long. SKOL to our D-line!

Yep I did. I said in an earlier post that even though I'm Ohio born and bred and a Buckeye fan , I get so sick of seeing him do that stupid move. Even if he only gets on yard. Well, he sure didn't eat Sunday night

[J. Kapp 11]

Also, our offensive coaches were nothing short of brilliant in this game. They knew Dallas' tendencies to stunt up front would be vulnerable to runs on the edges and screen passes. In the second half, they used the fullback wide with Cook cutting back inside his blocks. It was a great adjustment.

There is no viable argument against the idea that Zimmer and Stefubiak did a great job of coaching in this game.

I'm not trying to argue that.

What I was trying to say is that I didn't think the secondary played all that bad. I think they were a breath away from creating some huge plays. As the game went on the Cowboys found themselves seemingly in more and more 3rd-and-long situations. Normally the Vikings defense clamps down in those situations, but Dallas found a way to convert them. Dames seemed to imply that was part of Zimmer's master plan, giving the Cowboys a false sense of security that was later yanked way (at least, that's how I read it).

Still, 3rd-and-long for Dallas is exactly how Zimmer wanted things, and the fact he was consistently getting Dallas into those 3rd downs confirms that his plan to focus on taking Elliot away was working.

The coaching and gameplan were great.

I like "Stefubiak" as well.

Very interesting take. I happen to agree with you, despite the numbers, which are bizarre.

I just watched the Purple FTW podcast, which is a great podcast, by the way. Very insightful. Here are some numbers the host pointed out.

• Vikings were in "base nickel" on 58 of 71 defensive snaps, about 82%.

• However, we had 8 or more in the box on the same number of snaps -- 58 of 71.

• The vast majority of the time, that extra man was Harrison Smith (who played a GREAT game, by the way).

• Basically, we played nickel, yet sold out to stop the run. An interesting strategy by Zimmer, but Smith's incredible talent makes it work.

As for our corners:

• Mike Hughes was targeted 17 TIMES! They completed 11 for 154 yards and a TD, for a QBR of 113.4.

• And while that seems really bad, think about that. He was targeted 17 times, mostly against Amari Cooper.

• Xavier Rhodes was targeted just 5 times, but gave up 5 completions for 63 yards and a QBR of 118.8.

• Mack Alexander was targeted 6 times, giving up 4 completions for 80 yards and a TD, for a QBR of 149.3.

So when all was said and done, Mike Hughes actually gave up the lowest QBR of the 3 corners!

This tells me one thing. Mike Zimmer was selling out to stop Zeke, period. He was in single-high safety 82% of the time. That's incredible! He left his corners on an island and trusted them to win the game. And in a strange way, they did.

Dallas stayed close because Dak Prescott was ridiculous. How many times did he escape pressure and find a receiver? We just said that Hunter had 10 pressures, which is otherworldly. The corners often had good coverage, which led to pressure, which Dak escaped and found an open man. You just can't cover Amari Cooper for more than about 3 seconds. Give him enough time, and he'll get open, and I don't care who the corner is.

It was a unique gameplan for the defense, loading the box but only playing two linebackers. And somehow, it worked. Zimmer sold out to stop Zeke and succeeded. He said, "Dak can't beat us," and Dak didn't, even though he put up monster numbers.

It was brilliant.