Steelers @ Vikings post game

[PurpleTeam]

It was not pretty but I would take the win although I was secretly hoping Vikings would choke and that will be the end of Zimmer’s tenture tomorrow but it is not meant to be! Dalvin and the offensive line gets the game ball tonight

[Maelstrom88]

Just unbelievable how this team will always make it close no matter how many points ahead they are. My game ball goes to Harrison Smith for punching that ball out on the last play. I hope to see Darrisaw back soon.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Just unbelievable how this team will always make it close no matter how many points ahead they are. My game ball goes to Harrison Smith for punching that ball out on the last play. I hope to see Darrisaw back soon.

Agreed because Oli Udoh once again gets a hold on crunch time. Never fails. He should go right to the bench

[J. Kapp 11]

This was pathetic. Once again, we get a lead and go into a shell. We lose offensive momentum and nearly hand over a TWENTY-NINE POINT LEAD.

If the past 3 weeks aren’t enough for the Wilfs to get rid of these idiots, then nothing is.

[J. Kapp 11]

By the way, Dalvin Cook was a freaking hero. Unbelievable performance.

And Kirk Cousins … good thing you threw that long TD to Osborn because otherwise you were a complete clown.

[StumpHunter]

Just unbelievable how this team will always make it close no matter how many points ahead they are. My game ball goes to Harrison Smith for punching that ball out on the last play. I hope to see Darrisaw back soon.

Agreed because Oli Udoh once again gets a hold on crunch time. Never fails. He should go right to the bench

Yeah, he also was helping open up huge holes for Cook the entire game and keeping his QB sackless. Zimmer sure is an idiot for moving that Oline around huh?

Speaking of sackless QBs, Udoh was the problem in crunch time and not the 2 ints?

[VikeFanInEagleLand]

I'm starting to think that there's something wrong with Cousins. The last 3-4 weeks, he's been inaccurate on a lot of passes. The Cousins of old made bad decisions, but his accuracy was never in question.

[PurpleTeam]

By the way, Dalvin Cook was a freaking hero. Unbelievable performance.

And Kirk Cousins … good thing you threw that long TD to Osborn because otherwise you were a complete clown.

Jefferson is a clown too since he dropped 2 touchdowns passes

[psjordan]

So this game went just about as well as any Vikes fan could want.

We won, the running game looked good and Dalvin did not appear to tweak anything.

We had moments of seeming domination.

We made it just enough of a clown show in the 2nd half to make for good TV.

If the Wilfs have already decided on a course of action/change, the 2nd half very likely did not alter those plans.

[sarcasm] Yay. [/sarcasm]

[halfgiz]

After the dominating first half. The game comes down to the last play.
Thank You Hitman for breaking up the last pass.
Zimmer and Cousins both suck. And again we had stupid penalties.

[makila]

Yeah Harrison saved the last play. Their TE had his hands on it. Ben zipped it in there perfect.

Udoh hold of course at critical time...think it was Rhodes Closed in the game chat who said it best.... ah there it is.

Zimmer wants close games. Teams take personality of head coach. We got another close game. Lol.

Cook looked really good last night. His legs were so fresh. JJ did not have a great night, the int wasn't his fault as it got tipped. Few other end zone balls though he had his hands on and dropped, yes they were tough catches.

Overall dominating first half, horrible second half, something something, rinse repeat. This team is so infuriating. Think we'd be used to that as Viking fans.

[VikingLord]

Agreed because Oli Udoh once again gets a hold on crunch time. Never fails. He should go right to the bench

Yeah, he also was helping open up huge holes for Cook the entire game and keeping his QB sackless. Zimmer sure is an idiot for moving that Oline around huh?

Speaking of sackless QBs, Udoh was the problem in crunch time and not the 2 ints?

I thought Udoh played really well overall and its obvious that his natural position is tackle (most natural position would be right tackle, but left tackle is much better than guard). Mechanically, his height is more of an advantage on the edge where its a disadvantage on the interior. He also can get his legs under him and some forward momentum as a run blocker on the edge, where he got stood up way too often as an interior run blocker. There are many plays where Udoh is getting lots of movement in the run game, and some of Cook's early runs to Udoh's side were created at least in part by Udoh's ability to control the guy across from him.

He does seem to tire a bit as games go on, but that's probably to be expected given the intensity with which he plays.

Darrisaw is a better natural LT and O'Neill is not going anywhere at RT, but Udoh is getting a lot of exposure at LT and that might produce some trade offers over the offseason if he continues to perform as he has. Yeah, the penalties aren't good, but his overall play there should get some notice. Good tackles, right or left, are hard to find. Darrisaw's injury and the switchup of the Vikings OL might pay dividends beyond this season if they play their cards right.

[VikingLord]

So this game went just about as well as any Vikes fan could want.

We won, the running game looked good and Dalvin did not appear to tweak anything.

We had moments of seeming domination.

We made it just enough of a clown show in the 2nd half to make for good TV.

If the Wilfs have already decided on a course of action/change, the 2nd half very likely did not alter those plans.

[sarcasm] Yay. [/sarcasm]

The other thing that stood out to me and that I can't recall ever seeing were the number of deep contested throws where the Steeler WR came down with it despite the DB actually being right there and getting a literal hand on the ball. Seems like the Steelers had like 4 of those in the second half? They also drew flags on those plays. I was shocked that they just didn't keep doing that it was working so well.

While I didn't like the result of those plays, the Vikings didn't play them terribly. I mean, sure, a few of the DBs could have gotten their heads turned around earlier and maybe made a better play on the ball, and obviously you want to avoid the PI calls, but the receivers were covered and the DB was in position to make the play. The play just wasn't made. Over and over. Frustrating for sure, and lucky for the Steelers (and who would ever question their luck as a franchise at this point), but it's hard to fault the defense for those plays, and many of them were pivotal. It's almost like the Steelers realized they weren't going to be able to win playing the style they would normally play and started chucking it up and it just worked for them.

Yeah, the Vikings defense is still a liability in my view, but at the same time, I don't think they're bad. They're capable of playing well. Just need better bounces and maybe a little kick in the @$$ sometimes instead of playing passive.

[VikingLord]

Yeah Harrison saved the last play. Their TE had his hands on it. Ben zipped it in there perfect.

Smith had a great game. Very active. I thought he caused a fumble on the earlier play and the Steelers got saved by the review (maybe I'm still bitter about that fumble review against the Bengals to start the season...). He was coming up showing blitz and running back right before the snap. He had the nice sack too. One of his better games.

[VikingLord]

One last guy who deserves special mention last night is Dalvin Freakin' Cook.

When he went out in San Fran I thought he was done for the year. Two weeks later (and not even a full two weeks since the team was on a short week this week) he not only plays, he piles up the most rushing yards by *any* RB in a single game this season. He did it in the passing game too, hauling in a pass on a key third down late in the game to keep a drive going.

Yeah, he had some nice holes to run through, but he made the most of those and just played with the heart of a Viking. Howie Long gave him major props during the halftime and post game commentary and I have to agree. If that type of performance doesn't inspire everyone, I don't know what can. It was jaw dropping to witness.