Vikings @ Saints post game

[Angels Wings]

Had to watch the replay, as my 84-year-old mom fell during the night and broke her clavicle.

My heart still hasn't stopped racing, and the game ended 20 minutes ago. Holy moly. What a close one! As others have said, it's good to win the close ones ... we were 6-8 in one-score games last year. We're 2-0 this year.

Really got sick of Mark Sanchez as the game wore on. He spoke about Saints players and plays at least twice as much as he did about the Vikings, and his claim that the Lattimore PI against Thielen was beyond idiotic. Lattimore hooked Thielen's arm and held it, a no-doubt PI. But Sanchez just focused on Thielen trying to get Lattimore off him. Just got sick of hearing how great the Saints were.

Except for one pass, I thought Cousins played really well today under serious duress. O-line didn't have its best day, especially Brian O'Neill. Love that Cousins put together another game-winning drive and fourth-quarter comeback. Also nice to see both Jefferson and Thielen have big games.

I know we'll all break it down during the week, but the Vikings have got to start converting red zone opportunities at a much higher rate. We had chances to blow this game open but came up with field goals. Some have said we were lucky to win. I suppose there's some truth in that, but the Saints are also lucky they didn't get destroyed by about 3 touchdowns.

Side note: Loved the fake punt. On the "Write That Down" segment of the Purple Daily podcast last week, one of the guys predicted Wright would complete a pass this season. Pretty cool, and good scouting to discover he's a former quarterback. I know it seems like a fake punt is an anomaly, but search "Johnny Hekker fake punts" on YouTube sometime. That dude has completed 14 of 23 passes in his career for 186 yards and a TD. Strange as it sounds, having a punter who can pass is a weapon. And guess which team Johnny Hekker plays for. You guessed it ... the Los Angeles Rams.

All told, the Vikings are 3-1 with a very winnable game coming up at home against the Bears. Still can't believe KOC opted to not have the Vikings bye week after a London game (he had the choice), but hopefully he knows what he's doing. He took heat for waiting until Thursday night to fly the Vikings to London ... it worked out just fine.

SKOL!

Sorry to hear about your mum

Pray that she's OK

[makila]

I honestly dont believe this team has hit it's peak yet. Both offensively and defensively. I dont think much will change on defense if they continue to do the same with their corners and lack of blitzing. But I can see the offense getting a lot better. Cousins has been a consistent stat hero for the good or the bad across his career. The fact that his stats are down a bit compared to other years, this shows me there is probably significant room for improvement.

Side note: How about when the fans or anti-Kirk's for that matter dispute his statistics over the years and say they havent resulted in wins but are the first ones to bring up his statistics this year, when they HAVE resulted in wins. Kinda funny how that works.

Sure hope we haven't peaked yet. This isn't the point of the season we want to be. Haha

[StanM]

Good news on the injury front.

Harrison Smith is not injured. Well, not anymore.

He did not sustain a wrist injury. He got a friendly fire foot to the gonads. The limp hanging arm only looked like a wrist injury.

It looked like a wrist on the replay. I would have never guessed a foot to the family jewels. It was a strange day yesterday with the cart to the men’s room incident that’s the rage of the web today.

[J. Kapp 11]

Here's a thought I had today.

Except for the Green Bay game, it hasn't been pretty so far. The offense hums, then it sputters. The defense bends a little too far for my liking.

But the bottom line is this: They're winning anyway.

Compare that to the first four games of last year. Found a way to LOSE against Cincinnati when they were in field goal range in overtime. Had the game in Arizona won, but botched a short field goal to lose. Beat Seattle easily, then lost a one-score game against a Browns team that had no business winning, especially in Minnesota.

To sum it up, after 4 games in 2021, the Vikings were 1-3, with three one-score losses. This year, they're 3-1 with two of those wins in one-score games.

Here's a great example of the effect Kevin O'Connell has had on this team. This quote is from his post-game locker room speech.

Greg, what did I tell you after you had already made four field goals and then missed that extra point? What did I tell you? I told you that you were going to have one more, and you were going to knock it through to win the game.

KOC then gave Greg Joseph a game ball.

Can anybody here honestly say that Mike Zimmer EVER would have supported his kicker that way?

And when you watch the video, you see Joseph fighting back his emotions. He felt SUPPORTED. He felt VALUED. You just know he was reeling when he missed that extra point, but he came back and drilled that 47-yarder to win it. This is what can happen when you actually support your players and believe in them. BIG TIME hats off to KOC for his handling of that situation.

KOC was far from perfect yesterday. I thought the decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 was an ultra-conservative call. I thought not calling timeout near the end of the first half and letting 22 seconds run off the clock cost the Vikings a chance to score a TD before halftime rather than a field goal. But the guy cares for his players, and they KNOW it. They'll do what it takes to win. They did that yesterday, as well as the week before.

"Trust the process" is such a tired cliche. But it's appropriate here. Trust it.

[VikingsVictorious]

Here's a thought I had today.

Except for the Green Bay game, it hasn't been pretty so far. The offense hums, then it sputters. The defense bends a little too far for my liking.

But the bottom line is this: They're winning anyway.

Compare that to the first four games of last year. Found a way to LOSE against Cincinnati when they were in field goal range in overtime. Had the game in Arizona won, but botched a short field goal to lose. Beat Seattle easily, then lost a one-score game against a Browns team that had no business winning, especially in Minnesota.

To sum it up, after 4 games in 2021, the Vikings were 1-3, with three one-score losses. This year, they're 3-1 with two of those wins in one-score games.

Here's a great example of the effect Kevin O'Connell has had on this team. This quote is from his post-game locker room speech.

Greg, what did I tell you after you had already made four field goals and then missed that extra point? What did I tell you? I told you that you were going to have one more, and you were going to knock it through to win the game.

KOC then gave Greg Joseph a game ball.

Can anybody here honestly say that Mike Zimmer EVER would have supported his kicker that way?

And when you watch the video, you see Joseph fighting back his emotions. He felt SUPPORTED. He felt VALUED. You just know he was reeling when he missed that extra point, but he came back and drilled that 47-yarder to win it. This is what can happen when you actually support your players and believe in them. BIG TIME hats off to KOC for his handling of that situation.

KOC was far from perfect yesterday. I thought the decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 was an ultra-conservative call. I thought not calling timeout near the end of the first half and letting 22 seconds run off the clock cost the Vikings a chance to score a TD before halftime rather than a field goal. But the guy cares for his players, and they KNOW it. They'll do what it takes to win. They did that yesterday, as well as the week before.

"Trust the process" is such a tired cliche. But it's appropriate here. Trust it.

I like what you said, but KOC needs to quit being such a wimp on decisions like kicking a FG from 4th and 1 from the 10. Nice to see a successful fake punt. Of course if it hadn't worked people would be calling for his head.

[CharVike]

Here's a thought I had today.

Except for the Green Bay game, it hasn't been pretty so far. The offense hums, then it sputters. The defense bends a little too far for my liking.

But the bottom line is this: They're winning anyway.

Compare that to the first four games of last year. Found a way to LOSE against Cincinnati when they were in field goal range in overtime. Had the game in Arizona won, but botched a short field goal to lose. Beat Seattle easily, then lost a one-score game against a Browns team that had no business winning, especially in Minnesota.

To sum it up, after 4 games in 2021, the Vikings were 1-3, with three one-score losses. This year, they're 3-1 with two of those wins in one-score games.

Here's a great example of the effect Kevin O'Connell has had on this team. This quote is from his post-game locker room speech.

Greg, what did I tell you after you had already made four field goals and then missed that extra point? What did I tell you? I told you that you were going to have one more, and you were going to knock it through to win the game.

KOC then gave Greg Joseph a game ball.

Can anybody here honestly say that Mike Zimmer EVER would have supported his kicker that way?

And when you watch the video, you see Joseph fighting back his emotions. He felt SUPPORTED. He felt VALUED. You just know he was reeling when he missed that extra point, but he came back and drilled that 47-yarder to win it. This is what can happen when you actually support your players and believe in them. BIG TIME hats off to KOC for his handling of that situation.

KOC was far from perfect yesterday. I thought the decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 was an ultra-conservative call. I thought not calling timeout near the end of the first half and letting 22 seconds run off the clock cost the Vikings a chance to score a TD before halftime rather than a field goal. But the guy cares for his players, and they KNOW it. They'll do what it takes to win. They did that yesterday, as well as the week before.

"Trust the process" is such a tired cliche. But it's appropriate here. Trust it.

Here's a quote from Zim after Joseph chocked last year and duffed an easy FG for the win at AZ.
“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game. Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

[VikingsVictorious]

Here's a thought I had today.

Except for the Green Bay game, it hasn't been pretty so far. The offense hums, then it sputters. The defense bends a little too far for my liking.

But the bottom line is this: They're winning anyway.

Compare that to the first four games of last year. Found a way to LOSE against Cincinnati when they were in field goal range in overtime. Had the game in Arizona won, but botched a short field goal to lose. Beat Seattle easily, then lost a one-score game against a Browns team that had no business winning, especially in Minnesota.

To sum it up, after 4 games in 2021, the Vikings were 1-3, with three one-score losses. This year, they're 3-1 with two of those wins in one-score games.

Here's a great example of the effect Kevin O'Connell has had on this team. This quote is from his post-game locker room speech.



KOC then gave Greg Joseph a game ball.

Can anybody here honestly say that Mike Zimmer EVER would have supported his kicker that way?

And when you watch the video, you see Joseph fighting back his emotions. He felt SUPPORTED. He felt VALUED. You just know he was reeling when he missed that extra point, but he came back and drilled that 47-yarder to win it. This is what can happen when you actually support your players and believe in them. BIG TIME hats off to KOC for his handling of that situation.

KOC was far from perfect yesterday. I thought the decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 was an ultra-conservative call. I thought not calling timeout near the end of the first half and letting 22 seconds run off the clock cost the Vikings a chance to score a TD before halftime rather than a field goal. But the guy cares for his players, and they KNOW it. They'll do what it takes to win. They did that yesterday, as well as the week before.

"Trust the process" is such a tired cliche. But it's appropriate here. Trust it.

Here's a quote from Zim after Joseph chocked last year and duffed an easy FG for the win at AZ.
“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game. Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

What he said is what he should have said.

[J. Kapp 11]

Here's a thought I had today.

Except for the Green Bay game, it hasn't been pretty so far. The offense hums, then it sputters. The defense bends a little too far for my liking.

But the bottom line is this: They're winning anyway.

Compare that to the first four games of last year. Found a way to LOSE against Cincinnati when they were in field goal range in overtime. Had the game in Arizona won, but botched a short field goal to lose. Beat Seattle easily, then lost a one-score game against a Browns team that had no business winning, especially in Minnesota.

To sum it up, after 4 games in 2021, the Vikings were 1-3, with three one-score losses. This year, they're 3-1 with two of those wins in one-score games.

Here's a great example of the effect Kevin O'Connell has had on this team. This quote is from his post-game locker room speech.



KOC then gave Greg Joseph a game ball.

Can anybody here honestly say that Mike Zimmer EVER would have supported his kicker that way?

And when you watch the video, you see Joseph fighting back his emotions. He felt SUPPORTED. He felt VALUED. You just know he was reeling when he missed that extra point, but he came back and drilled that 47-yarder to win it. This is what can happen when you actually support your players and believe in them. BIG TIME hats off to KOC for his handling of that situation.

KOC was far from perfect yesterday. I thought the decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 was an ultra-conservative call. I thought not calling timeout near the end of the first half and letting 22 seconds run off the clock cost the Vikings a chance to score a TD before halftime rather than a field goal. But the guy cares for his players, and they KNOW it. They'll do what it takes to win. They did that yesterday, as well as the week before.

"Trust the process" is such a tired cliche. But it's appropriate here. Trust it.

Here's a quote from Zim after Joseph chocked last year and duffed an easy FG for the win at AZ.
“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game. Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

So what?

Did Mike Zimmer ever encourage Greg Joseph directly? Did he give him a game ball when he kicked a 50-yarder to beat Detroit on the last play? No. He did idiotic things like stop kicking extra points because he didn't trust his kicker. Think Greg Joseph would have made a 47-yard game winner AFTER missing an extra point under Mike Zimmer? Ha!

And how about Daniel Carlson, who has now made something like 35 straight field goals? Why did he wilt like a month-old flower under Zimmer but thrive as soon as he got away from him?

Who cares what hair-brained quote Mike Zimmer made at a press conference? He hated press conferences almost as much as he hated kickers. What did Mike Zimmer ever do as a COACH to make his kickers better? The answer: NOTHING. There is no argument ... Mike Zimmer was hell on kickers.

[StumpHunter]

Here's a quote from Zim after Joseph chocked last year and duffed an easy FG for the win at AZ.
“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game. Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

So what?

Did Mike Zimmer ever encourage Greg Joseph directly? Did he give him a game ball when he kicked a 50-yarder to beat Detroit on the last play? No. He did idiotic things like stop kicking extra points because he didn't trust his kicker. Think Greg Joseph would have made a 47-yard game winner AFTER missing an extra point under Mike Zimmer? Ha!

You don't know what Zimmer did or didn't do with Joseph directly. None of us do. Most of your takes are very solid and well thought out, but Zimmer was not the big bad boogey man you are making him out to be. You don't know what Zimmer would have done. None of us do.

And how about Daniel Carlson, who has now made something like 35 straight field goals? Why did he wilt like a month-old flower under Zimmer but thrive as soon as he got away from him?

Why not just listen to what Carlson himself had to say about it:

After the initial shock of being cut wore off, Carlson faced the sobering reality that something wasn’t right with his mechanics. This wasn’t new information, either. Carlson had technical adjustments he meant to fix but never had the time between his senior season at Auburn, participating in the Senior Bowl, his pro day, and the run up to the draft. There didn’t appear to be enough time to fix it in Minnesota, either.

"At the time it was going to be too scary to tweak because I was in preseason games still competing against a veteran kicker (Kai Forbath)," Carlson told ESPN. “I didn’t want to start tweaking things and kicking bad and lose the job in the preseason. It’s a difficult situation. You’re always competing and you’re always trying to keep your job so there’s very rarely a time that you can step back and work on these drills where you might not be kicking your best for up to two weeks until you get adjusted to that new technique."

He had a flaw in his kicking style, getting cut gave him a chance to fix it, and now he is a better kicker. Ideally the team would have put him on the practice squad and let him try to fix his issues there, but up until that point not 1 kicker had ever been placed on a practice squad.

Who cares what hair-brained quote Mike Zimmer made at a press conference? He hated press conferences almost as much as he hated kickers. What did Mike Zimmer ever do as a COACH to make his kickers better? The answer: NOTHING. There is no argument ... Mike Zimmer was hell on kickers.

This is what I mean about you making him out to be a boogey man. Zimmer didn't make kickers bad, he didn't intentionally hold back the offense, he didn't hunt people for sport or murder puppies. He was just a HC who outstayed his welcome in MN and who was rightfully fired after failing for the past 4 seasons. His time is up here and his impact on the team is non-existent. Time to move on and look at what KOC can do better to make this team a SB contender.

[VikingLord]

Little late to the party, so apologize if I rehash any points that have already been made.

First thing though is a sentiment to Kapp - hope your Mom is OK.

As far as the game went, it felt like it was a game the Vikings could have and probably should have won by like 3 scores for most of the game. They kept getting into the red zone and kept coming away with 3 points. While there were some things to fault, I thought the offense played one of it's better games overall. The 3rd down conversion rate still isn't great, but it was a little better. The Vikings won the TOP battle too. The run game struggled, but the Saints are a pretty solid run defense. Cousins took some sacks, but he also looked like he was in control of the offense and made some nice and some tough throws. The long one to Jefferson on the last drive was simply a thing of beauty. So offensively, had they even converted TDs on half of their red zone trips, they win going away.

Defensively, I'm just not sure how to read them. They gave up a lot of rushing yardage, and yet seemed to stiffen on run defense when they needed some stops. The pressure on the QB wasn't there in terms of sacks, and yet it wasn't like Dalton had a lot of time or easy escape lanes. The coverage seemed loose at times, and yet they also made some plays.

Watching this team, I can see the potential for a really good team at some point. They're just not putting it all together yet, but if they do I think they can be really good. The fact they're 3-1 despite not playing to their potential is also really positive.

And last, but not least, ANY team that wins when the opposing kicker bounces a 61 yard attempt first off one upright and then off the crossbar and the ball falls harmlessly in front of the crossbar may just have Lady Luck on it's side that season. Her contribution to winning seasons and even Superbowl runs cannot be underestimated. She can't be drafted or traded for. She plays for whomever she wants to play for in a given season. Maybe this year she's with the Vikings.

Anyway, this was a close win in the sense of the final score and circumstances, but I came away from it feeling like it was actually a pretty comfortable game overall. The Vikings outplayed the Saints by a decent margin. I'm looking for a repeat and further improvement now against the Bears this Sunday, and I suspect I'm going to see it.

[J. Kapp 11]

So what?

Did Mike Zimmer ever encourage Greg Joseph directly? Did he give him a game ball when he kicked a 50-yarder to beat Detroit on the last play? No. He did idiotic things like stop kicking extra points because he didn't trust his kicker. Think Greg Joseph would have made a 47-yard game winner AFTER missing an extra point under Mike Zimmer? Ha!

You don't know what Zimmer did or didn't do with Joseph directly. None of us do. Most of your takes are very solid and well thought out, but Zimmer was not the big bad boogey man you are making him out to be. You don't know what Zimmer would have done. None of us do.

And how about Daniel Carlson, who has now made something like 35 straight field goals? Why did he wilt like a month-old flower under Zimmer but thrive as soon as he got away from him?

Why not just listen to what Carlson himself had to say about it:

After the initial shock of being cut wore off, Carlson faced the sobering reality that something wasn’t right with his mechanics. This wasn’t new information, either. Carlson had technical adjustments he meant to fix but never had the time between his senior season at Auburn, participating in the Senior Bowl, his pro day, and the run up to the draft. There didn’t appear to be enough time to fix it in Minnesota, either.

"At the time it was going to be too scary to tweak because I was in preseason games still competing against a veteran kicker (Kai Forbath)," Carlson told ESPN. “I didn’t want to start tweaking things and kicking bad and lose the job in the preseason. It’s a difficult situation. You’re always competing and you’re always trying to keep your job so there’s very rarely a time that you can step back and work on these drills where you might not be kicking your best for up to two weeks until you get adjusted to that new technique."

He had a flaw in his kicking style, getting cut gave him a chance to fix it, and now he is a better kicker. Ideally the team would have put him on the practice squad and let him try to fix his issues there, but up until that point not 1 kicker had ever been placed on a practice squad.

Who cares what hair-brained quote Mike Zimmer made at a press conference? He hated press conferences almost as much as he hated kickers. What did Mike Zimmer ever do as a COACH to make his kickers better? The answer: NOTHING. There is no argument ... Mike Zimmer was hell on kickers.

This is what I mean about you making him out to be a boogey man. Zimmer didn't make kickers bad, he didn't intentionally hold back the offense, he didn't hunt people for sport or murder puppies. He was just a HC who outstayed his welcome in MN and who was rightfully fired after failing for the past 4 seasons. His time is up here and his impact on the team is non-existent. Time to move on and look at what KOC can do better to make this team a SB contender.

Well, you're just wrong.

I've proven it in another post, where I cite the lengthy article by Ty Dunne about the culture during Zimmer's last couple of years and the culture now. Nothing I've said here is out of line.

This isn't some stupid article in Vikings Territory or another inane website, with articles authored by some dude living in his parents' basement. Tyler Dunne is one of the best, most respected deep-dive journalists in sports. In these long-form articles, he quotes many players and coaches, including Terrence Newman, a Zimmer favorite. The atmosphere was such that nobody enjoyed going to work. That's directly from the article. You called him the boogey man, not me. But if the shoe fits ...

You're right. Zimmer wore out his welcome. He was rightly fired. But he also created an environment that had no chance of succeeding, given his horrible disposition and extreme paranoia. He hated all quarterbacks not named Teddy, and he couldn't stand kickers. You can deny it if you want, but I'm thoroughly convinced.

But let's move past Zimmer and talk about what O'Connell did. He picked up his kicker after he missed an important extra point. That's good coaching, no matter how you look at it. And y'know what? Changing the culture is Step One toward making the Vikings a Super Bowl contender. Guys love coming to work now. Again, citing Ty Dunne's article. Frankly, I'm excited to see where KOC takes this team. It's not "there" yet. Far from it. But the team is 3-1 with a pair of one-score victories. I'd say that's a good start.

[J. Kapp 11]

Little late to the party, so apologize if I rehash any points that have already been made.

First thing though is a sentiment to Kapp - hope your Mom is OK.

As far as the game went, it felt like it was a game the Vikings could have and probably should have won by like 3 scores for most of the game. They kept getting into the red zone and kept coming away with 3 points. While there were some things to fault, I thought the offense played one of it's better games overall. The 3rd down conversion rate still isn't great, but it was a little better. The Vikings won the TOP battle too. The run game struggled, but the Saints are a pretty solid run defense. Cousins took some sacks, but he also looked like he was in control of the offense and made some nice and some tough throws. The long one to Jefferson on the last drive was simply a thing of beauty. So offensively, had they even converted TDs on half of their red zone trips, they win going away.

Defensively, I'm just not sure how to read them. They gave up a lot of rushing yardage, and yet seemed to stiffen on run defense when they needed some stops. The pressure on the QB wasn't there in terms of sacks, and yet it wasn't like Dalton had a lot of time or easy escape lanes. The coverage seemed loose at times, and yet they also made some plays.

Watching this team, I can see the potential for a really good team at some point. They're just not putting it all together yet, but if they do I think they can be really good. The fact they're 3-1 despite not playing to their potential is also really positive.

And last, but not least, ANY team that wins when the opposing kicker bounces a 61 yard attempt first off one upright and then off the crossbar and the ball falls harmlessly in front of the crossbar may just have Lady Luck on it's side that season. Her contribution to winning seasons and even Superbowl runs cannot be underestimated. She can't be drafted or traded for. She plays for whomever she wants to play for in a given season. Maybe this year she's with the Vikings.

Anyway, this was a close win in the sense of the final score and circumstances, but I came away from it feeling like it was actually a pretty comfortable game overall. The Vikings outplayed the Saints by a decent margin. I'm looking for a repeat and further improvement now against the Bears this Sunday, and I suspect I'm going to see it.

Thanks VL. She's doing better. Fell and broke her collarbone. She's 84 and pretty fragile, but she's also stubborn as a mule. So she's going to be just fine in time. A few days in skilled care to figure out how to get around with it, and she'll be back home.

I felt the same way about the game. I was nervous at times, but not really worried. The Vikings dominated this game overall, and had they done better than 2-for-5 in the red zone, they'd have won easily. You're also right about the defense. They weren't "good," but they had a lot of passes defended. I wish they could get Danielle Hunter going in the pass rush. He's grading very high overall, but with only 8 total pressures in 4 games, he's not his normal terrorizing self. Don't know whether it's a function of playing out wide and standing up, or something else. I just hope they find a way to get him back to creating nightmares for quarterbacks.

One player who quietly had (another) excellent game against the Saints was Dalvin Tomlinson, who is also the highest-rated Viking per PFF for the season. He was especially disruptive on the pass rush, whipping his man to allow Z-Smith to get a sack, then doing it again and recording a strip sack for himself. He also took down Taysom Hill for a TFL and overall was a load against the Saints. He's very adept at beating any one-on-one blocking attempts.

Cam Dantzler also seemed to have a bounce-back game with 3 PDs, including one shoulda-been interception. Pat Pete continues to look slow, but takes great angles and really uses his experience to great advantage. He also had a couple of PDs. Where we're susceptible against the pass is the intermediate middle and in the flats. I feel like Ed Donatell needs to figure out a way to shore that up.

Special teams was once again outstanding. Some great punts by Wright, along with the beautiful fake punt. Reagor had a 23-yard punt return. Nwangwu had a 35-yard kickoff return. Joseph made 5 field goals. Coverage was again excellent. I'm telling you, Matt Daniels is going to be a hot head coaching commodity at some point. The guy is a great coach and excellent communicator.

We need to put a beatdown on the Bears. They have one of the worst passing offenses in many years, so this is a time for our defense to get well at home. Get this thing to 4-1, then head to Miami to take on Teddy TwoGloves and the Dolphins.

[VikingsFan84]

Little late to the party, so apologize if I rehash any points that have already been made.

First thing though is a sentiment to Kapp - hope your Mom is OK.

As far as the game went, it felt like it was a game the Vikings could have and probably should have won by like 3 scores for most of the game. They kept getting into the red zone and kept coming away with 3 points. While there were some things to fault, I thought the offense played one of it's better games overall. The 3rd down conversion rate still isn't great, but it was a little better. The Vikings won the TOP battle too. The run game struggled, but the Saints are a pretty solid run defense. Cousins took some sacks, but he also looked like he was in control of the offense and made some nice and some tough throws. The long one to Jefferson on the last drive was simply a thing of beauty. So offensively, had they even converted TDs on half of their red zone trips, they win going away.

Defensively, I'm just not sure how to read them. They gave up a lot of rushing yardage, and yet seemed to stiffen on run defense when they needed some stops. The pressure on the QB wasn't there in terms of sacks, and yet it wasn't like Dalton had a lot of time or easy escape lanes. The coverage seemed loose at times, and yet they also made some plays.

Watching this team, I can see the potential for a really good team at some point. They're just not putting it all together yet, but if they do I think they can be really good. The fact they're 3-1 despite not playing to their potential is also really positive.

And last, but not least, ANY team that wins when the opposing kicker bounces a 61 yard attempt first off one upright and then off the crossbar and the ball falls harmlessly in front of the crossbar may just have Lady Luck on it's side that season. Her contribution to winning seasons and even Superbowl runs cannot be underestimated. She can't be drafted or traded for. She plays for whomever she wants to play for in a given season. Maybe this year she's with the Vikings.

Anyway, this was a close win in the sense of the final score and circumstances, but I came away from it feeling like it was actually a pretty comfortable game overall. The Vikings outplayed the Saints by a decent margin. I'm looking for a repeat and further improvement now against the Bears this Sunday, and I suspect I'm going to see it.

Thanks VL. She's doing better. Fell and broke her collarbone. She's 84 and pretty fragile, but she's also stubborn as a mule. So she's going to be just fine in time. A few days in skilled care to figure out how to get around with it, and she'll be back home.

I felt the same way about the game. I was nervous at times, but not really worried. The Vikings dominated this game overall, and had they done better than 2-for-5 in the red zone, they'd have won easily. You're also right about the defense. They weren't "good," but they had a lot of passes defended. I wish they could get Danielle Hunter going in the pass rush. He's grading very high overall, but with only 8 total pressures in 4 games, he's not his normal terrorizing self. Don't know whether it's a function of playing out wide and standing up, or something else. I just hope they find a way to get him back to creating nightmares for quarterbacks.

One player who quietly had (another) excellent game against the Saints was Dalvin Tomlinson, who is also the highest-rated Viking per PFF for the season. He was especially disruptive on the pass rush, whipping his man to allow Z-Smith to get a sack, then doing it again and recording a strip sack for himself. He also took down Taysom Hill for a TFL and overall was a load against the Saints. He's very adept at beating any one-on-one blocking attempts.

Cam Dantzler also seemed to have a bounce-back game with 3 PDs, including one shoulda-been interception. Pat Pete continues to look slow, but takes great angles and really uses his experience to great advantage. He also had a couple of PDs. Where we're susceptible against the pass is the intermediate middle and in the flats. I feel like Ed Donatell needs to figure out a way to shore that up.

Special teams was once again outstanding. Some great punts by Wright, along with the beautiful fake punt. Reagor had a 23-yard punt return. Nwangwu had a 35-yard kickoff return. Joseph made 5 field goals. Coverage was again excellent. I'm telling you, Matt Daniels is going to be a hot head coaching commodity at some point. The guy is a great coach and excellent communicator.

We need to put a beatdown on the Bears. They have one of the worst passing offenses in many years, so this is a time for our defense to get well at home. Get this thing to 4-1, then head to Miami to take on Teddy TwoGloves and the Dolphins.

I think Tua will be cleared to play against Vikings

[Pondering Her Percy]

I heard on PurpleDaily that the Vikings have the most yards gained on 1st down in the entire NFL this year. And we are passing 8% more on first down than we did last year which is actually a pretty significant jump. Wouldn't have guessed we were that high yardage wise on first down this year but definitely an interesting stat.

[CharVike]

Thanks VL. She's doing better. Fell and broke her collarbone. She's 84 and pretty fragile, but she's also stubborn as a mule. So she's going to be just fine in time. A few days in skilled care to figure out how to get around with it, and she'll be back home.

I felt the same way about the game. I was nervous at times, but not really worried. The Vikings dominated this game overall, and had they done better than 2-for-5 in the red zone, they'd have won easily. You're also right about the defense. They weren't "good," but they had a lot of passes defended. I wish they could get Danielle Hunter going in the pass rush. He's grading very high overall, but with only 8 total pressures in 4 games, he's not his normal terrorizing self. Don't know whether it's a function of playing out wide and standing up, or something else. I just hope they find a way to get him back to creating nightmares for quarterbacks.

One player who quietly had (another) excellent game against the Saints was Dalvin Tomlinson, who is also the highest-rated Viking per PFF for the season. He was especially disruptive on the pass rush, whipping his man to allow Z-Smith to get a sack, then doing it again and recording a strip sack for himself. He also took down Taysom Hill for a TFL and overall was a load against the Saints. He's very adept at beating any one-on-one blocking attempts.

Cam Dantzler also seemed to have a bounce-back game with 3 PDs, including one shoulda-been interception. Pat Pete continues to look slow, but takes great angles and really uses his experience to great advantage. He also had a couple of PDs. Where we're susceptible against the pass is the intermediate middle and in the flats. I feel like Ed Donatell needs to figure out a way to shore that up.

Special teams was once again outstanding. Some great punts by Wright, along with the beautiful fake punt. Reagor had a 23-yard punt return. Nwangwu had a 35-yard kickoff return. Joseph made 5 field goals. Coverage was again excellent. I'm telling you, Matt Daniels is going to be a hot head coaching commodity at some point. The guy is a great coach and excellent communicator.

We need to put a beatdown on the Bears. They have one of the worst passing offenses in many years, so this is a time for our defense to get well at home. Get this thing to 4-1, then head to Miami to take on Teddy TwoGloves and the Dolphins.

I think Tua will be cleared to play against Vikings

Tua won't back by then. He'll be lucky and probably a fool to ever play the game again.