I'd like to see the Vikings offense do two things I haven't been seeing them do much recently:Pondering Her Percy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:17 am2 things:CharVike wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:48 am I think we win this but it will be a nail biter. Being at home is a huge positive but we need to play clean football. If we get sloppy that will allow the Giants to hang close and then probably win. The Giants are a one man gang on offense. But we held Barkley in check until we allowed that long TD run. Jones don't have many weapons. I expect the same with a bunch of short crossing routes and dump offs. When he looks downfield he will take off once he feels the pressure. The guy has very good speed. On our side JJ is due for a big game. What concerns me is our current OL. If Olli is out there again the Giants will attack him and he will break down. He allowed a strip sack against the Packers. That's a play we can't have. I see it 23-17 with a late Giant drive coming up short with an int inside the red zone for the win.
1.) Defensively, the first game, Daniel Jones lived off quick slant patterns. He doesnt often look downfield but we need to tighten up our coverage at the line to avoid the nickel and diming down the field.
2.) Offensively, yes the OL worries me. If Wink Martindale is smart, he sends blitzes to that right side early and often. Thibideoux vs. Udoh/Brandel worries me. However, I do think Udoh is a better tackle than he is guard and is a massive dude but the quickness factor of Thibideoux worries me. So I think in turn, we have to take a page out of Daniel Jones' playbook and also set up a lot of quick hitting passes so we dont allow that rush to get there.
Also, I'm sure they are going to throw even more looks at JJ this time around so I'm hoping we are ready for this and KJ is ready for this because that dude can do some damage when JJ is getting shut down.
- Go downfield a few times early, and not only when the deep route is wide open. Deep passes can be risky and have to be timed well, but lately it seems the offense is not even attempting to take the top off early. The Vikings might not have speed demons at WR and might not have the greatest pass blocking OL, but I think it is absolutely critical to make the defense defend the entire length and width of the field and let them know you will attack it early. The heavy run emphasis and short passes early just compress the field and give blitz-happy teams like the Giants encouragement. Have to go deep and have to hurt them. That will back them off and then you can run more if that is what you really want to do.
- Along those lines, spread the offense out. The bunched formations just allow defenses to compress the LOS pre-snap and honestly make it easier for them to disguise the blitz. Maybe KOC believes the tight formations favor an explosive running back like Cook if every blocker can get a hat on a hat and neutralize defenders pulled in tight that will allow Cook to get to the second level quickly and possibly score, but even if the theory is sound the execution has not been for the most part. What the seemingly never-ending fascination the Vikings offensive coaches seem to have with bunched formations and running on early downs is beyond me. I thought that would end when Zimmer left but apparently not. Running out of spread formations works too. It might not be as easy to spring the RB for a TD out of spread, but the offense can still pick up those 4+ chunks running out of spread and that can work just as well over the course of a game if not better as it is more likely to result in sustained drives than the swing-for-the-fences approach of running out of bunched formations that KOC seems to favor. There are just too many 2 yards-or-less runs coming on early downs out of those tight formations and it really hurts the ability to keep drives going.
As for Udoh, I'm not worried about him at RT at all. He's a natural RT and as long as he's in shape he should be fine. I'm much more worried about the situation at center. Reed is OK in terms of his ability to play that position, but if he were to get hurt I have no idea who the Vikings could try at center.