Cowboys Postgame

[4mnvikings82]

Many of you on this board said everything points to a Dallas win, that the Vikings would continue their history of losing in prime time to a good team. Funny how most of you are (not so) strangely silent.

Cold, greasy, bitter crow. That's what many are eating today.

I'm one of those crow-eaters.

But I'll tell you something - it doesn't taste half bad to be eating crow in this situation.

Hats off to those of you who kept the faith. Those of us who didn't can learn something from all of you.

Man, STILL impressed this morning with how well the Vikings shut down the Cowboy run game. If there was a difference in this game, that was probably the single biggest one.

It was great that we stopped the Run but Prescott was completing passes all over the field. Unfortunately from watching the game I think it was a lucky win over an average team and not a good win over a good team

[Pondering Her Percy]

Just about everything has been covered so I’ll switch gears a bit and say I’m concerned about Colquitt. Seeing him against his brother there was a really big difference in distance and hang time. Not just on the shank, even his earlier punts. Then last night he has another really important punt and puts poor hang time on it. Thankfully the Dallas coaches made Austin fair catch. It was a huge mistake, he had at least 15 yards in front of him and blockers set up. That could have ended very differently. I was scratching my head why the Browns cut him but I see it now, I think something is wrong or he’s lost a step.

On the flip side, CJ Ham aka Hammer has been playing extremely well. He had a key block on the 4th and goal TD and has overall just made some really nice nondescript plays. I’ll admit I liked Blasingame in preseason and didn’t see much difference between the two but the coaches made the right call keeping Ham. He’s also a reliable pass catcher.

Ham has been a great fullback so far this year and I agree on colquitt. These shanks are starting to worry me.

I think an overlooked guy this game was Elflein. I thought he played pretty well and did a great job getting to the 2nd level. Dozier did the same in spot duty. Now I don’t trust Elflein keeps that going but it was a positive . I was impressed by our interior this game which is rare.

Also, I think irv smith can be a top 5 tight end in the league and I can see it happening sooner than later. He’s like a WR playing TE

[Dames]

Unfortunately from watching the game I think it was a lucky win over an average team and not a good win over a good team

I don't think the Cowboys are world-beaters, but they are not an average team. They were the NFLs top-ranked Offense going into the game. They might still be. That's not due to only playing bad opponents. That's because they are really good on offense, and they showed it. We beat them, in their house, in prime time. Enjoy it man.

[Texas Vike]

One minor detail from last night that I haven't seen mentioned is Kirk's run where he dove head first and Collingsworth basically said out loud what we were (probably) all thinking. Essentially, that his doing that revealed a conscious decision to play with that piss and vinegar he had during our 4 game winning streak. Juxtaposed to his poorly executed feet-first slide vs. KC, it really stood out to me.

[Dames]

Just about everything has been covered so I’ll switch gears a bit and say I’m concerned about Colquitt. Seeing him against his brother there was a really big difference in distance and hang time. Not just on the shank, even his earlier punts. Then last night he has another really important punt and puts poor hang time on it. Thankfully the Dallas coaches made Austin fair catch. It was a huge mistake, he had at least 15 yards in front of him and blockers set up. That could have ended very differently. I was scratching my head why the Browns cut him but I see it now, I think something is wrong or he’s lost a step.

I agree on colquitt. These shanks are starting to worry me.

I think Colquitt has made a huge difference for Bailey, and overall his performance on the year has been solid. So, I'll cut him some slack, but he made some mistakes in the last couple games. One factored into a loss. Thankfully yesterday's mistake did not. We got lucky on that fair catch, but we don't know if it would have mattered. It did look like a huge missed opportunity for Dallas though. I'm sure he was told to fair catch it to save time, but didn't realize he would have that much space when he did. Hopefully it's just a blip for Colquitt. I think we are better with him.

[YikesVikes]

Ben Goessling
@GoesslingStrib
2h
Sources said Linval Joseph -- who's out tonight with a knee injury, and is missing just his second game since 2015 -- had surgery on his meniscus this week. People I talked to seemed hopeful it won't be a long-term thing: strib.mn/36SkiTP


It come down to the last play but a big win!

Jeez maybe back after the bye then? I hope

Given his age, 3 weeks I think. Zim says this week

[fiestavike]

I thought Kirk played pretty well. The miss to Rudolph down the sideline and the failure to deliver the slant on time on the very next play was bad, but seldom do you see a totally mistake free game. Also the peculiar throw away on the roll out where Bisi Johnson was wide open seemed like perhaps he was seeing ghosts from his late interception in the Packer game, but who knows. Maybe he saw something I couldn't. He played competently and the team won, despite some glitches on the defensive side of the ball.

[Dames]

Jeez maybe back after the bye then? I hope

Given his age, 3 weeks I think. Zim says this week

This week seems aggressive doesn't it? I'm not a doctor though.

[Texas Vike]

Given his age, 3 weeks I think. Zim says this week

This week seems aggressive doesn't it? I'm not a doctor though.

I don't think much information has been released on exactly what procedure he had done on his meniscus. There's a huge range, each with its own recovery time. I wouldn't expect him back until after the bye. Zimmer loves to be cagey about injury info, so I wouldn't trust anything he says.

[J. Kapp 11]

This is easily one of my favorite posts of the year.

I love this description of the game. It makes sense the way you laid it out. With all the big plays given up, you're absolutely right that it didn't look like anyone was getting frustrated, so it may very well have played out according to plan. We came really close to making a couple picks that make the plan look even better. Zimmer stated after the game that he was proud how the D locked down in the Red Zone, and if he was upset about how they played, it didn't come up. He usually gets chippy if he doesn't like how his DBs played especially.

You guys have both become my favorite conspiracy theorists... If (and that is a huge *if*) Zimmer really did intentionally design his defense to give Dallas a false sense of passing confidence by consistently conceding big plays on 3rd downs, only to then yank it away at the end when it really mattered, that would be true genius.

I personally don't think that happened, or at least that's not what the defense intended, but does elevate Zimmer into the mythological coach category if it did.

Dude ... that's not what he said.

He said that Zimmer's plan was to take away Zeke. That meant there were going to be some gains in the passing game, but when the field was compressed in the end zone, it was going to be a lot harder for Dallas to score. This isn't about conspiracy theories or giving Dallas a false sense of confidence. It's a strategy that other teams have used against us -- take away Dalvin Cook at all costs. We did that with Zeke and made them one-dimensional. If you make a team in the NFL one-dimensional, chances are you'll beat them.

This is far from the only place I've heard this. NFL Network, ESPN, FS1 ... all the analysts are saying the same thing. Zimm bet the farm on taking Zeke out of the game, and he did just that. Zimmer won the game-planning and coaching matchup by a mile.

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.

[J. Kapp 11]

I agree on colquitt. These shanks are starting to worry me.

I think Colquitt has made a huge difference for Bailey, and overall his performance on the year has been solid. So, I'll cut him some slack, but he made some mistakes in the last couple games. One factored into a loss. Thankfully yesterday's mistake did not. We got lucky on that fair catch, but we don't know if it would have mattered. It did look like a huge missed opportunity for Dallas though. I'm sure he was told to fair catch it to save time, but didn't realize he would have that much space when he did. Hopefully it's just a blip for Colquitt. I think we are better with him.

I don't understand all the angst on the last punt. It was a 44-yard punt. He was hitting it from his own goal line. Yes, Austin had room, but that doesn't mean it was Colquitt's fault. It could have been a low punt, but it's not like it was a shank or something.

And don't forget the brilliant Mack Daddy sand wedge in the fourth quarter that forced Dallas to start from its own 6. He also dug out a low snap on the Vikings' first extra point.

[S197]

Just about everything has been covered so I’ll switch gears a bit and say I’m concerned about Colquitt. Seeing him against his brother there was a really big difference in distance and hang time. Not just on the shank, even his earlier punts. Then last night he has another really important punt and puts poor hang time on it. Thankfully the Dallas coaches made Austin fair catch. It was a huge mistake, he had at least 15 yards in front of him and blockers set up. That could have ended very differently. I was scratching my head why the Browns cut him but I see it now, I think something is wrong or he’s lost a step.

On the flip side, CJ Ham aka Hammer has been playing extremely well. He had a key block on the 4th and goal TD and has overall just made some really nice nondescript plays. I’ll admit I liked Blasingame in preseason and didn’t see much difference between the two but the coaches made the right call keeping Ham. He’s also a reliable pass catcher.

Ham has been a great fullback so far this year and I agree on colquitt. These shanks are starting to worry me.

I think an overlooked guy this game was Elflein. I thought he played pretty well and did a great job getting to the 2nd level. Dozier did the same in spot duty. Now I don’t trust Elflein keeps that going but it was a positive . I was impressed by our interior this game which is rare.

Also, I think irv smith can be a top 5 tight end in the league and I can see it happening sooner than later. He’s like a WR playing TE

I think the game is starting to slow down for Irv, he seemed to struggle early with the complexity of the NFL but you can slowly see him being incorporated more. Definitely a good sign.

[808vikingsfan]

Had to work yesterday so was finally able to watch the game.

Huge win. Good team, on the road, lots of pressure to win. Love these gritty wins. IMO, the best win of the year so far.

Cousins. He played ok. Made some nice throws, good quick decisions at times, evaded pressure at times. I'd really like to see him start stepping up in the pocket and extend plays rather than stepping back. These bootlegs while buying time, does half the field of play. I don't think that will last if the Vikings do make a playoff run. The last pass in the first half was a head scratcher, and the missed td pass to Diggs (nice play by diggs to defend the INT) on the first drive was costly as well I thought. But otherwise, he didn't make many mistakes and didn't lose the game.

Dalvin Cook has to be the MVP of this team right now. He's such weapon. Love how he fights for extra yards. He needs to stay healthy.

Defense. I thought they did well. Gave up a lot of yards but didn't give up the big play which I was afraid of. Would have been nice to see them hold on those 3rd and long situations but Dak is a tough QB to defend. He know how to buy time to let receivers get open. Have to give props with the run D, esp with Joseph being out. Barr is having a nice season.

Fun game to watch and a nice clean game. Not many penalties and zero turnovers which was key.

[Kelly]

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

[808vikingsfan]

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.