Seattle49er wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 5:04 pm
CharVike wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:44 pm
The media is starting to switch now. People will be picking us. Others will call it a close game blah blah blah. I don't give a blank about that stuff. We need to have a solid effort. I don't know this team but if Zim develops a great scheme and Cook gets rolling we will give them a battle. Heading to the west cost is never easy. I hope we pound this Grapollo. Here's a guy who has done nothing and is considered a great QB. He threw 13 ints this year. That's a high number. I don't understand the hype.
Besides the INTs, his stats are equal to Cousins. The INT stat is deceiving because a lot of them were the result of balls bouncing off receiver's hands.
You're new here. Welcome.
CharVike is very opinionated. Good dude who tends to be pretty extreme in the way he voices his views.
I'm glad most Niner fans aren't taking the Vikings for granted. Saints fans (and the media, and just about everybody else) took us for granted, and now they're watching the rest of us play.
I know for a fact that we don't take the 49ers for granted (I mean, we're the 6 seed). Yours is a solid team on virtually every level, and we're going to have to be at our very best to come away with a win, especially on the road.
Here's my mind dump on this game. I'd be interested in your take.
To me, the first key for the Vikings is to keep the 49ers from running all over us. The Niners are a lot like the Vikings in that when the running game works, everything else tends to work. And while we have two very good running backs (one is among the very best in the game), you guys have THREE. That means you always have fresh legs in the game, which is tough for your opponents. Like us, you run a lot of 21 and 22 personnel, but Kittle at tight end is like a wide receiver in the passing game. That makes you guys very dangerous in play action ... much like us. You guys run the most play-action of any team in the league, and we're second.
During the season, we only ran about 20% of our plays in 3-receiver sets, which was among the lowest in the league. Against the Saints, though, we ran a lot more 3-receiver sets than we ever do in the season. I think it caught them off guard. I'll be interested to see what Kevin Stefanski cooks up against SF.
Our rush defense is statistically a little better than yours, but your pass defense is definitely better than ours (although we've played really well in pass defense the past 5 weeks). I know you guys have a great pass rush, but so do we. Pass rushing feels like a push to me ... same number of sacks, and about the same number of pressures. As for protecting quarterbacks, Jimmy G was sacked 8 more times than Cousins was, but that's fairly insignificant given that Jimmy G played 16 games to Cousins' 15.
If we can establish the run, we'll stay in this game. We may not win it, but we'll be in it to the end. If not, we could be in for a very long day. When Kirk Cousins throws fewer than 32 passes, we almost never lose. If he throws more than that, we rarely win. A lot of people think it's because Cousins can't carry the team, but that's not really true. The real reason is that if we're throwing a lot, we're typically at least 2 scores behind. We came back against Denver, but it's not a sustainable formula for our team. Just as it's not really your team's M.O. to throw 45 times.
The X-factor that scares me with your offense is Kyle Juszczyk out of the backfield. It's tough to cover really good receiving fullback because you just can't account for everybody, and the fullback often gets left unattended. We tend to get burned by tight ends over the middle because we play so much Cover 2, so I suspect Zimmer will change that up. But if we try to play more man, I don't know who's gonna play nickel corner in sub packages. Our "big nickel," Jayron Kearse, has been battling injuries, and our other slot corners are both injured. Against the Saints, we used a safety, Andrew Sendejo. I don't think he can stay with your slot receivers. Zimmer is going to have to get really creative.
If we have one fairly significant advantage, it's experience. For many guys on the Vikings, this is their third or fourth trip to the playoffs. For you guys, obviously Richard Sherman is very experienced in the playoffs. Jimmy G has been to Super Bowls, but he's never played a postseason down. Not sure about the rest of your guys. Who else has playoff experience?
The advantages for you guys, at least from where I sit ... you're healthier than we are, and you're at home.
I think it's significant that Kirk Cousins played the way he did last week, especially in overtime. In the past, if we needed a drive at the end, you could pretty much chalk up an "L" for the Vikings. I'm not so sure anymore. Cousins was REALLY good on that drive in overtime against the Saints. He may have turned a corner.
It's gonna be quite the chess game.
49er fan since 1964,and thought the 7.5 points is too much also.The 9ers are coached too well to take the Vikings lightly so no advantage there.Were not too bad against the run,its running QBs that get us! I'm looking forward to a close game,could go either way I think! More gray hairs too come