WTF were you thinking

[radar55]

Everyone has been critical of Mr. Mchappy feet, and that criticism is well deserved but, it appears to me that as this season goes on there will be other opportunities that we as fans will have to acknowledge the total incompetence of offensive/defensive juggernauts brought in by Mr. Speilman to help this team reach new depths.

So, for your railing pleasure this week I offer you........Mr. John Carlson

Now, I have no idea what play was or was not called by the coaching staff b4 the final Chicago kick off. For that matter I have no idea if the coaching staff was even awake b4 the final kick off but......... as for John Carlson and his effort in returning the kick

.......WTF WERE YOU THINKING ........

This guy has done nothing more than take up a roster spot ever since we overpaid for him and the next time he wants to return something...........it should be his paycheck.

Who will it be next week, feel free to offer your own WTF were you thinking

[Eli]

Trinity miracle, most likely.

[NextQuestion]

I feel your pain. We had all 3 time outs and could have attempted any throw to get Walsh into FG range. Carlson is a bum. On the 4th down and 1 play where Ponder dove...Briggs (I think) absolutely destroys Carlson on a block. It's hilariously embarrassing

[allday1991]

A combination of below average players (Mitchell, Sanford, Carlson Etc.) and the inconsistency of our QB will lead us to a 6-10 season at best. I read in sports illustrated Viking fans thought this was a 12-4 team... WTF WERE WE THINKING ....lol j.k. Last year was a lot better than it should of been for us, I herd someone last year after our playoff loss say 'enjoy this year, next one wont be so great'. In the end I don't know if I am more frustrated thinking this was a far superior team, or mad at the Wilfs for making it seem that way.

[S197]

We've been through this song and dance countless times over the years. How many of us were calling for Artis Hicks to get benched well before it finally happened. How about Tahi? How about Berrian?

The same goes with the play calling. When Bevell was here it was the exact same thing. Vanilla offense, run run pass punt, tight formations, play not to lose, etc. I bet if I took quotes about Bevell in 2010 and quotes about Musgrave now, they would almost mirror one another. But look at Bevell now, look at Seattle WITHOUT Percy Harvin.

So what's the problem? What's the common denominator? It's Spielman and Frazier.

The difficulty is it hasn't been all bad. Spielman isn't drafting guys like Tarvaris Jackson and Ryan Cook in the 2nd round like Foley did. He's done well, very well, in certain areas. He drafted AD, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, John Sullivan, Harrison Smith, Robison, Rudolph, Kalil, Walsh, to name a few. He's also made acquisitions like Jared Allen and Felton. But he's also missed a lot, especially in the secondary, on guys like Tyrell Johnson, Asher Allen, and Marcus MacCauley. And it's looking more and more like Cook and Robinson might be added to that list.

The same goes for Frazier, he had a disappointing 3-win year but he turned it around into a 10 win team that made it to the playoffs. Something that I think would be safe to say, exceeded the majority of our expectations. So like Ponder, we have a Jekyll and Hyde situation even at the upper echelon of the organization. The good news is Frazier wasn't given an extension, if the season continues down this path then it's likely we'll finally be done with the remnants of Brad Childress' staff. Spielman I think will be given more time by the Wilfs but either way assuming another year of lackluster performance, we'll see some long overdue upper management changes.

[Sutsgold]

I dont recall if it was above or below the 2 minute mark, but the vikes had the ball first and goal from the 7. On first down they ran. Bears burned a t.o. Second down they passed, incomplete. Bears saved a t.o. third down they got conservative and ran. Bears used their second t.o. f.g. I do not understand why we did not run on 2nd down, it would have burned a t.o.. If not, it would have burned more time. Bad Coaching!

[Mothman]

I dont recall if it was above or below the 2 minute mark, but the vikes had the ball first and goal from the 7. On first down they ran. Bears burned a t.o. Second down they passed, incomplete. Bears saved a t.o. third down they got conservative and ran. Bears used their second t.o. f.g. I do not understand why we did not run on 2nd down, it would have burned a t.o.. If not, it would have burned more time. Bad Coaching!

I understand your complaint but let's face it, it's easy to second guess a choice when we already know the result. If they believed that passing play would yield a TD why not call it? If it had ended in a score than we'd all be saying, "good coaching!".

If they had run on all 3 downs and ended up kicking a FG, people would complain that they were too conservative and should have taken a shot at the end zone. If they had passed again on 3rd down and failed to score, people would be complaining about clock management and asking why, with the best RB in the game, they didn't try to run. The only way for Frazier to escape criticism in that situation is for the team to score a TD.

The pass play was a play action fake with Ponder rolling back to his right, against the overall direction of the play. Rudolph was the intended receiver and Bears LB #50 (Anderson) did a great job of tying up and not allowing him a good release off the line. Rudolph struggled to disengage and he and Ponder couldn't connect. If not for an excellent play by Anderson, it could have been an easy score. So it goes...

I actually think the third down run to Peterson was the most questionable call of the series. The Bears were ready for it but I understand that AD has scored on many similar plays and that they probably wanted to force the Bears to use that last timeout. Nevertheless, I think the primary consideration should have been scoring the TD and establishing a two score lead. Ponder was playing very well at that point. I wish Frazier had given him a chance to seize the moment and seal the win. At that point, Chicago was going to have time for a drive anyway.

I'm second-guessing too but if Peterson had battered his way through the Bears defense and scored on that play, I wouldn't have thought twice about the call.

[mondry]

What they should have done was run, run, run, pass on 4th down, turn it over on the 4 yard line if you don't get the TD. Now they have no time outs, on the 4 and need 65 yards for a 50+ field goal from robby gould in the rain NOT TO WIN, but to TIE the game. Worst case scenario it goes to over time.

But it's not like anyone would come to that conclusion right after we turn them over and most likely seal the game hehe. Ultimately like 5 things had to perfectly go wrong for it to play out how it did and I suppose as vikings we should have expected it!

[Mothman]

What they should have done was run, run, run, pass on 4th down, turn it over on the 4 yard line if you don't get the TD. Now they have no time outs, on the 4 and need 65 yards for a 50+ field goal from robby gould in the rain NOT TO WIN, but to TIE the game. Worst case scenario it goes to over time.

But it's not like anyone would come to that conclusion right after we turn them over and most likely seal the game hehe. Ultimately like 5 things had to perfectly go wrong for it to play out how it did and I suppose as vikings we should have expected it!

Sadly, I did.

[jackal]

At this point Carlson for most fans is going to be an extreme frustration or mistake.

There were only a few second left in the game and the Vikings were down..

I think Carlson just wanted to win the game and keep it alive..


Our OL, Special Teams(short field on every punt), Erin Henderson and throw in a dash of Chris Cook take the blame
for that loss. I noticed some missed tackles as well.

[allday1991]

At this point Carlson for most fans is going to be an extreme frustration or mistake.

There were only a few second left in the game and the Vikings were down..

I think Carlson just wanted to win the game and keep it alive..


Our OL, Special Teams(short field on every punt), Erin Henderson and throw in a dash of Chris Cook take the blame
for that loss. I noticed some missed tackles as well.

I thought our OL played well enough for a win

Missed opportunities on our offence in the first half was more to blame for the loss. We got the ball back after a penalty and went three and out again, need to take advantages of mistakes like that. We get a INT on our goal line and it turns into a pick 6 for the offence, also cant happen. Our defence didn't have the best games and Greenway was missing tackles left right and center which is weird but overall were still the second rated defence (fantasy wise). The blame for this loss I believe goes on the QB and offence for inconsistent play.

[Hunter Morrow]

My WTF goes to Frazier and Musgrave for the goal line series.

Mondry and others are exactly right.

You don't split the baby there. If you are gonna be passing, you even go for it on 3rd and 4th down with passes and do everything possible to get it in that end zone.
Worst case scenario is you put a team that the defense has held point-less for the half on 7 to 15 yard line and they gotta take it 60 odd yards just for Gould to kick a 45+ yarder in the rain to tie. The 3 points doesn't really matter if you kick it to Hester, he takes it to the 40 and they win on a touchdown.
Which is deep down what the Vikings fans all expected and saw.

If you go with the clock killing thing, taking all time outs away and taking 30 seconds off the clock with a really long run play on 4th down and keeping them on the 7
yard line is the way to go. Best case scenario is the rush on second down takes their last time out, the play on 3rd down takes 'em to about 3:10 and you take all the time off you can with a 4th down run, too. Kill another 30 seconds. Even though Peterson is hurt and they know what you're doing, he's Peterson. He could break it into the 5 yard line or even score you the game winner touchdown giving you a 10 point lead with like, 2:20 to go and your opponent with no time outs.
You also have Robison, Allen, Fred Evans and Kevin Williams. A safety pretty much IMMEDIATELY wins you the game.

That whole series was stupid and cowardly. They didn't have the BALLS to stick with a winning strategy. 4 run plays or 4 passes is a winner's strategy there for different reasons but run pass run field goal punt they get it on the 40 is a losing strategy.

[Demi]

That whole series was stupid and cowardly. They didn't have the BALLS to stick with a winning strategy. 4 run plays or 4 passes is a winner's strategy there for different reasons but run pass run field goal punt they get it on the 40 is a losing strategy.

Same thing we've dealt with since Childress showed up.

But that's what you get when you hire bend but don't break. soft zone. keep everything in front and tackle well. Defense. And dink and dunk. West coast. Power running. Offense...not exactly bringing in guys who are outside the box thinkers or overly aggressive.

[PurpleKoolaid]

It was bad coaching altogether. And it has been since the Wilf's took over. The players are never prepared. We were slipping all over soldier field. For the hundredth time.

And I am SO SICK of this playing to just score a FG. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they would only try for a FG, and that the D would give up a TD and we would lose by 1. It as if Childress infected everything about the Vikings. Clean house now. There isn't a single coach we have now that isn't easily replaced.

[jackal]

I did notice the players slipping on the field and saw some changing out on the sidelines..

A good team would have that all set up ahead of time and have the players test their equipment
in warm up i thought ..

Did Erin Henderson play this week I didn't see him make a single tackle ..