Re: Vikings @ Panthers post game
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:19 pm
Kube isn't doing anything. Zim runs this team from top to bottom. I said before the game that he will bang Cook into the ground and that will continue until he's spent or gets hurt. The same thing happened a few years ago when Cook was worn out but Zim still sent him out there. That was sad. It's the same as sending a fighter out there when getting off the stool takes everything. One thing I like about Zim is he will generate pressure and he has several additional guys helping out. There's no easy wins in the NFL unless you face the Jacksonville's of the world as the Panthers did with the Jets and Texans. Even the Bengals give a battle. It took Rodgers OT to beat them. I was shocked when the Panthers came out and put it up which lead to a Darnold pick. Of course Zim came out and it was Cook right off the bat and boom -3 yards. At that point he put the O in a terrible position. 2nd and 13 with an OL that can be blown up. He latter settled for a dam FG. That's good enough or early 70s football in his mind. Go for the score right off the bat. Especially when the entire stadium and every person watching knew what the 1st play would be. They were sucked up. Perfect time to strike. Fake and deep post. Even if it's picked so what. Every games a battle and they pulled it off in a team effort which is what it takes. Great to have Cook back. He makes it go. Same on the Panther side with Mac. That hurt Darnold also. The next stretch will be the same deal a battle every game and they will all be close. The boys with that shi* defense can't blow teams out. The Pats with a rookie QB took them to OT. That tells the story. You can score on them and alot if you want it.VikingLord wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:07 am That was a very interesting game. It played out in some ways exactly as I expected, and in others, not close to what I expected.
The first thing I expected was for the Vikings offense to start fast and then bog down. I was surprised that didn't happen, although to be fair to my initial prediction, the offense did bog down a bit at key moments. The two biggest differences on offense against Carolina were Dalvin Cook and the Vikings attempting some deeper passes. Cook's presence caused some problems for Carolina's defense and he racked up the yards on the ground and via the pass to prove it, and while the Vikings weren't wildly successful going deep yesterday, the fact they did made some things like Kirk's late game scramble for a first possible as the defensive backs had to turn and run on those deep routes. Carolina had been a team that got decent pressure on opposing QBs to this point, so I also have to note that the Vikings OL seemed to do a better job yesterday. Still, this OL is like Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. To win consistently they have to show up like this every week, especially over the next several weeks coming out of their bye. Not sure they have that in them, but they seem to be capable of at least playing at that level.
As far as Cousins is concerned, he is playing very consistently this year. He made some nice reads and nice throws, missed on a few others, but generally speaking, is who we think he is. He's like the Leroy Hoard of QBs - if you need 2 yards he'll get you 3, if you need 4 yards, he'll get you 3. If slow and steady wins the race, then if the OL can play more like it did yesterday and less like it did in some of the losses, well, Cousins might just get then all the way. Clutch in OT for sure.
The second thing I expected was for the Panthers to be able to run all game and minimize the impact of Darnold and his penchant for error under pressure. On the run front, I did feel like the Panthers could have run all game had they wanted, while Darnold was largely ineffective passing right up until that last drive. The 2021 Vikings seem pretty good at generating pressure up front against the pass. If by some miracle of all that is holy all those veterans who have been in the league for a while ever figure out that it is better to hold your outside rush and position in a certain down-distance situation instead of spinning inside to try to get a sack, resulting in allowing the QB to escape the pocket for a big scramble for a first down, well, they might even be among the better defenses. Alas, they still struggle a bit with discipline on the pass rush, but there is still time in the season to get that ironed out and still some very good QBs to practice that against coming up here. Overall, the Panthers used Darnold more than they had to early, IMHO, while not attacking a still-soft Vikings run defense, which in turn led them to some key mistakes, which in turn got them behind playing catchup, and eventually, needing to lean on Darnold who then suddenly figured it out and was awesome. There are some mentions in this post-game thread about Zimmer's coaching not being ideal, but from where I sit the Panther's gameplan was a$$-backwards when they were on offense. They should have run, run, and then run some more when on offense because I don't think the Vikings could have stopped it.
This inability to effectively play the run on defense is going to be sorely tested and soon. The Vikings need to get it fixed if it can be fixed because some of the better teams and better coaching staffs coming in the next several games will hammer on that weakness much more effectively.
Special teams, what can I say? Joseph isn't the guy you want to be on the line with the game hanging in the balance. This fact should affect Zimmer's offensive strategy from here on out. He might want to go for it more on 4th downs on the opposing side of the 50, or perhaps tell Kubiak to keep the playcalling more aggressive in an attempt to score more quickly and from greater distances. Whatever he does, hanging the outcome on Joseph is highly risky. Might as well just flip a coin, and I don't think anyone wants the outcome of a given game or the season coming down to a coin flip after all the hard work they've all put in.
One last item of note - anyone else feel like the refs went out of their way to help the Panthers yesterday? Especially on the one defensive series where they invented PI out of whole cloth on like two consecutive plays (was one PI and the other holding?). Yes, the Vikings screwed up on a few plays and deserved the calls, but some of those calls were really questionable. Hard to say if they almost cost the Vikings the game because giving up that 96-ish yard drive at the end was criminal, but all I have to say is call an even game refs. If you're going to call it one way, call it the other, and I sure didn't see the Panther DBs getting called for what I considered to be much more obvious holding and interference on several Vikings pass attempts.
So the win yesterday was great, but I remained concerned about the run defense, and I remain concerned about the overall offensive approach that plays it so close to the vest that these close, win-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, too-reliant-on-the-field-goal-kicker, are going to be the norm the rest of the year. Zimmer needs to trust he has an offensive team that can put the pedal down to the floor and go for outright wins. I know he wants to trust his defense, and while they seem to be improving in some ways, I don't think he can simply sit back and trust them. He's got to let Kubiak and the offense go after it. Take those deep shots and take some chances and try to put it away even if well up. The pass to Osborn in OT was what I'm talking about. Cousins saw it and hit it and just freakin' ended the game then and there. More of that please.
Hope everyone gets healthy coming out of the bye. This next stretch of games is going to determine if the Vikings are going to be in the mix this year or not.