Vikings vs. Packers Postgame

[J. Kapp 11]

KOC / KAM era starts with the complete domination of our division rival! How sweet was that?

I was pleased to see our defense play solid, disciplined ball. We were stout against the run. That was reassuring to see. Our Dbacks covered well. Several times when Rodgers bought time with a scramble he STILL couldn't find anyone open, letting our persistent D linemen get home (4 sacks).

I liked what I saw on O as well. More movement, more variety, less predictability. JJ was featured, as he clearly should be. Kirk was smart and accurate. If they had to, they could have scored more.

ST played well too. Complimentary football through and through. So satisfying to watch that. Even as I was getting nervous in the 3rd, something new seemed to emerge. I could tell they weren't going to choke after getting a lead. They were disciplined and knew what to do. Better coaching was evident.

It was so eerie. I felt the same way. For the first time since maybe 2009, I felt like, "They've got this."

Here was another amazing thing. The Vikings were all on the same page emotionally, all game long. They were pulling for each other, just as Kevin O'Connell has been preaching. Don't know if you have seen the video of Kirk giving KAM and KOC game balls after the game, but it's absolutely priceless. Actually choked me up. Kirk leading from the front. Who knew?

Meanwhile the Packers looked like petulant children, especially Karen Rodgers. He was pissing and moaning to anybody who would listen. La Fleur told Erin Andrews that his players weren't giving effort, while Jaire Alexander blamed the coaches. Total disarray. It was beautiful.

Not that I'm rooting for the Bears or Lions, but it's too bad the Lions' comeback fell short. Otherwise the Pukers would be the only 0-1 team in the division. As it is, we'll just have to settle for them being tied for last.

[Maelstrom88]

Another thing I was impressed with was the lack of penalties, especially against the offense. I don’t think there was an illegal procedure/false start or holding? If there was maybe one of each. Not like last year where there was a slew of false starts in the beginning of the first game.

Good point. It slipped my mind until now. That reflects well on coaching.

[Maelstrom88]

Per Kevin Siefert:

WR Adam Thielen in the locker room: "I've never been part of an offense that was just attacking, and attacking, and attacking. It didn't matter the score. It didn't matter the situation. We were attacking. It felt good.

Speaking on behalf of thousands of Vikings fans: Hell yes it did!

Thielen had played his entire career for a HC who actively hobbled the offense.

[Maelstrom88]

Z Smith is my new favorite Viking! I remember when he had what felt like six sacks of Cousins… I couldn’t believe we got him this off-season.

KOC has a fun scheme (both offense and defense) and great presence presence on the sideline. I am so glad we have him instead of an old fat guy chewing tobacco.

Lastly, I believe Kirk, the executioner, Cousins is going to change a few narratives this season. Every head he rolls is a spiral

Smith and Hicks have made the front 7 much better. KOC has the team playing loose. They have each other's back and know it's OK to make a mistake. It's clear Zim couldn't relate to the young guys and sucked the fun out. I think I was wrong about wanting Harbaugh over KOC. Harbaugh is too much like Zim. Kirk needed someone like KOC.

[VikingsVictorious]

It was a very excellent win. However I have a nit to pick. What happened with our new regime being aggressive instead of conservative. 4th and 2 from the 50 IIRC and we punted WTF.

[VikingsVictorious]

My online gambling career is off to a very fast start. I did a little $10 bet on Jefferson to score the first TD and since I didn't know what I was doing did it twice. 7-1 payoff . I got a Gophers covering the spread this weekend with Vikings winning the North $100 parlay looking very good. . I had a Vikings money line winning the game for $100 .

[halfgiz]

Hey...We played like a team today!!
Defense looked good, with a great goal line stop. Erin is going to be sore Monday
Offense looked good! JJ and Kirk had good games. They couldn’t cover JJ.
With Zimmer gone, it appears we have a kicking game.
3rd quarter not much offense is a concern...something to work on.
Refreshing having a new coach that can relate to the players.

Next up, Eagles

[StumpHunter]

Great all around game from just about every player and coach. I don't understand how a team can leave JJ that wide open so much, and it is a bit concerning how little Thielen, Osborne and Smith were able to do when they did manage to take away JJ, but I am not going to complain.

[VikingsVictorious]

Why so little celebrating? We just crushed the freaking Pukers.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Z Smith is my new favorite Viking! I remember when he had what felt like six sacks of Cousins… I couldn’t believe we got him this off-season.

KOC has a fun scheme (both offense and defense) and great presence presence on the sideline. I am so glad we have him instead of an old fat guy chewing tobacco.

Lastly, I believe Kirk, the executioner, Cousins is going to change a few narratives this season. Every head he rolls is a spiral

Smith and Hicks have made the front 7 much better. KOC has the team playing loose. They have each other's back and know it's OK to make a mistake. It's clear Zim couldn't relate to the young guys and sucked the fun out. I think I was wrong about wanting Harbaugh over KOC. Harbaugh is too much like Zim. Kirk needed someone like KOC.

Was going to say the same about Smith and Hicks. Smith was an absolute force up front with Danielle. I love how those two literally just rush from anywhere. And yeah I think Hicks was a very underrated signing. He was all over the field and is just a tackling machine. I thought Phillips was very stout in the middle too.

It's absolutely crazy the difference you see in this team already simply due to the new culture. Not only did the new regime bring this with them, they also brought in guys like Phillips, Hicks and Smith who are HUGE culture guys themselves. Bringing in impact players with the right mindset. Cant ask for much better than that.

This just goes to show how much Zimmer had this team in the tank. The more stories you hear, the worse it sounds. For those that didnt listen to the Purple Daily podcast last week, Alex Boone was on and told some Zim stories. It was pretty bad. I mean outside of Deion Sanders, the next closest "Zim guy" was probably Terrance Newman and he even came out shredding him.

I've always said this team has the talent. It showed Sunday. They just needed the right leadership in place and the sky is the limit. Granted it's only 1 week, but starting off the year absolutely dominating Rodgers and the Packers in all phases is exactly what every Vikings fan dreamed to happen

[StumpHunter]

It was a very excellent win. However I have a nit to pick. What happened with our new regime being aggressive instead of conservative. 4th and 2 from the 50 IIRC and we punted WTF.

With how well the defense was playing the only way the Packers were going to do anything at that point was if the Vikings gave them a short field. It was the right move.

[CharVike]

Rogers does not like to be hit. Its one of the few ways to beat him.

The Cousins to JJ express is going to be so big with this new play calling.

Name me a QB that likes to get hit. All QBs go backwards when they are under pressure. Next week if the Eagles pressure Cousins and lay 5+ sacks on him he won't play like he did today. Then the haters will be back out. That's why pass rushers and LT are paid big bucks and if they are great prospects get drafted top 10. This is nothing new. It's been like that since I started watching.

[TSonn]

Per Kevin Siefert:

WR Adam Thielen in the locker room: "I've never been part of an offense that was just attacking, and attacking, and attacking. It didn't matter the score. It didn't matter the situation. We were attacking. It felt good.

Speaking on behalf of thousands of Vikings fans: Hell yes it did!

I know it won't go this great for the entire season, but it's way more fun to watch an offense set to 100% all game instead of 70% until we're down 10 points in the 4th.

Had to be so frustrating for offensive players the last few years when they were being held back and the defense was garbage and couldn't carry the team anymore. See: Diggs comments, Kirk/Thielen explosions on the sides.

[fiestavike]

That was a fun game. The defense it finally playing proactively. Years of watching our guys play reactively on that side made bringing that intensity on that side of the ball pretty satisfying.

Areas of concern include Dalvin Cook for me. He didn't look like himself. I'm not predicting it yet, but I'm preparing myself for the possibility of his premature demise. He didn't look explosive or physical or nearly as quick to me.

[J. Kapp 11]

Smith and Hicks have made the front 7 much better. KOC has the team playing loose. They have each other's back and know it's OK to make a mistake. It's clear Zim couldn't relate to the young guys and sucked the fun out. I think I was wrong about wanting Harbaugh over KOC. Harbaugh is too much like Zim. Kirk needed someone like KOC.

Was going to say the same about Smith and Hicks. Smith was an absolute force up front with Danielle. I love how those two literally just rush from anywhere. And yeah I think Hicks was a very underrated signing. He was all over the field and is just a tackling machine. I thought Phillips was very stout in the middle too.

It's absolutely crazy the difference you see in this team already simply due to the new culture. Not only did the new regime bring this with them, they also brought in guys like Phillips, Hicks and Smith who are HUGE culture guys themselves. Bringing in impact players with the right mindset. Cant ask for much better than that.

This just goes to show how much Zimmer had this team in the tank. The more stories you hear, the worse it sounds. For those that didnt listen to the Purple Daily podcast last week, Alex Boone was on and told some Zim stories. It was pretty bad. I mean outside of Deion Sanders, the next closest "Zim guy" was probably Terrance Newman and he even came out shredding him.

I've always said this team has the talent. It showed Sunday. They just needed the right leadership in place and the sky is the limit. Granted it's only 1 week, but starting off the year absolutely dominating Rodgers and the Packers in all phases is exactly what every Vikings fan dreamed to happen

The articles they were quoting were written by a guy named Tyler Dunne, who actually was a Packers beat writer for some time. This dude is as good as they come in the journalism world. He's got plenty of unnamed sources in the series, but the fact that he got Terence Newman to go on the record ABOUT HIS GUY tells you a lot.

The basic gist was that nobody — players, coaches, secretaries, you name it — enjoyed going to work under Zimmer the past two years. The hot seat affected Mike Zimmer perhaps more than any coach in recent memory. At one point, when the media criticized him, he went on a tirade, basically screaming, "F--k it! I guess they can just fire me. I'll collect a big check and go home to my ranch." Another coach (unnamed, but an offensive coordinator, and the math points directly to John DeFilippo) said the Vikings would be great "now that Satan has left the building."

Interestingly, another said that Zimmer "hated Cousins." That was a quote. So you can imagine — couple Zimmer's paranoia about being fired with his hatred for Cousins — when Cousins yelled, "I just saved your f--king job!" at Zimmer at the end of the Lions win, it's not a stretch to think that Zimmer really WAS going after Cousins to fight him.

All that aside, Kevin O'Connell, according to the articles, is all about PLAYER OWNERSHIP. He wants the players to buy in and own the team, and he's doing everything he can to make that happen. In short, that's empowerment. An expert on leadership that I admire greatly once said, "The best type of leader is an EMPOWERING LEADER. An empowering leader CREATES OTHER LEADERS." I believe that's what O'Connell is trying to do. He WANTS guys like Za'Darius Smith and Kirk Cousins leading the troops. You saw it yesterday with Cousins, who sought out the Wilfs after the game and got permission to give both KAM and KOC a game ball in the locker room. Watch the video ... it choked me up. Mike Zimmer would NEVER empower Cousins like that. O'Connell is doing it, and I'm excited to see the fruit once it's all said and done.

Don't know how this is all going to end up, but I sense this ... we're in for a season unlike any we've had in the past several years. We may not win it all, but it's gonna be fun. God knows I'm ready for some fun with Vikings football.