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Minnesota Vikings Team Thread (4 Viewers)

Great win.. As far as the division goes, it is there for the taking..

The Packers are good, but far from great.. They beat the Bears because of a crappy throw in the end zone for a Int.. They beat the Vikes because of a crappy throw in the end zone for an Int... They beat the Lions because of two horrific calls..

If the players and coaches keep the momentum they've gained in the last two games, teams are going to have a hard time game planning v.s. the offense. :popcorn:

 
Great win by the offense today... :thumbup: … Love that they are finally putting the ball in the hands of the 84 million dollar man.. Hopefully Thielen's hamstring isn't to serious.. Guessing he sits Thursday..

But what in the heck is up with Rhodes... Tends to have good coverage but doesn't seem to have sense when the ball is coming.. Then gets so upset with the TD he gave up he benches himself for the 2 pt. attempt.

 
Not sure what the specific IR rules are but does anyone know how "healthy" Beebe and Doctson are at this point? Can they bring them back after week 8? Something that could be needed if Thielen's hammy is a lingering thing...

 
FunkyPlutos said:
Not sure what the specific IR rules are but does anyone know how "healthy" Beebe and Doctson are at this point? Can they bring them back after week 8? Something that could be needed if Thielen's hammy is a lingering thing...
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Hmm good question. I am not entirely sure.

When teams put a player on IR they do have the option to reactivate the player later in the season. They have to be inactive for 6 weeks following being put on IR.

So at least for the rules of IR designation Beebe should be getting close to being eligible to return. Not sure when he will actually be healthy enough though.

Doctson was put on IR early on in the season, he had a hamstring. This seemed like maybe not that serious of an injury for Doctson, but that he was no where near ready to play for the Vikings. He missed all of camp and preseason. Maybe he is up to speed now from being in the meetings but they would need to see him practice for awhile before thinking about activating him I would think. He should be eligible to return soon though.

While Treadwell has dropped too many 3rd downs already in his career, I still think he is ahead of these guys. Beebe was having issues with drops too.

I don't think Thielens injury is serious. He is pushing to play Thursday.  

 
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Biabreakable said:
I don't think Thielens injury is serious. He is pushing to play Thursday.  
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Vikings should be able to take care of business with Thielen vs the Redskins.  He should not play even if he was feeling 95% ok.   Give him the extra break and have him ready for the push coming up. 

 
Gally said:
Vikings should be able to take care of business with Thielen vs the Redskins.  He should not play even if he was feeling 95% ok.   Give him the extra break and have him ready for the push coming up. 
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That's fine. I agree they should be cautious. 

He wants to play. Up to the doctors if he will or not.

 
I see they cut Sherels, so I am guessing one of the practice squad WRs will be brought up before Thursday...

Holton Hill comes back after this week as well. Hoping they can win this game and stay healthy while doing it...Packers have already had five home games so they are hitting the road quite a bit the second half of the season...hopefully Vikes can keep the momentum!

 
Not the most exciting game but a win is a win... After the Bears game, had anyone in this thread said the Vikings would be 6-2 now, they would have been laughed out of here.. Very glad Zimmer decided to let the 84 million dollar man play football instead of manage the game... 10 days of rest is great.. And we all get to be Chief fans for a day this Sunday. ;)  

 
snogger said:
Not the most exciting game but a win is a win... After the Bears game, had anyone in this thread said the Vikings would be 6-2 now, they would have been laughed out of here.. Very glad Zimmer decided to let the 84 million dollar man play football instead of manage the game... 10 days of rest is great.. And we all get to be Chief fans for a day this Sunday. ;)  
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Most unimpressive, but a win is a win, and better yet, if one is a supporter of the team, no carts came on to the field to cart guys off and no one was assisted off of the field.  An ugly win with no injuries is a beautiful win, long term.  I do seem to remember Rhodes, was it, wobbling off the filed and going into the concussion tent, but with 11 days he should clear that protocol pretty easily, unless he has a history.  guys with a history seem to take longer.

Regardless, enjoy your win and the time off.

 
Tough loss.

Cousins fails to show up when he was needed again.

No idea how the Vikings couldn't get the ball to Diggs at all.

The defense played well but they could not cover Hill when it mattered. Watkins made some great plays.

The offensive line made KC defense look great. 

 
Biabreakable said:
Sorry for saying they did anything well.
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No need to apologize, or be sarcastic, whatever. I was just surprised. Maybe that is the standard for this defense at this point, playing somewhat competitively against backup QBs who can’t beat other NFL teams. 

 
BigJim® said:
No need to apologize, or be sarcastic, whatever. I was just surprised. Maybe that is the standard for this defense at this point, playing somewhat competitively against backup QBs who can’t beat other NFL teams. 
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This defense is barely above average this year and I think we need to get used to that.

 
mr roboto said:
Rhodes being a liability changes the look a lot. 
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Yup, but I don’t think it is entirely Rhodes. The other striking trait of all Vike DBs this season is not knowing where the ball is. I’m not quite sure how they are going to get INTs from anyone but a safety when CBs don’t play the ball. 

 
Strange that Vikings win four in a row and this thread is :tumbleweed: .. They lose a close one, on the road, and many  jump in to say how bad they are.. :mellow:  

To the game..

Gave up basically 3 big plays, two to Hill and of course the back breaking 91 yard td run,that cost them the win.. Cousins was VERY off in the 1st half.. Some of that is the play calling... Roll-outs have been working very well the last few weeks.. So what do they do??? Out think themselves by changing things up... 1st and goal and they threw 3 straight times, all 3 pocket passes :wall:  

Doesn't get any easier needing to go to Dallas next week..

At least the Chargers are doing the Vikings a favor by destroying the Packer hype.. 26-3  Chargers in the 4th quarter and it isn't even that close..  

 
snogger said:
Strange that Vikings win four in a row and this thread is :tumbleweed: .. They lose a close one, on the road, and many  jump in to say how bad they are.. :mellow:  
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:goodposting: :bag:

I tell myself not to do that, I just don''t listen. The past 4 weeks were a lot of fun, and I do think this team has a lot going for it. I'll be a Cousins apologist to the end. The way he goes downfield at any time is so refreshing. It looked like a tricky wind in the first half, and he missed a perfect throw to Diggs by 6 inches. He didn't turn the ball over, but he'll take more blame than he deserves. No doubt he'll look for a place to hide when they show that 3rd down slide in the film room.

If Holton Hill can find a way to contribute, it might help the leaky DBs. Stopping other QBs but giving 48/65 and no interceptions to Chase Daniels/Matt More is a little confusing. 

 
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snogger said:
Strange that Vikings win four in a row and this thread is :tumbleweed: .. They lose a close one, on the road, and many  jump in to say how bad they are.. :mellow:  

To the game..

Gave up basically 3 big plays, two to Hill and of course the back breaking 91 yard td run,that cost them the win.. Cousins was VERY off in the 1st half.. Some of that is the play calling... Roll-outs have been working very well the last few weeks.. So what do they do??? Out think themselves by changing things up... 1st and goal and they threw 3 straight times, all 3 pocket passes :wall:  

Doesn't get any easier needing to go to Dallas next week..

At least the Chargers are doing the Vikings a favor by destroying the Packer hype.. 26-3  Chargers in the 4th quarter and it isn't even that close..  
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As a Packer fan all I can say is that the truth hurts.

 
Biabreakable said:
No idea how the Vikings couldn't get the ball to Diggs at all.
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Didn’t see the game but how is it possible that Diggs has one catch for 4 yards against that pass defense, especially with Thielen out? 

Last 3 games, 7/167, 7/142, 7/143.  Then 1/4.  Might want to get the ball in the hands of your most dynamic receiver.  
 

 
mr roboto said:
This defense is barely above average this year and I think we need to get used to that.
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The defense is better than "barely above average" but there are a couple things that they are bad at.  The most glaring is opposing teams #1 WR's.  Rhodes is not what he used to be and as someone else mentioned the DB's in general have no ball awareness when the ball is in the air so even with tight coverage passes get completed because they don't locate the ball to knock it down.  I am guessing this is a taught tactic since they all do this.  It's not working and something should change. 

Without the poor tackling in the secondary on the 91 yd TD the Vikings most likely win that game.  But as has been stated many times, when you need a QB to go win the game for you.....Cousins comes up short.  His last two drives were not good......six plays for minus 7 yards and less than 2 minutes of TOP.   Any type of sustained drive in those situations and the Vikings come out with a win..

 
efactor said:
Didn’t see the game but how is it possible that Diggs has one catch for 4 yards against that pass defense, especially with Thielen out? 

Last 3 games, 7/167, 7/142, 7/143.  Then 1/4.  Might want to get the ball in the hands of your most dynamic receiver.  
 
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It's one thing for a receiver to get shut down because of great coverage. But it's a whole other thing when that receiver is consistently torching DBs and getting wide open, and still rarely seeing the ball come his way, other than one overthrown deep shot. So frustrating.

 
I think in hindsight it felt worse than it was..

As mentioned above, Cousins missed hitting Diggs for a huge TD play by 1 or 2 inches.
Cousin's was definitely "off" in the 1st half.. whether it was due to the game plan, Thielen lasting 1 play or just not well prepared not sure, but he ended the day with 220 yards and 3 TD's.. and ZERO turnovers so can't blame the loss on him.
Still think they called WAY too many pocket passes when the OL was not doing well protecting, and he has proven to be quite good rolling out. The 3 straight pass plays in the red zone from the pocket in the first half was maddening.
They also have gone from us asking "Why no screen passes" to "Why are you calling 15+ screen passes a game??"
When Treadwell leads the receiving group you know it's not going well.

Defensively.. I know most don't like the "If you take away this..." but..
Without that 91 yard rushing TD, they held KC to 50 yards rushing.. :eek:  

They are giving up way too many big passing plays this year.. Rhodes has bought into his own hype.. needs to get back to playing what got him recognized as in the first place..
A couple of the big plays you could tell was miscommunication as the first guy seemed to be playing Zone, while those behind him were playing Man.. Not sure if that is coaching, or on the field changes, but need to clean that up. But all in all they gave up "only" 275 yards and 1 TD.

Knowing Zimmer it will not be a fun week of practice for the Vikings this week so hopefully that, plus a prime Sunday night game gets them to bring their A game next week.. 

 
mr roboto said:
Rhodes being a liability changes the look a lot. 
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It isn't just Rhodes who I thought played fine against KC. It was Waynes, Hughes and Alexander who were giving up catches.

The defense collectively did not play well enough in this game. Smith and Harris wiffed on that long TD run. Alexander can't cover Kelce, They barely used Kearse who might have matched up better on him.

The mini bye as the Vikings called it seems to have been a distraction. Players getting arrested and coming out flat after it.

I do think Rhodes has struggled more in games prior to this one than Waynes or Alexander but the coverage overall was not working like it usually does in this game.

The Vikings need to get DIggs the ball more than they did.

The Vikings did not run enough screens or other constraint plays early on in the game.

The offensive line took a step back and did not protect well enough.

To me it was a collective failure coaches on down.

 
efactor said:
Didn’t see the game but how is it possible that Diggs has one catch for 4 yards against that pass defense, especially with Thielen out? 

Last 3 games, 7/167, 7/142, 7/143.  Then 1/4.  Might want to get the ball in the hands of your most dynamic receiver.  
 
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Cousins missed a couple deep shots to him and I think DIggs just dropped one.

They did not go to the well often enough though. Credit to KC who likely had him doubled a lot of the time.

 
BigJim® said:
No need to apologize, or be sarcastic, whatever. I was just surprised. Maybe that is the standard for this defense at this point, playing somewhat competitively against backup QBs who can’t beat other NFL teams. 
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My impression was that you were offended by me saying anything positive about the Vikings at all.

They were not completely inept, but they did not play as well as they have in most games this season.

 
Biabreakable said:
My impression was that you were offended by me saying anything positive about the Vikings at all.

They were not completely inept, but they did not play as well as they have in most games this season.
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Nope, not offended... legitimately curious whether it was effort to be positive about something or whether your expectations for this D have lowered. I'm probably going to self impose a rule where I take a few hours before posting. I typically get my frustration out listening to whine line. 

 
BigJim® said:
Nope, not offended... legitimately curious whether it was effort to be positive about something or whether your expectations for this D have lowered. I'm probably going to self impose a rule where I take a few hours before posting. I typically get my frustration out listening to whine line. 
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I dont think the secondary is playing up to the Vikings standard all year. Rhodes is struggling I just don't think he is the only one struggling in the back end.

The Vikings do not have good inside pass rush. They are not as good as last year despite Griffen playing at 2017 level. Shamar Stephen just not as good as Ruchardson was last year on causing inside pressure. The ends are playing great but the QB usually can step up in the pocket because the inside guys are not getting enough penetration. I think they need to move Griffen to under tackle more and that Odenighbo and Weatherly should play more.

The statement I made that you took exception to, you focused on the one positive in my statement and ignored the rest. I am pretty emotional just after a game as well.

 
In regards to the substandard play of the secondary I have no idea how to fix it. The Vikings have Zimmer and Gray coaching them. The team is loaded with 1st round talents. What more can you do to get them to play well?

 
To answer Jims question about how good the Vikings defense is right now.

They are 7th in points allowed.  15th in yards allowed. 8th in yards per play allowed. 6th in turnovers. 15th in passing yards allowed. 6th in interceptions. They are 13th in rushing yards allowed.

So some average and above average numbers there.

The Vikings are considered the 8th most efficient defense by football outsiders

So they have been performing as a above average defense in most of these metrics except for yards, where they have been about average..

 
Biabreakable said:
In regards to the substandard play of the secondary I have no idea how to fix it. The Vikings have Zimmer and Gray coaching them. The team is loaded with 1st round talents. What more can you do to get them to play well?
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Change.. Zimmer has run the same defense since Cincy.. Teams are figuring out how to nickel & dime them.. IMO, they need to do the Harrison blitz more often, just use others..

Getting tired of Zimmer's rush 4 and cover with 7.. Give a QB enough time to eat a meal and read a book, someone is bound to get open. :mellow:

 
snogger said:
Change.. Zimmer has run the same defense since Cincy.. Teams are figuring out how to nickel & dime them.. IMO, they need to do the Harrison blitz more often, just use others..

Getting tired of Zimmer's rush 4 and cover with 7.. Give a QB enough time to eat a meal and read a book, someone is bound to get open. :mellow:
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Yeah they aren't getting enough inside pressure right now. Thus they need to blitz up the middle to get that.

Maybe teams are figuring some things out. KC and Andy Reid do have an explosive offense without Mahomes. Hell Moore is a better QB than a bunch of current other starters out there because of the system and the great skill players they have. Hill deserves credit for some very good receptions that were low percentage plays on average across the league. Watkins as well made some great plays on the ball.

 
Regarding the D, one place this team has a big need is at the 3T. Stephen is a solid back up but as a starter he offers no outstanding traits. If the Vikings had someone at that spot who had to be accounted for in the pass rush, sending 4 men would be a lot more successful.

 
Snap counts for game 9 against KC defensive linemen:

E Griffen DE 55 92% 
D Hunter DE 52 87% 
L Joseph NT 44 73% 
S Stephen DT 38 63% 
S Weatherly DE 18 30% 
I Odenigbo DE 17 28%
J Johnson NT 14 23%

I do think Stephen is playing too much and Ogenigbo and Weatherly not playing enough. As far as that goes Linval likely played too much as well considering how often KC threw the ball. He likely should have only had about 50% of the snaps in that scenario.

Hercules Mata'afa and Jalen Holmes were inactive. Those were the players Zimmer was hoping would be able to contribute at under tackle this year.

Odenigbo can play under tackle and he seems to make plays every time he is in the game. I would like to see him play more. I don't know that Weatherly is any good at this. I know they talked about using him as a stand up defensive tackle similar to what they were doing with Brian Robison for a couple years there. I haven't seen that in actual games though, just talk in training camp.

 
Rhodes not being CB1

and

Pat Elflein being replaced

Why have these two things not been done already? 

 
Biabreakable said:
How concerned should Vikings be with recent cornerback play?

Not that we need pff to know the corners are not playing as well as they have in the past, those grades do somewhat quantify it.

Kearse only had one snap on defense but 24 snaps on special teams. Obviously bad timing, but this seemed like a game where they might have used him a bit more.
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I think it was pretty obvious he was being "punished" for his DUI.  Terrible time for it though as he was the DB that matched up best with Kelci and could've made the difference in the game.

 
Hov34 said:
Rhodes not being CB1

and

Pat Elflein being replaced

Why have these two things not been done already? 
Click to expand...
At this point I'd be excited to try anyone in place of Elflein. Draw a name out of a hat for all I care. Surely whoever they threw in there couldn't be any worse, right? :unsure:

 
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