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Minnesota Vikings Team Thread (7 Viewers)

modogg said:
well, you guys are in luck because apparently Foles doesn't play well in the cold either  :wall: . in all seriousness Eagles will have a tough game if it is against Minny, but the pendulum has swung so far on the Eagles (by many Eagles fans as well) i actually think they are being under-rated now.
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Could be.

Seems a popular view to bash them right now. Their defense is still scary.

 
Biabreakable said:
Could be.

Seems a popular view to bash them right now. Their defense is still scary.
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running game is being overlooked a little too. having a healthier OL will help, and a lot of people are thinking running game is toast with no passing threat. it definitely hurts, but they have barely used Ajayi the past few weeks because their road to the top seed wasn't too tough after the Rams game. i still say at best they have a 50/50 chance against the Vikings in the NFCCG, but they should be able to give themselves a chance.

Foles also isn't as bad as the last 2 weeks, but to be honest i am not a ton confident he is much better

 
Just looking at the snap counts from the Bears game.

The 5 starting offensive linemen all played every offensive snap for the Vikings on Sunday. Avantae Collins the Vikings 4th offensive tackle also played 28 snaps at TE. 37% of the Vikings offensive snaps.

Jaleel Johnson the Vikings 4th defensive tackle played 20 of the Vikings defensive snaps, with Shamar Stephen out for the game. 36% of their defensive snaps.

The Vikings allowed 30 rushing yards to the Bears. 

 
What will the Vikings’ offensive line look like in the playoffs?

I think having Remmers inside helps against some of the strong defensive tackles the Vikings are likely to face in the playoffs.

Question is if Berger can hold down the left guard position, or is there some reason this isn't a good fit for him?

Berger plays well wherever he is, so I don't really think so. Left guard has been the weakest starter even with Easton healthy.

 
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Statistical question I'm too lazy/stupid to look up:

How often is the top scoring/ yardage defense ranked outside the top 10-15 in turnovers forced?

I couldn't readily find the data on my phone, but I wanna say the vikes ranked something like 23rd in forced turnovers, which to me makes their #1 defensive ranks even more impressive. 

Can anyone help me out with this?

 
Herb said:
Statistical question I'm too lazy/stupid to look up:

How often is the top scoring/ yardage defense ranked outside the top 10-15 in turnovers forced?

I couldn't readily find the data on my phone, but I wanna say the vikes ranked something like 23rd in forced turnovers, which to me makes their #1 defensive ranks even more impressive. 

Can anyone help me out with this?
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I don't know.

Comparisons I have seen of the Vikings defense to other highly respected defenses all had more turnovers than the Vikings.

More turnovers would help and you are likely right that turnover should help the defense give up fewer yards by ending that drive.

 
Herb said:
Wow.  Those numbers are insane.   I thought through most of the season that the most irreplaceable player on the team was Rhodes, but it is clearly Smith.  Dude is Troy Polamalu.
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I think he is better than Polamalu in coverage, even when talking about Troys peak seasons. But sure. Name a great safety in the history of the NFL and Smith has probably had a better season then they had. There really inst anything he doesn't do well.

A few years ago people questioned his coverage ability in man to man. Not really anymore.

 
Panthers or Saints it is.  Anyone have a preference? I'm leaning Panthers even though they beat us earlier in the year.  

 
Biabreakable said:
Both are difficult opponents.

I think I prefer the Saints because their defense isn't as good as the Panthers.
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That and Cam Newton's running ability presents the closest thing to a mismatch there is in the playoffs against the Vikings defense.

Think of being able to knock off the Saints, then the Falcons on the way to a Super Bowl appearance.  Demons exorcised...

 
The way I see it the Vikings defense can stiffle any offense, and they have proven that all year.

It is mistakes by the offense, such as turnovers and ineffectiveness that has caused their 3 losses. Against the Steelers they shut down their offense for the most part, although Bell did convert a lot of first downs. It was the offense that couldn't really get anything going. Against the Lions they did not really let the offense do much in their loss to them, but the offense turned the ball over several times and that was enough for the Lions to win that game. Against the Panthers, same thing. The defense disrupted the Vikings offense enough that two big plays by the Pathers was able to win the game.

So going strength against strength. The Vikings defense against a good offense but a defense that isn't good enough to completely stall the Vikings offense seems like the path of least resistance to me.As long as the Vikings offense can put up 20 points I think the defense will play well enough for them to win.

 
Bring on the Saints. I don't see them scoring nearly as much against the Vikings as they did the Panthers because the Vikings defensive backs so much better than what Carolina has. Captain Munnerlyn is probably their best defensive back. Not sure he could even start for the Vikings right now.

The Saints defensive line is Cam Jordan and not much else. Easy to double team him with Morgan helping out and not compromise anything else. Harder to block those great defensive tackles that Carolina has. The Vikings may want to move Remmers back outside to right tackle though, not sure. We'll see what they do there. If they played Carolina then I think leaving Remmers at right guard may have been the better match up.

The Saints best linebacker is Manti Teo. Whatever!!

Saints wont have the crowd in their corner either.

Bring it on!!

 
Wow, really looking forward to this game. Love the fact that Saints seem to be perceived as the favorites.

This game will probably come down to DL. I'm fairly confident the Vikes can adequately defend the run, but they can't sacrifice QB pressure to do it. I'm hopeful coaching doesn't take the same approach they took vs. Carolina (i.e. sacrificing immense pressure to neutralize running). Brees will have a field day against any game plan to sell out run D on predictable running downs. Expect Payton/Brees not to be predictable, and to abuse with the pass on early downs. 

JMHO, I think coaching way overthought Carolina game planning to the point of rendering a juicy Everson vs Kalil advantage moot, and the rest of the DL invisible. Yeah, yeah, other than 2 busted game changing plays it arguably worked, if they were shooting for a game without huge defensive plays that comes down to field goals. Just not a fan of that approach, especially at home where dynamic defensive plays can fire up the home crowd. Anyway, count me in the 'make the other team beat your strength' camp vs. adapting to stop theirs.  Particularly given the injury to G Andrus Peat, I hope the plan is massive pressure on Brees, even if it results in a couple busted runs.   

 
BigJim® said:
Wow, really looking forward to this game. Love the fact that Saints seem to be perceived as the favorites.
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Where are you getting this from?  Vikes are favored in Vegas and with the week off hosting a team that just had a tough game I don't know too many people who think the Saints are going to win.  Vikings win by more than a TD IMO.

 
Pipes said:
Where are you getting this from?  Vikes are favored in Vegas and with the week off hosting a team that just had a tough game I don't know too many people who think the Saints are going to win.  Vikings win by more than a TD IMO.
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Just the impression I got watching a little NFL Network and Fox, and listening to ESPN radio a bit last night with an uber pro-Saints host. Maybe I just saw/heard outlier perspectives. I'm definitely not basing it on Vegas odds although it would not surprise me if more end up taking the Saints as a dog coming off yesterday's game.

 
BigJim® said:
Just the impression I got watching a little NFL Network and Fox, and listening to ESPN radio a bit last night with an uber pro-Saints host. Maybe I just saw/heard outlier perspectives. I'm definitely not basing it on Vegas odds although it would not surprise me if more end up taking the Saints as a dog coming off yesterday's game.
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Wouldn't surprise me as the Saints have more "national" appeal stories like Drew Brees and the record setting backfield combo.  I just think it's going to be extremely difficult for any of the teams that played this weekend, with the exception of the Falcons, to win. Good luck to your Vikings. 

 
Pipes said:
Wouldn't surprise me as the Saints have more "national" appeal stories like Drew Brees and the record setting backfield combo.  I just think it's going to be extremely difficult for any of the teams that played this weekend, with the exception of the Falcons, to win. Good luck to your Vikings. 
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The Falcons scored 9 points against the Vikings at home the week after Julio Jones had his biggest game of the season.

I really don't see why they have any better chance than the Saints do on the Vikings home turf.

The Saints week one had to settle for field goals all day until the 4th quarter as well, with the game well in hand for the Vikings.

 
BigJim® said:
Wow, really looking forward to this game. Love the fact that Saints seem to be perceived as the favorites.

This game will probably come down to DL. I'm fairly confident the Vikes can adequately defend the run, but they can't sacrifice QB pressure to do it. I'm hopeful coaching doesn't take the same approach they took vs. Carolina (i.e. sacrificing immense pressure to neutralize running). Brees will have a field day against any game plan to sell out run D on predictable running downs. Expect Payton/Brees not to be predictable, and to abuse with the pass on early downs. 

JMHO, I think coaching way overthought Carolina game planning to the point of rendering a juicy Everson vs Kalil advantage moot, and the rest of the DL invisible. Yeah, yeah, other than 2 busted game changing plays it arguably worked, if they were shooting for a game without huge defensive plays that comes down to field goals. Just not a fan of that approach, especially at home where dynamic defensive plays can fire up the home crowd. Anyway, count me in the 'make the other team beat your strength' camp vs. adapting to stop theirs.  Particularly given the injury to G Andrus Peat, I hope the plan is massive pressure on Brees, even if it results in a couple busted runs.   
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good post!

damn this should be a barnburner.

 
Biabreakable said:
The Falcons scored 9 points against the Vikings at home the week after Julio Jones had his biggest game of the season.

I really don't see why they have any better chance than the Saints do on the Vikings home turf.

The Saints week one had to settle for field goals all day until the 4th quarter as well, with the game well in hand for the Vikings.
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I was talking about the Falcons beating the Eagles.  I think all other teams that had 1st round byes win easily this weekend.

 
Biabreakable said:
The Falcons scored 9 points against the Vikings at home the week after Julio Jones had his biggest game of the season.

I really don't see why they have any better chance than the Saints do on the Vikings home turf.

The Saints week one had to settle for field goals all day until the 4th quarter as well, with the game well in hand for the Vikings.
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I think we beat the Saints, but I don’t think this is the same Saints team that we played week 1. 

 
VikingFrog said:
I think we beat the Saints, but I don’t think this is the same Saints team that we played week 1. 
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Of course not. All of the players and Zimmer saying it isn't the same team as week one.

Obviously teams are still finding some things out about themselves in those early games, what works, what doesn't.

Injuries and things happen throughout the course of the season as well that changes how the team plays in adjustment to those things.

That said, Zimmer points out that the basic elements are still the same. Brees is a HOF QB. Sean Payton is a good offensive minded coach.

The Vikings are a great defense and Zimmer is a good defensive minded coach.

It will be a good game and things will be different but I expect the end result to be pretty much the same. The Vikings win and the Saints offensive prowess are stifled.

 
Biabreakable said:
Of course not. All of the players and Zimmer saying it isn't the same team as week one.

Obviously teams are still finding some things out about themselves in those early games, what works, what doesn't.

Injuries and things happen throughout the course of the season as well that changes how the team plays in adjustment to those things.

That said, Zimmer points out that the basic elements are still the same. Brees is a HOF QB. Sean Payton is a good offensive minded coach.

The Vikings are a great defense and Zimmer is a good defensive minded coach.

It will be a good game and things will be different but I expect the end result to be pretty much the same. The Vikings win and the Saints offensive prowess are stifled.
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Bradford and Diggs tore them up. I can’t remember if that was a mismatch or just a solid connection from Bradford to Diggs all game. Heck, I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.

How do you think we gameplan for this game offensively? Any different than what we’ve been up to the Last few weeks?

 
VikingFrog said:
Bradford and Diggs tore them up. I can’t remember if that was a mismatch or just a solid connection from Bradford to Diggs all game. Heck, I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.
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Bradford had an amazingly good game week one. Diggs scored 2 TD. One of them a contested catch in the corner of the end zone.

Diggs still very capable of such plays but I figure their rookie defensive backs have improved over the course of the season and gaining experience.

Still Diggs can do that to any corner. So still not sure it matters. Keenum is not as accurate and Bradford though.

Murray and McKinnon are not as good as Dalvin Cook. Part of Bradfords success likely related to Cook doing so well and having their defense on the ropes a bit because of it.

How do you think we gameplan for this game offensively? Any different than what we’ve been up to the Last few weeks?
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As I already mentioned I think the Vikings should double team Cameron Jordan. With a TE or RB chipping or even with an extra offensive lineman if they do play Avantae Collins as a 6th lineman on some snaps again.

I think the Vikings will try to run the ball and they should have some success doing so. Just not quite as much success as they had with Cook. Cook being the dual threat that he is makes it more difficult to defend as well. While Murray and McKinnon can be effective as receivers and in the screen game, not as effective as Cook was, and not offering the same level of threat as a runner either. But the Vikings have been making due in that regard all year. They will still run the ball and depending on the score and how effective it is, they will run the ball a lot. Try to win the time of possession and keep the Saints offense off the field.

This is why I am somewhat expecting them to use Collins as a 6th linemen frequently again. It was very effective and I don't think the Saints have the linemen or linebackers to stop it. heir front seven not as good as the Bears for example and it worked very well against them.

I don't expect the Vikings to pass the ball as much as they did with Bradford week one. They will still take shots of course. Keenum more effective off of play action. So establishing the run is a key to this as well. The Vikings did play action out of the 6 lineman look in the last game as well. 

Other than that the Vikings may like matching up Rudolph against their linebackers in the passing game. I think Rudolph should be healthy now, so that could be a match up the Vikings are looking at. Morgan can catch the ball as well, and is a better blocker than Rudolph, so maybe they use him as a receiver.

The Saints need to blitz to get pressure on the QB. So the Vikings will be looking for ways to beat their blitz and get chunk gains passing the ball against it. If they don't blitz Keenum can extend plays and the receivers have been getting more used to that and adjusting their routes to get open when he does.

I don't really see them doing much different than what they have been doing recently because of the Saints. The strength of the Saints defense is in their defensive backs, Lattimore and safety Williams. So I would expect them to lean on the running game a bit more than they might against a defense with a stronger front seven and weaker defensive backs.

The offense hasn't played all that well recently, so I am hoping that changes. Being at home really helps. Some of the recent games where the offense hasn't done as well have been away and also in the cold in Green Bay. The game against Green Bay I thought they should have been more effective throwing the ball than they were, due to Green Bays defensive backs being depleted. But Keenum really didn't have a good game there despite this. I don't think he is very comfortable in the cold weather.

 
I get that reporters have to come up with something, but do we really need Star/Trib to discuss with Kai Forbath whether the ghost of wide left FGs by prior Viking kickers in the playoffs might impact him? I mean seriously. This one really bothers me.

 
BigJim® said:
I get that reporters have to come up with something, but do we really need Star/Trib to discuss with Kai Forbath whether the ghost of wide left FGs by prior Viking kickers in the playoffs might impact him? I mean seriously. This one really bothers me.
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Haven't seen that yet as I have been kind of busy lately.

I was watching Chris Carters show a couple days back and that topic was brought up, and I liked how Carters response was to say don't bring that up please. It was such a long time ago and Anderson was very good after that miss as well in his career.

It was a heart breaker for sure, but you know stuff happens sometimes. Bringing it up again now when it really has no relation to the current team or players is pretty dumb and just pouring salt in the womb as we say around these parts.

But as you say, they need something to write about, which is basically all it is.

Forbath has been better and the Vikings punter has been kicking GREAT recently. Forbath had some misses earlier on in the season that were somewhat worrisome.

I hope we have better things to talk about than this in the game Sunday.

 
Biabreakable said:
Haven't seen that yet as I have been kind of busy lately.

I was watching Chris Carters show a couple days back and that topic was brought up, and I liked how Carters response was to say don't bring that up please. It was such a long time ago and Anderson was very good after that miss as well in his career.

It was a heart breaker for sure, but you know stuff happens sometimes. Bringing it up again now when it really has no relation to the current team or players is pretty dumb and just pouring salt in the womb as we say around these parts.

But as you say, they need something to write about, which is basically all it is.

Forbath has been better and the Vikings punter has been kicking GREAT recently. Forbath had some misses earlier on in the season that were somewhat worrisome.

I hope we have better things to talk about than this in the game Sunday.
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Yeah, they were referring to Blair also, which is much more recent. I just think it should be off limits for a home team media to mess with the psyche of a kicker - already a fragile type of NFL player. God knows there are enough other scabs to pick at if that is an angle they want to exploit in what should be a positivity reporting week. Get the heck out of our guy's head! 

 
Biabreakable said:
Haven't seen that yet as I have been kind of busy lately.

I was watching Chris Carters show a couple days back and that topic was brought up, and I liked how Carters response was to say don't bring that up please. It was such a long time ago and Anderson was very good after that miss as well in his career.

It was a heart breaker for sure, but you know stuff happens sometimes. Bringing it up again now when it really has no relation to the current team or players is pretty dumb and just pouring salt in the womb as we say around these parts.
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It’s salt in the wound man, that statement is just.....where exactly are you pouring the salt?

 
Anyone else happy Philly won? I didn't really like being 2nd NFC game, possibly knowing you could play at home throughout. Just seemed like the sort of thing that could distract from the task at hand.

 
BigJim® said:
Anyone else happy Philly won? I didn't really like being 2nd NFC game, possibly knowing you could play at home throughout. Just seemed like the sort of thing that could distract from the task at hand.
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Both of those teams looked VERY beatable yesterday and the last few weeks of the regular season.

On an even playing field Philly seems worse. If you go in their thread and listen to their fans, their home field advantage is loud and cold. Which I don’t like. But I think Foles is a nice matchup for us.

I was gonna be in Minnesota for work next weekend and was excited when the Falcons were driving at the end for at least a chance to go to the game next Sunday.

Either way. Right now I’m saying who cares. Need to take care of business today!!! 

Skol!

 
VikingFrog said:
On an even playing field Philly seems worse. If you go in their thread and listen to their fans, their home field advantage is loud and cold. Which I don’t like. But I think Foles is a nice matchup for us.
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Yeah, I'm not saying I prefer our chances of beating Philly on the road, or even comparing Atlanta and Philly as opponent options. I'm saying I feel more confident now that the Vikings won't be thinking about next week as much, and are focused on this particular game.

Can't wait for the game today... heading downtown around noon for :banned: so definitely planning to do my part making noise.

 
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BigJim® said:
Yeah, I'm not saying I prefer our chances of beating Philly on the road, or even comparing Atlanta and Philly as opponent options. I'm saying I feel more confident now that the Vikings won't be thinking about next week as much, and are focused on this particular game.

Can't wait for the game today... heading downtown around noon for :banned: so definitely planning to do my part making noise.
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Yep. I hear ya. Focus on today.

I think I was personally just a little bit sad my chance to go to the game was eradicated.

Todays game is gonna be a tough one. Let’s cheer these boys to victory.

 
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