The series that had me pissed the most (I was at the game) was the final time Vikings had the ball. A first down would damn near ice it. They call two runs, I mean okay whatevs. Then on 3rd down they threw an unbelievably dangerous WR screen that I swear looked to have pick 6 potential. Then a punt that nets I don’t know 20 yards.
I knew the game was probably over right then.
Dobbs should have been going to the TE on that, throwing into the blitz and replacing.
The real mistake made here is that protection slide the wrong way, IMO. Broncos brought 5, we doubled the inside DL and left the ILB free through a huge gap. RB is there to pick it up but I don’t think this is how we draw that up.
I don’t think this is so much a skill/teachable situation. Chandler isn’t a big powerful guy, he’s going to struggle stopping ILB’s with a full head of steam up the middle. Maybe he should have tried to cut him at the knees? I’m not sure. He gave it what he has. We just can’t expect him to be great on those.
He didn’t miss the block, but he’s not as stout as Mattison. I’ve actually seen Mattison make a lot of good blocks this season, that’s maybe the one really improved part of this game.
I don’t disagree with you, but I think you have to keep rolling with Dobbs at this point. Hall looked promising for a 5th round rookie making his first start, but let’s keep in mind he went and got himself knocked the hell out within the first quarter of play.
Like for this season we have to roll Dobbs, just have to, unless the wheels fall so completely off that we’re out of playoffs. But whether we want to keep Dobbs around to me entirely depends on how he plays down the stretch. He’s proven to me that he’s at least backup caliber NFL quarterback, zero doubt. But is he really the future? Is he maybe a starter while we groom young player(s).
Maybe there is a scenario where we have a 1st or 2nd round QB we draft, but out of the gate it is a true 3 way competition Dobbs/Hall/Rookie, and you land them where they land 1st/2nd/3rd.
Also we’re kind of ignoring the possibility of bringing Cousins back for a season or two. That is an option. You can do worse than Cousins. Early season defense was poor, turnovers were outrageous, and Cousins then got hurt. Like, this team isn’t that far off from having 1 or 2 losses with Kirk still playing at QB. Fundamentally it isn’t a lack of talent or scheme, it is more a lack of fundamentals.
Collingsworth is getting old, and I think kind of rests on his laurels. I’ve noticed this in other games he does, he just doesn’t seem as prepared and kind of wings it. He made a number of comments that were inaccurate or just plain off.
At one point he noted that Denver’s run defense struggled all season, and that “this Vikings team would really test them”. I was thinking like how, to test if our run offense is actually even worse than their run defense?
Then at another point they said the Vikings were best in the league on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1…But struggled tonight. Is that remotely accurate? I thought we were like worst in the league in that category.
Mattison praise was obviously not well informed.
He said Jefferson played only three games this season and his worst game was 149 yards receiving. Jefferson played the entire Carolina game and most of the KC game, and in both games his total was well below 149 yards.
My guess is he screwed a bunch of Broncos stuff up too but I don’t follow that team enough to catch them.
Yeah I still like Collinsworth and his happy aw shucks schtick. I don’t mind him. But dude needs to get back to putting in the prep work or he’s going to become like Madden down the stretch, where the schtick is them not making sense half the time.
Hard to say with Barr. He did play every game last season, and hasn’t been on a team since. I have to assume he’s no longer a great player, or at least not in the Cowboys system. But at this point in the season your only options are your own practice squad, other practice squads, and free agents. Usually none of those buckets are deep with talent.
At least with Barr he’s always been a smart player and has the experience to in theory pick things up quickly.
And like Dobbs he’s here also in case one of the players we do have gets hurt. Eventually Barr might work himself into a starter type role, but early on he’s insurance too.
Nice I was hoping his game ending interception weeks back would be enough to get her over. Looks like that was the case.
Is he just a contrarian or what? I’m actually kind of surprised that 9/10 are picking the Vikings and they all have the game super close.
I’d swap Dallas/Detroit and Vikings/Seahawks but barely.
Glad that the team animosity doesn’t extend to actually mistreating human beings who just paid hundreds of dollars to visit our city and try to enjoy a game.
Though if EVERYONE you met was totally cool and you were in a Saint’s jersey I would still say, even in MN, that you were a tad lucky to slip through entirely unmolested.
Broncos are mediocre but not terrible. Wilson is playing a lot better, their offense is taking advantage of how slick he is with little short passes, flips, play fakes, etc. Then they take a shot here and there. I actually think our defense doesn’t match up as well against the Broncos with Wilson than a lot of them.
Broncos I think have a pretty good defense too. Should be a tough game. Vikings were early 1 point dogs if you can believe it.
Great game, team played well. Definately would have liked to see more offensive efficiency in 2nd half to close this game out, annoying they let it be a game down the stretch.
But you gotta take the good with the bad sometimes, they crushed 'em in the first half.
Play of the game for me was the long TD to Hock with 20 some seconds left in the first half. That was huge. Dobbs played well again.
I thought when JJ went down for 4-6 weeks this thing was over. Then Cousins going down I really thought it was over. And here we are on 5 win streak playing best ball of the season. NFL is weird.
Vikings scored their 1st and 3rd most points in a game in the only two games Dobbs played. I do think Cousins is a decent QB but the fact that Dobbs can come in and make up for any difference in throwing talent with his legs tells me Cousins probably isn’t worth the big money, at least on this team with how KOC likes to call it.
Yes, it is ONLY two games we have to remind ourselves. But two games against stout defenses with very little preparation. I mean in theory Dobbs should get better and more comfortable with this offense as it goes.
I’ve asked the question a few times here why Chandler isn’t on the field more. Whenever I see him run, preseason or regular, he seems to have some real juice out there and do well. It isn’t like he’s sitting behind Derek Henry here.
Today they were forced to use him and he did pretty well.
I’m sure there is something the coaches don’t like in his game, maybe ball security or blocking. But so far I haven’t seen whatever it is they don’t like. Regardless it looks like he’ll keep playing especially with Mattison out likely a week. Probably we’ll see Nganwu and maybe even a little McBride at this point.
From a high level, prior to last week McConnel was coaching a 4-4 team coming off a 13-4 campaign. Outside our fan world I can’t possibly conceive why McConnel would be anywhere in the conversation for coach of the year.
Last week was absolutely an impressive job by the coaching staff preparing Dobbs, and we’ll see going ahead. If the team rips off some wins despite Cousins out then yeah I think he gets in that conversation.
But again, at a national level just looking across the Vikings thus far are not having as successful of a season last year in terms of their record.
Wearing Chainz is a bit distasteful with Kirk’s body still warm.
IMO maximizing Jefferson would probably be Mullens. Not sure I love that.
If we reach the point of “season is over” at any time I do believe we should start Hall, to get him some reps and see.
I’d be fine with Dobbs competing for 1st/2nd QB duties next year, with a full offseason, but right now I don’t think there is a QB on our current roster that we should move all in on next season with. Kirk if he does a more team friendly contract I’d be okay with, but he isn’t getting any younger and now coming off an achiles, on top of the fact that we didn’t do a helluva lot with him the first 4 seasons.