The Bad

[Raptorman]

I can shorten that list for you.

1. Offense

2. Defense

3. Coaching.

Much easier that way.

[mansquatch]

92 yards is torched? Ok, look, short field 3 times yielded most of the bears points. 4 if you count Kluwe's shank. You can't expect a defense to hold up all game when they're getting turnovers in our territory or starting near mid field. And the bears only scored 3 points in the second half. They weren't prepared either, they just played against a pop warner OC and QB, thats all. The bears are IMO a bad team overall with an above average defense

My point was that Marhsall and the unbalanced formation were what were allowing them to sustain long drives that suffocated us. Yes he didn't have Megatron numbers, but we couldn't get them off the field and that is what really mattered. (we couldn't stay on the field either, but that is a separate issue)

[vikeinmontana]

there was simply too much "bad" yesterday to list them all. but of all the crap i witnessed one thing has driven me crazy more than the rest. when we had 3rd and 2 inside the 10 and didn't give the ball to the best back in football. surely we would pound it with him on 4th and 2 right? nope. another pass. another very poor pass.

i don't care if the bears lined up in a fg block formation with 11 guys on the line. you give AP 2 shots to get two yards and you're going to get two yards. that was very tough for me to watch.

as i said before, there was a lot of bad yesterday so i'm in no way saying had we done this we won the game. we still would have lost. i just don't understand it and i think it's stupid not to give him the ball there. of course, we only had him run it what, 18 times all game anyway? just asinine to me.

[mondry]

there was simply too much "bad" yesterday to list them all. but of all the crap i witnessed one thing has driven me crazy more than the rest. when we had 3rd and 2 inside the 10 and didn't give the ball to the best back in football. surely we would pound it with him on 4th and 2 right? nope. another pass. another very poor pass.

i don't care if the bears lined up in a fg block formation with 11 guys on the line. you give AP 2 shots to get two yards and you're going to get two yards. that was very tough for me to watch.

as i said before, there was a lot of bad yesterday so i'm in no way saying had we done this we won the game. we still would have lost. i just don't understand it and i think it's stupid not to give him the ball there. of course, we only had him run it what, 18 times all game anyway? just asinine to me.

We have a lack of talent, but Musgrave is not being smart about what we CAN do. He routinely makes life harder on himself by not letting AD be AD. I don't care how far behind we get, we're not winning at all with Ponder throwing the ball close to 50 times.

I seriously doubt this guy's offense would be what we need to get to the superbowl even when / if we get a #1 WR and some better guards. He out thinks himself far to often and it's just frustrating.

[PurpleKoolaid]

With no pass rush, and JA just picking up a pay check, along with Greenway, theres no way our secondary can cover. Its not made to. If we wait too much longer JA isnt going to be worth much as trade bait. And I still dont know why we paid Greenway so much. Yeah he has alot of tackles, because he lets the guys catch the ball, then tries to tackle. Hes the worst blitzing (not that they blitz much, they shouldnt have to with what they pay our Dline) ive ever seen. At least AD earns his pay check. But those fumbles hurts us.

So many bad things going on even I cant just point the finger at Ponder. But I dont thing Fraizer is going to be with us next year. I wish he would just fire Singletary now, it might save his job. I dont know who could replace Frazier. I know who id like but it wont happen.

[mansquatch]

With no pass rush, and JA just picking up a pay check, along with Greenway, theres no way our secondary can cover. Its not made to. If we wait too much longer JA isnt going to be worth much as trade bait. And I still dont know why we paid Greenway so much. Yeah he has alot of tackles, because he lets the guys catch the ball, then tries to tackle. Hes the worst blitzing (not that they blitz much, they shouldnt have to with what they pay our Dline) ive ever seen.

You did notice that the Bears were running Max Protect on most of their passing downs, right? They had 3 healthy WR dressed for the game. They ran 2 man patterns most of the day, which means they had 8 guys protecting Cutler. I do not care how great JA is, when they can double team your entire DL, you are not getting to the QB. The issue yesterday was Marshall was able to make the grab in the middle of double coverage, usually tight coverage, even from Winfield. Yesterday they didn't just pick up a pay check, yesterday they really missed having Chris Cook on the field.

When Tice was the coach here we used to pull that with Moss running patterns and DC tossing the rock. If you have a QB who can make the throw and WR that can make the grab, it works well against a team that wants to rush 4. Most WR/QB in the league cannot sustain a drive that way, but the Bears did it against us. Helps having a big athlete like Brandon Marshall...

[Hunter Morrow]

COACHING, or rather the lack thereof. Nice half time adjustments, dinks.

Oh, 3rd and 2 and realistically you need to convert or its game over...AND WE AREN'T USING ADRIAN PETERSON.

MY GOD.

If I had to say one and only one thing that makes me lose my everlovin' mind is this team NOT USING ADRIAN PETERSON IN THE SECOND HALF OR IN THE RED ZONE. Especially near the red zone on 2 and whatever or 3 and whatever. How many times will we see this team refuse to use its best player in that situation?
If you won't use Peterson on 3rd and 2, especially after you get a stud OL player in the draft then trade him for value NOW.

Musgrave and Frazier have one of the most special players in franchise history and the more crucial the moment is the less they want to use him.

How many times must the entire world see Peterson BEGGING to put the team on his back and win the game only for us to take our very middling quarterback and repeatedly try to pass to the worst wide receiver corps in the league? I mean, it is nauseating. I get sick to my stomach every time a commentator points out the mind-boggling idiocy of not giving Peterson the rock.

Edit: THIS is inexcusable. THIS is one of the most indefensible things I've ever read.

Adrian Peterson touched the ball just one time on the Vikings' 20 plays on third and fourth down, including seven short-yardage (3 yards or less) situations. On the season, Peterson has just 11 touches on Minnesota's 48 short-yardage plays (23 percent) on third/fourth down. --The Vikings dropped back to pass on their first 13 plays on third/fourth down against the Bears. --Minnesota converted first downs on just 2-of-7 plays on third/fourth down and 3 or fewer yards to go. Those conversions came on the first two attempts and both came off play-action passes to Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings did not attempt any other play-action passes on third or fourth down.

Uh, 3rd and 4th down and short and we're passing to JENKINS?! We're throwing to Aromashadu? We're passing to stone handed players who have clearly demonstrated they drop in crucial situations? Sup Jerome.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Not sure what Singletary has to do with anything. He's just there, I don't even know what he does, he basically just collects and pay check and it's not my money so who cares? Pagac runs the LB, Williams is the DC.

Ahh I thought he was still LB coach and assistant to Williams. The D has gotten much worse. Our LBs stink. Pagac isnt much better then Singletary was I guess. Fraizer has to stop getting his friends involed here. It works for some, it didnt for Childress and its doesnt for him.

[John_Viveiros]

COACHING, or rather the lack thereof. Nice half time adjustments, dinks.

Didn't we win the second half, 7-3? I'm not saying I saw halftime adjustments, but let's try to be reality-based here.

Oh, 3rd and 2 and realistically you need to convert or its game over...AND WE AREN'T USING ADRIAN PETERSON.

That was fricking unbelievable. AP was mauling the Bears. And we decide to put the fate of the game in the hands of Ponder.

[chicagopurple]

I am so tired of MY team being a training ground for unfit coaches getting their first chance as a NFL head coach. What the hell is Leslie doing running a pass crazy offense when he has NO Pro receivers, a relatively rookie QB and THE BEST FRIGGIN RB IN THE LEAGUE??? Fasier is a crappy coach......Moreover, he in no way had the team prepared for the Bears....we just lost to a team with no OL, who lost 5 starters during the game............Frasier sucks.

[mondry]

That was fricking unbelievable. AP was mauling the Bears. And we decide to put the fate of the game in the hands of Ponder.

I honestly feel like we've said that about every single loss this year.

Musgrave just doesn't get it. Every defense is running stunts and overloading our guards which is destroying our pass protection but making defenses actually quite vulnerable to the run game. Adrian is on pace for the best year of his career and a big reason for that is, these aren't typical 9 man fronts designed to stop the run.

For whatever reason Musgrave want's to throw the ball into that situation 40 times a game. Mean while Adrian will get 1800+ off 15-19 carries a game, it's absolutely insane! Whats worse is they're doing it on 3rd and 2-4 and we still don't give adrian the rock.

[UKno1VIKING]

There were many problems (obviously) throughout the team, but for me the coaching is the massive problem on the O-side of the ball.
Incredibly predictive play calling made this Viking feel that if we gained nothing on first down then we were punting. Only thing thats changed, is that Wright has taken over injured Harvins roll. Yes the players haven't helped the coaches put belief in the QB and various WR's completing long(er) plays, but its S**t or bust time, and they need to vary the playcalling and trust the players they have selected to come up with the goods.
Also what was extremely obvious was how well the play-action worked for Ponder after establishing the run. Amazing how the old stuff works huh?

All in all, the coach protecting your #1 QB with rinky dink plays like they would pick when being forced to use your 2nd string, doesn't give this fan much faith in a/ the coaches and b/ the QB's ability.
Something has to change, the staff, the QB. Who knows maybe both, but in the end, if we carry on playing this type of unimaginative and ultimately predictable style of football, we will be back at the bottom of the NFC North.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

I honestly feel like we've said that about every single loss this year.

Musgrave just doesn't get it. Every defense is running stunts and overloading our guards which is destroying our pass protection but making defenses actually quite vulnerable to the run game. Adrian is on pace for the best year of his career and a big reason for that is, these aren't typical 9 man fronts designed to stop the run.

For whatever reason Musgrave want's to throw the ball into that situation 40 times a game. Mean while Adrian will get 1800+ off 15-19 carries a game, it's absolutely insane! Whats worse is they're doing it on 3rd and 2-4 and we still don't give adrian the rock.

Mondry, your post right here summarizes my exact feelings on Musgrave. Although I really hate the passing playing he calls, it his total lack of regard for our running game that pisses me off the most. First damn play last Sunday was a shotgun play that yielded a sack. The second play? Another pass. Third down? A run. Time and time again Musgrave has shown his limitations as a play caller. IMO, he has to go.

[J. Kapp 11]

Their pass rush wasn't very effective today, although Mike Tice and the Bears o-line deserve some credit for that. Tice made changes on that line this week and I'm guessing he read his guys the riot act and pushed them hard to prepare for this game. It showed. The Vikings pass rush was MIA for much of the afternoon.

Why did I know you were going to compliment Mike Tice?



(It's not very visible, but this is the "razz" emoticon. I'm giving you jazz.)

[Mothman]

Why did I know you were going to compliment Mike Tice?



(It's not very visible, but this is the "razz" emoticon. I'm giving you jazz.)

LOL! I couldn't resist. I just like the guy...