Vikings @ Lions Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 1

[Pepper2Moss]

Pros: Jerome Simpson, Harrison Smith, Peterson on his opening carry

Cons: Ponder, everyone else, Ponder, Peterson other than the first carry, Ponder, oh and Ponder sucked too.

[PacificNorseWest]

JEC334: ...And Christian Ponder. Ya'll want to argue one way and forget the other side.

Matt Ryan is light years better than Ponder.

[Tark10]

Offense.. Ponder can't read defenses and Detroit didn't respect the passing game.
Defense.. I guess they don't trust the corners because the 2 safeties were playing 15-20 yds behind the los. I know about MEGATRON. Dbl one receiver and bring one up to handle the backs. I hope my Giants fair better tonight!

[yezzir]

The Vikings' offense didn't play horribly, other than the QB. The receivers were out there playing their butts off, but the ball was seldom accurately thrown.

The Vikings defense, though, is what really disappointed. Everyone except Smith, Greenway and Robinson looked lost or overmatched. It's going to be a long season for both Cook and Rhodes.

Hopefully Jeff Locke just had the jitters in his first game, because if he continues to play like today, it will be yet another handicap to overcome.

Defense made some stupid penalties on defense, but again, you CAN'T PLAY GOOD DEFENSE THE WHOLE GAME WHEN THE D IS ON THE FIELD 85% OF THE GAME. FATIGUE AND FRUSTRATION IS REAL.

[soflavike]

Pros: Jerome Simpson, Harrison Smith, Peterson on his opening carry

Cons: Ponder, everyone else, Ponder, Peterson other than the first carry, Ponder, oh and Ponder sucked too.

Peterson did score three touchdowns today. I wouldn't put him on the "Con" list.

[VikingLord]

This team has more issues than Ponder. They can't stop the run they can't cover the middle. They don't have the talent to match their scheme on defense. And they don't seem to know how to make use of their talent on offense.

It's just one game on the road against a team with much to prove.......but they made more plays with the pass than run today. They are not fooling anyone with their schemes.

Did JWright even have a ball throw in his direction?

This isn't a west coast offense....it's a wet toast offense~

I think it's clear that Musgrave doesn't trust Ponder and is trying to call plays that minimize him. Musgrave has his limitations, but it's just not fair to the rest of the team to have to try to play around the QB.

As far as the defense goes, the Lions are going to a tough stop for a lot of defenses this year. Adding Bush is going to prove to be huge for them.

[Eli]

And Christian Ponder. Ya'll want to argue one way and forget the other side.

Matt Ryan is light years better than Ponder.

I'd take Terrell Pryor, for **** sake over Ponder right now.

[Hunter Morrow]

Oh, and everybody was so happy to send Kluwe out on a rail but this Locke guy FUMIGATED THE PLACE.

Hell, he could go to Chicago and marry the long snapper for all I care!

[King James]

And why wasn't Desmond Bishop on the field. Why sign the guy if you're not even going to play him.

[UKno1VIKING]

The Vikings would have to be really really awful to snag Clowney. He's the #1 pick by leaps and bounds right now.

Watching that plop today, I can't see any teams losing to us if that's the standard were pushing out. It might not be out of the question.

[Captain]

Lemme ask you again...HOW? When your quarterback is that inept, why in the world would you want to call plays with more complexity? Because that's what opening it up entails.

He's a god damned NFL QB, supposed to be a smart dude, finished his Undergrad/MBA while playing football at FSU. You're telling me he can't handle a few more plays in his head? Also all i keep seeing over and over again are stupid bunched up formations, over and over and over. Or that really stupid rollout to the left, when its pretty clear your QB can't work that. If we had more variety we could freaking move away from stuff our QB can't do and at least TRY something new. we went deep twice, which is diff than normal, both times big gains (granted the WR had to do some work, but thats what they're paid for). Try freaking rolling to the right, or scrambling with the guy (4.6 speed according to BB, Cam Newton level), do some tosses to AD, maybe some slants, or how bout go routes closer to the middle of the field vs the extreme sideline where you absolutely know your QB is having trouble placing it? You're stuck with the guy for now so for F*&$s sake at least try to do something outside of what you already know your QB can't do. Doing the same thing OVER and OVER again isn't gonna make things any better. That, that part goes back to your OC and the guy calling the plays, and that is directly on Musgrave.

[Pepper2Moss]

Peterson did score three touchdowns today. I wouldn't put him on the "Con" list.

Take away his first carry & he had 17 carries for 15 yards.

[Just Me]

Take away his first carry & he had 17 carries for 15 yards.

Well its not like Detroit had to worry about playing pass defense against us today...

[soflavike]

I'd take Terrell Pryor, for **** sake over Ponder right now.

Chad Henne and Matt Moore are better than Ponder. They are backups in Jacksonville and Miami.

[allday1991]

The Vikings' offense didn't play horribly, other than the QB. The receivers were out there playing their butts off, but the ball was seldom accurately thrown.

The Vikings defense, though, is what really disappointed. Everyone except Smith, Greenway and Robinson looked lost or overmatched. It's going to be a long season for both Cook and Rhodes. If the Lions hadn't made so many boneheaded mistakes, this game wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

Hopefully Jeff Locke just had the jitters in his first game, because if he continues to play like today, it will be yet another handicap to overcome.

I agree, all the Ponder apologist will overlook this to, Simpson had a 140 yard game, Jennings was open multiple times and made a cirrus like catch on a poorly thrown ball. Cordarrelle Patterson was severely under used. Once our running game got shut down our OFC didn't even think to add in some reverses with Webb or Cordarrelle Patterson to get some of the focus off a.p. Going to be a long season.