Preseason Week 2- Minnesota Vikings vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

[Crax]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

Sorta, but then I took a deep breath and reminded myself it's just preseason. They still stopped the Bucs drives when the starters were out there, and who knows if they were trying specific things in those cases. I'm hoping it was just a combination of new stuff in a preaseason game.

[losperros]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

I noticed it as well and I found it irritating.

That said, for me it's difficult to know what's really going on because teams play such vanilla schemes during preseason. Was the Vikings D really that flat-footed on the running plays or were they working on other things?

I get the feeling there will be more run blitzes and complex designs during the regular season.

[dead_poet]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

A little, especially because the Bucs' starting offensive line is average or below. TB's runs in the first quarter: 5, 8, 7, -1, 0, 11. I'll be anxious to watch their next performance.

I thought it was interesting they gave Line a handful of carries.

[dead_poet]

Re: Exum:

It will take more than a couple of big plays for Exum to overtake safety Robert Blanton. But that interception and his fumble recovery against the Steelers might convince the coaches to give him more first-team reps.

“I hope that it starts talk,” Exum said. “I think that that’s a big part of the game, being able to be around the ball. That’s something that I pride myself in, being able to make that big play that can spark the game. Being around the ball and being able to come up with it, I feel like that’s a quality I have.”

The interception impressed coach Mike Zimmer, who recently remarked that Exum has grown up after he was one of the Vikings’ rookies who “didn’t really know how to act” last season. But Zimmer also made sure to point out that Exum whiffed when trying to tackle Rainey later in the game.

“He’ active. He’s active. He obviously made a nice play on the interception,” Zimmer said. “He got down in there one time on a run, he was in good position [but] he didn’t finish the tackle. Those are things he’s going to have to improve on. Safeties have to be able to tackle. But he’s a very good athlete and we just have to get him disciplined.”

We’ll see if Exum, who says he will continue to let his play do the talking, gets more first-team reps next to Harrison Smith in practice this week.

“That’s not my call,” Exum said. “I just go out there and play hard, give it my all and change the game. The coaches will decide who’s on the field.”

http://www.startribune.com/antone-exum- ... 322047281/

[Texas Vike]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

I noticed it too. In fact, what bothered me even more was how easily they started moving the ball during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Our pass D looked like the swiss cheese machine from a couple of seasons ago. The Bucs' hurry up offense gave us fits and we got very little pressure on the QB. I was hoping to see guys like Danielle Hunter and Tom Johnson make an impact. Once Winston settled down he picked our secondary apart, as did Glennon.

I remember a classic PA sentence at one point (paraphrasing) "The Bucs have more first downs than the Vikings, but the Vikings have more points, which is what matters" (Thanks, that concept had confused me before!).

I was troubled by how much yardage they were able to pick up on us.

[808vikingsfan]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

It looked like they were getting blown 2-3 yds back during the first couple of series. Very alarming IMO. Did Zimmer mention it during any of the press conferences?

The other thing I'm starting to get concerned about is they are not finishing drives. This game should've been something like 41-3 IMO. They won't be able to keep up with GB and DET settling for FGs.

[S197]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread yet but was anybody else a bit unsettled by how effectively the Bucs were running the ball against the Vikes starting defense?

It was a shaky start although on one of the early plays I thought Martin did a good job of making something out of nothing. I was glad to see the defense shore up after that with Greenway's TFL then a no gain stuff. The 11-yard run wouldn't have happened if Waynes didn't blow his coverage. You need to get off the field on 3rd and long, the pass to Jackson was a big one.

Honestly, this was a tough game to judge the 1st team defense. They looked good at times but Jameis also missed open receivers and bobbled two snaps so they also got a lot of breaks too.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Old, slow, weak arm... at best a "Game Manager". Reminds me of old man Brad Johnson. That didn't work too well.

Not sure what you're basing your "weak arm" claim on. He did pretty darn well when he was in and to be honest, I would like to have a game manager as our backup QB. There isn't a backup out there that's going to come in and light the world on fire so as long as he comes in and takes care of the football, that's fine with me. I think he's a pretty decent backup. Definitely not a bad one that's for sure.

[PacificNorseWest]

I don't have videos of it, just saw with my own eyes and remember the plays.

A drop step OT will get eaten alive in the NFL. As an offensive player, you have the advantage of knowing if the next play is going to be a 3 step, 5 step, or shot gun. As an OT, you are responsible for setting the edge on each play. If the DE is an aggressive pass rusher, you take a short set and attack him so that his first step becomes useless. On a lot of the plays, I focused mainly on Clemmings. Whether the DE was taking an aggressive first step or taking a wide angle. Clemmings would just drop back, stick his palms in front of him, and wait for the DE to come to him. I didn't like seeing that.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you and/or we're talking about the same thing, but OT's always kick back their outside leg in pass pro.

[Vikings28]

It looked like they were getting blown 2-3 yds back during the first couple of series. Very alarming IMO. Did Zimmer mention it during any of the press conferences?

The other thing I'm starting to get concerned about is they are not finishing drives. This game should've been something like 41-3 IMO. They won't be able to keep up with GB and DET settling for FGs.

For me that's not a concern at all in preseason. Norv is just keeping things very simple and they're probably not even game planning right now. Wallace on a reverse, quick outs to Wallace/Johnson just to get the ball in their hands and see if they can do anything, calling plays for the FB, etc. It's all simple stuff and just trying different things. When you put AD in the backfield and Norv opens it up, I think this offense is going to be really good.

There's really only two things I wanted to see in the preseason from the offense and that's how Teddy and OL look. Teddy has looked great and the OL has held up well. Loadholt's injury really hurts so the OL will be something to watch in the next few weeks as well.

[PacificNorseWest]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you and/or we're talking about the same thing, but OT's always kick back their outside leg in pass pro.

I think I might have seen what you were talking about. I'll keep watching it.

You guys weren't lying about Kendricks. He's real solid.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I've been a big fan of him since he was drafted. I thought he was our best LB last year, honestly.

I agree about being high on Hodges. I had us drafting him in a lot of the mocks I did. I still think Barr was slightly better but Hodges should replace Greenway no problem whenever that time comes.

[Pondering Her Percy]

All of our QBs were extremely accurate during this game. A combined 27 for 33 and 2 TDs

[808vikingsfan]

For me that's not a concern at all in preseason. Norv is just keeping things very simple and they're probably not even game planning right now. Wallace on a reverse, quick outs to Wallace/Johnson just to get the ball in their hands and see if they can do anything, calling plays for the FB, etc. It's all simple stuff and just trying different things. When you put AD in the backfield and Norv opens it up, I think this offense is going to be really good.

There's really only two things I wanted to see in the preseason from the offense and that's how Teddy and OL look. Teddy has looked great and the OL has held up well. Loadholt's injury really hurts so the OL will be something to watch in the next few weeks as well.

What does Norv have to do with the Vikings Dline getting blown off the line?

[Mothman]

What does Norv have to do with the Vikings Dline getting blown off the line?

His comment about Norv was in reference to what you said about the Vikes not finishing drives. I had the same reaction you did when I first read it.