Most Encouraging Sign for 2016

[Mothman]

My conclusion is that Wright was open for a possible TD. And I've seen that kind of thing too often with this current Vikings offense

It looks that way to me too and I feel the same way about the offense.

I guess I'm in the minority in wanting the offense to alter its play-not-to-lose philosophy. Too many opportunities go wasted.

.. and that has to change.

[mondry]

I think it was a play designed to go to mckinnon, the idea being wright would clear the space for Mckinnon. Given Sherman's position, he has no shot of stopping mckinnon before he breaks the plane. Unfortunately seattle played zone and the linebacker just above wright in the yellow circle doesn't follow him / get cleared out and instead wright is the one who becomes open for a split second as he gets passed off to the guy standing on the S in the end zone.

Wright would have scored for sure with a well placed ball if it could have got there. When I watched the play in real time though it didn't look like he was "expected' to be open if that makes sense, the ball comes out pretty quick to mckinnon and you know they didn't want him to hold it any longer than that.

[soflavike]

Most encouraging sign: we have one hell of a good, young defense with several players who are legitimate stars (Smith, Barr, Joseph, Rhodes), and a few who are emerging as stars (Kendricks, Hunter, maybe even Waynes). We need a better SS to move Sendejo to a backup role and maybe another good linebacker to replace old man Greenway at some point (maybe Audie Cole can step up next year).

Zimmer knows defense, and he's building a damn good one.

[losperros]

I think it was a play designed to go to mckinnon, the idea being wright would clear the space for Mckinnon. Given Sherman's position, he has no shot of stopping mckinnon before he breaks the plane. Unfortunately seattle played zone and the linebacker just above wright in the yellow circle doesn't follow him / get cleared out and instead wright is the one who becomes open for a split second as he gets passed off to the guy standing on the S in the end zone.

Wright would have scored for sure with a well placed ball if it could have got there. When I watched the play in real time though it didn't look like he was "expected' to be open if that makes sense, the ball comes out pretty quick to mckinnon and you know they didn't want him to hold it any longer than that.

Then it sounds like it wasn't much of a play design, especially if Teddy was told to throw to McKinnon no matter what.

The ball should and could have gone to Wright.

[VikingLord]

And to me, that really comes down to the offensive line. I don't mind run, run in that circumstance...I don't even mind run, run, run. But I hate having a line that can't execute well enough to get it into the endzone or get that first down at the end of the game in a big moment.

They only ran 1 jet sweep in this game, and that ticked me off too. I really think that could have been effective as a way to move the ball, and as an action to slow the defense just by the threat.

Can you really blame the offensive line for those failures to get into the endzone?

I realize they have to shoulder their share of the blame, but come on, compared to what happened the first time these two teams met the offensive line played superlative yesterday.

Bridgewater attempted 2 "deep" passes all game, both of which were really well thrown balls that a Seattle defender made a great play on. The camera caught a few instances of Vikings WRs wide open down the field as well but no pass attempt was made. However, not a single pass was attempted into or near the end zone all game. It was, in essence, the same basic thing we saw to start the season against San Fran and the same thing we saw all year on offense.

Not sure how it improves, but I'd say the issue goes well beyond the offensive line.

[Purple bruise]

My conclusion is that Wright was open for a possible TD. And I've seen that kind of thing too often with this current Vikings offense.

I guess I'm in the minority in wanting the offense to alter its play-not-to-lose philosophy. Too many opportunities go wasted.

You can look at most any NFL'S teams passing plays and almost without exception, there is most always a receiver that comes open during the play. Very easy to sit back and say man that guy was open why didn't he see him or get him the ball.
Factor in a ton of variables and you often see why that happens.

[VikingLord]

My conclusion is that Wright was open for a possible TD. And I've seen that kind of thing too often with this current Vikings offense.

I guess I'm in the minority in wanting the offense to alter its play-not-to-lose philosophy. Too many opportunities go wasted.

I don't take this as evidence of their philosophy. On the contrary, of the routes run on this particular play, every one has the opportunity to score *except* the route run by McKinnon. Norv gave Bridgewater excellent options, including Wright, on the play, but Bridgewater seemed to lock on to the safest and went there almost automatically.

Of course, the rush is on. The safety valve is easy. The Vikes can walk away with 3. Its understandable why Bridgewater would choose what he did. It's just not going for the kill shot.

One bright spot here is that these sorts of plays should help improve Bridgewater's play next season. Assuming the deficiencies in the offensive line are resolved, hopefully we see Teddy's awareness on these sorts of plays improve to the point where he's starting to quickly identify the best scoring option and hit that guy instead of locking onto the safest target.

[Mothman]

I think it was a play designed to go to mckinnon, the idea being wright would clear the space for Mckinnon. Given Sherman's position, he has no shot of stopping mckinnon before he breaks the plane. Unfortunately seattle played zone and the linebacker just above wright in the yellow circle doesn't follow him / get cleared out and instead wright is the one who becomes open for a split second as he gets passed off to the guy standing on the S in the end zone.

Wright would have scored for sure with a well placed ball if it could have got there. When I watched the play in real time though it didn't look like he was "expected' to be open if that makes sense, the ball comes out pretty quick to mckinnon and you know they didn't want him to hold it any longer than that.

I imagine they wanted him to find the open receiver and throw a TD.

I agree that Bridgewater was clearly intent on going to McKinnon the whole time. Whether that's what the play was designed to do or not seems debatable to me.

You can look at most any NFL'S teams passing plays and almost without exception, there is most always a receiver that comes open during the play. Very easy to sit back and say man that guy was open why didn't he see him or get him the ball.
Factor in a ton of variables and you often see why that happens.

Sure, there's a lot going on out there and QBs are human. They're going to miss things. That said, the play is informative. This is the sort of thing people should keep in mind when discussing Turner and Bridgewater. Wright ran right across Bridgewater's field of vision on the play. It's not like he was off in a corner of the end zone. Turner designed a play here that could have scored and isn't part of a QB's job to recognize coverage and throw to the open receiver?

I'm not saying it's easy but the opportunity to score was there. At the very least, learning to recognize and seize opportunities like this has to be considered part of Bridgewater's continued development.

[autobon7]

Raiders fan here, but always followed the vikes since tarkenton.

Shame the way the kick went, but you should be very happy with your team.

Excellent coaches.
Excellent management and drafting.
New stadium.
Great fan base.
Killer defense.
Good enough QB.
High character guys. After seeing the BS in Cinci and Carolina, very refreshing.

My two cents ... build that o-line, and quit beating yourselves.

You won the division this year, should have beat the Seahawks. Next year it will be farther.

Thanks for the kind words....we both have teams that are trending in the right direction. Should be fun next season.

[Mothman]

I don't take this as evidence of their philosophy. On the contrary, of the routes run on this particular play, every one has the opportunity to score *except* the route run by McKinnon. Norv gave Bridgewater excellent options, including Wright, on the play, but Bridgewater seemed to lock on to the safest and went there almost automatically.

Of course, the rush is on. The safety valve is easy. The Vikes can walk away with 3. Its understandable why Bridgewater would choose what he did. It's just not going for the kill shot.

One bright spot here is that these sorts of plays should help improve Bridgewater's play next season. Assuming the deficiencies in the offensive line are resolved, hopefully we see Teddy's awareness on these sorts of plays improve to the point where he's starting to quickly identify the best scoring option and hit that guy instead of locking onto the safest target.

Exactly! You said it much better than I did, Edward. Thank you.

[autobon7]

I don't take this as evidence of their philosophy. On the contrary, of the routes run on this particular play, every one has the opportunity to score *except* the route run by McKinnon. Norv gave Bridgewater excellent options, including Wright, on the play, but Bridgewater seemed to lock on to the safest and went there almost automatically.

Of course, the rush is on. The safety valve is easy. The Vikes can walk away with 3. Its understandable why Bridgewater would choose what he did. It's just not going for the kill shot.

One bright spot here is that these sorts of plays should help improve Bridgewater's play next season. Assuming the deficiencies in the offensive line are resolved, hopefully we see Teddy's awareness on these sorts of plays improve to the point where he's starting to quickly identify the best scoring option and hit that guy instead of locking onto the safest target.

CS needs to put those fancy 3D goggles (whatever they call them) on TB and let him see in real time what he SHOULD have done.....which is hit Wright.

[CbusVikesFan]

Speaking of that 1st and goal situation that ended in a FG for the first 3 points of the game...

I decided to take another look at the play.

3rd and goal for the Vikes.

Right before the snap, Collinsworth said to keep an eye on McKinnon and referred to him as Bridgewater's "safety blanket". Sure enough, after the snap, Bridgewater looked immediately to McKinnon underneath and quickly threw a pass his way that would fall incomplete.

Take a look at a couple of still shots of the play. Wright is circled in yellow. The ball is circled in orange in the second picture.

Draw your own conclusions.

Jim, this is what I have been eluding to all season but could not put my finger on it until someone said "killer instinct". Teddy doesn't have it. Not now and I fear not ever. Maybe questions in his head will come to a conclusion that this is HIS team and if he WANTS a SB victory he has to realize that he is playing the game way too safe. He has to work guys open sometimes, go through progressions more quickly and not settle for the first apple that has fell to the ground. To me he lacks anticipation and vision downfield. Not to mention that loopy delivery that he has that makes me inhale all the air in the room every time he throws. For me, we missed out on a real QB last draft and we missed out on some pretty daggone good WR's to boot. It blows my mind what the brain trust thinks of these raw players. Their formula is not working for me.

[fiestavike]

By the time he winds up and releases those windows are all close anyway. Doesn't really show anything.

[Mothman]

By the time he winds up and releases those windows are all close anyway. Doesn't really show anything.

Of course it does. The ball has almost reached McKinnon in the second shot and Wright is still wide open. If it had been thrown to him instead, it's pretty obvious he could have scored.

[fiestavike]

Of course it does. The ball has almost reached McKinnon in the second shot and Wright is still wide open. If it had been thrown to him instead, it's pretty obvious he could have scored.

except the linebacker breaks in response to teddy. Wright isn't open unless teddy is passing to mckinnon. If he's passing to wright, you'd be looking at the stills saying he should have passed to mckinnon since the linebacker cleared out of that zone.