Post Bears Game discussion

[808vikingsfan]

Just an ugly game overall from both teams. Typical divisional game in chi. Turnovers, penalties, and missed opportunities hurt.

As bad as it looked, it still only counts as one loss. This team plays much better at home. They can still split with GB and CHI. 2-2 is what I expected at this point in the season.

[VikingLord]

My observations from the game:

- Wow. Bears have won the last 3 games against the Vikings and none of the games were ever close. Complete domination up front on both sides of the ball. The Bears backup QB usually had all day to throw, Zimmer's defense did nothing to mix things up or throw him off, jump routes, or do anything to materially change the game.
- On offense, the Vikings just bent over and took it. The Bears destroyed the Vikings offensive line all game. My god, Dalvin Cook trying to block was just embarrassing for him. He should not be on the field on passing downs. Cousins was god-awful today. He had his usual ball security, skittishness, indecisiveness, and just generally played like he needed his blanket and his mama. Diggs catches it and fumbles. Just awful, play-scared offense from everyone. The Bears owned this offense. It looked like a high school offense against pros.
- What is wrong with Zimmer's teams? His teams just don't show up for big games. This is a disturbing pattern. Sure, they show up against the also-rans and the wanna-be teams of the NFL, but put them against a quality opponent, and they either are not prepared or out-played or out-schemed or just kicked out of the building. What is missing on this team that allows that to continue happening over and over and over? Is it a lack of good coaching and preparation? A lack of player leadership? A lack of character and spine? I just don't know. What I do know is that this has become typical and expected of the Mike Zimmer Vikings. Over and over and over again we see the same stupid mistakes, the same almost casual attitude, the same lack of urgency from this team from the coaches on down. They're getting their paychecks and if the going gets a little hard, they just get going on to the next game.
- I had hoped the run game this year was actually dominant and could test the Bears. Nope.
- I had hoped Cousins could jump start the passing game at some point and demonstrate his veteran chops and make some big plays. Nope.
- I had hoped the defense at least could shut down a hobbled offense that had struggled to produce big plays all year against supposedly lesser defenses. Nope.

The most frustrating part of today is that the Vikings will likely bounce back. They'll play a lesser opponent and look OK, OK enough to tamp down fan frustration and give Zimmer something to point at. Give the players something to say that makes it sound like they're getting it together, that they know what is at stake and what they need to do. But as soon as they face an opponent that can punch them back, they'll shrivel up and fail.

I've read some people saying well, the Bears were at home, and the Vikings will get them back in Minnesota. Does anyone seriously think this Zimmer-led, Cousins-led, leaderless defensive group is going to be able to do any better against that Bear defense and team because the next game between the two will be in Minnesota? It's going to be the same story, just like it was last year, and it won't matter if the game is significant to the Vikings or not.

[S197]

Capitulation game for me. I like Zimmer as a person but we need to move on from him and Spielman. “Decent” is the ceiling under them, there will never be a team under their watch that can make it all the way. I cant believe we’re going to need to blow this thing up again but it’s time to cut bait. Sigh...

[Bowhunting Viking]

I honestly thought before the season that Cousins, being in his second year and with all the weapons they have placed around him.. well except for a real O line, would take charge as a leader and really start playing better. He has the physical tools and the team around him. Boy was I wrong.
I think he has actually regressed, and I truly believe the main problem is between his ears. As a few guys mentioned in the game thread, he is broken.
I don't know if it is the pressure of living up to his contract and the the fact that the media , and even Spielman, Zim and the Wilfs almost annointed him as the Super Bowl MVP when they brought him in, but something has happened to the guy. He lacks confidence, he is so skittish and indecisive and just lacks the fire and leadership that he seemed like he used to possess.
It's almost like once we get down or face adversity, he just panics and folds.
I will admit the O line doesn't really help him alot in the passing game, especially against beasts like Mack, but even when he does have time he will throw 1 perfect pass then the next few will be overthrown, behind the reciever or who knows where.
Hate to say it but I have pretty much switched from still believing in him to seriously doubting him. I mean yesterday Daniel came in for the Bears and looked like a bona fide starter against a very good defense.
And what I hate the most is all the stupid penalties that we commit that nullify big plays. Look at the play when Trubisky fumbled and Griff recovered. That coulda been a game starter there!! We get the ball right away on a TO, their QB goes out, we coulda scored and gained momentum. But as usual.. a dumb #### penalty down field ruined it.
Ih well I gotta get into work. I'm done complaining. Just frustrated and sick of this crap. Now i get the joy of going in and being ridiculed by a few arrogant Bears fans that work for me. Maybe I will have to find a reason to write then up if they get too cocky about it lol

[CharVike]

I'm no expert but I think a team would attempt to use what they are good at. But that could be wrong. I'm not in the offensive meetings. We couldn't open holes or Cook was off or the hand off wasn't right regardless the ground game was shut down. Maybe it was talent level. Sure you can go to plan B or C or whatever but non of use know if that even is part of the overall plan. I've said on previous post that we needed a tremendous defensive effort to give us a chance. But the Bears marched right down the field with a backup QB on the opening drive. He completed his first three passes for a total of 42 yards. Didn't even warm up. That seem to set the tone. What happened to the D? Were was plan B if there was one? Maybe it was just talent level or coaching level or a bad performance from Cousins. We lost two road games to our division rivals. Maybe we will beat them when they come to us. I thought that we could run the ball a little bit but that was shut down. The cause? Who knows. But I'll give the Bears credit that D looks good at all levels and is deep. Cousins blew also and let Mack strip him. A QB can't allow that. I thought we would focus on slowing Mack when we passed.

[dead_poet]

I place most of the blame on Cousins. The defense didn't play great but they played well enough to win. A better quarterback would have made this competitive. Cousins looked like a scared rookie. We will probably be .500 and be stuck in QB purgatory unless they make some kind of big trade to get into the top of the draft. Either way that contract locks in with another dumb season with this guy and have no chance to sniff a run, even if by some miracle they make the playoffs (unlikely).

I'm so tired of watching poor QB play.

[CharVike]

I place most of the blame on Cousins. The defense didn't play great but they played well enough to win. A better quarterback would have made this competitive. Cousins looked like a scared rookie. We will probably be .500 and be stuck in QB purgatory unless they make some kind of big trade to get into the top of the draft. Either way that contract locks in with another dumb season with this guy and have no chance to sniff a run, even if by some miracle they make the playoffs (unlikely).

I'm so tired of watching poor QB play.

Getting a QB for our team has been a struggle for a long time. I don't know what the answer is because I'm no expert. But to me I think we need to draft a guy. How that can be done is another story. It seems having the 1st overall pick is the route. But that's no guarantee either. I liked Drew Lock this year but who knows with him.

[YikesVikes]

I said it last week Good teams are built to take what a defense gives them. A run stopping defense like the bears are a perfect opportunity to spread them out and pass on them. We cannot do that and as a result are forced to run the ball into the teeth of a defense. We ran pur way top a loss

[Texas Vike]

Frustration with Cousins is totally justified. He just got upstaged by Mitch Trubisky's backup, FFS.

But this game was lost in the trenches. On both sides of the ball, we got pushed around. That our OL couldn't handle its job, even with some starters missing from the Bears' formidable D, wasn't terribly surprising, but our tameness on D was a total surprise. I find our D really frustrating and likely quite overrated. We have no fangs at all. There's nothing scary about our D, at least not on the road without the crowd noise.

[TSonn]

Seems like quite an ideal time (maybe not during the season, but after this season) to move on from Zimmer and hire an offense-minded coach. We've still got a defense made up of practically all 1-3 round draft picks so I'm guessing any coach could get our defense running pretty great.

The only thing that could really save this season excluding some miracle improvement from our QB play is making a play for Trent Williams. Waynes for Williams?

[Bowhunting Viking]

Just read an article on NFL.com . I think there may a little doubt in Cousins starting on the locker room.
Theilen stating his frustration, and though he didn't mention Cousins by name, it seemed like he was referencing his play. He stated that we cant run for 180 yards every game and when they cant he said " You have to be able to pass. You have to be able to throw the deep ball"
Diggs also commented about how they grind every day then go out and put on a performance like that.
The telling point was , at least the way I read it and perceived it, was the way Theilen used the work You have to be able to throw it deep. He didn't say We, like he normally would. He is a team guy all the way. It was just a little different way of addressing the issue than usual for him.
Again, I wasn't there to hear everything he said, his body language etc. But it just seemed from the short statement I read that it seemed to be indicating a bit of frustration with his QBs performance.
I hope I'm wrong there and we don't start having a fractured locker room on top of all the issues and shortcomings we are experiencing.
I wanna keep the hope alive for a good rest of the season, but that hope is sadly fading for me. And I hate to feel that way about a team with so much talent and potential.

[Texas Vike]

Seems like quite an ideal time (maybe not during the season, but after this season) to move on from Zimmer and hire an offense-minded coach. We've still got a defense made up of practically all 1-3 round draft picks so I'm guessing any coach could get our defense running pretty great.

The only thing that could really save this season excluding some miracle improvement from our QB play is making a play for Trent Williams. Waynes for Williams?

I found myself way less intense during this game than previous ones, especially the GB game. I think it's because this game made me realize that there's no reason to care so much about the outcome, because THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY this team does anything significant this year. Hope has left the building. It's time to rebuild, AGAIN. As a fan for some 40 plus years, I'm really #### disappointed and fatigued.

[chicagopurple]

I stepped away from this board 2 yrs ago when it was clear to me that the GM was incompetent. He spent over 5 yrs ingoring the OL, He constantly over-invests in QBs that the rest of the league knows are useless ( this has now reached its lowest possible point, I pray), and sticks with a one dimensional coach who knows nothing but defense and it seems even that skill is very limited ( he shows NO ability to adjust to changes in the game). I figured I would just step away till I had something positive to say. Yesterday, I spent big bucks to go see MY team ( for the last 50 yrs) play the Bears. I wanted to vomit. The Vikes were an total frikkin embarassment. They got destroyed by a team that was missing half of its stars due to injury, led by a 2nd rate QB. The fans in stands were LAUGHING at your team, with good reason. Our owner is a chesire cat, sitting on top of a fancy stadium, raking in the cash, with no intention of holding his INCOMPETENT GM/Coach/QB responsible for epic hopeless failure. We are trapped in an endless stream of false hopes, Ponder, Teddy, Cousins, etc etc etc.....a team going nowhere. The only good part of this team is the defensive players and they will just get older and waste their opportunity in MN. Much like AP did......

[mansquatch]

I place most of the blame on Cousins. The defense didn't play great but they played well enough to win. A better quarterback would have made this competitive. Cousins looked like a scared rookie. We will probably be .500 and be stuck in QB purgatory unless they make some kind of big trade to get into the top of the draft. Either way that contract locks in with another dumb season with this guy and have no chance to sniff a run, even if by some miracle they make the playoffs (unlikely).

I'm so tired of watching poor QB play.

His release time was way too slow today. Not sure if that was him or poor game planning. IMO, it was probably both. This game reminded me a lot of the game we played against the Patriots last year. Everyone knew BB would take away Diggs and Thielen. The Vikings game planned completely ignored this. Today everyone knew the issues in this game: Middle OL weakness on the Vikings and the Bears would focus on shutting down the run. The game plan did not seem to recognize or this at all. This was a game where quick release short passes should have won the day, especially with Bears front 7 focusing on Cook. Where was that?

On Defense it was shoddy also. What is up with our D sucking for the first 2-3 series before adjusting and tightening up, at least against quality opponents.

I said in my pregame thoughts that we'd learn about our coaches in this game. We did, but what we learned wasn't all that pleasant... This team is better than it played, today they were flat, had no edge, no desire to win, it was almost unwatchable. Not sure what is going on, but right now they are not a playoff team. This has the feel of the ever annoying team that beats bad teams and loses to good teams, probably ending up at 9-7. No thank you.

[TSonn]

Just read an article on NFL.com . I think there may a little doubt in Cousins starting on the locker room.
Theilen stating his frustration, and though he didn't mention Cousins by name, it seemed like he was referencing his play. He stated that we cant run for 180 yards every game and when they cant he said " You have to be able to pass. You have to be able to throw the deep ball"
Diggs also commented about how they grind every day then go out and put on a performance like that.
The telling point was , at least the way I read it and perceived it, was the way Theilen used the work You have to be able to throw it deep. He didn't say We, like he normally would. He is a team guy all the way. It was just a little different way of addressing the issue than usual for him.
Again, I wasn't there to hear everything he said, his body language etc. But it just seemed from the short statement I read that it seemed to be indicating a bit of frustration with his QBs performance.
I hope I'm wrong there and we don't start having a fractured locker room on top of all the issues and shortcomings we are experiencing.
I wanna keep the hope alive for a good rest of the season, but that hope is sadly fading for me. And I hate to feel that way about a team with so much talent and potential.

Good post. I saw the Thielen comments and they made me happy. He was definitely calling out Kirk and it reminded me of their spat on the sideline against the Bears last year. Thielen is a gamer who wants a QB who can adapt when the play doesn't go as planned. Kirk's not that guy. Gotta be perfect for Kirk - perfect route, perfect protection. Only two ways to fix that issue right now: improve the oline so more plays go as planned or switch QBs.