Vikings Message Board.Com

MDviking wrote: I'm not sure why you took such offense to this line, Jim. Predictability was an issue with last year's defense, straight from the source:
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/09/03/heyd ... 2-defense/

I don't think it's meant to imply that Frazier's defense was completely worthless or that he was an abject failure from start to finish. I'd call it less of a dig and more of what a lot of people, including some players, were thinking.

Rodgers wasn't predicting the defense. He was identifying it. There's a difference. He's not Nostradamus. There are things you can do after the snap, too. I keep thinking back to what an NFL films guy said once on Twitter. He said something to the effect of: "If I'm trying to slow down Peyton Manning, I'm not going to try and get fancy, pre-snap, because Peyton has seen it all. I'd make every defensive alignment look the same." I always thought that would be an interesting test.

Rodgers wasn't predicting the defense. He was identifying it. There's a difference. He's not Nostradamus. There are things you can do after the snap, too. I keep thinking back to what an NFL films guy said once on Twitter. He said something to the effect of: "If I'm trying to slow down Peyton Manning, I'm not going to try and get fancy, pre-snap, because Peyton has seen it all. I'd make every defensive alignment look the same." I always thought that would be an interesting test.

Predicting, identifying…I think Robison's point was that Rodgers had it figured out. Too easily.

MDviking wrote: I'm not sure why you took such offense to this line, Jim. Predictability was an issue with last year's defense, straight from the source:
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/09/03/heyd ... 2-defense/

I don't think it's meant to imply that Frazier's defense was completely worthless or that he was an abject failure from start to finish. I'd call it less of a dig and more of what a lot of people, including some players, were thinking.

As I said to Joe, such comments have just become too ubiquitous.There's no great affront in anything Hasan wrote. It was just the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. As I said from the outset, I was nitpicking.

Moving on... I'm glad you brought up Rodgers because although I think the NE, NO, and ATL offenses will all test the Vikings defense in the coming weeks, I'm viewing that week 5 game against Green Bay as the biggest litmus test of defensive change and (hopefully) improvement for the defense because Rodgers and the GB offense just had their way with them at the Metrodome last season. That game was U-G-L-Y and I'm hoping the 2014 Vikes will deliver a much better performance against the Packers.

Forgive my nitpicking your nitpicking.

I agree, Rodgers carved them up pretty good last time. By the time that game rolls around, the Vikes will have a full month of live action against quality competition. Hopefully that experience will benefit them in their first division game.

MDviking wrote:Forgive my nitpicking your nitpicking.

No worries. I'm sure I deserved it.

I agree, Rodgers carved them up pretty good last time. By the time that game rolls around, the Vikes will have a full month of live action against quality competition. Hopefully that experience will benefit them in their first division game.

... and hopefully they'll be healthy!

Mothman wrote: However, it's not an addition to the defense. He's absolutely right to say the Vikings haven't done anything in this regard that hasn't been done hundreds of times in the NFL. In fact, Leslie Frazier and Alan Williams were doing it too.

Thanks for posting that.

The so-called Double A Gap Blitz has been around for a couple of decades. I'll give Arif Hassan credit for linking to the SI article (from 2009) about its origins with Jim Johnson (I thought it came from Dick LeBeau). From that article: "Every team in the league has a Double A Gap Blitz," says Eagles offensive tackle Winston Justice, "and it's a hard thing to block."

It's a copy-cat league. Once teams were having success with the DAGB, other teams copied it. (I hope Zimmer does not copy the Amoeba Defense run by Dom Capers, Rob Ryan and others.)

I think there might be just a wee bit of a Cult Of Zimmer developing in the fanbase. Not all that surprising given the frustrations with the Tice-Chilly-Frazier regimes and if you add the last two years of DeKnee Green you're looking at around 15 years with limited success in terms of playoff runs. Viking fans are starving for a polished coaching staff and for the moment many think that Zimmer is the answer. Every new head coach has a honeymoon period. It will be interesting to see how long Zimmer's lasts (it won't last forever; they never do).

Speaking of Arif Hasan, does anyone know his background? At first I thought he was one of those independent sports jurnos who had media access. Now I think it's more likely that he's just a super-fan who is really deep into the nuances of football and very knowledgeable at that. Doing a basic google search came up with this:
http://www.coachesser.com/fantasy-coach ... -launches/

Pseudo Everything wrote: Speaking of Arif Hasan, does anyone know his background? At first I thought he was one of those independent sports jurnos who had media access. Now I think it's more likely that he's just a super-fan who is really deep into the nuances of football and very knowledgeable at that. Doing a basic google search came up with this:
http://www.coachesser.com/fantasy-coach ... -launches/

I'd say it's more the first one. It may be online stuff, but I think he does a good job and he did lots of stuff from Vikings training camp as well. He's also a good follow on twitter and very active there.

From his twitter page:
Editor for @vikingterritory, Senior Writer for @VikingsJournal, contributor @OptimumScouting and @DailyNorseman.

Vikings territory bio:

Arif Hasan (Editor): After contributing to the Daily Norseman, Bleacher Report and Cover32, Arif took an opportunity to take charge at VT to help fulfill Adam’s vision to make Vikings Territory the go-to destination for Vikings analysis, news and more. Arif has been involved in blogging and sportswriting for three years and also happens to be an on-again, off-again political consultant as well as a debate and speech coach. Arif is an alum of the University of Minnesota. @ArifHasanNFL

I used to work With Arif. He's a nice guy. Was a debater in high school and in college, coached it. Smart and politically active guy. He has a bit of an intelligent dirty sense of humor and while he could be a bit pretentious on occasion was a generally nice fella. I would say that our Vikings passion was on the same level. I don't know if he just hid his better or really got the bug after we fell out of touch but I am not surprised by the level of detail he writes in given his background in debate and Poli Sci.

Pseudo Everything wrote:Thanks for posting that.

You're welcome.

The so-called Double A Gap Blitz has been around for a couple of decades. I'll give Arif Hassan credit for linking to the SI article (from 2009) about its origins with Jim Johnson (I thought it came from Dick LeBeau). From that article: "Every team in the league has a Double A Gap Blitz," says Eagles offensive tackle Winston Justice, "and it's a hard thing to block."

It's a copy-cat league. Once teams were having success with the DAGB, other teams copied it. (I hope Zimmer does not copy the Amoeba Defense run by Dom Capers, Rob Ryan and others.)

I think there might be just a wee bit of a Cult Of Zimmer developing in the fanbase.

Oh, the cult is in full force. Meetings are on Thursdays. Bring a snack to share and an offering to the football gods.

Seriously, it's clearly been developing since he was hired, if not from the moment his candidacy became apparent. As you wrote, it's not all that surprising given the frustrations with the some previous coaches and how starved Vikes fans are for success.

Outside of our (temporary?) love for Zimmer and Norv, when was the last time we honestly felt like if we were facing a slightly more talented team, our coaching staff would make up the difference?

I think that's why we're a bit overboard right now.

Oops

Re: Cult of Zimmer.

I think it's understandable, although quite early, to be excited about our new coaches. Our first game gave us a glimpse of some changes. I noticed better tackling, tighter coverage, and more variety and deception in schemes. The D seemed to be functioning well as a unit. I sense that there is a serious buy-in from our players that they are heading in the right direction. On O, I didn't see that many changes until the second half, and even then it felt a bit similar. I think that is fine, though. IMO, there was less to fix on that side of the ball. Most importantly, we have a one game sample, so we need to not get ahead of ourselves.

Loved this article, thanks for posting it.

Pseudo Everything wrote: DeKnee Green /

Very witty.

I can see why Bellicheck and the Big Tuna endorsed him..

The guy wants perfection in his players performance and is able to break down
all the small issues which prevent them performing at the highest level. I wouldn't
be surprised if we don't have a top ten defense in many categories at the end of this
season.

Texas Vike wrote:Re: Cult of Zimmer.

I think it's understandable, although quite early, to be excited about our new coaches. Our first game gave us a glimpse of some changes. I noticed better tackling, tighter coverage, and more variety and deception in schemes. The D seemed to be functioning well as a unit. I sense that there is a serious buy-in from our players that they are heading in the right direction. On O, I didn't see that many changes until the second half, and even then it felt a bit similar. I think that is fine, though. IMO, there was less to fix on that side of the ball. Most importantly, we have a one game sample, so we need to not get ahead of ourselves.

Loved this article, thanks for posting it.

I agree, our defense looks better. Maybe more unpredictable would be the better term. I just feel like the past few years (even in 09 when we fared well) you could pretty much tell when we were going to blitz. We either showed blitz and had a cover-2 shell or we DID blitz and it was man coverage. I understand there are exceptions to the rule, but I feel like generally speaking, tour blitz packages were easier to read than they are today. Granted, we have a VERY small sample size.