Lions @ Vikings Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 10

[dead_poet]

OK never mind about what?

lol...I thought you said Sanford was overrated. I was commenting on that for a second before I wised up and realized you were talking about Stafford. I reed good sumtimes.

[S197]

'Bout time they throw the flag. Gameover.

[Greg]

about Stafford being overrated - today 28/42 329 yds, 3 tis

[Lash Man]

The world is back in order we swept the Lions !

[Rus]

What in the Sam Hill was that? Stupidest roughing penalty by a player I've seen in awhile, and I've seen the Vikings make quite a few.
Well, if he doesn't get dressed down for that, it's because the team just threw in the towel when they didn't win the onsides.

[dead_poet]

Stupid penalties but efficient day by AD (as always) and Ponder without Harvin. Impressive. Much-needed going into a bye week and brutal schedule following. Credit to the coaching staff (and Musgrave) for getting Wright and Rudolph involved.

[Rus]

lol...I thought you said Sanford was overrated. I was commenting on that for a second before I wised up and realized you were talking about Stafford. I reed good sumtimes.

I would agree that Jamarca Sanford is overrated. I don't think he'd be a starter for a team not called the 2011 Vikings. (not a double negative, it's a litote)

[Infinity]

End of game
Vikes 34
Lions 24
Great game. Ponder looked like a quarterback again and Peterson had a monster game. SKOL VIKES

[S197]

Falcons go down.

[petev_sj]

Smart play by Ponder with that slide, he usually goes head first, but he got Detroit with play.

Finally getting Bye Week. Great team effort today, everybody contributed when they needed to.

[Mercy Percy]

I am so thrilled on how well the rookies we drafted have been playing! Vikings are moving forward! Walsh was great, Kalil was fantastic and Josh Robinson has been a good find in the 3rd round for us!

[Rus]

This game really drives home the idea that the Vikings defense really is kind of the problem. It's also makes the team win. Ponder makes his mistakes, but he's not leading the team to losses where they only score 6 points. When the defense doesn't lock down early and give the guy some room, he makes young quarterback mistakes. The Vikings overall offense isn't quite completely rebuilt, but it's enough to keep them winning provided the defense steps it up and gives them some room.

From there, you can kind of break it down further as being that the Vikings defensive line's play isn't fast anymore. They can still sack a quarterback, but containing speed makes them look like clowns. Their linebacker play, outside of Greenway, is shaky. All their significant progress was in their defensive backfield, so teams looking to test that found trouble. These were all concerns going into the season, but everyone forgot them after the 49ers game. The fact was, the 49ers didn't recognize those weaknesses and didn't gameplan. Other teams watched tape and figured it out easily.

The Vikings defense was pretty weak again in the second half, but getting it done in the first half was huge.

[PurpleKoolaid]

The coaches got the team ready to play without PH. But they still have no idea how to score in the red zone. Did we miss 3 red zone TD attempts? Thats sad. And on all 3 we threw short. Luckily Detroit screwed up and Kyle made a great TD score but they gotta work all next week on red zone O. And that means throwing the ball in the ENDZONE at least 1 time a series if not the occasional 3 times in the endzone.

[yezzir]

Congrats to the Vikes! I couldnt watch the game because I was at Nickelodeon World with my niece and nephew. Sounds like we played pretty well.

SKOL

[S197]

This game really drives home the idea that the Vikings defense really is kind of the problem. It's also makes the team win. Ponder makes his mistakes, but he's not leading the team to losses where they only score 6 points. When the defense doesn't lock down early and give the guy some room, he makes young quarterback mistakes. The Vikings overall offense isn't quite completely rebuilt, but it's enough to keep them winning provided the defense steps it up and gives them some room.

From there, you can kind of break it down further as being that the Vikings defensive line's play isn't fast anymore. They can still sack a quarterback, but containing speed makes them look like clowns. Their linebacker play, outside of Greenway, is shaky. All their significant progress was in their defensive backfield, so teams looking to test that found trouble. These were all concerns going into the season, but everyone forgot them after the 49ers game. The fact was, the 49ers didn't recognize those weaknesses and didn't gameplan. Other teams watched tape and figured it out easily.

The Vikings defense was pretty weak again in the second half, but getting it done in the first half was huge.

I think Fox did a good job of pointing out the difference. In the first half the defense was bumping Johnson at the line. In the second half they went into their shell zone protection. I think the defense is far too reliant on the front 4 getting pressure, we hardly ever blitz. I think it's fine for the most part but you need to mix in some blitzes if nothing more than to keep the offense guessing a little.

To be fair though, the Defense did give the offense the ball on the Lions 25 and the offense came away with no points. On several other drives the offense was given good field position due to the defense who I think may not have given up a 3rd down conversion all game. Both sides of the ball had it's ups and downs, special teams was the only area of consistency. But overall they outplayed the Lions in all three aspects. And is it me or does Stafford just look like he doesn't give a ####? Under five minutes and there's just no sense of urgency at all.