Holy Ugliness

[Pondering Her Percy]

So next time someone has a QB in the 'grasp' and the whistle hasn't blown (I haven't heard a single Viking say they even heard the whistle or saw a flag) they should let him go? He just tackled Brees. When Blanton also hit him, you can see Captain letting up. New rules or not, there was nothing in that play that was un-sportsman like. Until Brees got up and shoved (and looked like he tried to throw a punch) at Blanton, who wasn't even the guy who sacked him.

Do you also agree what Brees did was legal? The ref had to get between him and the running away Blanton.

I agree with you here. The call was pretty ridiculous and Brees' reaction was childish. I was swearing up a storm when that happened

[Leafman]

At worst, the sack and the NFL darling Brees tirade should have been offsetting penalties.

Agreed. Must be nice to be an NFL darling ... the proverbial prom queen throws a tantrum and everything goes her way.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[Leafman]

Overall I was pretty proud of the Vikings yesterday. They could have, and often times have folded in similar situations. What I thought was going to be a 50-10 type game had a little intrigue as it turned out. It's looking ugly now, but I think we have the coaching now to be able to roll with the punches to a degree, and this team showed backbone yesterday.

Agreed. After the first two drives, the Vikings outplayed the Aints 9-7 for more than 3 quarters with a couple really bad breaks going against us, so really pleased with the defensive adjustments. Hopefully Zimmer can fix what's wrong with the OLine and come out with a better defensive gameplan from the outset against the Falcons, Packers and Lions.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[John_Viveiros]

About the Brees sack... I see why they called it a penalty. But there was no intent to injure - it's just a small guy trying to tackle a larger guy before he can throw the ball away to avoid the sack. And I think we're all agreed that Brees should have been flagged for shoving Blanton afterwards. That would have been fair.

But the play that got me to swear at the screen was on one of the following Vikings drives, where Bridgewater got smacked across the helmet with no flag. That's just BS. Watch the game at 9:11 in the 4th quarter - the replay shows it clearly, turned his head around, and he still completed the pass. 15 there would have given the Vikes possession at the outer range of Walsh's leg.

[Leafman]

About the Brees sack... I see why they called it a penalty. But there was no intent to injure - it's just a small guy trying to tackle a larger guy before he can throw the ball away to avoid the sack. And I think we're all agreed that Brees should have been flagged for shoving Blanton afterwards. That would have been fair.

But the play that got me to swear at the screen was on one of the following Vikings drives, where Bridgewater got smacked across the helmet with no flag. That's just BS. Watch the game at 9:11 in the 4th quarter - the replay shows it clearly, turned his head around, and he still completed the pass. 15 there would have given the Vikes possession at the outer range of Walsh's leg.

Yep, that was a missed one too. They just don't like to give Vikings QBs a fair shake in the Superdome. And I have no idea how Teddy completed that pass ... his head was turned 45 degrees to the target before he even started his release.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[Purple Reign]

About the Brees sack... I see why they called it a penalty. But there was no intent to injure - it's just a small guy trying to tackle a larger guy before he can throw the ball away to avoid the sack.

Not really sure what point you are trying to make here. Are you saying that a penalty should not have been called because there was 'no intent to injure'? I'm pretty sure there isn't anything in the rule book that says there has to be intent to injure before they can call an unnecessary roughness penalty.

[PurpleHalo]

About the Brees sack... I see why they called it a penalty. But there was no intent to injure - it's just a small guy trying to tackle a larger guy before he can throw the ball away to avoid the sack. And I think we're all agreed that Brees should have been flagged for shoving Blanton afterwards. That would have been fair.

But the play that got me to swear at the screen was on one of the following Vikings drives, where Bridgewater got smacked across the helmet with no flag. That's just BS. Watch the game at 9:11 in the 4th quarter - the replay shows it clearly, turned his head around, and he still completed the pass. 15 there would have given the Vikes possession at the outer range of Walsh's leg.

[John_Viveiros]

Not really sure what point you are trying to make here. Are you saying that a penalty should not have been called because there was 'no intent to injure'? I'm pretty sure there isn't anything in the rule book that says there has to be intent to injure before they can call an unnecessary roughness penalty.

I realize. I just feel uncomfortable with the choice given to Munnerlyn. Either let Brees get off the pass, or get a 15 yard penalty. As a smaller guy, the only way he could make the tackle was to pull him back in that direction. Since the refs weren't going to blow the whistle, the only way he could make the tackle was the way he did. In that way, it was not "unnecessary roughness" - it was completely necessary to the play.

Now if that had been Linval Joseph, that takedown would have seemed "unnecessary" to me. Simply falling to the ground with Brees on top would have sufficed for him.

[Purple Reign]

I realize. I just feel uncomfortable with the choice given to Munnerlyn. Either let Brees get off the pass, or get a 15 yard penalty. As a smaller guy, the only way he could make the tackle was to pull him back in that direction. Since the refs weren't going to blow the whistle, the only way he could make the tackle was the way he did. In that way, it was not "unnecessary roughness" - it was completely necessary to the play.

Now if that had been Linval Joseph, that takedown would have seemed "unnecessary" to me. Simply falling to the ground with Brees on top would have sufficed for him.

But Munnerlyn had his arms wrapped around Brees' arms so Brees wasn't going to be able to throw a pass anyway plus Blanton was right there with him helping out on the tackle so it wasn't like he was trying to take Brees down alone. Defenders have to understand under the rules today that they can't do that to a qb, even if they are smaller than the qb. The refs are going to throw a flag every time in that situation IMO.

[jackal]

There were some positives in the game ...

The defense slowed them way down and Harrison Smith was playing great ...

Our OL is not playing well and opens no lanes, to run in. Mckinnon needs to learn
more; before he will effective. There was one play if he would swung out past Loadholt
he would have gained twenty yards or more, but he ran right into the back of a pile of OL.

One play Johnson just was standing around and people were still engaged ..

It was nice to see Barr get a sack too..