Falcons @ Vikings Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 4

[Leafman]

Big win. Teddy was great, run blocking was great, pass blocking decent, Wright/Jennings/McKinnon were great. The biggest positive, however, was no turnovers ... if they can keep that up, they have enough talent to win the division.

They held the league's top-ranked offense to 28 points and 411 yards including a chunk in soft zone coverage in garbage time. The OLine gave up no sacks and receivers averaged 16.7 yards per reception.

The big negative was 3rd down defense, which remains a problem. Falcons converted 67% of their 3rd downs ... a couple more stops on those and this could have been a blowout win against a very good football team.

Hope Teddy heals quickly in time for the big matchup with the Pack on Thursday.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[Purple Reign]

Packers aren't what people think they are. They're not that good....Or as good as people are used to. Vikings are winning. No doubts in my mind.

But if you give Rodgers time they are still very dangerous. The defense will have to play better than they did today to give them a chance to win IMO.

[Leafman]

But if you give Rodgers time they are still very dangerous. The defense will have to play better than they did today to give them a chance to win IMO.

Agree with PR ... any team that can march in to Soldier Field and crush the Bears needs to be respected. And Lambeau is not exactly a place where the Vikings produce their best performances...

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[PacificNorseWest]

Division game though. Packers been money against the Bears for years. These games are meant to be played close to the chest, but nobody's fooled. Same goes for the Vikings/Packers. A deficiency is still that no matter who their quarterback is. With a quick turnaround the message has to be pressure and tackling, a la week 1. If that's what happens, then the Vikings win going away....That is, assuming Teddy is under center and plays with the same efficiency.

[purplereign1]

You are absolutely right about that. Isn't it amazing how much difference good Ol play makes? the running game was rolling. Bridgewater had the time to make plays and he did it. As far as I'm concerned, good blocking is really where good offense starts.

I think it is a two way street. I think the OL played very well, but I think Teddy had something to do with it. He beat the blitz early which makes a team hesitant to keep doing it. Much the same happened to us today when we got beat for touchdowns twice on the blitz. After that we didn't blitz much either. If Teddy continues to make teams pay for blitzing us it will continue to help our OL as they will face less of eight in the box and blitzes. This also will help our running game.

[purplehaze]

He had a 100+ QB rating in his start at GB last year and definitely played well enough for the Vikes to win. If he has to start, I plan to be rooting for him because I want the Vikes to win.

Jim, every squirrel finds a nut once in a while. But let me tell you this guy is a dead squirrel. I can't believe we are still posting about this guy playing on our team. Posts should be like this: Good luck Christian in your future endeavors whether it be for another football team or another career path. Come on man. Don't hate the guy just think he should not be wearing purple right now.

[mondry]

What a great game! Jarius Wright was awesome, I've been on his bandwagon for a long time so I'm really glad he had a big day. We've seen flashes from him from time to time, usually when simpson gets suspended or someone else got hurt but I kinda got the feeling he just didn't get utilized enough in Musgrave's offense. If Teddy takes a tiny bit off that deep throw Wright had another long TD waiting for him. He seems to have a knack for getting behind CBs like the time he burnt richard sherman.

The offensive line and Teddy's elusiveness were also top notch today. I link these two things together because I think it takes the full unit working together at a high level to play that well. When pressure did get to Teddy he was able to sidestep, evade, and keep his eyes down the field or pick up useful yards with his legs. If Cassel's back there I think we're talking about 3+ sacks.

Teddy Bridgewater, I think we have something here folks. No TD passes but he looked pretty sharp to me. I feel like he'd take a 3 step drop, step up into the pocket, set his feet, and deliver a strike where the WR's can easily catch it and get YAC. I feel like as long as he's out there, we always have a chance, that he makes good reads, finds the open receiver, and USUALLY makes a quick decisive decision with the football.

Rhodes, Robinson, and Smith are really becoming a force. Sure they completed a few passes on Rhodes but he's breaking up a good amount of passes as well and he's only going to get better. Robinson went from the worst CB in the league last year in Frazier's defense to looking pretty solid. He had the one busted coverage with Munnerlyn but other than that did a pretty good job. I think that means a lot considering where he's coming from last year. Smith obviously had the clutch interception to all but put the game away, was nice to see him break on the ball and make a play. Guy is all over the field, even saw him covering WR's like a CB taking away the underneath throws.

Asiata and Mckinnon, well, they're not Adrian Peterson, but I'm starting to like this duo. I still think Asiata isn't anything special but he's growing on me as a solid football player who puts his head down and gets what's blocked. The guy finds the endzone and seems pretty reliable as a pass catcher. He'll never be a star but that's okay. Mckinnon looked good today, he's kind of the jitter bug / spark plug change of pace to Asiata making it a pretty nice combo. It seems he's starting to get acclimated to the NFL game and the running lanes, I think he'll only get better as time goes on.

Finally, I think I heard we have the 3rd youngest team in the league. I'm not trying to make excuses or anything, just stating the facts. There will be growing pains and busted coverages or errors made but given that we are so young, I think this team looks VERY promising so early into the Zimmer / Turner Era. Beating the Packers to get to 3-2 would just be an amazing start to the season when so many thought we had such a hard opening schedule.

[Rieux]

Watching the replay now (after seeing the game from Section 226).

Hey, Ponder got jobbed—that was totally a 2-yard run, not just 1!

[808vikingsfan]

What a fun game to watch.

Quick thoughts:

Rhodes had a monster game. Made big plays time after time.
Bridgewater. I thought I couldn't be more impressed than I was from last week's performance. I was wrong. He looked like a #1 pick today.
Wright. So happy to see him have a big day. Hope to see him more as the season progresses.


Didn't like the no huddle 3rd and short call.
Loved the 4th and goal call.

On Barr's 3rd down sack.

Q: Where were you on that play? Where did you line up?
A: I was lined up over the center, and I was supposed to back up with the coverage, but I just saw the lane.

On Robison against a TE.

Q: Have you ever been in a situation where they bring a tight end out there to play tackle?
A: No, that is definitely a first for me in my years.
Q: Does that make it easier for you?
A: Heck no it doesn’t make it easier. They send more guys your way then. They aren’t going to let a tight end block a defensive end. They did it once and I felt it was pretty disrespectful but Anthony Barr got the sack so we were good.

[808vikingsfan]

Rookie RB McKinnon breaks out as run game carves up Falcons

Jerick McKinnon slipped around right end, outran a pair of SEC defenders and scampered up the right sideline to vault Georgia Southern into a new era of college football. That 26-20 victory over Florida last November was the Eagles' first over an FBS school -- in their last regular-season contest before moving to the Sun Belt and FBS ahead of this season.
It was the biggest game of McKinnon's life. Until Sunday.

[808vikingsfan]

That was quite a finish.

Ha. Went through the first two pages of the gameday thread. Thought both of you had psychic powers.

[Mothman]

Jim, every squirrel finds a nut once in a while. But let me tell you this guy is a dead squirrel. I can't believe we are still posting about this guy playing on our team. Posts should be like this: Good luck Christian in your future endeavors whether it be for another football team or another career path. Come on man. Don't hate the guy just think he should not be wearing purple right now.

I understand but as you said, every squirrel finds a nut once in a while. My point was that instead of despairing that the Vikes have no chance to win if Ponder has to start against, Green Bay, why not hope he finds another one of those "nuts"? After all, he IS still wearing purple.

In other words, all I'm asking you or anyone other Vikes fan to do is set aside bias, look at the potential situation objectively and consider that in two games against Green Bay last year, the Vikings offense put up 57 points and Ponder had QB ratings of 86.4 and 103.9 (the latter at Lambeau). Frankly, if the defense hadn't collapsed, or even if a few passes hadn't been dropped late in the game, the Vikes could have won that game in GB. Ponder was also the QB in the only win the Vikes actually have against GB since 2009. I realize people want him off the team, lack faith in him, etc. but history suggests they would, indeed, have a legitimate chance to beat GB if Bridgewater can't play and Ponder needs to start on Thursday.

IF the Vikes have to start a third string QB in a nationally televised game against their biggest rival, I think they're fortunate that it would be a player who has actually led them to victory against GB in the past.

[PurpleMustReign]

I understand but as you said, every squirrel finds a nut once in a while. My point was that instead of despairing that the Vikes have no chance to win if Ponder has to start against, Green Bay, why not hope he finds another one of those "nuts"? After all, he IS still wearing purple.

In other words, all I'm asking you or anyone other Vikes fan to do is set aside bias, look at the potential situation objectively and consider that in two games against Green Bay last year, the Vikings offense put up 57 points and Ponder had QB ratings of 86.4 and 103.9 (the latter at Lambeau). Frankly, if the defense hadn't collapsed, or even if a few passes hadn't been dropped late in the game, the Vikes could have won that game in GB. Ponder was also the QB in the only win the Vikes actually have against GB since 2009. I realize people want him off the team, lack faith in him, etc. but history suggests they would, indeed, have a legitimate chance to beat GB if Bridgewater can't play and Ponder needs to start on Thursday.

IF the Vikes have to start a third string QB in a nationally televised game against their biggest rival, I think they're fortunate that it would be a player who has actually led them to victory against GB in the past.

Good points for sure. Ponders first start was also against GB and he played very well.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[DK Sweets]

Teddy put a smile on my face that I didn't know could come from watching a Minnesota QB. Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith look like they're going to anchor this secondary for a long time. Anthony Barr and Gerald Hodges looked pretty good, too. The D-Line seems to have disappeared a bit, but coming into the year we were told that Zimmer defenses ask a lot out of the lineman and they don't get a lot of chances for splash plays. I'm so happy for Jarius Wright, I was beginning to feel dumb for having faith in him. And then Jerrick McKinnon....dude looked like everything clicked for him in this game. I hope he can keep it up. It was a great game, and a great win.

[DK Sweets]

I'm not so sure if I can say I have FAITH in Ponder (at least not with a straight face) but I do agree that the bashing has to end, especially if we need to rely on him this week.