Falcons @ Vikings Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 4

[Orion]

This game is how the 1998 NFC Championship should have gone.

[Purple Reign]

This game is how the 1998 NFC Championship should have gone.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda - time to start focusing on the present/future.

[Leafman]

Shoulda, woulda, coulda - time to start focusing on the present/future.

No reason we cannot focus on the present/future while forever being tortured by the past.

It's Viking multitasking.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[Purple Reign]

No reason we cannot focus on the present/future while forever being tortured by the past.

It's Viking multitasking.

LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

I prefer to forget the past so I'm not tortured by it.

[808vikingsfan]

NFLNOW grade a B+

[Purpnation]

This game is how the 1998 NFC Championship should have gone.

No.

[PurpleMustReign]

This game is how the 1998 NFC Championship should have gone.

There was no such thing.

[Leafman]

NFLNOW grade a B+

Bleacher Report grades:

QB - A
RB - A
WR/TE - B
OFF.LINE - A
DEF.LINE - B
LB - B
DBs - B+
STs - A-
COACHING - A

OVERALL - A-

"There is an unmistakable glint in the eyes of Teddy Bridgewater.

His youthful face and smile hide the fact that he plays like a 10-year veteran who's been destroying defenses for years.

He took over the Louisville Cardinals in the fourth game of his freshman year and became the stuff of legend.

He took over the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth game of his rookie season, and his story is still to be written, but the first chapter was a tremendous success.

The Vikings, who've taken more gut-punches over the last two weeks than any team can be expected to, rose to the occasion, taking a cue from their new leader and knocking off the favored Atlanta Falcons by a convincing 41-28 margin."


LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

[PurpleMustReign]

How much was Atlanta favored by again?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Grashopa]

Finally was able to watch the game in its entirety last night. We, as a team, did a lot of good things and Teddy looked lights out. However, just like the saints game, this game could have easily went the other way. We had a lot of good breaks in this game, there were a lot of dropped passes by one of the best recieving duos in the league and a lot of timely penalties and some very unfortunate injuries for the falcons, on the flip side of that the game couldve easily been 49-21 also if you consider the missed field goal, the over throw of wright when he was wide open and the injury to bridgewater that left us kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns.

I am excited for the game tommorrow, this is where we can show the rest of the NFL that we are a legitimate threat in the league and that we have a chance of makeing the playoffs and wining the division. Also im excited because we are firing up the HD projector and setting up the 144" outdoor screen by the campfire for the game!

[maembe]

Bleacher Report grades:

QB - A
RB - A
WR/TE - B
OFF.LINE - A
DEF.LINE - B
LB - B
DBs - B+
STs - A-
COACHING - A

OVERALL - A-

"There is an unmistakable glint in the eyes of Teddy Bridgewater.

His youthful face and smile hide the fact that he plays like a 10-year veteran who's been destroying defenses for years.

He took over the Louisville Cardinals in the fourth game of his freshman year and became the stuff of legend.

He took over the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth game of his rookie season, and his story is still to be written, but the first chapter was a tremendous success.

The Vikings, who've taken more gut-punches over the last two weeks than any team can be expected to, rose to the occasion, taking a cue from their new leader and knocking off the favored Atlanta Falcons by a convincing 41-28 margin."


LEAFMAN THE PURPLE FAN

Definitely would not have given the coaching an A. We're lucky we didn't need those wasted time outs. Not using a time out to stop the run off at the end of the half also may have cost us 4 points.

[fiestavike]

Definitely would not have given the coaching an A. We're lucky we didn't need those wasted time outs. Not using a time out to stop the run off at the end of the half also may have cost us 4 points.

I think some of those grades are based on outcome as opposed to performance. I just re-watched the game and frankly the offensive line leaves a lot of room for improvement. Kalil still struggling terribly with his upper body, guys not maintaining blocks...a lot of our running success was scheme based. We need to see that line get better.

Its interesting to me how often Floyd is double teamed considering that he doesn't seem to do much when he is blocked 1 on 1. He looked good against the Rams and I am hoping that the shoulder injury is the explanation for his struggles since. I think there were 4 plays he was on his back when the QB threw the ball and he is too frequently turned or pushed out of the play in the run game. We need to be more stout at that point of attack and collapse the pocket on passing downs. Hopefully a little rest after this Thur night game will allow him and some other guys to fully heal.

[Purple Reign]

I'm sure since we won the game it didn't become an issue, but was there ever any confirmation about the 10 second run off at the end of the first half whether or not the Vikings could have taken a timeout to prevent the runoff, and if they could have, then why they didn't?

[Mothman]

I'm sure since we won the game it didn't become an issue, but was there ever any confirmation about the 10 second run off at the end of the first half whether or not the Vikings could have taken a timeout to prevent the runoff, and if they could have, then why they didn't?

Zimmer addresses that question at approximately the 12:40 mark of this video:

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/vide ... 05700727c1

The short answer is they could have taken the timeout and opted against it.

[Purple Reign]

Zimmer addresses that question at approximately the 12:40 mark of this video:

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/vide ... 05700727c1

The short answer is they could have taken the timeout and opted against it.

Thanks Jim - if anyone wants to view the video, the question is addressed at about the 9:20 mark, not at 12:40 since the video total length is only 12:43.

So the refs were 100% correct on how they handled the situation. I had said during the game that Zimmer probably had the option to use a timeout instead of taking the 10 second run off but a lot of people here were once again claiming that the refs are biased against us and screwed us out of 4 points. I wonder how this would have played out if we had lost the game by less than 4 points - I'm sure it would have been a hot topic.