Vikings vs Panthers

[Raz]

A few minutes to game time, Cleveland, SmithJr. and Osborn inactive today.
Thielen must be a go.

[Bowhunting Viking]

A few minutes to game time, Cleveland, SmithJr. and Osborn inactive today.
Thielen must be a go.

Nope Theilen is out

[S197]

https://twitter.com/mrs_t_19/status/13 ... 20804?s=21

[Bowhunting Viking]

https://twitter.com/mrs_t_19/status/13 ... 20804?s=21

DON'T PULL A HAMMY CELEBRATING AT!!!!!!

[VikeFanInEagleLand]

On the second to last drive, the Vikings called too many run plays. They were acting like they had all the time in the world. The drive started with 11-1/2 minutes and they needed two scores with only one timeout left. Heck, with a little over 8 minutes left, they still ran the ball three times. They scored but it took 6 minutes off the clock. Luckily, the Panthers coach was an idiot and passed the ball three times on the next drive, stopping the clock twice with two incompletions. Had they just run the ball instead of throwing three incompletions in their last two possessions, the Vikings would have never got the ball back for the game winning drive.

Thank You Panthers.

A big thumbs up to Cousins for that drive. As far as I'm concerned, I can no longer rag on him for his 2 minute drive abilities.

[RandyMoss84]

On the second to last drive, the Vikings called too many run plays. They were acting like they has all the time in the world. The drive started with 11-1/2 minutes and they needed two scores with only one timeout left. Heck, with a little over 8 minutes left, they still ran the ball three times. They scored but it took 6 minutes off the clock. Luckily, the Panthers coach was an idiot and passed the ball three times on the next drive, stopping the clock twice with two incompletions. Had they just run the ball instead of throwing three incompletions in their last two possessions, the Vikings would have never got the ball back for the game winning drive.

Thank You Panthers.

A big thumbs up to Cousins for that drive. As far as I'm concerned, I can no longer rag on him for his 2 minute drive abilities.

You should have no longer rag on him for his 2 minute drive abilities after Cousins lead the Vikings to a upset win against the Saints in the playoffs

[RandyMoss84]

Nice game by Cousins and I can not stand Beebe but props to him on that touchdown catch to win the game after muffing a punt

[Texas Vike]

Today was just a quintessential Viking's game: the pendulum swings between looking awesome, doing the most knucklehead things, then doing just enough to keep you from turning off the TV--giving you a glimmer of hope, then threatening to blow it after all, then finally winning. There are enough reversals of fortune to go toe-to-toe with an Ancient Greek tragedy.

At the end of the game today I had a corporeal response that was beyond my control: I just started laughing from my belly and I couldn't stop. #### classic Vikings game.

Beyond the emotional response:
Game ball goes to Kirk. He owned that final drive and played with some really impressive determination and focus today. Kendricks delivered on D, per usual. Our CBs are maturing fast. We need to improve on DL. Even before his injury I felt like Cook was lacking some juice today, probably because he was dinged up from the Cowboys game. JJ continues to ball. And how about that redemption for Beebe. I felt so happy for the guy. We give him a hard time here, but despite that muffed punt he had a pretty solid day today. It was cool to see how excited his teammates were for him to make up for his mistake. Bisi played well too.

We need Ezra back, ASAP.

[J. Kapp 11]

Kirk Cousins in the fourth quarter:

ATT 13
COMP 12
YDS 134
TD 2
Passer Rating 149.2

That's what we've been waiting three years to see.

I've been critical of Cousins late in games when he's been behind. Since coming to Minnesota, he has led the Vikings from behind in the last two minutes exactly ONCE before today. That was the second game of his first season here, the tie in 2018 against Green Bay. Every other time we've been behind with two minutes or less to go, we've lost.

Not today. That drive was a thing of beauty. And to think he did it without Adam Thielen, throwing to Bisi Johnson and Chad Beebe ... great stuff. The best part to me was that he looked completely in command, instead of the deer-in-headlights face we've grown accustomed to seeing. You just got the feeling that Carolina couldn't stop him.

There were a lot of things wrong with the Vikings in today's win. But man, that GW drive was huge. We now know that Cousins can do it. Hopefully he builds on today's performance.

And with Arizona's loss, we're suddenly a game out of the playoffs after winning 4 out of 5.

[VikingPaul73]

I didn’t see the game until the cardinals game ended so I got to see the last 2 minutes

Kirk looked awesome . Great job he looked so confident

Question for those who watched. Who was the RG and how did he look? Why is Ezra out and when will he be back??

[J. Kapp 11]

I didn’t see the game until the cardinals game ended so I got to see the last 2 minutes

Kirk looked awesome . Great job he looked so confident

Question for those who watched. Who was the RG and how did he look? Why is Ezra out and when will he be back??

It was Brett Jones, and he didn't look good.

Ezra is battling an ankle injury. Hoping he's back soon. Might not be critical to have him against Jacksonville, but the Tampa Bay game is a must.

[Texas Vike]

I didn’t see the game until the cardinals game ended so I got to see the last 2 minutes

Kirk looked awesome . Great job he looked so confident

Question for those who watched. Who was the RG and how did he look? Why is Ezra out and when will he be back??

It was Brett Jones, and he didn't look good.

Ezra is battling an ankle injury. Hoping he's back soon. Might not be critical to have him against Jacksonville, but the Tampa Bay game is a must.

Agreed that Jones didn't look good. There was one play in the first half that was emblematic: I think it was a short screen, maybe a run with Jones pulling, and he just whiffed on his guy and fell on his face as Dalvin got stuck for a loss. Ezra would've pounded the guy and Dalvin would've run for 15 easily.

[CharVike]

Today was just a quintessential Viking's game: the pendulum swings between looking awesome, doing the most knucklehead things, then doing just enough to keep you from turning off the TV--giving you a glimmer of hope, then threatening to blow it after all, then finally winning. There are enough reversals of fortune to go toe-to-toe with an Ancient Greek tragedy.

At the end of the game today I had a corporeal response that was beyond my control: I just started laughing from my belly and I couldn't stop. #### classic Vikings game.

Beyond the emotional response:
Game ball goes to Kirk. He owned that final drive and played with some really impressive determination and focus today. Kendricks delivered on D, per usual. Our CBs are maturing fast. We need to improve on DL. Even before his injury I felt like Cook was lacking some juice today, probably because he was dinged up from the Cowboys game. JJ continues to ball. And how about that redemption for Beebe. I felt so happy for the guy. We give him a hard time here, but despite that muffed punt he had a pretty solid day today. It was cool to see how excited his teammates were for him to make up for his mistake. Bisi played well too.

We need Ezra back, ASAP.

Cook is out of gas and of they keep sending him out there something bad will happen to him. Cook is the best dual threat in the game right now but he's beaten into the ground at this point. Give Matti two games to show what he can do as the main back. Give him 30 carries each game. He might surprise us. IMO he can handle the load. Bisi is a young guy and yes he played good. Kendricks is a heck of a player and great ball athlete. Number 20 is moving great also.

[CharVike]

Nice game by Cousins and I can not stand Beebe but props to him on that touchdown catch to win the game after muffing a punt

I can't stand him either and he should never be back there to return a punt. Id rather go with an extra rusher and try to block every punt. Just let the punt go and were it goes. They all wont bounce forward.

[Pondering Her Percy]

All I know is Kirk has 12 TDs and 1 INT (which was on a Thielen drop) in the last 5 weeks and we are 4-1 in that time span. Nearly 5-0 if it wasnt for a defensive collapse vs. Dallas.

I'm starting to think a lot of this rough start was based on a few different things:

1.) Cousins chemistry with this receiving group having a limited offseason. You could tell in the first few games he was force feeding Thielen because 1.) Jefferson was hardly out there and 2.) The options behind Thielen were slim. Cousins isnt one to throw many picks and no matter what anyone thinks of him, he is a pretty darn accurate QB. The abundance of INTs didnt make any sense early on. He looked like a shell of himself and I feel like a lot of that was due to the lack of chemistry he had with some of these guys early on and the lack of offseason.

2.) Zimmer was calling his defense of old and not realizing he no longer has the veterans that could do what was asked. He had to make some massive adjustments and you really saw that take place after the bye. This defense still struggles but has massively improved since early on in the year.

3.) The change at RG. I mean Jones wasnt good today, but he was still much better than Samia. I'm still baffled as to why Samia ever once got the starting nod. Hell I've hardly seen Oli Udoh play and I'd give him the nod over Samia. Clearly they recognize it now because with Cleveland out, they start Brett Jones instead. But my question is, what the hell took you so long to realize that Zim? Cleveland should have been starting from day 1. But as I've mentioned before, this is classic Zim with his rookie draft picks.

I will say, this rookie class has looked excellent.

-Jefferson has taken the league by storm.
-Gladney has been excellent the last few weeks and is also a superb tackler.
-Cleveland has made a massive difference in the OL play and hopefully he is back soon.
-Dantzler has been out for quite a few games but the ones he has played in lately he has looked solid. He is also a sure tackler.
-Wonnum has been an animal over the last few weeks.
-I'm still a James Lynch fan and still think he needs more playing time. I could see him at worst becoming the Tom Johnson type that is just a solid pass rushing DT.
-I thought Dye has done okay as of late given the limited role. That's the Gedeon role and granted you dont see the flashy plays from that spot but I feel like he has held his own
-I even liked what I saw from Harrison Hand in limited play time. I'd like to see him get some burn over Harris although I think Harris has done well in coverage (tackling, not so much)

I mean that alone right there is a massive chunk of our draft class and so far, I dont see a bust within the first 5 rounds. It's still early, but Spielman might have very well knocked this one out of the park. And we also have double digit picks coming next year.