Vikings @ Saints post game

[Pondering Her Percy]

Had to watch the replay, as my 84-year-old mom fell during the night and broke her clavicle.

My heart still hasn't stopped racing, and the game ended 20 minutes ago. Holy moly. What a close one! As others have said, it's good to win the close ones ... we were 6-8 in one-score games last year. We're 2-0 this year.

Really got sick of Mark Sanchez as the game wore on. He spoke about Saints players and plays at least twice as much as he did about the Vikings, and his claim that the Lattimore PI against Thielen was beyond idiotic. Lattimore hooked Thielen's arm and held it, a no-doubt PI. But Sanchez just focused on Thielen trying to get Lattimore off him. Just got sick of hearing how great the Saints were.

Except for one pass, I thought Cousins played really well today under serious duress. O-line didn't have its best day, especially Brian O'Neill. Love that Cousins put together another game-winning drive and fourth-quarter comeback. Also nice to see both Jefferson and Thielen have big games.

I know we'll all break it down during the week, but the Vikings have got to start converting red zone opportunities at a much higher rate. We had chances to blow this game open but came up with field goals. Some have said we were lucky to win. I suppose there's some truth in that, but the Saints are also lucky they didn't get destroyed by about 3 touchdowns.

Side note: Loved the fake punt. On the "Write That Down" segment of the Purple Daily podcast last week, one of the guys predicted Wright would complete a pass this season. Pretty cool, and good scouting to discover he's a former quarterback. I know it seems like a fake punt is an anomaly, but search "Johnny Hekker fake punts" on YouTube sometime. That dude has completed 14 of 23 passes in his career for 186 yards and a TD. Strange as it sounds, having a punter who can pass is a weapon. And guess which team Johnny Hekker plays for. You guessed it ... the Los Angeles Rams.

All told, the Vikings are 3-1 with a very winnable game coming up at home against the Bears. Still can't believe KOC opted to not have the Vikings bye week after a London game (he had the choice), but hopefully he knows what he's doing. He took heat for waiting until Thursday night to fly the Vikings to London ... it worked out just fine.

SKOL!

Very sorry to hear about your mom Kapp! Hope she’s okay. If you ever need to chat, feel free to DM anytime brother! SKOL

[J. Kapp 11]

Also I don't agree with the win being branded lucky. Defense was soft execution was iffy coaching wasn't aggressive (at first). But it came down to JJ beating Lattimore to get in position to secure the win

Was just about to say the same thing. It’s not like that missed FG would’ve won the game for the saints. Bottom line is, we’re closing out games. One thing Mike zimmer couldn’t do the last few years. I can honestly say, if Zim was still the coach I really don’t see this team sitting at 3-1. Still a lot to clean up but if this team eventually gets comfortable in what they are doing, these wins are going to go a long way. We could be sitting at 1-3 right now and then maybe catch fire and sneak into playoffs or just miss them. If we can start to get hot and more comfortable soon, this team can really do some damage

We kicked 5 field goals, four in the red zone. This game could have and perhaps should have been the Vikings scoring 35-40 points. When — and I do mean when, not if — we clean up the red zone issues, this offense will take off.

And let's not forget ... this is the same Saints defense that held Tom Brady and Tampa Bay to a single field goal through 3 quarters. Yet we scored on 6 of our last 7 possessions. Yes, five of those were field goals, but it shows this offense is primed to roll.

We're 3-1. We're still in first place. Good by me.

[Husker Vike]

Happy we got the win , but this defense is really being exposed. I don't think it is as much the personnel as it is Donatell's scheme, he can't seem to get pressure with the front we are running.

What drives me nuts with this team is we rarely blitz (saw last week we were 28th in blitzes through 3 games) and he always has our corners a mile off WRs. Teams completion percentage against us has to be insane. At one point I think dalton was like 19 for 23. It’s like he’s afraid to give up the big play. I don’t think our corners are that bad at covering. I actually think a guy like dantzler thrives in press but we always have him and PP 8 yards off WRs.

In terms of pass rush, we have nobody in the interior that can get to the passer. Tomlinson will occasionally break through. Phillips doesn’t at all. Nor do any other defensive players. We know what Danielle and Z bring to the table and I like Wonnum and Jones in the rotation but we badly need someone that can push a pocket in the middle. I wish they’d sign suh. He’s gotta be better than what we have in terms of getting a pass rush.

But I’d like to see them get up in press more and send some blitzes. Make these QBs feel uncomfortable. Jam guys at the line and give your blitz some time to get through

I absolutely agree with you, we could use someone like Suh to cause some middle pressure and as far as our corners playing off the receivers, it puts tremendous pressure on the safeties to take perfect angles and makes their responsibilities even more crucial.

[SunyP]

Happy we got the win , but this defense is really being exposed. I don't think it is as much the personnel as it is Donatell's scheme, he can't seem to get pressure with the front we are running.

With 3 ( Donatell, Pettine, and Manusdky) past and present DC's on the staff, it hard to believe our D can be so average with no adjuctments.

[IIsweet]

Phillips is exactly what he is . He is a middle of the line stuffer. He is not a penetrator, but he occupies 1-2 interior OL and plugs holes in the run game. Our DE's are not being productive. Hunter is not a 3-4 DE. Tomlinson is, but he is more of a DT moving out there so his pass rush is not so great. We are another year away from filling those needs in FA and the draft.
For now though... They are still learning the language and where to be. I like parts of what I see, but like many of you, where is the pressure ?

[CharVike]

Phillips is exactly what he is . He is a middle of the line stuffer. He is not a penetrator, but he occupies 1-2 interior OL and plugs holes in the run game. Our DE's are not being productive. Hunter is not a 3-4 DE. Tomlinson is, but he is more of a DT moving out there so his pass rush is not so great. We are another year away from filling those needs in FA and the draft.
For now though... They are still learning the language and where to be. I like parts of what I see, but like many of you, where is the pressure ?

Tomlinson is a DT and nothing more. The guy weighs 324. He should be inside. Hunter is a fantastic DE. I see no benefit of him being an OLBer. Can he cover TE's and RB's? I say no. It won't happen but I'd prefer a 4-3 over this 3-4. We have problems against the run as backup Murray avg 5.2 yards a pop. That's why we need Tomlinson inside to help stop that. Switching Hunter to a new position and him taking a year or two to learn it is stupid. You need to get pressure on QBs. Dalton looked great and he's not great. This is a 3-4 bend but don't break deal. Get after people and make something happen. We need to penetrate the LOS and 3 guys can't do it.

[StumpHunter]

Phillips is exactly what he is . He is a middle of the line stuffer. He is not a penetrator, but he occupies 1-2 interior OL and plugs holes in the run game. Our DE's are not being productive. Hunter is not a 3-4 DE. Tomlinson is, but he is more of a DT moving out there so his pass rush is not so great. We are another year away from filling those needs in FA and the draft.
For now though... They are still learning the language and where to be. I like parts of what I see, but like many of you, where is the pressure ?

Tomlinson is a DT and nothing more. The guy weighs 324. He should be inside. Hunter is a fantastic DE. I see no benefit of him being an OLBer. Can he cover TE's and RB's? I say no.

He actually had at least one good play that I saw in coverage and has the closing speed where he has been good at cleaning things up in the run game. To your point though, is that where he is best used or is it rushing the passer/stuffing the run at the line? It seems like every time he is off the line the other team has had more success running the football and we get very little pressure.

That being said, he has only had 6 snaps in coverage so far (2 catches on him for .5 yards per reception), so they really aren't dropping him back a lot. He has also been very disruptive at times without picking up a sack or a pressure, forcing the QB to leave the pocket multiple times right into another defender. Wonnum's last sack was an example of that while Z Smith has been the biggest benefactor. Where Hunter has taken the biggest step back is against the run, a strength of his as 4-3 DE.

[StanM]

Looking around the league at Sundays final scores the number of high scoring games stands out. The emphasis on offense has all but done away with 7-3 defensive battles. Our Vikings do not stand out as unusual in that respect and we are managing to walk away with wins.

There are still a lot of errors and missed opportunities no doubt due the number of new players and revamped systems. I still believe that we haven’t reached our full potential. My biggest question is when things gel and we start clicking on all eight cylinders what is our ceiling? Can we scheme around our weak links like every team has to do enough to pull off wins against the stronger opponents?

There are still more questions than answers and it’s hard to get a feel for how we will be playing at the mid point of the season.

[Cliff]

That first drive was really good. Then the offense forgot how to score. It was good to see Thielen get more targets earlier. The defense is giving up a lot of yards through the air they've only given up 3 TDs so far this season. With the 7 TDs on the ground we're middle-of-the road in TDs allowed per game.

The defense is clearly selling out to make sure "big plays" don't happen as much as possible at the expense of giving up smaller chunks. It's "bend don't break" philosophy for sure. It's allowing for a lot of yards, which a lot of people look at to rank a defense, but it's allowing only an average amount of TDs in general and doing really great against allowing passing TDs. I'm not 100% sure if that kind of defense will work out in the long run for this team but they're 3-1 right now, so it's been good enough so far.

Mark Sanchez was super annoying in a variety of ways. I didn't understand him going on and on about the lack of using a time out. They weren't able to convert and if they did they had two timeouts so letting the clock run was the right move. Or at least not such a bad move that he needed to go on and on and on about it. The penalty on the block wasn't a good call but the hold was. He looked like he was trying to walk AT down the aisle.

They were no more lucky than unlucky in this one. They caught a lucky break or two, had an unlucky break or two, that's football. In the end, they did everything they needed to win.

With so many key players out for the Saints I would have liked a more convincing win, but I'll take what I can get.

[StumpHunter]

The ST's coordinator deserves a raise with the job he is doing on coverage units along with the execution of the fake punt. Would like to see better on returns, but even on that front Nwangwu and Reagor both had a nice return yesterday.

The Vikings have also played very disciplined and are one of the least penalized teams in the NFL. In fact, they have been the least penalized team in 3 out of their 4 games by a wide margin. I will let you guess which game the opposition was penalized less.

JJ had a great game, that should have been even better, and he absolutely torched Lattimore.

The Vikings won a close one and are now 3-1 in what appears to be a lousy conference.

That was the positive.

The pass rush was pathetic yesterday, with Tomlinson beating up on the Saints backup guard as the only guy with multiple pressures.

The run defense is indefensible.

Ingram continues to be a liability as a pass blocker, giving up 4 pressures and a sack. That is twice the number as any other offensive lineman in the game.

Cousins was off for most of the game and is approaching bottom 10 numbers in a number of key statistics.

The run game was very inefficient.

KOC made some poor decisions with clock and game management and nearly cost the Vikings the game.

[J. Kapp 11]

That first drive was really good. Then the offense forgot how to score. It was good to see Thielen get more targets earlier. The defense is giving up a lot of yards through the air they've only given up 3 TDs so far this season. With the 7 TDs on the ground we're middle-of-the road in TDs allowed per game.

The defense is clearly selling out to make sure "big plays" don't happen as much as possible at the expense of giving up smaller chunks. It's "bend don't break" philosophy for sure. It's allowing for a lot of yards, which a lot of people look at to rank a defense, but it's allowing only an average amount of TDs in general and doing really great against allowing passing TDs. I'm not 100% sure if that kind of defense will work out in the long run for this team but they're 3-1 right now, so it's been good enough so far.

Mark Sanchez was super annoying in a variety of ways. I didn't understand him going on and on about the lack of using a time out. They weren't able to convert and if they did they had two timeouts so letting the clock run was the right move. Or at least not such a bad move that he needed to go on and on and on about it. The penalty on the block wasn't a good call but the hold was. He looked like he was trying to walk AT down the aisle.

They were no more lucky than unlucky in this one. They caught a lucky break or two, had an unlucky break or two, that's football. In the end, they did everything they needed to win.

With so many key players out for the Saints I would have liked a more convincing win, but I'll take what I can get.

OMG, thank you!

Sanchez is no better as an announcer than he was as a quarterback. He just wouldn't shut up on the PI against Lattimore, and it was CLEARLY pass interference. You can always tell, when a receiver can only raise one arm to make a catch, the defender has hooked his other arm. And that's illegal. It was as obvious as it could have been on the replay, but Sanchez just kept saying that Thielen pushed Lattimore. Well of course he did! Lattimore had him in a straight jacket! Mike Perera missed it, too. But I shouldn't be surprised. New Orleans has been a darling of the league ever since Katrina.

Overall, I'm glad Lattimore got his a$$ burned yesterday. The guy is a punk who thinks he's better than he is. I remember December of 2020 when the Saints put the 50-burger on us, Jefferson still went off against Lattimore. Jefferson embarrassed him again yesterday. Lattimore tried to emulate the Lions and play press coverage, but he was too soft. He didn't jam Jefferson, and if you don't get your hands on JJ, you have no chance.

[J. Kapp 11]

Good news on the injury front.

Harrison Smith is not injured. Well, not anymore.

He did not sustain a wrist injury. He got a friendly fire foot to the gonads. The limp hanging arm only looked like a wrist injury.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I honestly dont believe this team has hit it's peak yet. Both offensively and defensively. I dont think much will change on defense if they continue to do the same with their corners and lack of blitzing. But I can see the offense getting a lot better. Cousins has been a consistent stat hero for the good or the bad across his career. The fact that his stats are down a bit compared to other years, this shows me there is probably significant room for improvement.

Side note: How about when the fans or anti-Kirk's for that matter dispute his statistics over the years and say they havent resulted in wins but are the first ones to bring up his statistics this year, when they HAVE resulted in wins. Kinda funny how that works.

[VikingsVictorious]

I honestly dont believe this team has hit it's peak yet. Both offensively and defensively. I dont think much will change on defense if they continue to do the same with their corners and lack of blitzing. But I can see the offense getting a lot better. Cousins has been a consistent stat hero for the good or the bad across his career. The fact that his stats are down a bit compared to other years, this shows me there is probably significant room for improvement.

Side note: How about when the fans or anti-Kirk's for that matter dispute his statistics over the years and say they havent resulted in wins but are the first ones to bring up his statistics this year, when they HAVE resulted in wins. Kinda funny how that works.

It's always the way it works.

[StumpHunter]

I honestly dont believe this team has hit it's peak yet. Both offensively and defensively. I dont think much will change on defense if they continue to do the same with their corners and lack of blitzing. But I can see the offense getting a lot better. Cousins has been a consistent stat hero for the good or the bad across his career. The fact that his stats are down a bit compared to other years, this shows me there is probably significant room for improvement.

Side note: How about when the fans or anti-Kirk's for that matter dispute his statistics over the years and say they havent resulted in wins but are the first ones to bring up his statistics this year, when they HAVE resulted in wins. Kinda funny how that works.

Doesn't that prove their point? That his stats don't matter?