Patriots @ Vikings post game

[VikingsFan84]

Vikings finally defeated the Patriots after 22 years! That was a entertaining game to watch! Jefferson, Kene, and the offensive line gets game balls

[CharVike]

Nice bounce back game. Like always with us some good, bad and ugly. Sacks at the end sealed the deal. OL did a good job against a tough D. Nice to see Reagor get a catch. Good to see some rest for the players after this. That was a stretch of facing some tough Ds.

[J. Kapp 11]

Bad pick by Cousins early, but the man bounced back. Another 4th quarter comeback, 119.4 passer rating.

But you’re right … without the O-line keeping him upright, Kirk does nothing, and the Vikings lose.

Tell you what else. Ryan Wright just nukes the ball. I noticed during warmups of the two games I attended just how high and far this guy kicks it. Wright flipped the field consistently during this game, along with being the recipient of a running into the kicker penalty.

Pass rush finally showed up when it mattered most. Better late than never.

Huge win. Now 9-2 with a FIVE game lead. Need to get some guys healthy during the mini-bye.

[JJBreaksRecords]

Damn, JJ and Cousins put on a show for us to watch tonight!!! Wow, just a good game all around, other than the D. Again.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Bad pick by Cousins early, but the man bounced back. Another 4th quarter comeback, 119.4 passer rating.

But you’re right … without the O-line keeping him upright, Kirk does nothing, and the Vikings lose.

Tell you what else. Ryan Wright just nukes the ball. I noticed during warmups of the two games I attended just how high and far this guy kicks it. Wright flipped the field consistently during this game, along with being the recipient of a running into the kicker penalty.

Pass rush finally showed up when it mattered most. Better late than never.

Huge win. Now 9-2 with a FIVE game lead. Need to get some guys healthy during the mini-bye.

Huge win!! I will say, I get frustrated watching how complacent Donatell can be. That entire game they were just rushing 4. They finally threw a few blitzes in and mac crapped. Next week they will be facing Mike White. If you aren’t finding a way to pressure him then I’m at a loss for words.

Overall though, cousins was a stud again in the 4th quarter. I really liked how KOC adjusted this OL. With Darrisaw out I was worried about Judon and he was a non factor.

[Maelstrom88]

The back up LT did well. JJ continues to make spectacular contested catches. Also the corners made some great tackles. I forgot the players name but he powered through a block on a bubble screen and made an exceptional wrap up tackle. Smith lit a dude up. PP showed his grit and intelligence pulling that patriot WR back from going out of bounds late.

[Chi-Town Vike]

Special Teams, don't forget the special teams. Sweet KO return but, Joseph remains a liability. Pats special teams cost them big time. Running into the kicker and fielding a punt at their 2 with a minute to play. Mac Jones 119 passer rating no T/O's 2 TD's and 382 career high passing yards. A lil better than Kirk on the night. Good game but, Vikes need to make some strides goin forward.

[Foreman44]

For me this game was big... we needed to win after last weeks thumping...

New England may not be the cowboys, Eagles, KC. But they are a good team.

Looks like all or most all games will be nail biters.

Most here know bi been posting we beat a bunch of lower level teams, now we have wins over Buffalo and N.E,

Don’t get me wrong on lower level.. few teams are easy. Detroit they lost but they have battled,.. GB,, Dallas crushed ism yet GB beat Dallas,

Still a very good win, let’s too another against the jets

[VikingsFan84]

Special Teams, don't forget the special teams. Sweet KO return but, Joseph remains a liability. Pats special teams cost them big time. Running into the kicker and fielding a punt at their 2 with a minute to play. Mac Jones 119 passer rating no T/O's 2 TD's and 382 career high passing yards. A lil better than Kirk on the night. Good game but, Vikes need to make some strides goin forward.

Joseph has to go after the season, Vikings can not afford to be missing extra points or it would come back and bite Vikings in the butt

[Texas Vike]

That was a really satisfying win. I had to watch through the windows as I was smoking a turkey for a large group of friends and the cold and wet conditions were making that more laborious than usual... but I got to catch the second half on delay around midnight and it was a great ending to a fantastic day. I sat there stuffed with gratitude. JJ deserves a turkey leg and Kirk the other. Huge games from both of those guys. The D stepped up when it had to in the end. 9-2. I'm pleasantly surprised, to be honest. I was very fearful that our Buffalo hangover would linger.

[CharVike]

Special Teams, don't forget the special teams. Sweet KO return but, Joseph remains a liability. Pats special teams cost them big time. Running into the kicker and fielding a punt at their 2 with a minute to play. Mac Jones 119 passer rating no T/O's 2 TD's and 382 career high passing yards. A lil better than Kirk on the night. Good game but, Vikes need to make some strides goin forward.

Our ST need a shout out. We had some coverage issues but that KO return gave the momentum back to us. Last week the Pats ST won the game for them. They were going to return every punt and you can't blame them. Wrights bomb to the goal line I was worried the dude would break it. He's fast and get past the first wave and it's over. Peg is pitiful. His missed xtra points always seem to come when it's a kick that keeps us away from a FG tie. His miss took a 4 point lead away. If it's a higher pressure xtra point it's basically a guaranteed miss. Just let Wright attempt a drop kick for the point. At least there's some entertainment value and it might be good. With Peg the only guarantee is a push right.

[VikingLord]

The offense acquitted itself nicely after last week's embarrassing performance against the Cowboys. The special teams made some big plays (Nwangwu return and multiple great punts) and missed on some plays (missed PAT and big return allowed on a kickoff).

But that Vikings defense... uuuuggghhhh. That defense is their Achilles's heel this year. If they don't create turnovers it seems they really struggle to get off the field. They picked it up late and made some plays to close out the game, but overall we saw largely the same things play out with wide open receivers and easy pitch-and-catch throws along with some chunk runs given up. We saw yet another short screen pass go for big yards. Not sure what to say about the defensive struggles. I know they're running on fumes at CB which doesn't help, but if there was an offense to get right against it was the Patriot offense and the Vikings surrendered another 400+ yards on defense.

What puzzles me the most about the defense is that the same things are happening week in and and week out despite so much veteran talent and experience. I could understand if the defense was loaded with young players, but for the most part it is a very experienced group. Just not sure why they can't get together and get things figured out. It's easy to blame Donatell for the issues and maybe he is the problem but I doubt his schemes are so poorly designed that they leave receivers to run consistently wide open or fail to read and react to screens and misdirection plays. I think the players have to take some responsibility for the results we're seeing. There are times when the defense steps it up and plays like one would expect given the players on the defense, but the consistency is lacking. If the team is going to do anything in the playoffs, they're going to need the defense to improve substantially.

Vikings needed a bounce back performance after the debacle against the Cowboys and got it for the most part. I didn't expect much from the offense but they seemed to take what happened against Dallas personally and it showed. As long as they keep up that level of play the Vikings will have a chance in any game.

[makila]

Big win. National spot. Tons of TV eyes. Good NE team with a very good defense. Offense continued to make plays when it was needed. Entire passing game was very good. Offensive line was outstanding, especially with the injuries. Huge kudos here to the players and the coaches for adjusting. I was going to lose my #### if they did the same thing (lack of) they did against DAL from a play calling and protection stand point. They didn't. Huge adjustment on short rest. Players executed, Brandel was much better, and coaches adjusted.

This defense. Woof. I still don't know what it excels at. I feel like I'm watching a college game...where so much the philosophy is..."just don't let them score more than our uptempo high octane offense". Yes, I'm aware that's the point of the game. I'd like to see the defense shut someone down. Sometimes in the NFL you have to do that when your offense can't just "out scheme" the other team. It feels like the only thing that's happening on defense is we get bailed out by an amazing play here and there by one of the few amazing players we have on defense. IE the late Hunter sack. That was great play by Hunter and bad play by their LOT.

Now granted, I can acknowledge part of a scheme is putting players into position to make plays. I just don't think that's happening. I think the players are making plays in spite of Donatell and his scheme. Do think that lack of depth is hurting some of the...what could be.

At some point if we want to be serious contenders, we will have to win up front on defense in playoff football.

9-2. Huge win on national TV after the DAL debacle. Oline looked so much better. Great job players and coaches adjusting there. I am growing more confident in the young offensive coaching staff as they get experience. I love how loose the players looked and carried themselves, while still being focused and executing. I think that's attributed to the new regime.

Edit: Oh yeah, derp, huge shout out to ST. Played fantastic. Return TDs are such momentum movers!
Wright did his best acting job a few times yesterday. Not the flagged play, there was one in the 4th Q as well iirc, where he just totally flopped. Heh. I know they all do now looking for a flag.

Joseph's XPs are a liability. Don't talk about pre-season kickers. It doesn't fing matter. XPs have to get made. I've taken up for past missed XP (whole unit screwing up with lineman rushing out late). Joseph is the worst by made XP percent in the league now. 82.8% XP made. McManus is next regular K closest at 83.3% and then it's Santos at 87%.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/player/_ ... t/dir/desc

(part of me hopes I have egg on my face later in the year about that above haha)

[VikingsFan84]

Big win. National spot. Tons of TV eyes. Good NE team with a very good defense. Offense continued to make plays when it was needed. Entire passing game was very good. Offensive line was outstanding, especially with the injuries. Huge kudos here to the players and the coaches for adjusting. I was going to lose my #### if they did the same thing (lack of) they did against DAL from a play calling and protection stand point. They didn't. Huge adjustment on short rest. Players executed, Brandel was much better, and coaches adjusted.

This defense. Woof. I still don't know what it excels at. I feel like I'm watching a college game...where so much the philosophy is..."just don't let them score more than our uptempo high octane offense". Yes, I'm aware that's the point of the game. I'd like to see the defense shut someone down. Sometimes in the NFL you have to do that when your offense can't just "out scheme" the other team. It feels like the only thing that's happening on defense is we get bailed out by an amazing play here and there by one of the few amazing players we have on defense. IE the late Hunter sack. That was great play by Hunter and bad play by their LOT.

Now granted, I can acknowledge part of a scheme is putting players into position to make plays. I just don't think that's happening. I think the players are making plays in spite of Donatell and his scheme. Do think that lack of depth is hurting some of the...what could be.

At some point if we want to be serious contenders, we will have to win up front on defense in playoff football.

9-2. Huge win on national TV after the DAL debacle. Oline looked so much better. Great job players and coaches adjusting there. I am growing more confident in the young offensive coaching staff as they get experience. I love how loose the players looked and carried themselves, while still being focused and executing. I think that's attributed to the new regime.

Edit: Oh yeah, derp, huge shout out to ST. Played fantastic. Return TDs are such momentum movers!
Wright did his best acting job a few times yesterday. Not the flagged play, there was one in the 4th Q as well iirc, where he just totally flopped. Heh. I know they all do now looking for a flag.

Joseph's XPs are a liability. Don't talk about pre-season kickers. It doesn't fing matter. XPs have to get made. I took up for last weeks missed XP (the whole unit screwed up with lineman rushing out late). Joseph is the worst by made XP percent in the league now. 82.8% made. McManus is next regular K closest at 83.3% and then it's Santos at 87%.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/player/_ ... t/dir/desc

(part of me hopes I have egg on my face later in the year about that above haha)

That is why I said Joseph has to be let go after the season

[J. Kapp 11]

Side note on the broadcast.

Tony Dungy and Jason Garrett were REALLY GOOD as in-game analysts. Fantastic insight. I remember one play where the back judge threw a penalty flag, and Dungy noted that a flag there usually means holding on a defensive lineman. Sure enough, that’s exactly what it was. I also recall that ridiculous catch by JJ near the end of the first half. Garrett called it an “east-west” doubleteam, and Dungy said, “They forgot about north.” Really good stuff. Add in Mike Tirico, who is always really good, and it made for a great broadcast. Best I’ve heard this season.

And the post-game interview with Kirko, AT and JJ … that was TV gold! Kirko says he needs to call his dentist and get some grills like JJ. AT spitting out the turkey: “A little dry.” If nothing else, the Vikings are really entertaining.