Suckage

[CharVike]

This bugs me the most, I noticed this 5 minutes into the game and Viking players didn’t start changing cleats till the 2nd. Don’t they practice before hand, how did it take a 1 hour warm up and 20 minutes of game time to realize they needed to change? Inexcusable.

I looked into a Vikings podcast called Purple FTW this morning. I don't generally care for this podcast because it's hosted by a JAG. Just A Guy. A dude who's just a fan. No insider information, no access to anyone in the organization. It's like one of us having a podcast (in fact, I'd rather watch a podcast by one of us).

But ... he asked a great question.

Did the Vikings fail to wear the proper cleats because of vanity?

These guys nowadays are wearing custom cleats, designed by guys for them. They're very cool looking. The league allows it. Encourages it. They get to express themselves through their shoes, with the help of artists of course. These cleats are molded. They're great for turf, and they're great for grass fields in great condition. But they're not good for sloppy turf.

The coaching staff "encouraged" them to wear 7-studded cleats. These are screw-in cleats that can accept spikes of varying lengths. They're much better for sloppy field conditions than molded cleats. But 7-stud cleats aren't custom. They're plain black. Or white. Not fancy. Not cool. O'Connell basically said they advised the players to wear them, but you can't force them. So the players wore their cool, custom, molded cleats.

And we all saw what happened. We have meme videos about what happened, for crying out loud.

This is an area of improvement for O'Connell, I believe. By "encouraging" players to wear 7-stud cleats instead of "requiring" the players to wear them, KOC sabotaged himself. KOC is a guy who loves collaboration. He's a players coach. He wants the players to like him. His comment that you can't make the players wear a certain shoe ... I don't think that's the way to approach a situation like this. Can anyone here see Bill Belichick doing that? Hell, how about Mike Zimmer? (And you all know that I loathe Zimmer.)

I love KOC's coaching style. I think he's gotten buy-in from the players in a huge way. They're owners of their team, not renters. They care about the team, and they care for each other. But sometimes a coach has to lay down the law. This was too important an issue to leave to players' egos and vanity. IMO, KOC should have required them to put on the appropriate footwear. Being a players coach is fine. But sometimes a leader has to know when to take charge. KOC needs to learn that.

Don't know if it would've made a difference in the outcome. But the way the Vikings were sliding around out there in the first half, they had no chance.

What should KOC say? Wear these or you will be inactive? Then the players association will be involved. This shoe stuff has been going on for a long time. Remember Billy "white shoes" Johnson. People were pissed because of the white out of bounds marker. Obviously these guys care more about their shoes than getting prepared for a significant game and trying to win. That's a problem with the player. What's more important? With JJ slipping around there was no sense in even throwing to him and they didn't. Maybe that was the punishment. Decoy only. You only get so many plays a series. If a team leader or captain says "wear these cleats or you won't have good footing" and the play says I have my shoes? That falls on the player. When you have guys that don't give a #### that's a huge problem. A team player would have worn the correct shoes for the conditions.

[Fat Stupid Loser]

After a game like this, I expected Stump to be back. Notice he has been quite absent throughout the winning streak.

[Pondering Her Percy]

After a game like this, I expected Stump to be back. Notice he has been quite absent throughout the winning streak.

Literally thought the same thing the other day. Hard to knock cousins and the Vikings even with the blowout losses given we’re sitting at 12-4. Given his usual narratives, there’s isn’t much to argue on that end

[CharVike]

The Vikings on Wednesday designated defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard to return from injured reserve and he was back at practice.
Bullard suffered a biceps injury Dec. 4 against the New York Jets and was placed on injured reserve Dec. 10. He missed four games, the minimum for a player placed on injured reserve. It remains to be seen if Bullard, who started seven of the 11 games he has played this season, will be activated to play Sunday at Chicago. A Bullard return could help make up for defensive lineman James Lynch being in line to miss his second straight game due to a shoulder injury. Lynch did not practice Wednesday.
This is a positive for a change.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I'm starting to think we really found a hidden gem in Brian Asamoah. I just saw that in the last 4 weeks, Asamoah is the #9 LB in overall defense according to PFF.

[Thaumaturgist]

After a game like this, I expected Stump to be back. Notice he has been quite absent throughout the winning streak.

I haven't seen him around either. Makes me wonder if he got.

[Pondering Her Percy]

After a game like this, I expected Stump to be back. Notice he has been quite absent throughout the winning streak.

I haven't seen him around either. Makes me wonder if he got.

The arguments on here have been down for sure I can tell you that

[J. Kapp 11]

I looked into a Vikings podcast called Purple FTW this morning. I don't generally care for this podcast because it's hosted by a JAG. Just A Guy. A dude who's just a fan. No insider information, no access to anyone in the organization. It's like one of us having a podcast (in fact, I'd rather watch a podcast by one of us).

But ... he asked a great question.

Did the Vikings fail to wear the proper cleats because of vanity?

These guys nowadays are wearing custom cleats, designed by guys for them. They're very cool looking. The league allows it. Encourages it. They get to express themselves through their shoes, with the help of artists of course. These cleats are molded. They're great for turf, and they're great for grass fields in great condition. But they're not good for sloppy turf.

The coaching staff "encouraged" them to wear 7-studded cleats. These are screw-in cleats that can accept spikes of varying lengths. They're much better for sloppy field conditions than molded cleats. But 7-stud cleats aren't custom. They're plain black. Or white. Not fancy. Not cool. O'Connell basically said they advised the players to wear them, but you can't force them. So the players wore their cool, custom, molded cleats.

And we all saw what happened. We have meme videos about what happened, for crying out loud.

This is an area of improvement for O'Connell, I believe. By "encouraging" players to wear 7-stud cleats instead of "requiring" the players to wear them, KOC sabotaged himself. KOC is a guy who loves collaboration. He's a players coach. He wants the players to like him. His comment that you can't make the players wear a certain shoe ... I don't think that's the way to approach a situation like this. Can anyone here see Bill Belichick doing that? Hell, how about Mike Zimmer? (And you all know that I loathe Zimmer.)

I love KOC's coaching style. I think he's gotten buy-in from the players in a huge way. They're owners of their team, not renters. They care about the team, and they care for each other. But sometimes a coach has to lay down the law. This was too important an issue to leave to players' egos and vanity. IMO, KOC should have required them to put on the appropriate footwear. Being a players coach is fine. But sometimes a leader has to know when to take charge. KOC needs to learn that.

Don't know if it would've made a difference in the outcome. But the way the Vikings were sliding around out there in the first half, they had no chance.

What should KOC say? Wear these or you will be inactive? Then the players association will be involved. This shoe stuff has been going on for a long time. Remember Billy "white shoes" Johnson. People were pissed because of the white out of bounds marker. Obviously these guys care more about their shoes than getting prepared for a significant game and trying to win. That's a problem with the player. What's more important? With JJ slipping around there was no sense in even throwing to him and they didn't. Maybe that was the punishment. Decoy only. You only get so many plays a series. If a team leader or captain says "wear these cleats or you won't have good footing" and the play says I have my shoes? That falls on the player. When you have guys that don't give a #### that's a huge problem. A team player would have worn the correct shoes for the conditions.

People think the best leaders are the loudest guys. The toughest guys. It’s a fallacy. The key to leadership isn’t bludgeoning guys until they do what you want. It works for awhile until the people decide they don’t want to play the game. That’s what Zimmer did.

If you’re a good leader, you get your people to buy in … without doing things that get you in hot water with the NFLPA. KOC failed to do that. Doesn’t mean he should be fired. Just means he can get better.

[Cliff]

What should KOC say? Wear these or you will be inactive? Then the players association will be involved. This shoe stuff has been going on for a long time. Remember Billy "white shoes" Johnson. People were pissed because of the white out of bounds marker. Obviously these guys care more about their shoes than getting prepared for a significant game and trying to win. That's a problem with the player. What's more important? With JJ slipping around there was no sense in even throwing to him and they didn't. Maybe that was the punishment. Decoy only. You only get so many plays a series. If a team leader or captain says "wear these cleats or you won't have good footing" and the play says I have my shoes? That falls on the player. When you have guys that don't give a #### that's a huge problem. A team player would have worn the correct shoes for the conditions.

People think the best leaders are the loudest guys. The toughest guys. It’s a fallacy. The key to leadership isn’t bludgeoning guys until they do what you want. It works for awhile until the people decide they don’t want to play the game. That’s what Zimmer did.

If you’re a good leader, you get your people to buy in … without doing things that get you in hot water with the NFLPA. KOC failed to do that. Doesn’t mean he should be fired. Just means he can get better.

Sometimes people learn lessons better when they're allowed to fail. It might have been a valuable moment where some of the players might have thought "maybe coach does know best after all ... "

[Cliff]

I haven't seen him around either. Makes me wonder if he got.

The arguments on here have been down for sure I can tell you that

His profile says he hasn't logged into the board in a few months now. I didn't ban him.

Also, I'm not particularly thrilled about calling him out, so lets try to leave the conversation about it here.

[J. Kapp 11]

People think the best leaders are the loudest guys. The toughest guys. It’s a fallacy. The key to leadership isn’t bludgeoning guys until they do what you want. It works for awhile until the people decide they don’t want to play the game. That’s what Zimmer did.

If you’re a good leader, you get your people to buy in … without doing things that get you in hot water with the NFLPA. KOC failed to do that. Doesn’t mean he should be fired. Just means he can get better.

Sometimes people learn lessons better when they're allowed to fail. It might have been a valuable moment where some of the players might have thought "maybe coach does know best after all ... "

Solid point.

[VikingLord]

I'm starting to think we really found a hidden gem in Brian Asamoah. I just saw that in the last 4 weeks, Asamoah is the #9 LB in overall defense according to PFF.

I hope Donatell takes a different approach to containing Jones this Sunday as I felt Jones was by far the biggest factor in keeping the Giants in the first game. I'm really not worried about Daniel Jones as a pocket passer. I am greatly worried about Daniel Jones when he escapes the pocket and either throws while moving or takes off and runs the ball.

And this is where the strategic decision to use a guy like Asamoah to spy him could pay off. Asamoah should be able to limit what Jones can do when he goes off-script or even on RPO plays. He's the counter to that aspect of not only the Giants' offense, but any other offense the Vikings face that has that type of QB who takes off. Neither Kendricks nor Hicks has the wheels to do that effectively at this point.

If the Giants can protect Jones and he can pass effectively out of the pocket, good for them. But if they can't do that and Jones is flushed, Asamoah is the best option to limit the damage he can do.

Another option would be to bring in a 3rd safety next to Hicks/Kendricks and drop him into the box as the spy. Metellus gives up size in that role and that might be an issue if the Giants run, but in obvious passing situations that could be an option too, especially if Donatell sends an extra pass rusher.