Oakland post game thread

[StumpHunter]

Cook continues to impress. The guy is far and away the MVP on this team.

On to Chicago for the first really good defense we will face and Cook and the D better be ready to put the team on their back again. Kline's concussion means Elf might see the field, which probably means Hicks will have a field day.

[Alaskan]

When you don’t run many 4 wide sets, why would he be on the field? Given irv smiths skill set, he is that 4th “WR”.

Except he isnt a WR. If you think Vertical TE are interchangeable with WRs, I don't know what to tell you. Before it was Irv it was Bisi Johnson and before him Beebe. Keep throwing in names. This is an issue.

I agree. It’s and issue. All teams have to overcome issues. It’s nothing new. In this system, there is obviously lesser value attributed to WR depth. From my perspective, as long as 1 and 1A remain healthy, they will be ok. They are gonna run the football and play defense.......and they are ok with losing if they don’t. Thats the team they have built. I am not saying I like it, but it’s pretty apparent that what the plan is. It’s not like Cousins is getting to his 3 and 4 reads often anyway, the way the pass protect has been. It’s been a knock on cousins since out of college in the first place. He has problems with his progressions. That’s old news.

That being said, I am not sure it’s going to be easy for teams to stop this running attack if they stay healthy. They have dominated some pretty good fronts thus far. Next week against the bears should be another good test. Time will tell.

[YikesVikes]

Except he isnt a WR. If you think Vertical TE are interchangeable with WRs, I don't know what to tell you. Before it was Irv it was Bisi Johnson and before him Beebe. Keep throwing in names. This is an issue.

Lol it's not an issue on a team that hardly throws the ball. The volume Beebe has been getting is about what a 3rd WR is going to get. Idk why you continue to think we need some superstar there. And I said Irv Smith was working as a "4th WR" instead of having Bisi out there. Hell Diggs is hardly catching balls and you're worried about a 3rd guy. We are hardly passing the football. Do you think if Gary Kubiak was that worried about a 3rd WR he wouldn't have been screaming to draft one? Clearly he wasn't worried.

We are hardly passing because we haven't had to yet. We have played... slow start ATL, a GB team that stopped got up big and then tried to give us the game every way possible, and an Oakland team without much offensive bite. We have a schedule that will require a bit more offesive ummph... later in the year. Not to mention come the playoffs. Currently, we have 1 way to win and one way only. If we get behind we do not have to capabilities of winning a shootout. **Given that our defense is prone to 2 or 3 brain fart games a season** we are going to need multiple ways to win on offense. All of the good teams can do both.

Champ Eagles: could beat you in the air or ground.
Pats: Can beat you in the air or ground.,

Anytime you choose only one path, you are in trouble if it gets blocked.

[J. Kapp 11]

Today was my annual trek to US Bank Stadium. One of my favorite weekends so far.

First of all ... highlight of the day. OK, highlight of just about my entire football life ...

I met Joe Kapp ... shook his hand and talked with him for a few minutes!

My wife and I happened to be staying at the same hotel where they put up all the legends. We saw Johnny Randle, Bobby Bryant and several others. We were putting our bags in the car, and we were parked right next to one of the busses that were to take the legends down to the stadium. And who might be standing there, all by himself ... but Joe Kapp.

My wife saw my face ... I think I was like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert. She said, "Go meet him." So I did. What a nice guy! Much taller than I imagined.

Unfortunately, he's suffering from Alzheimer's. And that came through in our conversation.

"Mr. Kapp, you're the reason I'm a Vikings fan," I said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes. I came to see the my very first Vikings game when I was 9 years old, and you threw 7 touchdown passes against the Colts."

"I did?" he asked.

I almost cried. But you know, he was smiling the whole time, and he even joked about it: "I must've been a selfish son of a gun!"

I walked away literally shaking. I met my idol. Guys, I'm 59 years old, and I felt about 14. It was so cool. Unfortunately, I was too rattled to even think of getting a photo with him.

As for the game, here are my observations. By the way, we annually have amazing seats ... end zone, 40 rows up, right in front of the 90-foot doors. The perfect all-22 view.

Cousins looked so much better. He seemed pretty comfortable, and his reads were much better. He even ran for a couple first downs when it was obvious that was the right play. He did miss Stefon Diggs for a TD in the second quarter, throwing incomplete deep right sideline to Thielen. Diggsy had broken free early in the play down the left center ... we all saw it, but Cousins didn't, even though he had rolled left. But other than that, he was solid.

This just in ... Dalvin Cook is really good. I mean, REALLY good. It's amazing to watch him run when your vantage point is behind him in the all-22. On one play in the 3rd quarter, he made about 3 straight Raiders look like Pop Warner players. It was almost unfair.

Irv Smith can RUN. Guys, this dude is fast for a tight end. He looked great today, and especially good after the catch. He definitely took some Raiders by surprise.

Eric Kendricks was all over the field. He looked like one of those college linebackers who routinely racks up 15-20 tackles. I don't know how many end ended up with, but he played his butt off today.

As others have said, it was really good to see Mike Hughes on the field. The Vikings needed him today. Oakland's receivers are smallish and fast. Kearse wouldn't have been a good matchup in most cases. Hughes seemed to move well. He was a little confused a couple of times on where he was supposed to be before the play started, but Harris and Smith always got him in the right spot.

Bailey was booming his kickoffs. I didn't know he had that kind of leg. 7 kickoffs, 7 touchbacks. He also looked really relaxed on his placekicks. You could tell before the game that he was in a good place. He didn't miss a kick that I saw.

We need Barr. Eric Wilson had a decent game against the run, and he had two sacks. But Waller abused him in the passing game.

I'm not as worried about the penalties as I was. The calls were almost all bullsh!t. It was amazing. The league has WAY overcompensated on the holding calls. They called a personal foul on Beebe when he got run over (the play he injured his ankle on). I saw about two legitimate penalties on the Vikings today.

This was a game we should have won, and won big. We did. That's actually progress, given the Buffalo game last year. We did what we were supposed to do. I was especially happy to see us score on our first drive. The defense played well, given the absences of Barr and Alexander. Yeah, Carr threw for 242 ... it took him 34 attempts to do that, and almost nothing was downfield.

We ran for 211 yards against a pretty highly ranked rush defense. Our rush offense is legit. A lot of great blocking today in the running game, and our backs ... man, they're good. Mattison is a baller. He would start for a lot of teams. When he spells Dalvin, we lose very little.

Fun day. I'm now 4-0 at U.S. Bank stadium. Granted, I've never seen us play a team with a .500+ record at USB, but who cares? It's fun to go to games when they win, especially when they play well.

On to Chicago. SKOL!

[J. Kapp 11]

Lol it's not an issue on a team that hardly throws the ball. The volume Beebe has been getting is about what a 3rd WR is going to get. Idk why you continue to think we need some superstar there. And I said Irv Smith was working as a "4th WR" instead of having Bisi out there. Hell Diggs is hardly catching balls and you're worried about a 3rd guy. We are hardly passing the football. Do you think if Gary Kubiak was that worried about a 3rd WR he wouldn't have been screaming to draft one? Clearly he wasn't worried.

We are hardly passing because we haven't had to yet. We have played... slow start ATL, a GB team that stopped got up big and then tried to give us the game every way possible, and an Oakland team without much offensive bite. We have a schedule that will require a bit more offesive ummph... later in the year. Not to mention come the playoffs. Currently, we have 1 way to win and one way only. If we get behind we do not have to capabilities of winning a shootout. **Given that our defense is prone to 2 or 3 brain fart games a season** we are going to need multiple ways to win on offense. All of the good teams can do both.

Champ Eagles: could beat you in the air or ground.
Pats: Can beat you in the air or ground.,

Anytime you choose only one path, you are in trouble if it gets blocked.

Except that they lost to the Lions at home today. So there IS that.

[StumpHunter]

We are hardly passing because we haven't had to yet. We have played... slow start ATL, a GB team that stopped got up big and then tried to give us the game every way possible, and an Oakland team without much offensive bite. We have a schedule that will require a bit more offesive ummph... later in the year. Not to mention come the playoffs. Currently, we have 1 way to win and one way only. If we get behind we do not have to capabilities of winning a shootout. **Given that our defense is prone to 2 or 3 brain fart games a season** we are going to need multiple ways to win on offense. All of the good teams can do both.

Champ Eagles: could beat you in the air or ground.
Pats: Can beat you in the air or ground.,

Anytime you choose only one path, you are in trouble if it gets blocked.

Except that they lost to the Lions at home today. So there IS that.

They are missing some key guys.

Stafford was crap today and his team won anyway, the Lions might actually be good this year. But probably not.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Today was my annual trek to US Bank Stadium. One of my favorite weekends so far.

First of all ... highlight of the day. OK, highlight of just about my entire football life ...

I met Joe Kapp ... shook his hand and talked with him for a few minutes!

My wife and I happened to be staying at the same hotel where they put up all the legends. We saw Johnny Randle, Bobby Bryant and several others. We were putting our bags in the car, and we were parked right next to one of the busses that were to take the legends down to the stadium. And who might be standing there, all by himself ... but Joe Kapp.

My wife saw my face ... I think I was like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert. She said, "Go meet him." So I did. What a nice guy! Much taller than I imagined.

Unfortunately, he's suffering from Alzheimer's. And that came through in our conversation.

"Mr. Kapp, you're the reason I'm a Vikings fan," I said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes. I came to see the my very first Vikings game when I was 9 years old, and you threw 7 touchdown passes against the Colts."

"I did?" he asked.

I almost cried. But you know, he was smiling the whole time, and he even joked about it: "I must've been a selfish son of a gun!"

I walked away literally shaking. I met my idol. Guys, I'm 59 years old, and I felt about 14. It was so cool. Unfortunately, I was too rattled to even think of getting a photo with him.

As for the game, here are my observations. By the way, we annually have amazing seats ... end zone, 40 rows up, right in front of the 90-foot doors. The perfect all-22 view.

Cousins looked so much better. He seemed pretty comfortable, and his reads were much better. He even ran for a couple first downs when it was obvious that was the right play. He did miss Stefon Diggs for a TD in the second quarter, throwing incomplete deep right sideline to Thielen. Diggsy had broken free early in the play down the left center ... we all saw it, but Cousins didn't, even though he had rolled left. But other than that, he was solid.

This just in ... Dalvin Cook is really good. I mean, REALLY good. It's amazing to watch him run when your vantage point is behind him in the all-22. On one play in the 3rd quarter, he made about 3 straight Raiders look like Pop Warner players. It was almost unfair.

Irv Smith can RUN. Guys, this dude is fast for a tight end. He looked great today, and especially good after the catch. He definitely took some Raiders by surprise.

Eric Kendricks was all over the field. He looked like one of those college linebackers who routinely racks up 15-20 tackles. I don't know how many end ended up with, but he played his butt off today.

As others have said, it was really good to see Mike Hughes on the field. The Vikings needed him today. Oakland's receivers are smallish and fast. Kearse wouldn't have been a good matchup in most cases. Hughes seemed to move well. He was a little confused a couple of times on where he was supposed to be before the play started, but Harris and Smith always got him in the right spot.

Bailey was booming his kickoffs. I didn't know he had that kind of leg. 7 kickoffs, 7 touchbacks. He also looked really relaxed on his placekicks. You could tell before the game that he was in a good place. He didn't miss a kick that I saw.

We need Barr. Eric Wilson had a decent game against the run, and he had two sacks. But Waller abused him in the passing game.

I'm not as worried about the penalties as I was. The calls were almost all bullsh!t. It was amazing. The league has WAY overcompensated on the holding calls. They called a personal foul on Beebe when he got run over (the play he injured his ankle on). I saw about two legitimate penalties on the Vikings today.

This was a game we should have won, and won big. We did. That's actually progress, given the Buffalo game last year. We did what we were supposed to do. I was especially happy to see us score on our first drive. The defense played well, given the absences of Barr and Alexander. Yeah, Carr threw for 242 ... it took him 34 attempts to do that, and almost nothing was downfield.

We ran for 211 yards against a pretty highly ranked rush defense. Our rush offense is legit. A lot of great blocking today in the running game, and our backs ... man, they're good. Mattison is a baller. He would start for a lot of teams. When he spells Dalvin, we lose very little.

Fun day. I'm now 4-0 at U.S. Bank stadium. Granted, I've never seen us play a team with a .500+ record at USB, but who cares? It's fun to go to games when they win, especially when they play well.

On to Chicago. SKOL!

Kapp this is awesome man!! I'm telling you that's exactly how I was this preseason when I brought my step son to that Buffalo game.

When I pulled up to the hotel probably half the team was standing outside the front door getting ready for dinner. I walk by all of them and into the hotel to check in at the front desk. The rest of the team was standing right there in the lobby. I was literally shaking. Of course the lady at the front desk goes "I don't see your reservation on here". I hardly paid attention to her lol. I'm actually the 2nd (my fathers name is Mike as well) and it took her like 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) to try and find my reservation. She never put the 2nd on the end of my name typing it in so that's why it took her so long to find the reservation. But talk about overwhelming. Literally every player at the front door or in the lobby and I'm right in the middle of them. My heart was beating 100 mph and I'm 30 years old lol.

But I'm excited for you man! I feel bad for Joe Kapp. I had 2 grandparents suffer from that. Nothing worse than seeing that. Especially towards the end when they can hardly say words and don't remember your name. What a cool experience for you though. I didn't realize you went on an annual trip there every year. My buddy Nick and I do the same every year. We always go within the first 5 weeks of the season because it's still warm and we were actually planning on going to this game but given that my son was just born last Thursday, I'm waiting until November instead. We already booked the tickets and are going week 11 vs. Denver. But next year we'll probably get back to going early again. Hopefully we could try and go to the same game and meet up. Either way, excited for you buddy

[Pondering Her Percy]

Lol it's not an issue on a team that hardly throws the ball. The volume Beebe has been getting is about what a 3rd WR is going to get. Idk why you continue to think we need some superstar there. And I said Irv Smith was working as a "4th WR" instead of having Bisi out there. Hell Diggs is hardly catching balls and you're worried about a 3rd guy. We are hardly passing the football. Do you think if Gary Kubiak was that worried about a 3rd WR he wouldn't have been screaming to draft one? Clearly he wasn't worried.

We are hardly passing because we haven't had to yet. We have played... slow start ATL, a GB team that stopped got up big and then tried to give us the game every way possible, and an Oakland team without much offensive bite. We have a schedule that will require a bit more offesive ummph... later in the year. Not to mention come the playoffs. Currently, we have 1 way to win and one way only. If we get behind we do not have to capabilities of winning a shootout. **Given that our defense is prone to 2 or 3 brain fart games a season** we are going to need multiple ways to win on offense. All of the good teams can do both.

Champ Eagles: could beat you in the air or ground.
Pats: Can beat you in the air or ground.,

Anytime you choose only one path, you are in trouble if it gets blocked.

If we get into a "shootout" there is no reason we can't continue to run the football throughout the game. This is a completely different offense than last year. When we got down early last year, we completely abandoned the run. Thats not the case this year. We went down 21-0 to GB and still continued to run the football and continued to be successful. If Flip was still the OC, Cook would have been lucky to touch the ball 5 times the rest of the game. And it would force us to pass, excessively. And in that type of offense, you need to be deep at WR.

If Beebe is seriously injured, then yeah, I'm sure they will go and sign someone. They obviously can't be THAT thin at WR. I mean this might sound crazy, but if I'm them, I go and sign Treadwell. Simply because he knows the offense already, knows the QB already and can be an immediate plug and play. It's not like we're going to find some stud out there. But Treadwell seems like a smart signing instead of signing a guy and waiting a week before he can even play because he needs to learn the offense.

The big test is going to be against Chicago. Because they are usually legit against the run. But if Cook continues to have success against them, I'm not worried about WR at all. If he struggles then we could be in trouble based on who we sign.

When it comes to WR depth, I get what you're saying but it's not nearly as much of a need in this offense like it would be in others or Flips. When healthy and Beebe is running #3, in heavy passing situations you have Thielen, Diggs, Rudy, Irv and Beebe. If we weren't going heavy with 2 TE sets, WR would be a must. But when that is your top 5, I don't see that as much of a need as some might think.

[StpViking]

With Beebe out we quite literally have zero WR depth. We have 3 WRs on the entire roster now. Do they activate a PS guy or pick up a FA? Either way, very concerning.

Ok, I am going to throw this Grenade into the room. How about we bring Threadwell back? He knows the system and he would be the best blocker on the WR core.

Since he was unable to land on any team, he'll probably come in cheap.

[Thaumaturgist]

Do we know how bad the ankle is?

[J. Kapp 11]

Today was my annual trek to US Bank Stadium. One of my favorite weekends so far.

First of all ... highlight of the day. OK, highlight of just about my entire football life ...

I met Joe Kapp ... shook his hand and talked with him for a few minutes!

My wife and I happened to be staying at the same hotel where they put up all the legends. We saw Johnny Randle, Bobby Bryant and several others. We were putting our bags in the car, and we were parked right next to one of the busses that were to take the legends down to the stadium. And who might be standing there, all by himself ... but Joe Kapp.

My wife saw my face ... I think I was like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert. She said, "Go meet him." So I did. What a nice guy! Much taller than I imagined.

Unfortunately, he's suffering from Alzheimer's. And that came through in our conversation.

"Mr. Kapp, you're the reason I'm a Vikings fan," I said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes. I came to see the my very first Vikings game when I was 9 years old, and you threw 7 touchdown passes against the Colts."

"I did?" he asked.

I almost cried. But you know, he was smiling the whole time, and he even joked about it: "I must've been a selfish son of a gun!"

I walked away literally shaking. I met my idol. Guys, I'm 59 years old, and I felt about 14. It was so cool. Unfortunately, I was too rattled to even think of getting a photo with him.

As for the game, here are my observations. By the way, we annually have amazing seats ... end zone, 40 rows up, right in front of the 90-foot doors. The perfect all-22 view.

Cousins looked so much better. He seemed pretty comfortable, and his reads were much better. He even ran for a couple first downs when it was obvious that was the right play. He did miss Stefon Diggs for a TD in the second quarter, throwing incomplete deep right sideline to Thielen. Diggsy had broken free early in the play down the left center ... we all saw it, but Cousins didn't, even though he had rolled left. But other than that, he was solid.

This just in ... Dalvin Cook is really good. I mean, REALLY good. It's amazing to watch him run when your vantage point is behind him in the all-22. On one play in the 3rd quarter, he made about 3 straight Raiders look like Pop Warner players. It was almost unfair.

Irv Smith can RUN. Guys, this dude is fast for a tight end. He looked great today, and especially good after the catch. He definitely took some Raiders by surprise.

Eric Kendricks was all over the field. He looked like one of those college linebackers who routinely racks up 15-20 tackles. I don't know how many end ended up with, but he played his butt off today.

As others have said, it was really good to see Mike Hughes on the field. The Vikings needed him today. Oakland's receivers are smallish and fast. Kearse wouldn't have been a good matchup in most cases. Hughes seemed to move well. He was a little confused a couple of times on where he was supposed to be before the play started, but Harris and Smith always got him in the right spot.

Bailey was booming his kickoffs. I didn't know he had that kind of leg. 7 kickoffs, 7 touchbacks. He also looked really relaxed on his placekicks. You could tell before the game that he was in a good place. He didn't miss a kick that I saw.

We need Barr. Eric Wilson had a decent game against the run, and he had two sacks. But Waller abused him in the passing game.

I'm not as worried about the penalties as I was. The calls were almost all bullsh!t. It was amazing. The league has WAY overcompensated on the holding calls. They called a personal foul on Beebe when he got run over (the play he injured his ankle on). I saw about two legitimate penalties on the Vikings today.

This was a game we should have won, and won big. We did. That's actually progress, given the Buffalo game last year. We did what we were supposed to do. I was especially happy to see us score on our first drive. The defense played well, given the absences of Barr and Alexander. Yeah, Carr threw for 242 ... it took him 34 attempts to do that, and almost nothing was downfield.

We ran for 211 yards against a pretty highly ranked rush defense. Our rush offense is legit. A lot of great blocking today in the running game, and our backs ... man, they're good. Mattison is a baller. He would start for a lot of teams. When he spells Dalvin, we lose very little.

Fun day. I'm now 4-0 at U.S. Bank stadium. Granted, I've never seen us play a team with a .500+ record at USB, but who cares? It's fun to go to games when they win, especially when they play well.

On to Chicago. SKOL!

Kapp this is awesome man!! I'm telling you that's exactly how I was this preseason when I brought my step son to that Buffalo game.

When I pulled up to the hotel probably half the team was standing outside the front door getting ready for dinner. I walk by all of them and into the hotel to check in at the front desk. The rest of the team was standing right there in the lobby. I was literally shaking. Of course the lady at the front desk goes "I don't see your reservation on here". I hardly paid attention to her lol. I'm actually the 2nd (my fathers name is Mike as well) and it took her like 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) to try and find my reservation. She never put the 2nd on the end of my name typing it in so that's why it took her so long to find the reservation. But talk about overwhelming. Literally every player at the front door or in the lobby and I'm right in the middle of them. My heart was beating 100 mph and I'm 30 years old lol.

But I'm excited for you man! I feel bad for Joe Kapp. I had 2 grandparents suffer from that. Nothing worse than seeing that. Especially towards the end when they can hardly say words and don't remember your name. What a cool experience for you though. I didn't realize you went on an annual trip there every year. My buddy Nick and I do the same every year. We always go within the first 5 weeks of the season because it's still warm and we were actually planning on going to this game but given that my son was just born last Thursday, I'm waiting until November instead. We already booked the tickets and are going week 11 vs. Denver. But next year we'll probably get back to going early again. Hopefully we could try and go to the same game and meet up. Either way, excited for you buddy

Thanks man. Meeting Joe Kapp ... I'm still having a hard time believing it. What was really cool was that they must have showed the highlights of that game about 20 times on the big screens during timeouts. Took me back to being 9 years old.

I'd love to meet up next year. We typically buy our tickets from a co-worker of my wife's, who has season tickets but can't go to all the games. We don't have our "pick" of games, but we can usually get a month we want, or pretty close.

[Raz]

Wow that is awesome I was at the game also. It is cool to see the hole field yes Kendrick's is a beast that man is everywhere. What hotel if you don't mind me asking. That half time was moving.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Kapp this is awesome man!! I'm telling you that's exactly how I was this preseason when I brought my step son to that Buffalo game.

When I pulled up to the hotel probably half the team was standing outside the front door getting ready for dinner. I walk by all of them and into the hotel to check in at the front desk. The rest of the team was standing right there in the lobby. I was literally shaking. Of course the lady at the front desk goes "I don't see your reservation on here". I hardly paid attention to her lol. I'm actually the 2nd (my fathers name is Mike as well) and it took her like 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) to try and find my reservation. She never put the 2nd on the end of my name typing it in so that's why it took her so long to find the reservation. But talk about overwhelming. Literally every player at the front door or in the lobby and I'm right in the middle of them. My heart was beating 100 mph and I'm 30 years old lol.

But I'm excited for you man! I feel bad for Joe Kapp. I had 2 grandparents suffer from that. Nothing worse than seeing that. Especially towards the end when they can hardly say words and don't remember your name. What a cool experience for you though. I didn't realize you went on an annual trip there every year. My buddy Nick and I do the same every year. We always go within the first 5 weeks of the season because it's still warm and we were actually planning on going to this game but given that my son was just born last Thursday, I'm waiting until November instead. We already booked the tickets and are going week 11 vs. Denver. But next year we'll probably get back to going early again. Hopefully we could try and go to the same game and meet up. Either way, excited for you buddy

Thanks man. Meeting Joe Kapp ... I'm still having a hard time believing it. What was really cool was that they must have showed the highlights of that game about 20 times on the big screens during timeouts. Took me back to being 9 years old.

I'd love to meet up next year. We typically buy our tickets from a co-worker of my wife's, who has season tickets but can't go to all the games. We don't have our "pick" of games, but we can usually get a month we want, or pretty close.

Wow that’s pretty crazy.

And yeah man we can definitely look into it next year. We just kind of pick whatever game early on. We try and see a new team every time so we’re saving divisional games until the end. We try and see a team you wouldn’t see that often

[S197]

With Beebe out we quite literally have zero WR depth. We have 3 WRs on the entire roster now. Do they activate a PS guy or pick up a FA? Either way, very concerning.

Ok, I am going to throw this Grenade into the room. How about we bring Threadwell back? He knows the system and he would be the best blocker on the WR core.

Since he was unable to land on any team, he'll probably come in cheap.

I wouldn’t hate it, he’d probably be the most ready of anyone coming in and as you mention, he’s an above average run blocker. I was wondering if they would grab someone like Garçon who could also provide some nice vet locker room experience.

[VikingLord]

My take on the win against the Raiders:

- The Raiders are a flawed team, but the one aspect of that team that isn't flawed is their run defense. They've been stout against the run and have very good run defenders in their front 7. It didn't matter against the Vikings rushing attack. This is the 3rd straight game where we've seen the Vikings consistently gashing a defense with the run and hitting multiple big running plays. While one or even two games doesn't make a trend, three games begins to create a trend, especially a game like this against a run defense like that. Very impressive. I'll say it here - if the Vikings can play defense and prevent crazy starts like happened last week against the Packers, and the Vikings can keep the run pressure on as they've done, the Vikings make their first Superbowl since the 70's this year and will have an excellent chance of winning said Superbowl. We'll get another great data point next Sunday against another very solid run defending team. If the Vikings gash the Bears, I have no doubt that this offense and strategy have the potential to get this team to the promised land. Defense has to do it's part for that to happen, but as far as the offense goes, this run game is a lethal strategy. If the better run defenses can't slow it down, they're going to roll and Cousins isn't going to have to do a lot.

- Super impressed by Kendricks today. I posted last week about player leaders on the defense and the lack of such on the Vikings. Kendricks looked and played like he wants to step into that role. Oakland was a good rushing team coming into this game, and Kendricks was consistently making plays.

- Loved what I saw the Vikings do with Irv Smith. They got him deeper down the field a few times and he showed the talent that I think justified his selection in the 2nd round. Smith is a guy who should be able to do those sorts of things more regularly as he acclimates to the pro game. This isn't a negative comment towards Rudolph - it's an acknowledgment of what Smith brings to the table.

- The Vikings continue to show a nice balance on offense. I would like to see a few more deep attempts, but beyond the lack of those, they're keeping defenses guessing.

- The defense played well overall with the exception of the 2 TDs they gave up. The late one I don't really care about, although it was a little disappointing to see them let the Raiders march it down the field like they did. The earlier one was a little more disturbing. I don't expect the Vikings to pitch a shutout every game, but allowing a receiver to run free like that has to get cleaned up. Someone blew it bigtime on that play.

- The Raider TE was unreal today. Not sure if Carr was just on auto-pilot firing the ball to him, but he was open short, middle and deep all day. If he hauls in that deep pass late in the 2nd quarter, this game might ultimately have been much closer. It was a little disconcerting to see the Vikings fail to find a way to neutralize him. Maybe it's a secondary depth issue? Whatever it was, the Vikings defensively have to be able to find answers to things like that.

Hard to say much more about this game. Cousins was kept clean and made the plays he needed to make. I thought he did a good job overall and deserves credit for it. Hopefully this helps raise his confidence because next week the Vikings might need to lean on him a little more. Special teams did well. Beebe muffed a punt, but luckily got away with it. Other than that, they were solid. The running game and the defense did what they were expected to do, which is all the Vikings need to keep winning games by comfortable margins.

Big, big test on the road next week. I am very excited to see if the Vikings can keep running against the Bears defense. If so, I'm going to be super pumped about the potential of this team.