Early Bears Pre-Game Thread

[Maelstrom88]

This game starting at noon is a huge benefit to us since it takes away a significant amount of home field advantage. Plus this game being in September also helps us quite a bit. Looks like 60 degrees and about 50% chance of rain on Sunday so there could be a bunch of turnovers for both teams. All of that takes away from home field advantage quite a bit so hopefully we come in prepared and cut down on our mistakes.

Probably obvious, but if we don't beat ourselves (missed FGs, ill-timed turnovers) we can hang with and beat most teams.

I thought this was a 3 o clock game?

[Bowhunting Viking]

This game starting at noon is a huge benefit to us since it takes away a significant amount of home field advantage. Plus this game being in September also helps us quite a bit. Looks like 60 degrees and about 50% chance of rain on Sunday so there could be a bunch of turnovers for both teams. All of that takes away from home field advantage quite a bit so hopefully we come in prepared and cut down on our mistakes.

Probably obvious, but if we don't beat ourselves (missed FGs, ill-timed turnovers) we can hang with and beat most teams.

I thought this was a 3 o clock game?

It is the 2nd game. Flexed over to CBS. 4 30 start here in Ohio. Thank the Lord above that Romo has replaced Phil Simms. I always said I wanted to invent a Simms mute button, I could be wealthier than Tom Brady. I HATED listening to that egotistical jerk Simms

[CharVike]

It will come down to the OL blocking. If they let Mack do whatever he wants the ball will be on the ground. A QB who don't fumble like Case had how many fumbles and right from the start. This idiot OC we have better recognize that Mack can blow us up and adjust his micky mouse scheme to try an eliminate him from the action.

I was really dissapointed at the apparent lack of a plan last year to help the oline pick up Mack and Hicks. Hopefully Kubiak can help in that regard.

This will be a big test. That's why I hope we stick to the ground game. If we start putting it up I feel it could get ugly quick. I have zero confidence in the ability of our OL to create a clean pocket. Zero. Putting it up will be death. Cousins bought some time last week by avoiding the rush. He won't avoid these guys. Very few, if any, can. Case who some on here state that he can buy time because of his superior pocket presence and his ability to constantly avoid the rush was buried. He fell apart. Couldn't do anything. Cousins who some feel can't move or avoid it what will happen to him? He won't have a chance and will be killed and our team will be in a huge hole. We need to stick with the ground game. At least that will keep us in the game. That gives us a chance. We'll see what the idiot has up his sleeve. To me it's easy. Max blocking. Get as many people in there as possible for protection. .

[mansquatch]

So basically all the Bears have to do is flood the box with 8 dudes, score 3 points, and they win? On a side note, Brad Childress called, he said he wants his Tavaris Jackson game plan guidebook back.

At this point, every DC in the league knows we are going to try to run the ball and that in 2020 Cousins has yet to show he can be effective passing the ball. The Bears will very likely start off in a scheme to shut down Dalvin Cook. They have the best Front 7 in the NFL, so they will likely have success in this regard. So what, the Viking should just roll into fetal position and wait for the 4th quarter to end? They are going to have to have some success in the passing game to win this game.

[Alaskan]

So basically all the Bears have to do is flood the box with 8 dudes, score 3 points, and they win? On a side note, Brad Childress called, he said he wants his Tavaris Jackson game plan guidebook back.

At this point, every DC in the league knows we are going to try to run the ball and that in 2020 Cousins has yet to show he can be effective passing the ball. The Bears will very likely start off in a scheme to shut down Dalvin Cook. They have the best Front 7 in the NFL, so they will likely have success in this regard. So what, the Viking should just roll into fetal position and wait for the 4th quarter to end? They are going to have to have some success in the passing game to win this game.

Good post mansquatch

I think your right that the Bears will start off with a focus on shutting down Cook and the run game.
They most likely will have some success with it, because they are good. What is success though? Specifically? I have been thinking about this. I am curious as to your thoughts on measuring success In the run game. I feel like if they can establish play action early on it would create problems for the bears. Have some creative design to some play action and get the bears guessing a bit early, Would go along way toward success with the run. Cousins will have to have some success passing, no question, for them to win. He hasn’t looked good thus far this season in this system comparatively speaking to prior season passing the ball. It kind of surprises me as this system plays to his strengths. He’s made some plays down the field though and has a history of putting up some number in the passing game so DC’s are going to respect that IMO. Part of the reason I think establishing play action is so important.

[CharVike]

So basically all the Bears have to do is flood the box with 8 dudes, score 3 points, and they win? On a side note, Brad Childress called, he said he wants his Tavaris Jackson game plan guidebook back.

At this point, every DC in the league knows we are going to try to run the ball and that in 2020 Cousins has yet to show he can be effective passing the ball. The Bears will very likely start off in a scheme to shut down Dalvin Cook. They have the best Front 7 in the NFL, so they will likely have success in this regard. So what, the Viking should just roll into fetal position and wait for the 4th quarter to end? They are going to have to have some success in the passing game to win this game.

Good post mansquatch

I think your right that the Bears will start off with a focus on shutting down Cook and the run game.
They most likely will have some success with it, because they are good. What is success though? Specifically? I have been thinking about this. I am curious as to your thoughts on measuring success In the run game. I feel like if they can establish play action early on it would create problems for the bears. Have some creative design to some play action and get the bears guessing a bit early, Would go along way toward success with the run. Cousins will have to have some success passing, no question, for them to win. He hasn’t looked good thus far this season in this system comparatively speaking to prior season passing the ball. It kind of surprises me as this system plays to his strengths. He’s made some plays down the field though and has a history of putting up some number in the passing game so DC’s are going to respect that IMO. Part of the reason I think establishing play action is so important.

We are 2nd in the NFL in rushing. The Bears will try to stop that. I firmly believe a team should use what they are best at. No need to set it up. The Bear D is playing at an exceptional level. But I would never pass to setup the run. Especially since our passing attack has not been nearly as good as our rushing attack. When we pass this Bear D is going to turn up the heat. Mack will have a run at our QB. He did it Monday and caused a fumble early. That's the last thing we want is a TO right off the bat. I don't think you guys realize how disruptive Mack can be in the passing game. Plus our OL is terrible at pass blocking from what I have seen. Even the big play to Beebe was off an OL breakdown and Cousins had to duck, dodge and scramble. You do that against the Bears and the ball has a chance to be striped or intercepted. They are always looking to get TOs. Like me they think it's a good idea to get them. Cook is leading the NFL in rushing and you want to take it out of his hands. Not me. I would use him and make the Bears prove they can stop him. Even the Bears get tired and rushing will get easier as the game goes on. Many things can go wrong when passing.

[Alaskan]

Good post mansquatch

I think your right that the Bears will start off with a focus on shutting down Cook and the run game.
They most likely will have some success with it, because they are good. What is success though? Specifically? I have been thinking about this. I am curious as to your thoughts on measuring success In the run game. I feel like if they can establish play action early on it would create problems for the bears. Have some creative design to some play action and get the bears guessing a bit early, Would go along way toward success with the run. Cousins will have to have some success passing, no question, for them to win. He hasn’t looked good thus far this season in this system comparatively speaking to prior season passing the ball. It kind of surprises me as this system plays to his strengths. He’s made some plays down the field though and has a history of putting up some number in the passing game so DC’s are going to respect that IMO. Part of the reason I think establishing play action is so important.

We are 2nd in the NFL in rushing. The Bears will try to stop that. I firmly believe a team should use what they are best at. No need to set it up. The Bear D is playing at an exceptional level. But I would never pass to setup the run. Especially since our passing attack has not been nearly as good as our rushing attack. When we pass this Bear D is going to turn up the heat. Mack will have a run at our QB. He did it Monday and caused a fumble early. That's the last thing we want is a TO right off the bat. I don't think you guys realize how disruptive Mack can be in the passing game. Plus our OL is terrible at pass blocking from what I have seen. Even the big play to Beebe was off an OL breakdown and Cousins had to duck, dodge and scramble. You do that against the Bears and the ball has a chance to be striped or intercepted. They are always looking to get TOs. Like me they think it's a good idea to get them. Cook is leading the NFL in rushing and you want to take it out of his hands. Not me. I would use him and make the Bears prove they can stop him. Even the Bears get tired and rushing will get easier as the game goes on. Many things can go wrong when passing.

I think your missing the point. Nobody is saying not to to run the football , or to take the ball out of Cooks hands. We are simply saying we feel it’s not going to be easy to run on this team. We all agree that we need to run as well as protect the football. Running the ball effectively and efficiently against this team is going to take some kind of balanced attack. I feel establishing play action early will help with this. So cousins is going to have to make some plays. I feel that’s going to be a solid way to get the game flowing the way the Vikings want it to flow. I don’t see them just pounding the ball first and second down and then ending up 3rd and long and knowing they are going to pass working out. That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s going to end up in a lot of three and outs. It’s going to let the Bears dictate the flow and set the tone.

[dead_poet]

Good pregame breakdown

https://www.dailynorseman.com/platform/ ... ssion=true

[CharVike]

We are 2nd in the NFL in rushing. The Bears will try to stop that. I firmly believe a team should use what they are best at. No need to set it up. The Bear D is playing at an exceptional level. But I would never pass to setup the run. Especially since our passing attack has not been nearly as good as our rushing attack. When we pass this Bear D is going to turn up the heat. Mack will have a run at our QB. He did it Monday and caused a fumble early. That's the last thing we want is a TO right off the bat. I don't think you guys realize how disruptive Mack can be in the passing game. Plus our OL is terrible at pass blocking from what I have seen. Even the big play to Beebe was off an OL breakdown and Cousins had to duck, dodge and scramble. You do that against the Bears and the ball has a chance to be striped or intercepted. They are always looking to get TOs. Like me they think it's a good idea to get them. Cook is leading the NFL in rushing and you want to take it out of his hands. Not me. I would use him and make the Bears prove they can stop him. Even the Bears get tired and rushing will get easier as the game goes on. Many things can go wrong when passing.

I think your missing the point. Nobody is saying not to to run the football , or to take the ball out of Cooks hands. We are simply saying we feel it’s not going to be easy to run on this team. We all agree that we need to run as well as protect the football. Running the ball effectively and efficiently against this team is going to take some kind of balanced attack. I feel establishing play action early will help with this. So cousins is going to have to make some plays. I feel that’s going to be a solid way to get the game flowing the way the Vikings want it to flow. I don’t see them just pounding the ball first and second down and then ending up 3rd and long and knowing they are going to pass working out. That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s going to end up in a lot of three and outs. It’s going to let the Bears dictate the flow and set the tone.

I know it won't be easy to run on the Bears.It's not easy to pass on them either. My biggest point is running the football has less chance for mistakes than passing the football. Think how much is involved to throw a pass. Plus this Mack is a monster and I feel our teams OL will have a more difficult time pass blocking than run blocking. That's just my opinion. This Mack can end things quickly. As he did on Monday. Once behind the whole thing collapsed. If we run well we dictate the flow. But it won't be easy. Beyond all this our D needs a solid effort.

[Alaskan]

I think your missing the point. Nobody is saying not to to run the football , or to take the ball out of Cooks hands. We are simply saying we feel it’s not going to be easy to run on this team. We all agree that we need to run as well as protect the football. Running the ball effectively and efficiently against this team is going to take some kind of balanced attack. I feel establishing play action early will help with this. So cousins is going to have to make some plays. I feel that’s going to be a solid way to get the game flowing the way the Vikings want it to flow. I don’t see them just pounding the ball first and second down and then ending up 3rd and long and knowing they are going to pass working out. That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s going to end up in a lot of three and outs. It’s going to let the Bears dictate the flow and set the tone.

I know it won't be easy to run on the Bears.It's not easy to pass on them either. My biggest point is running the football has less chance for mistakes than passing the football. Think how much is involved to throw a pass. Plus this Mack is a monster and I feel our teams OL will have a more difficult time pass blocking than run blocking. That's just my opinion. This Mack can end things quickly. As he did on Monday. Once behind the whole thing collapsed. If we run well we dictate the flow. But it won't be easy. Beyond all this our D needs a solid effort.

Well, I am done here. I hope the Vikings use your plan and it works. Just ram it down there throat. No better way to show your dominance.

[Maelstrom88]

Kline has been ruled out.

[VikingPaul73]

Vikes should run on 1st and 2nd and if they get in a 3rd and long, run again then punt. If they attempt more than 20 passes Kirk will have 3TO. Just keep running and hope the D can keep us in the game. If we fall behind by double digits it’s game over.

20-3 bears
Ugh

[Dmizzle0]

Vikes should run on 1st and 2nd and if they get in a 3rd and long, run again then punt. If they attempt more than 20 passes Kirk will have 3TO. Just keep running and hope the D can keep us in the game. If we fall behind by double digits it’s game over.

20-3 bears
Ugh

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohhwBP5mt3fait4YM/html5

GTFOH with that bs.

[mansquatch]

Ideally the defense puts up a decent game where we can win this only scoring 13 or so points. That is manageable and given the Bears' offensive woes, it should be an expectation.

This isn't a game where we are going to get up 14-0 by the 2nd quarter. IMO, the major theme of this game is ball security and our defense doing it's job. In a lot of ways it shouldn't be about what Cousins can do, but about what he doesn't do. Don't turn the ball over. I think if we are smart with our risk plays, play a good field position game, then we can take shots when it is opportune to do so and win with a few successful drives. As I said earlier this week: Pacing.

If you had told me the Packers would get up 21-0 in the first 16 minutes of the game at Lambeau, I wouldn't have believed it. Not with the way that offense had looked to that point, and not with the defense the Vikings have.

But there it was - the Vikings staring up at a huge deficit with just over a quarter of the game gone.

Not sure if you watched the Eagles game last night but a near identical thing happened in that game. GB when on it's scripted plays just pounded PHI and went up big. Then Schwartz adjusted and slowed GB down considerably. PHI was able to come back and actually go into halftime with the lead.

Obviously a lot of takeaways from that, but the one I want to focus on is the fact that LaFleur seems to be really good in those first 20 plays. After that... eh not so much. I wonder if that is sustainable through all 16 games once DCs get enough tape on him?

Regardless, our D need to play better and can't let us get down 21-0. I just found it interesting that the scenarios played out similarly in back to back weeks fpr GB.

FWIW, Rogers was abyssmal in the red zone last night, 5-16 or something like that. 3 incompletions and a pick to end the game in the red zone to end it. This is not 2011 Rogers, not by a long shot.

[VikingLord]

Vikes should run on 1st and 2nd and if they get in a 3rd and long, run again then punt. If they attempt more than 20 passes Kirk will have 3TO. Just keep running and hope the D can keep us in the game. If we fall behind by double digits it’s game over.

20-3 bears
Ugh

Really? So in your view the Bear defense is so dominant that the Vikings shouldn't even try to throw on them?

I guess I can understand that perspective a little, but at the same time, the Bear defense has flaws. It's not like they're the 1985 Bear defense.

The Bears play very aggressive and disciplined on defense. Up front, they like to pressure and disrupt, while in the secondary they attack the ball and try to create turnovers off the pressure created up front.

That active style has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are because the defense is so aggressive, they're susceptible to big plays passing and running, especially as the game wears on and the defense wears down a bit. That isn't a factor if the Bear defense gets off the field a lot early, but if the opposing offense can sustain drives against them, especially running the ball, the Bear defense will wear down by the 4th quarter.

So the Vikings have to run and sustain drives running, especially early, and to do that they're going to have to use the play action passing game. Last year when the Vikings played the Bears and fell behind early, Cousins didn't have a running game to help sustain drives and most of the passing was done from the shotgun IIRC. This time around, Cousins should have a running game to credibly help sustain drives, while taking a higher percentage of snaps from under center should reduce the pressure the Bears can bring, especially on early downs.

That isn't to say Cousins can afford to make mistakes. He has to protect the ball and make good decisions with it, and I'm sure the Bears will do everything in their power to goad him into mistakes, but Cousins has the benefit of a much more balanced attack this year, and I expect the Bear defense won't look quite as dominant as it did last year against the Vikings.

I'm really hoping as the game wears on Stefanski calls a few plays where Cousins can take some shots down the field like he did against the Packers. Especially if the Vikings have been able to keep the Bear defense on the field more. Might not happen, but I'd like to see the Vikings grind on them early with the run and then top them off later with some deep attempts to Thielen, Diggs or Irv Smith.