Seahawks post-mortem

[Dames]

Also, with the way the Vikings defense has been playing, all bets are off. I was not impressed at all by what I saw last night, and it continued a trend that emerged with the loss against KC. They managed to escape Dallas and the Broncos with wins, but didn't play particularly well in either game, both of which were a late throw away from being losses.

I think the Vikings will bounce back at home against the Lions, but I could see them lose at the Chargers and at home to the Packers based on the defensive issues. Veteran QBs like Rivers and Rodgers will have no qualms about going at Rhodes or exposing lapses in coverage.

Oh, I agree with that. If we falter, it will almost certainly be because of our defense. That said, KC, Dallas, and Seattle are very potent offenses (all top 5 I think), so you have to take that into account. The Vikings were asleep in the first half of the Denver game. Once they woke up, the D shut them down for the most part.

I think Rodgers will do plenty of damage, but hopefully we get the running game going enough to keep him off the field. We shut them out for 3 quarters last time. Their offense is playing better though lately. They'll score plenty I'm sure.

Rivers is throwing for a ton of yards, but he's thrown almost as many INTs as TDs. I mean, there's a reason they are 4-8, and it's not because they are just unlucky. They're in the bottom half of the league in scoring, they lack a strong running game, and they have a lot of turnovers. If they play well, they can beat us, but that's the same for any team in the NFL. But, we should beat them.

Nothing is easy in the this league, but if we can't beat the teams we should, then we aren't going to go very far in the playoffs anyway.

[Dames]

Diggs is the only reason we are in that game.

He had 4 catches for 25 yards, and 1 really nice rushing play that was important to the first drive. Cousins was the main reason we were in it last night. Certainly not Diggs.

[TSonn]

I feel like we'll end up at 11-5 for the season barring any other major injuries. If Cook is out indefinitely, probably 10-6. Either should make the playoffs and hopefully we can find some postseason spark. If not, keep on building to next year.

[TSonn]

Diggs is the only reason we are in that game.

He had 4 catches for 25 yards, and 1 really nice rushing play that was important to the first drive. Cousins was the main reason we were in it last night. Certainly not Diggs.

Stump will say the only reason we were in the game is because Diggs bailed out Kirk on an underthrow to get us PI for that final TD. So basically Diggs won us the game.

[Dames]

He had 4 catches for 25 yards, and 1 really nice rushing play that was important to the first drive. Cousins was the main reason we were in it last night. Certainly not Diggs.

Stump will say the only reason we were in the game is because Diggs bailed out Kirk on an underthrow to get us PI for that final TD. So basically Diggs won us the game.

Well, I did forget about that play. That was a decent play by Diggs. But, yeah, it's comical sometimes. He made up for that by dropping a pass into the the Seattle DB's hands though. Maybe that was Kirk's fault for hitting him in the hands.

[StumpHunter]

Stump will say the only reason we were in the game is because Diggs bailed out Kirk on an underthrow to get us PI for that final TD. So basically Diggs won us the game.

Well, I did forget about that play. That was a decent play by Diggs. But, yeah, it's comical sometimes. He made up for that by dropping a pass into the the Seattle DB's hands though. Maybe that was Kirk's fault for hitting him in the hands.

He did hit him in the hands while he was being mugged by a defender. Hit from behind while the ball was being swatted from his hands in the front.

His other two "drops" were a pass that was thrown way behind him as he ran a crossing route and a pass thrown at his feet. All three were incredibly difficult catches and he isn't always going to make incredibly difficult catches. He shouldn't have to.

[VikingLord]

Well, I did forget about that play. That was a decent play by Diggs. But, yeah, it's comical sometimes. He made up for that by dropping a pass into the the Seattle DB's hands though. Maybe that was Kirk's fault for hitting him in the hands.

He did hit him in the hands while he was being mugged by a defender. Hit from behind while the ball was being swatted from his hands in the front.

His other two "drops" were a pass that was thrown way behind him as he ran a crossing route and a pass thrown at his feet. All three were incredibly difficult catches and he isn't always going to make incredibly difficult catches. He shouldn't have to.

I agree that he was being mugged by the defender on the INT. Man, the refs have been so inconsistent all year on pass interference. It could have easily been called on that play.

I still blame Diggs for the pick, though, because he let the defender run through him and failed to knock the ball away. Bad luck mostly, but Diggs could have prevented the pick IMHO.

On the other two plays you listed, I disagree that those passes were "incredibly difficult". The ball was slightly behind him. Very catchable pass for a pro receiver, and especially one of Diggs' caliber.

And the one at his feet was not that low. You make it sound like he had to scrape it off the ground. It hit him in the hands and while it was low, it wasn't difficult.

Could the throws have been better? Sure. Should they have been caught anyway? Absolutely.

[Dames]

Well, I did forget about that play. That was a decent play by Diggs. But, yeah, it's comical sometimes. He made up for that by dropping a pass into the the Seattle DB's hands though. Maybe that was Kirk's fault for hitting him in the hands.

He did hit him in the hands while he was being mugged by a defender. Hit from behind while the ball was being swatted from his hands in the front.

His other two "drops" were a pass that was thrown way behind him as he ran a crossing route and a pass thrown at his feet. All three were incredibly difficult catches and he isn't always going to make incredibly difficult catches. He shouldn't have to.

Sorry, I was mostly being facetious. That play was not all on Diggs. Yes, he could have caught it, but it was mostly just dumb luck that it fell right into the DBs hands. The DB could have also just as easily gotten a flag on that play, and probably should have. But, the refs were not great again. Same old story this year.

I don't count either of those other 2 as drops. They were not great passes. He is credited with 2 drops, although, I'm not sure which 2 counted.

[VikingPaul73]

Vikings’ “signature” wins this year are against the 6-6 cowboys and the 6-6 raiders . All other wins were against losing teams

I think we beat the Lions but can easily see us losing the final 3. I won’t be shocked if we don’t make the playoffs but if we can go 2-2 we should be in. I can’t see us winning a road game in the playoffs though.

[CharVike]

Not only that Treadwell play, but on the next TD drive the PI on a very poorly thrown pass on 3rd and 10 kept that drive alive as well. The corner turns his head on that throw and we are talking about how poorly the passing game was last night.

Safety help over the top on Diggs on that play. An underthrow was probably what he was trying to do. Diggs made a great call going for the PI. When Rodgers does that he's a genius. When Kirk does it he's terrible.

Also, Treadwell was wide open in part because Kirk was looking like he was throwing underneath to Rudy and even pump-faked the throw to Rudy to guarantee Treadwell would be wide open. No pump fake means Treadwell probably gets caught from behind and no TD.

My goodness.

You hit that on the head. Cousins fake allowed Treadwell to get wide open. Heck of a play by Cousins. Treadwell seems to make a play every now and then. Wonder why he can't put it together. Usually one catch then nothing. Strange

[CharVike]

Vikings’ “signature” wins this year are against the 6-6 cowboys and the 6-6 raiders . All other wins were against losing teams

I think we beat the Lions but can easily see us losing the final 3. I won’t be shocked if we don’t make the playoffs but if we can go 2-2 we should be in. I can’t see us winning a road game in the playoffs though.

The scary part is the Pack have basically changed that team. It's no longer a Rodgers needs to do it all deal. They actually play some D. They did that very quickly. Never thought I'd see them score 10 and win. Zim's been plucking along for some time now. Yes he's had some success but I want us to get to the Super Bowl. I thought the Case year we were in. Just had the feel of everything breaking right. But we won't go anywhere as a wildcard. One and done. We just don't have the team at this point. We are a step behind. That's probably talent level related. Especially the secondary. But Zim won't change anything at this point.

[cstelter]

Last night before the game is Salters had to do that stupid report about how Cook has finally stayed healthy this year for the 1st time in his career. I looked at my wife and said OH NO.. she did it. She just put the jinx on him. He will get hurt before the game is over. She said what are u talking about.
So I explained that whenever they talk about a player staying healthy, a kicker not missing a kick, a QB not throwing an INT for a stretch, a player not fumbling in so many touches.. and the list goes on... that as soon as they do that it happens.
I remember Aikman earlier in the season talking about how O'Niel hadn't given up a sack. Next series.. he did.
Worst example ever, Gary Anderson lining up for the game sealing FG in the Championship game against Atlanta. Madden had to go on and on about how he was automatic, hadn't missed a FG or Xtra point all yr and would seal the win for us. Then we watched it sail left.
I HATE it when they do that.

Listen closely to the announcers in some game where you are not invested. They do this all the time because it allows them to excitedly say immediately "but not any more!" or "but not this time!" or "and there he goes again!". Good or bad it doesn't matter. Coincidentally some percentage of the time they will be exactly right or wrong about a good or bad stat, but some percentage of the time the stat is completely irrelevant for the entire game. When the random stat they just stated has nothing to do with the next few plays it is easily forgotten but the next play they'll state some other potentially relevant fact.

Time and time again last night I heard statements about how Wilson is known doing this or that positive thing. IIRC, they said something like that just before the batted ball INT. They probably have folks behind the announcers who study the game during the broadcast and look for tendencies and put the stats up for the announcers that might possibly become relevant in the next few plays. Even much later in the game if something they talked about earlier becomes relevant they often do a call-back "earlier we were talking about..." and it really doesn't matter if it is good or bad or proven wrong or right-- it becomes a talking point. "But not today!" or "their woes continue" etc. If I had to make a guess, I'd say they say exactly the right thing 3-6 plays a game which is why the more positive or negative a stat is, the more powerful it will be if it happens or if the exact opposite happens. They rarely quote fact like "The Vikings get first downs on 45% of their 2nd down plays"-- what can you do with that stat? Nothing. If they make it or not it's not notable in any way-- it's not like they can crow "and now its up to 45.2%" or the like.

My advice is watch the game with your wife, and stop seeing omens where there are none. It's only a game-- spend the time with your wife. It's far more valuable time spent than worrying about what announcers are saying about players just in case they just happen to be right and then goading yourself into believing the coincidence was somehow prescient. Life is too short.

[808vikingsfan]

He did hit him in the hands while he was being mugged by a defender. Hit from behind while the ball was being swatted from his hands in the front.

His other two "drops" were a pass that was thrown way behind him as he ran a crossing route and a pass thrown at his feet. All three were incredibly difficult catches and he isn't always going to make incredibly difficult catches. He shouldn't have to.

Sorry, I was mostly being facetious. That play was not all on Diggs. Yes, he could have caught it, but it was mostly just dumb luck that it fell right into the DBs hands. The DB could have also just as easily gotten a flag on that play, and probably should have. But, the refs were not great again. Same old story this year.

I don't count either of those other 2 as drops. They were not great passes. He is credited with 2 drops, although, I'm not sure which 2 counted.

The pass was late and a little behind. Still, it hit Diggs in the hands and facemask. Hard catch to make but I expect Diggs to make that catch. A better throw and it's an easy completion. No one played up to par yesterday.

[Passepartout]

Yeah he should had made it. That is his specialty there. But it could had been a different game. And outcome!

[ERIK the PURPLE]

That final pass attempt to Irv Smith...shades of Darren Nelson at the goal line in ‘87 NFC Championship. I would much prefer a pass over the middle to a receiver facing the QB. I also wish Cousins would have some run design plays or at least the option to run and “move the sticks” when times get desperate.