Week 7 vs. Detroit

[40for60]

Unfortunately, no win today. I am glad they at least came back and had a slight lead at the end. While 5-1 is better than anyone expected, I still think they are a year or two away. I am not sure they should make a huge trade at this time, unless they can get a huge game changer like Dexter Lawrence, which is highly unlikely. On the other hand it’s still early.

[CharVike]

Tough loss against a division opponent at home. Basically an even game. You can find good and bad on both sides. Short week to recover then off to LA.

[VikingLord]

Wow, that was quite the performance by the Vikings yesterday on both sides of the ball.

I'm going to start with the defense. They came out gangbusters and the Lions couldn't do anything, but once the dam broke it was over. Giving up 4 straight TD drives, including 3 in the 2nd quarter? Wow. That isn't bad - that is epically bad. Yes, they finally showed a little fight late and got nice stop and created a score off a turnover. So they did step up when the team needed them to and that score off the turnover should have been enough to get them the win, but for a while there the defense may as well not have even been on the field with how easily they allowed the Lions to move and score. And I wonder as well if the Lions found a chink in the Flores armor that now other offensive coordinators will start to exploit. We'll see, but that was easily the worst overall defensive performance I've seen from the Vikings since the Donatell era.

But the real blame for the loss belongs on the offense. Again, they could not sustain drives. Again, inconsistent both running and passing. Again, way too many unforced errors with penalties. Darnold is a huge part of the issue with that unit, but he's far from the only part. I'm not sure what KOC needs to do to get them untracked because they have way too much talent to allow a middling secondary like the one the Lions have to shut them down like they did, but at one point in the game I seriously wanted KOC to get Mullens out there. Darnold is not seeing the field, he's not releasing the ball, and he's seriously hurting their ability to keep the chains moving and score TDs. And it's not like he's doing a great job of protecting the football, either. He threw another really bad pick again yesterday. He's reminding me more and more of Josh Dobbs, missing wide open routes, locking onto receivers and forcing passes that shouldn't be thrown, or just bailing and taking off. Nick Mullens may not be the QB to take this team deep in the playoffs, but at least he's going to make the positive plays that are there to be made. I seriously think after watching the last 2.5 games from Darnold that KOC should consider making a change at QB. And certainly if we see yet another performance like this from Darnold against the Rams on Thursday, which I strongly believe we will, KOC basically has to decide if he's going to ride-or-die with a rapidly regressing Sam Darnold or take a swing to try to save what otherwise looks like it could be a promising season.

Sadly, I think KOC will stick with Darnold and will only consider making a change when the Vikings hit 5-4 or 5-5, but by then it may be too late.

Special teams were again good. The Vikings might have found a place kicker for the ages. Had they not been pushed back 5 yards there at the end, I'd have liked to see him try it from midfield.

Anyway, the cracks are starting to show in this team. They should beat the Rams fairly easily on Thursday night, but I think it's going to be another struggle.

[CharVike]

Wow, that was quite the performance by the Vikings yesterday on both sides of the ball.

I'm going to start with the defense. They came out gangbusters and the Lions couldn't do anything, but once the dam broke it was over. Giving up 4 straight TD drives, including 3 in the 2nd quarter? Wow. That isn't bad - that is epically bad. Yes, they finally showed a little fight late and got nice stop and created a score off a turnover. So they did step up when the team needed them to and that score off the turnover should have been enough to get them the win, but for a while there the defense may as well not have even been on the field with how easily they allowed the Lions to move and score. And I wonder as well if the Lions found a chink in the Flores armor that now other offensive coordinators will start to exploit. We'll see, but that was easily the worst overall defensive performance I've seen from the Vikings since the Donatell era.

But the real blame for the loss belongs on the offense. Again, they could not sustain drives. Again, inconsistent both running and passing. Again, way too many unforced errors with penalties. Darnold is a huge part of the issue with that unit, but he's far from the only part. I'm not sure what KOC needs to do to get them untracked because they have way too much talent to allow a middling secondary like the one the Lions have to shut them down like they did, but at one point in the game I seriously wanted KOC to get Mullens out there. Darnold is not seeing the field, he's not releasing the ball, and he's seriously hurting their ability to keep the chains moving and score TDs. And it's not like he's doing a great job of protecting the football, either. He threw another really bad pick again yesterday. He's reminding me more and more of Josh Dobbs, missing wide open routes, locking onto receivers and forcing passes that shouldn't be thrown, or just bailing and taking off. Nick Mullens may not be the QB to take this team deep in the playoffs, but at least he's going to make the positive plays that are there to be made. I seriously think after watching the last 2.5 games from Darnold that KOC should consider making a change at QB. And certainly if we see yet another performance like this from Darnold against the Rams on Thursday, which I strongly believe we will, KOC basically has to decide if he's going to ride-or-die with a rapidly regressing Sam Darnold or take a swing to try to save what otherwise looks like it could be a promising season.

Sadly, I think KOC will stick with Darnold and will only consider making a change when the Vikings hit 5-4 or 5-5, but by then it may be too late.

Special teams were again good. The Vikings might have found a place kicker for the ages. Had they not been pushed back 5 yards there at the end, I'd have liked to see him try it from midfield.

Anyway, the cracks are starting to show in this team. They should beat the Rams fairly easily on Thursday night, but I think it's going to be another struggle.

I'm sure others know how to exploit our defense but not many teams have the talent level from top to bottom like the Lions. Gibbs is a backup. They are deep. That 2nd quarter was an embarrassment. Love and the Packers tearing us apart wasn't good either. They won't put turnover Nick in. Darnold didn't play great but he wasn't a total stiff like Dobbs. He avg 9.5 an attempt. Throwing to Mundt and getting nothing is a scheme problem. That's a wasted play and carries a huge risk. Sammy hit him deeper once but Ingram screwed that up with a hold. We had too many holding calls. That puts an O in a jam.

[VikingLord]

I'm sure others know how to exploit our defense but not many teams have the talent level from top to bottom like the Lions. Gibbs is a backup. They are deep. That 2nd quarter was an embarrassment. Love and the Packers tearing us apart wasn't good either. They won't put turnover Nick in. Darnold didn't play great but he wasn't a total stiff like Dobbs. He avg 9.5 an attempt. Throwing to Mundt and getting nothing is a scheme problem. That's a wasted play and carries a huge risk. Sammy hit him deeper once but Ingram screwed that up with a hold. We had too many holding calls. That puts an O in a jam.

Based on what I've seen since the 2nd half of the Packers game I'd say it doesn't take all that much talent to beat it. Vikings have had to hold on for dear life now in 3 straight games because the defense can't get off the field unless they create a turnover.

I think it's just a matter of time until others start to see what I'm seeing with Darnold. Maybe I'm early on it, but he isn't seeing the field well and he isn't making great decisions with the ball. The downfield passing game is drying up, and so is the ability of the Vikings to sustain drives and put the ball in the back of the endzone on offense. Has he reached the incompetence level of Dobbs yet? No, and he may never reach that, but I see some very "Dobbs-like" plays from him now on a regular basis and they are costing the offense.

[cmoss84]

Unfortunately, no win today. I am glad they at least came back and had a slight lead at the end. While 5-1 is better than anyone expected, I still think they are a year or two away. I am not sure they should make a huge trade at this time, unless they can get a huge game changer like Dexter Lawrence, which is highly unlikely. On the other hand it’s still early.

Would you trade Brian O'Neil for Dexter?

[JJBreaksRecords]

KOC to blame for most of this loss, the penalties, wasted TOs, stupid plays, etc. Sam needs faster plays, not slow developing ones. And what happened to some screens. Was a poor game, we should have won this at home.

[VikingLord]

Unfortunately, no win today. I am glad they at least came back and had a slight lead at the end. While 5-1 is better than anyone expected, I still think they are a year or two away. I am not sure they should make a huge trade at this time, unless they can get a huge game changer like Dexter Lawrence, which is highly unlikely. On the other hand it’s still early.

Would you trade Brian O'Neil for Dexter?

That's a tough one. I think Lawrence is a game-changing interior DL player, while I see O'Neill as a very competent right tackle who would be difficult, but not impossible, to replace.

For me this would come down to compensation required to get the deal done. If this is a straight up trade one for the other, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. If it required additional picks, well, KAM doesn't have a lot of chips left to throw into the pot and under no circumstances should he trade his 2025 1st rounder, but I'd strongly consider O'Neill plus a 4th for a talent like Lawrence.

[CharVike]

Would you trade Brian O'Neil for Dexter?

That's a tough one. I think Lawrence is a game-changing interior DL player, while I see O'Neill as a very competent right tackle who would be difficult, but not impossible, to replace.

For me this would come down to compensation required to get the deal done. If this is a straight up trade one for the other, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. If it required additional picks, well, KAM doesn't have a lot of chips left to throw into the pot and under no circumstances should he trade his 2025 1st rounder, but I'd strongly consider O'Neill plus a 4th for a talent like Lawrence.

Lawrence is a great player but unloading O'Neil leaves a huge hole at RT and I don't see a guy sitting there waiting to come in. Plus we gave Phillips an extension so we will have a ton of cap invested at the NT position. Again nothing at RT is a huge concern for me. Our entire right side of the OL will be bad. You can't win like that. IMO on D we are weak at CB. They do fine when the heat is coming strong but if the pressure is limited they can't hold up. We got lucky when Goff missed a deep throw to the left sideline. Even he makes a bad throw. I'd rather get Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner but he will never be available until he's closed to washed up. Just like we did with PP.