Lions @ Vikings Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 9

[TSonn]

Because it's a dead ball goofup. Had no effect whatsoever on the kickoff or the ensuing plays. Just the missed point, a point that would have required Detroit to need a td vs a fg. That's why

Plus we easily kick a FG instead of turning it over on downs if we're down 13-10 instead of down 13-9. Totally different game plan because of the missed XP.

[mosscarter]

quit blaming 1 or 2 players?? a kicker's job is to make kicks. period. walsh has failed miserably at his job there is no way around it.

[VikingLord]

I assume so but what else can they do?

Nothing, and that's why I am so pessimistic. I really expected this team to bounce back after the loss to the Eagles but it appears they lack the means to do that. So they can get back to fundamentals and keep trying which is what they should do as professionals. I'm just not sure it's going to be enough to right the ship.

[J. Kapp 11]

No, it's just different. It's not like he attempted as time expired.

Why do fans insist on singling out one player to blame for a loss? There were dozens of plays in this game that could have made a difference between winning and losing. Heck, Rhodes and Smith blew tackling attempts on the game-winning play and allowed but somehow it's Walsh alone who is responsible for the loss because he missed an extra point in the 3rd quarter? Who allowed the Lions to score 22 points? Did Walsh manage to drive the offense backwards and force a punt after Greenway set them up in great field position with an interception? why does the missed extra point matter more than that missed opportunity?

Give me a break.

Give you a break? Our freaking kicker missed an extra point for the third time this season. Had he made the extra point, Detroit would have needed a TD at the end of regulation.

Also, watch the replay of the blocked FG. He would have missed that kick by 10 yards to the left if it hadn't been blocked. He completely shanked it.

Then, to top off his stellar day, he FAILED to execute the kickoff with 23 seconds left. He was supposed to keep it short of the end zone so that time would have run off the clock. That's three plays he biffed.

Blair Walsh failed at his job today, and it cost the Vikings the game.

[The-Purple-Reign]

Sorry guys, but a free point (extra point) lost the game. I don't care how you spin this, Walsh messed this one up. We shouldn't have ended up in overtime to slip in other ways.

Sorry, but this is on walsh, just like last year.

[Mothman]

Most of your points are spot on, and Rhodes and Smith deserve heat for their crappy tackling on the final play, but if not for a missed extra point they'd have been in the winning locker room by that point.

There's no way to know that. If he hits that extra point, it changes the dynamic of the game but it doesn't guarantee a win. Both teams might have called different plays if the game had been tied at 10. Too much occurred after that play to say it was THE difference between winning and losing. It was one play among many.

[TSonn]

It looks to me like he hit it fine:

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201611060 ... tab=videos

Let's just say it was Norv Turner's fault.

Maybe it's just the shot from behind. The game play angle looks fine but from behind it looks shanked. I would assume you'd blame Bridgewater?

[J. Kapp 11]

Plus we easily kick a FG instead of turning it over on downs if we're down 13-10 instead of down 13-9. Totally different game plan because of the missed XP.

Very good point.

[Texas Vike]

Plus we easily kick a FG instead of turning it over on downs if we're down 13-10 instead of down 13-9. Totally different game plan because of the missed XP.

That's a major part of the problem, IMO. We don't trust him to hit what ought to be automatic FGs so we have changed our decision making on offense. That's a pretty clear sign that it's time to move on from Blair, IMO. Or at least consider other options. I think he's got some serious trauma going on from last year's miss.

[TSonn]

Then, to top off his stellar day, he FAILED to execute the kickoff with 23 seconds left. He was supposed to keep it short of the end zone so that time would have run off the clock. That's three plays he biffed.

Blair Walsh failed at his job today, and it cost the Vikings the game.

Good point there. Forgot about that one. So basically he was 2/5 on plays that are all on him today that most other kickers would get 5/5.

[J. Kapp 11]

Maybe it's just the shot from behind. The game play angle looks fine but from behind it looks shanked. I would assume you'd blame Bridgewater?

He shanked it. That kick would have missed HUGE to the left.

[TSonn]

We need a second bye week to undo what we did during the first bye week.

[J. Kapp 11]

Good point there. Forgot about that one. So basically he was 2/5 on plays that are all on him today that most other kickers would get 5/5.

I mean, the Lions gave us a gift with the roughing the kicker penalty. An absolute gift. For crying out loud, all he had to do was pop it up high about 40 yards, and the Lions are likely pinned deep with less than 20 seconds to play.

Instead, they got the ball at the 25, which left them needing only 35 yards to set Prater up.

[me4get]

It's a team sport the team lost. Blaming players for the loss isn't productive. You could easily blame Zimmer for not going for two with a two point lead to force the lions to need a td with 27 secs left, but that's not a gimme either. Hindsight is always 20/20. Football games a team games, the team eith win or loses, not a single player or players.

[Mothman]

Give you a break? Our freaking kicker missed an extra point for the third time this season. Had he made the extra point, Detroit would have needed a TD at the end of regulation.

Blaming the loss on Walsh for that miss instead of on the defense for allowing the 27 yard TD that set up a 58 yard FG at the end of regulation or the botched possession after Greenway's (which set the Vikes up IN scoring position) or a penalty that helped extend a Detroit scoring drive, etc. is practically an arbitrary decision. it's just picking a scapegoat and letting everybody else off the hook.

They lost as a team. That's how team sports work.