Vikings/Packers post-game thread

[Mothman]

The Vikings had an extraordinarily self-destructive performance today. The defense was awful early, absolutely brutal. Why Zimmer would defer on the kickoff on the road, at GB, is beyond me. I think it was a mistake to give Rodgers and company the chance for a fast start. I give the defense credit for a gutsy performance, they fought hard after those first 3 TDs and shut GB out the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the game is 4 quarters long and giving up 21 in the first 16 minutes or so hurts just as much as giving them up at the end. The points still count.

Cousins had a bad day. His TD throw to Diggs was a beauty and the resourceful throw he made to Beebe on the latter's long run was nice too but there were too many overthrows and mistakes. The INT on first and goal was an inexcusable unforced error. They were dominating the LoS and running the ball great. They trusted Kirk to throw it on first down and he betrayed that trust with a truly dumb throw.

Cousins was far from alone in making mistakes: we saw missed blocks, dropped passes, costly penalties (some seemed pretty dubious) and a really dumb penalty by Diggs that set up a 48 yard extra point attempt!

As an aside, how ridiculous is it that a player taking his helmet off outside the end zone after scoring a TD is a penalty but it's perfectly legal for an entire defensive unit to run down to the end zone and pose for a photo after a big play? The latter is easily as "unsportsmanlike" as the former.

On the bright side: the Vikes fought hard and made a game of it after a terrible start. The RBs ran well (esp. Cook) and just as importantly, the coaches didn't panic and abandon the run after falling behind by 3 TDs early.

This was a big game they could have won and it may haunt them all season.

[Dmizzle0]

I agree with everything but I think deferring looks bad because of the way we started. Ugly game at least this didn't happen late in the season.

[PacificNorseWest]

Playcall on Kirk's INT was bad...just not smart. The throw by Cousins was even dumber.

Vikings couldn't get out of their own way today.

And Rhodes continues to get cooked by Adams.

[allday1991]

a friend who is a life long bears fan texted me after the game, "the refs really won that one for them". Again this was from a bears fan.

[Bowhunting Viking]

I also have to add in the fact that the officials pretty much did all they could to favor Green Bay. As usual. Even Myers and Moose Johnson were mentioning it, and Blandino seemed baffled by the P.I. call on Cook that negated the TD.
But, as said, we shot ourselves in the foot. I was shocked that Cousins made that bonehead pass on the Int . It was 1st down, we were running on them at will and chewing another clock. We coulda kept running, scored and relied on our D, who had stiffened up and played very tough, to hold the lead.
Once again, stupid penalties really killed us.
I'm at a loss right now. Part of me is so pissed , and the other part just wants to puke.
Like mentioned on the game chat, it was like GB was trying to let us back in the game. And we just kept blowing it, or everytime we would do something positive... out would come the magic yellow flag against us. Truly I'm shocked the yellow flags didnt have green G's on them today.
Bad thing is that this game could come back to haunt us later in the year in the division. It's one thing to be beaten fair and square. But when the zebras help put, and we do stupid things to lose a very winnable game, it just makes it that much harder to stomach.
I'm gonna take my dog and take her out for a nice long walk to try and calm down so my wife doesn't have to watch her almost 55 yr old pout like a 10 yr old who didnt get the BB gun he wanted for Christmas.
I wanna be optimistic, but it's getting so hard!!! Been doing it way too many years.

[J. Kapp 11]

Everybody defers. Everybody. Road or home. Sorry, but criticizing that is 20-20 hindsight.

Green Bay started fast. They caught us flat-footed. They were really good in the first quarter. The defense responded very well, and pretty much shut them down after the first 15 minutes. But you can't win games on the road in today's NFL with 16 points and 3 turnovers.

I'm super ticked at the TD they took away from us. That was just bizarre. They chucked Cook at the line, and all he did was run his route. It wasn't even a pick play. Worst call I've seen in many years.

Cousins ... that pick in the red zone was absolutely inexcusable. But why in the world did we call a pass there in the first place? Green Bay could not stop our running game. You pound the ball on the ground early to wear them down late, and that's exactly what we were doing. You could see it on the run by Mattison that led to the first and goal. The Packers wanted nothing to do with our rushing attack. They had all but given up, like they were saying, "OK we can't stop them. We'll let Rodgers win it for us." Stefanski got cute there, and getting cute with Kirk Cousins with the game on the line is NOT the thing to do. Bad, bad play call. Call it a team loss if you want, but you've got to make plays at critical times.

I'd bash the Vikings for the penalties, but I honestly have a hard time blaming them completely. I have no earthly idea what the referees are doing this year. It's an absolute mystery. One holding call on Bradbury was ridiculous. He was getting run over. How is that a penalty? And honestly, if they're going to call unsportsmanlike conduct for removing your helmet, then they ought to call it for running 40 yards down to the end zone to take a selfie after an interception. Just baffling. I fear it's going to be this way all year.

[Bowhunting Viking]

P.S. my daughter was traveling and said the radio announcers were commenting on how the Vikings were really getting alot of bad calls by the refs.

[Cliff]

This kind if game is why I'm down on Cousins. Was it his fault the Vikings went down by 21? No.

Was he able to bring them back when the defense gave him chance after chance? No.

[allday1991]

This kind if game is why I'm down on Cousins. Was it his fault the Vikings went down by 21? No.

Was he able to bring them back when the defense gave him chance after chance? No.

I agree, was it all his fault, no. Did he have multiple opportunities to win it for us, yes. As the highest paid player he needs to be able to do that. he probably should of had 4 turnovers today (greenbay dropped the last one only resulting in 3) its not good enough.

[CharVike]

Kirk had a horrible game. I don't know why they just didn't pound the ball. The new OC we have might be dumber than JDF. They couldn't stop our running game and he backed off the gas. Keep it to the floor. I know the fans want the ball in the air but I want the win. Even after all the BS we are at the goal line and this idiot decides to put it up. Bang the ball up the gut. He wanted the high lite play. It made even less sense when our QBs play was off and our backs were having great days. A division lost is never a good thing. But our D did tighten but Rodgers had already shredded them and maybe he backed off. Who knows.

[Mothman]

a friend who is a life long bears fan texted me after the game, "the refs really won that one for them". Again this was from a bears fan.

I'm not surprised. They've experienced the same pain.

[me4get]

As an aside, how ridiculous is it that a player taking his helmet off outside the end zone after scoring a TD is a penalty but it's perfectly legal for an entire defensive unit to run down to the end zone and pose for a photo after a big play? The latter is easily as "unsportsmanlike" as the former.



I thought only after TDs you were allowed to have group celebrations on the field.

[Texas Vike]

Moth: So good to see you post here. I rarely come around any more. Love reading your takes.

Today was quintessential Vikings. Taking points off the board due to a very questionable call that wasn't even made ON THE FIELD? To whom else could that happen but the Vikings?

I love that our team rallied and managed to come back today. Totally agree, Jim, that it is absurd that Diggs gets penalized for removing his helmet but the entire Packer D can choreograph celebrations like 12 year old girls at summer camp for making a stop. Diggs let his emotions get the better of him, IMO, he was hot from that previous call that took his TD away.

Cousins. What can we say? I don't think anyone here feels confident in his ability to win us the Lombardi. He can't handle the pressure.

In the pre-game one of Fox's commentators (Aikman? Howie Long?) said that what made Rodgers so good was his intelligence. Kirk has the physical ability to make all the throws, it's his mind / intelligence/ judgement / emotional makeup that is lacking.

[PacificNorseWest]

The Vikings should have challenged that goal line pick for defensive PI. King pushed off...not sure if anyone else noticed that. At least it puts more obvious heat on the refs if they don't overturn it like they did the Vikings TD.

[Mothman]

Everybody defers. Everybody. Road or home. Sorry, but criticizing that is 20-20 hindsight.

Honestly, it's not hindsight. I was annoyed by the decision in the moment, before a single down was played, because I didn't think it was a smart move on the road in GB's home opener.

I realize deferring has become very common (it's the choice about 90% of the time) but teams don't always do it and I think "everybody does it" is a poor excuse for anything. A coach should still consider the wisdom of that choice. It can make a difference.

Green Bay started fast. They caught us flat-footed. They were really good in the first quarter. The defense responded very well, and pretty much shut them down after the first 15 minutes. But you can't win games on the road in today's NFL with 16 points and 3 turnovers.

... or when you spot the home team 21 points. The defense blew it early, rebounded really well and then came up short late when they needed to get the ball back for the offense. You're absolutely right about the turnovers: they were killers, especially that last one.

I'm super ticked at the TD they took away from us. That was just bizarre. They chucked Cook at the line, and all he did was run his route. It wasn't even a pick play. Worst call I've seen in many years.

It was terrible.

Cousins ... that pick in the red zone was absolutely inexcusable. But why in the world did we call a pass there in the first place? Green Bay could not stop our running game. You pound the ball on the ground early to wear them down late, and that's exactly what we were doing. You could see it on the run by Mattison that led to the first and goal. The Packers wanted nothing to do with our rushing attack. They had all but given up, like they were saying, "OK we can't stop them. We'll let Rodgers win it for us." Stefanski got cute there, and getting cute with Kirk Cousins with the game on the line is NOT the thing to do. Bad, bad play call. Call it a team loss if you want, but you've got to make plays at critical times.

I think they felt they could catch GB off guard precisely because they were running the ball so well. It was a risk but Stefanski trusted his veteran QB and Cousins let the team down. I would have preferred to see them just pound it on the ground but all Kirk has to do is play smart there and at worst, it's second and goal.