Offense earns high marks from Zim - Scout

I'll give praise when its deserved: that o-line lineup played pretty well last night. They moved people off the line. Scrappy. Not sure if it was a moment in time or not, but kudos for last night. I've been ragging them and they showed up pretty darn decently against Seattle. Easton is playing with the effort of a guy that wants a starting spot somewhere, either at guard or center.

The offense definitely played better last night.  Cook looked like the exciting playmaker we all expect him to be...  Diggs and Bradford hooked up for a deep ball...  The offensive line looked good in the run game and didn't give up a sack against one of the best front 7's in the NFL.  Lots of positives.

The only thing that worried me were the two penalties in the red zone.  We basically wiped out any chance to score a TD with the false start and delay of game.  Those guys need to clean that up FAST.  It's been a major problem the past two seasons.  Time to fix it.

KR game was not good

Typical vanilla preseason. Not sure what can be gathered from it, really, but no injuries I believe? So that's great. 

@"BarrNone55" said: KR game was not good

I dont understand the confusion on KR anymore,  take a fricking knee if its kicked into the endzone.  free 25 yards,  sure they might bring it out to the 30,  but its much more likely they dont make the 20 which is a huge 10 yards in terms of being able to execute your whole offense IMO.  It bugged me when Patterson did it and he was more likely to break one than any of these guys.  play the odds and take a knee...especially when you have to chase the ball across the field to catch it.

I saw some green shoots last night on offense. I think Elflein and Cook start day 1.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: KR game was not good

I dont understand the confusion on KR anymore,  take a fricking knee if its kicked into the endzone.  free 25 yards,  sure they might bring it out to the 30,  but its much more likely they dont make the 20 which is a huge 10 yards in terms of being able to execute your whole offense IMO.  It bugged me when Patterson did it and he was more likely to break one than any of these guys.  play the odds and take a knee...especially when you have to chase the ball across the field to catch it.

Hodges caught a bullet from Heinicke for a 20+ yd TD.  That was nice to see watching the rest of the game this morning.  Buck-AAAAAY!!!

@"Wetlander" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: KR game was not good

I dont understand the confusion on KR anymore,  take a fricking knee if its kicked into the endzone.  free 25 yards,  sure they might bring it out to the 30,  but its much more likely they dont make the 20 which is a huge 10 yards in terms of being able to execute your whole offense IMO.  It bugged me when Patterson did it and he was more likely to break one than any of these guys.  play the odds and take a knee...especially when you have to chase the ball across the field to catch it.

I only watched into the 3rd quarter, but I didn't see a single kick into the end zone. All landed between the goal line and the 10 forcing us to return it. That said, the return game did suck.  No big gains and Adams fumbled once.

Sherels looked good on his one PR.  Hopefully he is also the starting KR...  McKinnon, Coley, and Adams aren't winning me over...

I wonder if we look for a return specialist off of waivers. Not really sold on the return game yet.

'Offense earns high marks from Zim.'
Yes the individual players looked better at times, but the team scored two field goals in the first half. It is totally reminiscent of the offense with Teddy getting across the 50 yard line then relying on Blair Walsh to kick field goals.
I used to think it was due to the conservative nature of Norv Turner, but it is starting to look like Zimmer could be the problem. 
I will get flamed for saying that, but this team won't have a five win cushion to start with this year, and they look like a two to six win team so far in preseason.
I hope the hell I'm wrong, and I love the Vikings. But I have watched them since day one, and right now they don't look like the winning teams they have had in the past.

A few questions :

1) If preseason games are TRULY meaningless, why would a HC give (undeserved) accolades to an offense that put up 6 points in the 1st half? Especially when that same HC claimed that scoring TD's was a focal point.

2)  Why would a starting QB be satisfied with no TD's under ANY circumstance? It sure as hell can't be because of his history of posting WINNING seasons (or even just ONE!)

3) Why is it that when a fan/poster has a criticism or negative observation, no matter how slight, of a preseason performance is reprimanded and reminded that preseason games are meaningless, BUT...

4) When a fan/poster announces that a player(s) has a so-so/decent/good PRESEASON performance, we as fans SHOULD embrace THESE performances as portents of things to come?

5) If a draft class, supposedly, cant be judged for 3-4 years, why is there even a discussion about the 2017 draft class being the best of ANYONE's history?

6) But since it's OBVIOUSLY acceptable to judge an ENTIRE draft class before 2 preseason games, why is it UNACCEPTABLE to judge the 2016 draft class as POOR, despite the FACT that this 2016 class ranked 32nd in the NFL regarding contribution?

7) Most importantly : Why is a GM with a WELL documented history of losing teams under his watch, considered great? 

Thats all for now! 

Peace. 

I'm still not sold on any of the linebackers vying for Greenaway's old job. Gedeon is still learning, but I would like to see somebody with more speed. 

Greenway is definitely missed. But it is going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

@"Norse" said: I'm still not sold on any of the linebackers vying for Greenaway's old job. Gedeon is still learning, but I would like to see somebody with more speed.