Lame Football Observations: Chargers

l just hope ownership has the balls to tank and get some decent player and draft ammo if we have only one win by the draft desdline.
if they don’t, then i dont expect to see a Super Bowl before i die.

@"ThunderGod" said: l just hope ownership has the balls to tank and get some decent player and draft ammo if we have only one win by the draft desdline. if they don’t, then i dont expect to see a Super Bowl before i die.

@"VikingOracle" said: Hey, the Vikings probably saved Brandon Staley's job.

Here are my lame football thoughts of this week.

• Spike the Damn Ball:  First, crowd noise is not an excuse; it is a reason to spike the ball.  Second, I was going to write about this topic even before the end of the game -- which has been exhaustively discussed on this board.  Watch the last 41 seconds of the first half.  First, a pass to Hock in the middle of the field that results in a first down.  Note, the commentator before the play said that if the Vikes work the middle of the field, they should be prepared to immediately spike the ball.  Cousins did not.  Then a second pass to Hock and he doesn't get out of bounds with about 12 seconds left.  Again, Cousins does not spike the damn ball.  They finally hike it again with about 1-2 seconds left and Cousins is forced to throw it way.  Not one, but two opportunities to spike the ball before half and instead they ran only 2 plays in 41 seconds (the first resulting in a 1st down).
• Side Notes On Spiking the Damn Ball:  (1) Hock is not earning his contract -- can't believe he didn't get out of bounds ending the first half and then didn't secure the touchdown.  Simply put, at that $ amount he has to be a game changer.  (2) Failure to spike the ball shows the inherent flaws in Cousins' play.  He is great as long as he can keep within the parameters of a given play but he can't improvise and he has pretty poor football instincts.
• Cousins:  They noted on the broadcast that Cousins passed Tommy K in some career category -- so consider this:  has Cousins had the second bast Viking QB career?  Pretty scary to think about.
• Defense Flexibilty/Adjustments:  I was really looking forward to a defense that was highly flexible and could make lots of in-game adjustments.  The Chargers shoved the Vikings failure to make adjustments down their throat.  3 receivers on one side with 2 corners -- oh, another wide receiver screen to that side.  Mike Williams out with an injury and you don't adjust coverage to take away Keenan Allen?  I was shocked that they didn't seem to make an adjustment after Williams' injury.
• Blitz Packages:  Herbert was blitzed on 82% of L.A.'s snaps, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert, and he was hit just four times and sacked once.  Ben Leber: "Blitz all you want, it's not effective. Something's gotta change and we gotta find some freaking dogs that can win a one-on-one pass rush or this is gonna be a really, really long season."  Really I'm surprised at how poorly the Vikes blitz -- either they don't have the correct type of players for this scheme or the actually blitz lack creativity (or a combination of both).  I really liked the hiring of Flores but the scheme has not worked.
• Addison:  The thing I liked the most was when the Vikings went back and back and back to Addison -- make them adjust or keep going to the well (like the Chargers did with the WR screens).
• Running Game:  I tried to find some statistics to support my observations but doesn't the run game look much better when they run outside the tackles.

Some really good points.   Hock is not earning his money.  Get paid an obscene amount then becthe difference maker and make the catch. 

 Kirk. Cmon man spike the ball. Be smarter and more aware. 

Kirk just does not have the “IT” factor.  Yes O line play is porous.  Terrible in fact. Howver he just cannot escape pressure.  Other QB’s (including Herbert who is not highly known as a “mobile QB” escaped pressure over and over) escape pressure. Kirk is beyond a statue.   Hes’s gritty. Tough as nails. Accurate as hell. However no “it” factor that just makes something out of nothing happen.    This isn’t’ Kirk “hate”, I like the guy, just missing that extra ingredient. 

  I was excited about the Flores hiring but if Donatell was bend don’t break then Flores is breaking. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"ThunderGod" said: l just hope ownership has the balls to tank and get some decent player and draft ammo if we have only one win by the draft desdline. if they don’t, then i dont expect to see a Super Bowl before i die.

Tanking doesn't take balls.  It's a spineless gutless move...

We definitely have an edge problem opposite Hunter, DJ Wonnum and Pat Jones II rank 109 and 110 in PFF‘s pass rush grade among edge rushers with at least 25 snaps.

Not enough horses on defense and especially the line. I think secondary players are either perceived as good or bad depending on the front 7. The eagles haven't drafted a cb in the first 2 rounds since 2008. Food for thought.

This team needs more than the QBOTF....a lot more. Minnesota is going to have to take a few more steps back to gain forward momentum in a real way. If fans think the team is really going to 'tank', I've got some nice plots of Florida swampland down here for sale. The team has just enough talent to keep from selecting in the top 5 of next year's Draft, so I wouldn't think too hard or too long about Caleb Williams. Caleb will go #1 and that team will not consider trading out of that spot. 

@"StickyBun" said: This team needs more than the QBOTF....a lot more. Minnesota is going to have to take a few more steps back to gain forward momentum in a real way. If fans think the team is really going to 'tank', I've got some nice plots of Florida swampland down here for sale. The team has just enough talent to keep from selecting in the top 5 of next year's Draft, so I wouldn't think too hard or too long about Caleb Williams. Caleb will go #1 and that team will not consider trading out of that spot. 

Some good stuff, VO. 

While I understand the advantage of not spiking and giving the defense the time it needs to adjust to personnel, I probably would've clocked in both of those situations. I guess it depends on if you have a follow call dialed up. 

The one at the end of the game was far worse. Imagine if that ball were not tipped and picked? Then the mistake is even MORE glaring. Vikings had 33 seconds. They let the clock run down to 12 seconds before snapping and throwing to Hock. Now there's 7 seconds. Time for one more play. If the Vikings had spiked it instead, it would've been 2nd down with plenty of time (about 25 seconds) to run three more plays. 

Disagree a bit about the run game. They ran the ball well inside and out. What sticks in my mind are all the chunk runs up the middle. I'd say Mattison is probably more effective inside and Chandler outside. Vikings OL run blocked well in this one. 

There are two glaring reasons the Vikings are 0-3. Turnovers and the fact that our blitz packages aren't fooling anyone. I'd say it's not about the pass rushers beating blockers as much as it is the fact that there always seems to be a sufficient amount of blockers. They know it's coming.  They know how many are coming, and they have a guy for that. Is it signals again? Has Flores been around so long that his tells are widely known? 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"ThunderGod" said: l just hope ownership has the balls to tank and get some decent player and draft ammo if we have only one win by the draft desdline. if they don’t, then i dont expect to see a Super Bowl before i die.

Tanking doesn't take balls.  It's a spineless gutless move...

I still think the defense is better this year than last year but the lack of in-game adjustments is once again glaring and painful. When Philly is running the ball 10x in a row and Keenan Allen is catching 18 passes, it’s infuriating to see no adjustments made to at least force the ball or play to go somewhere else.

And Kirk, yeah. He’s playing very well and one tough SOB so it’s hard to knock him too much, but he’s absolutely the one friend you everyone has with all the degrees, the excellent career, and the huge intellect. But put them in a sticky situation and the total lack of common sense/“street smarts” becomes obvious.

Roster needs (and has needed) a major shakeup. 

@"MaroonBells" said

Disagree a bit about the run game. They ran the ball well inside and out. What sticks in my mind are all the chunk runs up the middle. I'd say Mattison is probably more effective inside and Chandler outside. Vikings OL run blocked well in this one. 

Again, there used to be a site with run efficiency for different holes but it is now a pay site.  From my casual observation, the % of successful runs to the outside is higher than between the tackles.  Yes, the Vikes don't run many outside runs -- perhaps because it is not Mattison's strength.

We had success running against the Chargers so far who have a defense as bad as ours.  

@"minny65" said: We had success running against the Chargers so far who have a defense as bad as ours.  

@"MaroonBells" said: Some good stuff, VO. 

The one at the end of the game was far worse. Imagine if that ball were not tipped and picked? Then the mistake is even MORE glaring. Vikings had 33 seconds. They let the clock run down to 12 seconds before snapping and throwing to Hock. Now there's 7 seconds. Time for one more play. If the Vikings had spiked it instead, it would've been 2nd down with plenty of time (about 25 seconds) to run three more plays. 

From this angle it looks like he would have been short of the goal line https://t.co/zaJoXDhBL8

— Vikeologist™ (@Vikeologist) September 25, 2023

@"StickyBun" said:

@"minny65" said: We had success running against the Chargers so far who have a defense as bad as ours.  

I couldn't believe we didn't run it more toward the end. It was obvious the line had worn them down, we were getting chunk yardage in the run game.

@"kmillard" said: Not enough horses on defense and especially the line. I think secondary players are either perceived as good or bad depending on the front 7. The eagles haven't drafted a cb in the first 2 rounds since 2008. Food for thought.

People bag on Zimmer, but the man could design a defense.  Yeah it got away from him without Hunter and scrap heap CBs, but after years of watching Frazier and Co send LBs into the pile of blockers, it was nice to see a defense that could get people home.  Another angle on that D, BRob was pretty damn good at learning the teams protection calls and then calling it on the field.  Our D played coy for the first drive or two but once BRob learned the calls, it was game on.

@"pattersaur" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"minny65" said: We had success running against the Chargers so far who have a defense as bad as ours.  

I couldn't believe we didn't run it more toward the end. It was obvious the line had worn them down, we were getting chunk yardage in the run game.

Agreed but this isn't just an "us" problem. Last night Philly was running all over TB but had multiple drives stall because they kept going for deep passes. QBs want to sling it, WRs want the ball, and coaches want to score. I understand the temptation but when the running game is working I do wish KO would lean on it a lot more than he does.

Couple of additional tidbits from SI:

• Minnesota needs to find some pass rush production from someone other than Hunter, who recorded his fifth sack of the season on Sunday. Maybe it'll get some of that from Carter; the undrafted rookie had three pressures and two QB hits on just 14 snaps in his NFL debut.
• For the first time this season, Brian Asamoah joined fellow 2022 draft picks Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. in only playing on special teams. 
[This draft class keeps looking worse and worse. -- the Kwesi honeymoon certainly didn't last long.  Frankly, I am not certain I want Kwesi picking the QB of the future; KOC's input or not.]

@"VikingOracle" said: Couple of additional tidbits from SI:

• Minnesota needs to find some pass rush production from someone other than Hunter, who recorded his fifth sack of the season on Sunday. Maybe it'll get some of that from Carter; the undrafted rookie had three pressures and two QB hits on just 14 snaps in his NFL debut.
• For the first time this season, Brian Asamoah joined fellow 2022 draft picks Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. in only playing on special teams. 
[This draft class keeps looking worse and worse. -- the Kwesi honeymoon certainly didn't last long.  Frankly, I am not certain I want Kwesi picking the QB of the future; KOC's input or not.]