Vikings @ Giants
Too many games are called must-win games. But considering the Vikings schedule after the Giants (49ers, Texans, Packers, Jets, Lions, Rams --holy shit), Vikings really need this one.
Will we have Jordan Addison? I'm gonna say doubtful. Could be a big game for Jalen Nailor. Giants LB unit (PFF ranked them 5th in the NFL) is a little banged up. Which Danny Dimes do we see? The one who earned a $40M salary courtesy of _onatell two years ago? Or the one who threw two ugly picks in the preseason two weeks ago?
Giants were early favorites in this, but that has swung back to the Vikings. Most "experts" are now picking the Vikings.
Mike Olson wrote:
Are we a good team today or is NYG just a dogshit team today?
A little of both. I said earlier in this thread that Daniel Jones is our secret weapon and he did not disappoint. Darnold was better than expected. Aaron Jones running like a bull is quite refreshing after a year of suffering through Alex Mattison. The defense looks better but again, they were up against a complete joke at qb.
Next week versus San Fran will give us a lot more meaningful gauge of who/what/where the team is.
Moneyball.
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 8, 2024
Sam Darnold x @JJettas2
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/gNnifylb6X
Kentis wrote:
How about the kid from Rock Valley Iowa? Nice debut for Van Ginkel!!!
Key player
Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores put on a master class in flustering Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, and there were plenty of highlights to go around for the team’s defenders, including rookie Dallas Turner's first NFL sack and an active day for defensive tackle Harrison Phillips.
But no defensive player jumped off the screen like Andrew Van Ginkel, signed as a free agent from Miami, where he used to play for Flores. Van Ginkel, who is coming off a foot injury, had a sack, two QB hits and a lightning-quick interception return for a touchdown to give the Vikings their final 28-6 lead and send Giants fans to the exits. Overall, Jones was sacked five times and intercepted twice.
Source: Startribune
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
If Darnold can push the ball downfield without a bunch of turnovers, there’s no reason we can’t be a playoff caliber team. Of course we have to get our receiving corps healthy sooner than later. Hopefully Addison isn’t a big deal and Hock is back week 5.
Great win to start year. We knew with the upcoming schedule that this was one we had to have. Couple thoughts;
- Darnold with a very efficient, Cousin-esque performance except 170 million dollars cheaper. Was happy to see it for Sam and gives me a little more confidence in his ability as long as we can protect him. Accuracy, arm strength, it was all there.
- Our defense dominated. The Giants don't have a lot to scare you defensively, but we made it tough on them. I think the Gilmore signing is really going to help solidify the back end. Our rotation along the defensive line and ability to bring in pass rushers in waves is going to give opposing offenses trouble. Greenard, Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Pat Jones, Jihad Ward, and the list goes on. Gives us a lot of ability to bring different looks and get after the quarterback
- Aaron Jones! Love having that guy on my team instead of the Pukers. Huge difference in burst, vision and slashing ability compared to Mattison last year.
supafreak84 wrote:
Great win to start year. We knew with the upcoming schedule that this was one we had to have. Couple thoughts;- Darnold with a very efficient, Cousin-esque performance except 170 million dollars cheaper. Was happy to see it for Sam and gives me a little more confidence in his ability as long as we can protect him. Accuracy, arm strength, it was all there.
- Our defense dominated. The Giants don't have a lot to scare you defensively, but we made it tough on them. I think the Gilmore signing is really going to help solidify the back end. Our rotation along the defensive line and ability to bring in pass rushers in waves is going to give opposing offenses trouble. Greenard, Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Pat Jones, Jihad Ward, and the list goes on. Gives us a lot of ability to bring different looks and get after the quarterback
- Aaron Jones! Love having that guy on my team instead of the Pukers. Huge difference in burst, vision and slashing ability compared to Mattison last year.
12 hits and 5 sacks today on Jones...Nice 1st game!
Addison did not answer questions about how he was feeling while walking out of the locker room. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said Addison injured his other ankle — but not the one in which he suffered a high ankle sprain on Aug. 14 and missed a few weeks of practice.
Meaning Addison, who had three catches for 35 yards, has suffered two ankle injuries in the past month.
“We’re going to have him fully evaluated,” O’Connell said. “Don’t know the severity of it yet, but Jordan made some big plays for us early on there, and to lose him kind of affected a little bit of the flow there in the second half. But hopefully, it will be a shorter-term thing.”
Center Garrett Bradbury also played through a knee injury, O’Connell added.
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Pass rushing: a team effort
The Vikings defense harassed Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to the tune of 12 hits, including five sacks, in a game where New York consistently trailed and attempted 42 passes. Nine Vikings defenders tagged off on Jones, who saw a flurry of real blitzes and fake pressures designed to scheme up one-on-one pass rushing opportunities for others.
Four defensive linemen — Andrew Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Harrison Phillips and Patrick Jones II — combined for five sacks.
“Our room is crazy,” edge rusher Jonathan Greenard said. “Pick your poison when it comes to our room. Nobody’s trying to do too much, nobody is thinking they’re better than anybody else. If you have an opportunity, go make it.”
Greenard, the Vikings’ top free-agent signing in March, didn’t land a hit or sack. But he said he’s focused a different stat after failing to win the previous two Week 1 games for the Houston Texans. Greenard was inactive for season openers in 2020 and 2021.
“First time starting 1-0,” Greenard said, “so I’m good.”
Source: Startribune
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
.@AndrewVanGinkel ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 8, 2024
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/XFx58RvTIt
Is this thing STILL on? | Skol Vikes! |
Embrace this feeling.
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 8, 2024
And then we go hunt it.
Week after week after week.
Turn us up, KO. pic.twitter.com/nh8Zpdv2pt
Is this thing STILL on? | Skol Vikes! |
Hopefully this all leads to good things to come. Giants are WAY worse than I thought. Looked like a bottom 2-3 team. Daniel Jones is probably the worst QB in the NFL.
Next week will be the real test. SF has a pretty ferocious defense. Shanahan and the niners will know Darnold inside and out, and will definitely have a gameplan for him.
Fingers crossed
CFIAvike wrote:
Hopefully this all leads to good things to come. Giants are WAY worse than I thought. Looked like a bottom 2-3 team. Daniel Jones is probably the worst QB in the NFL.Next week will be the real test. SF has a pretty ferocious defense. Shanahan and the niners will know Darnold inside and out, and will definitely have a gameplan for him.
Fingers crossed
49ers will know a bit about Sam's personal tendencies (strengths, weaknesses, etc), but they won't know a damn thing about him in our offense.
How about a little credit to the defense? Remember, this same Daniel Jones pretty much shredded us in the playoffs two years ago.
Dustin Baker@DustBaker
It's been five years since Vikings fans could kick back and watch a game in the 4th Quarter stress-free. no exaggeration
My expectation was a win that was never in doubt. Good to get a road win to start the season. Big step up next week. They will shock the NFL if they beat SF. They are capable. Defense will have to get after Purdy and make him uncomfortable.
Good to have a win against a bad team in the Giants. Now the work begins. Time to chop wood.
hogjowlsjohnny wrote:
My expectation was a win that was never in doubt. Good to get a road win to start the season. Big step up next week. They will shock the NFL if they beat SF. They are capable. Defense will have to get after Purdy and make him uncomfortable. Good to have a win against a bad team in the Giants. Noe the work begins. Time to chop wood.
Next 2 games will give us good measuring sticks against some of the league elite. If we can to .500 against those 2, I would be ecstatic.
Did anyone think Flores went Cover Zero crazy yesterday? You'd be wrong if you did...
Flores, the Vikings defensive coordinator, didn’t need extra rushers to flummox Jones into a 44.3 passer rating, the second-lowest of his career.
The Giants quarterback faced 13 third downs of 5-plus yards. Flores, the NFL’s blitz-happy king, showed blitz pre-snap on several of those plays, but rushed only four 11 times. On those plays, Jones had only three first downs passing, scrambled for his only rushing first down and was sacked twice, including once on third-and-goal from the 5.
Flores sent extra rushers only twice, both in the fourth quarter with the game decided. One forced a throwaway on third-and-8 at the Vikings’ 11. Harrison Smith’s interception came one snap later on a three-man rush on fourth down.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
Next 2 games will give us good measuring sticks against some of the league elite. If we can to .500 against those 2, I would be ecstatic.
Did anyone think Flores went Cover Zero crazy yesterday? You'd be wrong if you did...
Flores, the Vikings defensive coordinator, didn’t need extra rushers to flummox Jones into a 44.3 passer rating, the second-lowest of his career.
The Giants quarterback faced 13 third downs of 5-plus yards. Flores, the NFL’s blitz-happy king, showed blitz pre-snap on several of those plays, but rushed only four 11 times. On those plays, Jones had only three first downs passing, scrambled for his only rushing first down and was sacked twice, including once on third-and-goal from the 5.
Flores sent extra rushers only twice, both in the fourth quarter with the game decided. One forced a throwaway on third-and-8 at the Vikings’ 11. Harrison Smith’s interception came one snap later on a three-man rush on fourth down.
That's interesting. For most of the game I wondered why were weren't blitzing. I kept thinking "he's saving it for later in the game." Turns out he didn't need it. One of the more satisfying chess games to me was when Zimmer would show blitz, back out of it, Packers would max protect, but Zim would rush only 3 or 4, and Rodgers would sit back in the pocket with nowhere to throw. Curious how Flo changes things up against the 49ers.
Even though we gave up only one sack and got five, both the pass pro and the pass rush will have to improve next week if we hope to win. Hopefully the Jets beat up the 49ers a little bit tonight.
The Vikings sent more than four defenders after Jones just 22.4% of the time, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. It was the 18th-highest rate in the league in Week 1, and only the third time under Flores the Vikings have blitzed less than 30% of the time. They still put together a 36.7% pressure rate, and got all five of their sacks with a four-man rush.
“On the back end, we can do a lot of different things, show a lot of different looks, but if we’re doing those things and we’re getting pressure with four, we’re kind of having our way, because they don’t know what coverage we’re in,” safety Josh Metellus said. “We’ve got a lot of bodies in coverage, and if we’re getting pressure with four, the ball’s got to come out fast, so we’ve got a lot more eyes in coverage. It’s definitely working well together.”
Two of the Vikings’ sacks came when they closed off escape lanes for Jones, whose mobility gave them fits in the Giants’ wild-card playoff win over the Vikings two years ago. Turner got his first career sack on a stunt, and Patrick Jones II got to the Giants QB twice, cleaning up his first sack after missing his first attempt on a free rush off the edge and using a spin move to get home the second time.
The Vikings showed plenty of heavy pressure before dropping players into coverage, or employing “tag” rushes where players briefly engaged a blocker before dropping into a zone. It left Daniel Jones guessing throughout the game, and meant the Vikings got five sacks from four different players even though Greenard (who signed a four-year, $76 million contract this offseason) didn’t register a stat.
“I don’t know what you can say other than it was just an unbelievable performance out of that group,” O’Connell said. “ ‘Flo,’ his staff, all of our players, there’s a ton of guys to highlight.”
Many of them hit the quarterback even though the Vikings blitzed less than they ever have under Flores.
“We put a lot of pressure on the line, offense coordinator, quarterbacks,” said Van Ginkel, whose interception of Jones also came on a four-man rush after the Vikings dropped two linebackers out of a six-man front. “They don’t know where we’re coming from, what we’re trying to do. And it allows us to play fast, play physical, and make plays.”
Source: Startribune
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
The Vikings sent more than four defenders after Jones just 22.4% of the time, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. It was the 18th-highest rate in the league in Week 1, and only the third time under Flores the Vikings have blitzed less than 30% of the time. They still put together a 36.7% pressure rate, and got all five of their sacks with a four-man rush.“On the back end, we can do a lot of different things, show a lot of different looks, but if we’re doing those things and we’re getting pressure with four, we’re kind of having our way, because they don’t know what coverage we’re in,” safety Josh Metellus said. “We’ve got a lot of bodies in coverage, and if we’re getting pressure with four, the ball’s got to come out fast, so we’ve got a lot more eyes in coverage. It’s definitely working well together.”
Two of the Vikings’ sacks came when they closed off escape lanes for Jones, whose mobility gave them fits in the Giants’ wild-card playoff win over the Vikings two years ago. Turner got his first career sack on a stunt, and Patrick Jones II got to the Giants QB twice, cleaning up his first sack after missing his first attempt on a free rush off the edge and using a spin move to get home the second time.
The Vikings showed plenty of heavy pressure before dropping players into coverage, or employing “tag” rushes where players briefly engaged a blocker before dropping into a zone. It left Daniel Jones guessing throughout the game, and meant the Vikings got five sacks from four different players even though Greenard (who signed a four-year, $76 million contract this offseason) didn’t register a stat.
“I don’t know what you can say other than it was just an unbelievable performance out of that group,” O’Connell said. “ ‘Flo,’ his staff, all of our players, there’s a ton of guys to highlight.”
Many of them hit the quarterback even though the Vikings blitzed less than they ever have under Flores.
“We put a lot of pressure on the line, offense coordinator, quarterbacks,” said Van Ginkel, whose interception of Jones also came on a four-man rush after the Vikings dropped two linebackers out of a six-man front. “They don’t know where we’re coming from, what we’re trying to do. And it allows us to play fast, play physical, and make plays.”
Source: Startribune
I demand a recount pic.twitter.com/AVJBd8Ya3H https://t.co/zTSYUkKZDe
— JJ McCarthyism (@JJ_McCarthyism) September 10, 2024
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