Great article, and all very true. JJ looks to be a legit star in the making.
I also was very happy with the overall effort: coaches' schemes, players' effort. Even though they lost, I am fine with that if they are developing talent for next year, have a decent game plan and give full effort for the entire game. We didn't see that in Weeks 1-2, so I was very down on the team. We saw that in Wk 3, and I could live with that for rest of year. In fact, I told a friend that my dream season is now that the Vikings lose all of their remaining games by 1 point while the team grooms and develops young talent for next year.
Still not a fan of the KFC extension and what that does to the salary cap and our options at QB going forward, but at least he played hard this week and made a lot of good throws. And if Samia can start improving, maybe the OL won't be a complete overhaul next year.
I would like to see Cleveland get some playing time at some point this season, as I don't think players can improve on the bench. We don't have much chance of making the playoffs this year with out defense and OL the way they are, so why not get Cleveland into games at some point this season?
Anyway, happy after the loss because at least the Vikings were trying and improving -- and it looks like some of the young guys could be big contributors in 2021.
Progress yes. One-point losses at home, it’s a fork in the eye. While Jefferson had a lot of targets in the first half and to start the second, I wish Cousins could have found him in the fourth quarter when we really needed the offense to sit on the ball. It seemed like there was a couple of three-and-outs when Tennessee surged to two touchdowns during crunch time. I thought Cook player well—hard yards inside and speedy easier yards outside. Irv Smith Jr. had another costly penalty and if Holton Hill makes a pick, he’s the hero. After the first game, I wrote that the fans will stick with this team as long as they made progress...and for the first time, they took steps in the right direction. Moral victory yes. Real victory continues to be a phantom for the 2020 Vikes.
Lol. When the Vikings play Houston next week, they’ll both be 0-3, but that’s not all they will have in common. Their opponents through the first three weeks will both have been a combined 8-1. (Houston’s opponents would likely be undefeated if the Chiefs and Ravens didn’t have to play each other).
As a Vikings fan in 2020, this was a great game... reason to hope for the future, with the play of Jefferson and (to a significantly lesser extent) Gladney, but still a loss to keep us in contention for a draft pick that maybe...maybe...just maybe might finally give us the franchise quarterback who can actually lead us to superbowl victories (or at least get us a stud offensive lineman or 3-tech to help the cause).
Enjoyable read Matthew. I have resolved to consider this entire season as a preseason for 2021. I just want to see improvement and as good of experience as we can get for the team. I haven't taken apart the tape yet, and I haven't heard what you and Courtney are going to say about it, however I thought Cousins missed passing to Jefferson in crucial situations in the Colts game. Today was totally different, partially thanks to Theilen still drawing the coverage, Jefferson really shined. Great hands and a little burst when opposition gets close. He's still a rookie and you can see it in the route running and failing to go up for the ball on the other target that would have been a touchdown but those truly are minor criticisms. I thought he was sensational and look for ward to him getting better and better. All in all I also thought Gladney played well. I saw Samia stand tall as well as get splattered but I consider his play an improvement from last week. I do have a question about one of Dalvin Cook's run (what a great game he had). What the heck was going on that Butler 21 Titan, who was standing out of bounds, suddenly comes in to whack Cook? No penalty? That was a bizarre. I also thought Yannick looked more efficient today as well. Anyway, I'm happy about the improvements. I'm still a little critical of Cousins holding the ball as long as he does but I'll let that go for now. Changing my attitude to see this as an elongated preseason looking for improvement has definitely improved my disposition :) SKOL
This was my favorite 2021 preseason game so far. Sure, I was disappointed, but at least I could watch the whole game and enjoy it. Glad they finally unleashed Jefferson. He’s looked even better than I had hoped. Running game looked damn good too. We have 13 more games to find out who can play guard (and defense). It’ll be interesting to see how many deficiencies on D remain after Hunter comes back and they start getting good pressure from both DE’s.
This is the best I’ve felt after a loss in a very long time.
Great article, and all very true. JJ looks to be a legit star in the making.
I also was very happy with the overall effort: coaches' schemes, players' effort. Even though they lost, I am fine with that if they are developing talent for next year, have a decent game plan and give full effort for the entire game. We didn't see that in Weeks 1-2, so I was very down on the team. We saw that in Wk 3, and I could live with that for rest of year. In fact, I told a friend that my dream season is now that the Vikings lose all of their remaining games by 1 point while the team grooms and develops young talent for next year.
Still not a fan of the KFC extension and what that does to the salary cap and our options at QB going forward, but at least he played hard this week and made a lot of good throws. And if Samia can start improving, maybe the OL won't be a complete overhaul next year.
I would like to see Cleveland get some playing time at some point this season, as I don't think players can improve on the bench. We don't have much chance of making the playoffs this year with out defense and OL the way they are, so why not get Cleveland into games at some point this season?
Anyway, happy after the loss because at least the Vikings were trying and improving -- and it looks like some of the young guys could be big contributors in 2021.
With you on Cleveland. Maybe they felt he needed more ramp up and we will see him in the second half. Glad you enjoyed the article!
Progress yes. One-point losses at home, it’s a fork in the eye. While Jefferson had a lot of targets in the first half and to start the second, I wish Cousins could have found him in the fourth quarter when we really needed the offense to sit on the ball. It seemed like there was a couple of three-and-outs when Tennessee surged to two touchdowns during crunch time. I thought Cook player well—hard yards inside and speedy easier yards outside. Irv Smith Jr. had another costly penalty and if Holton Hill makes a pick, he’s the hero. After the first game, I wrote that the fans will stick with this team as long as they made progress...and for the first time, they took steps in the right direction. Moral victory yes. Real victory continues to be a phantom for the 2020 Vikes.
Totally agree they needed to find Jefferson on the final two drives
Also think Jeff Gladney has a chance to be a nice player. Both Jefferson and Cook had a career day.
Progress. Was competitive today. Likely will be much too late but if all the defensive DNP’s get healthy, the d will be much better.
Lol. When the Vikings play Houston next week, they’ll both be 0-3, but that’s not all they will have in common. Their opponents through the first three weeks will both have been a combined 8-1. (Houston’s opponents would likely be undefeated if the Chiefs and Ravens didn’t have to play each other).
As a Vikings fan in 2020, this was a great game... reason to hope for the future, with the play of Jefferson and (to a significantly lesser extent) Gladney, but still a loss to keep us in contention for a draft pick that maybe...maybe...just maybe might finally give us the franchise quarterback who can actually lead us to superbowl victories (or at least get us a stud offensive lineman or 3-tech to help the cause).
Enjoyable read Matthew. I have resolved to consider this entire season as a preseason for 2021. I just want to see improvement and as good of experience as we can get for the team. I haven't taken apart the tape yet, and I haven't heard what you and Courtney are going to say about it, however I thought Cousins missed passing to Jefferson in crucial situations in the Colts game. Today was totally different, partially thanks to Theilen still drawing the coverage, Jefferson really shined. Great hands and a little burst when opposition gets close. He's still a rookie and you can see it in the route running and failing to go up for the ball on the other target that would have been a touchdown but those truly are minor criticisms. I thought he was sensational and look for ward to him getting better and better. All in all I also thought Gladney played well. I saw Samia stand tall as well as get splattered but I consider his play an improvement from last week. I do have a question about one of Dalvin Cook's run (what a great game he had). What the heck was going on that Butler 21 Titan, who was standing out of bounds, suddenly comes in to whack Cook? No penalty? That was a bizarre. I also thought Yannick looked more efficient today as well. Anyway, I'm happy about the improvements. I'm still a little critical of Cousins holding the ball as long as he does but I'll let that go for now. Changing my attitude to see this as an elongated preseason looking for improvement has definitely improved my disposition :) SKOL
2020 will be a season of learning... I'm good with it
I posted this on another site yesterday.
This was my favorite 2021 preseason game so far. Sure, I was disappointed, but at least I could watch the whole game and enjoy it. Glad they finally unleashed Jefferson. He’s looked even better than I had hoped. Running game looked damn good too. We have 13 more games to find out who can play guard (and defense). It’ll be interesting to see how many deficiencies on D remain after Hunter comes back and they start getting good pressure from both DE’s.
This is the best I’ve felt after a loss in a very long time.