Cousins can win me back if he gets vaccinated.. maybe he did, saw him hugging people without mask on the sidelines, so one can hope!! That aside he's played really well.
Great read Sam, this is the best I've seen Cousins play since he came to MN. If he keeps this up I'll have to change my opinion about being 'good' vs. 'great'. The O-line was equally solid. Impressive actually. I thought the game calling was excellent. In specific review:
Defense was completely outclassed in the first QTR. Terrible run defense.
Westbrook is a liability, he overestimates his skill and looks inadequate to the task on fielding returns.
On the other hand Griffen's play was excellent and he should not start opposite of Hunter. That personal foul call was almost as tacky and the holding call on Bradbury.
CJ Ham was outstanding!!
Madison was outstanding!!
Cousins, again, outstanding!!
O-line, outstanding!!
Klint game calling, outstanding!!
Receivers, outstanding. I wouldn't have scored them that high but they blocked consistently. That quad of Theilen, Jefferson, Osborn, and Conklin is very good.
I'm still shaking my head with how well Cousins played. He should get considerable accolade for that effort!!
A fun game, on a great day of football. I'd like an in depth breakdown on the Jefferson touchdown at the end of the half. It seemed like a goal line fade on steroids -
Jet motion to force the 1 on 1 on the back side. Flow everything left to allow Jefferson to snap the route off, and have an entire quarter of the endzone to himself to find green grass, and make the left side of the OL not have to do a true pass set. There's no doubt thay if O'Neill makes his block on the play side that Kirk was gonna deliver a good ball for the score.
Basically, they turned it into a 3 man game, relying on their best Offensive Lineman to beat an inferior defensive end, their best weapon to beat an inferior defensive back, and their franchise QB to put the ball where it needed to be.
Which QB has played better than Cousins? I’m guessing the list is very small. Maybe good play calling and better protection was what he really needed. Who knew?
By the way, I know it’s early, but my goodness the rookie QBs are bad. Fields’ 1.1 yd/play was historically bad. He processes like my 1985 Z100 computer with a floppy drive. If first read is covered, it’s deer in the headlights…
The protection looked excellent today for the most part based on the eye test and it confirmed that there's few better in the league than Cousins when he has time to throw. It reached a point midway through the 3rd quarter where you knew every time he dropped back if that pocket was clean, he was going to make a strike.
It makes the Vikings' gamble with the offensive line this year all the more puzzling. Plenty of weaknesses in Cousins' game and leadership, but he's a great QB when he's not on the run.
Seems weird to rag on the defense when they gave up 17 to Wilson and had 0 given up on the second half. Even when the Vikings defense was great they were much better at home. This seems like the expectation, shootouts on the road, and 30 at home will be an easy win.
The run defense has been horrible for 9 quarters. Considering we went to free agency to be able to stop the run completely, so far the plan has failed. The secondary played better today but it is also wobbly. Vigil, Hunter, Kendricks, and in the short run Griffen are all playing well. Tomlinson has been a ghost. Until Griffen came in the DE opposing Hunter continued to struggle. Breeland has not been playing well, though improved this game... up from horrible to just bad. They improved as the game went forward. I agree that they tightened up in the 2nd half. Today's win is by far on the shoulders of the Offense. If you believe the defense is decent you wouldn't be expecting shootouts on or off the road. No offense intended, just a difference of opinion.
Cousins can win me back if he gets vaccinated.. maybe he did, saw him hugging people without mask on the sidelines, so one can hope!! That aside he's played really well.
Great read Sam, this is the best I've seen Cousins play since he came to MN. If he keeps this up I'll have to change my opinion about being 'good' vs. 'great'. The O-line was equally solid. Impressive actually. I thought the game calling was excellent. In specific review:
Defense was completely outclassed in the first QTR. Terrible run defense.
Westbrook is a liability, he overestimates his skill and looks inadequate to the task on fielding returns.
On the other hand Griffen's play was excellent and he should not start opposite of Hunter. That personal foul call was almost as tacky and the holding call on Bradbury.
CJ Ham was outstanding!!
Madison was outstanding!!
Cousins, again, outstanding!!
O-line, outstanding!!
Klint game calling, outstanding!!
Receivers, outstanding. I wouldn't have scored them that high but they blocked consistently. That quad of Theilen, Jefferson, Osborn, and Conklin is very good.
I'm still shaking my head with how well Cousins played. He should get considerable accolade for that effort!!
SKOL Vikings!
typo- Griffen should start opposite Hunter
A fun game, on a great day of football. I'd like an in depth breakdown on the Jefferson touchdown at the end of the half. It seemed like a goal line fade on steroids -
Jet motion to force the 1 on 1 on the back side. Flow everything left to allow Jefferson to snap the route off, and have an entire quarter of the endzone to himself to find green grass, and make the left side of the OL not have to do a true pass set. There's no doubt thay if O'Neill makes his block on the play side that Kirk was gonna deliver a good ball for the score.
Basically, they turned it into a 3 man game, relying on their best Offensive Lineman to beat an inferior defensive end, their best weapon to beat an inferior defensive back, and their franchise QB to put the ball where it needed to be.
Which QB has played better than Cousins? I’m guessing the list is very small. Maybe good play calling and better protection was what he really needed. Who knew?
By the way, I know it’s early, but my goodness the rookie QBs are bad. Fields’ 1.1 yd/play was historically bad. He processes like my 1985 Z100 computer with a floppy drive. If first read is covered, it’s deer in the headlights…
The protection looked excellent today for the most part based on the eye test and it confirmed that there's few better in the league than Cousins when he has time to throw. It reached a point midway through the 3rd quarter where you knew every time he dropped back if that pocket was clean, he was going to make a strike.
It makes the Vikings' gamble with the offensive line this year all the more puzzling. Plenty of weaknesses in Cousins' game and leadership, but he's a great QB when he's not on the run.
I think the defense will continue to improve as the season progresses
Sure hope so
Great game, Vikes! Fix the burps in the defense and kick butt!
Seems weird to rag on the defense when they gave up 17 to Wilson and had 0 given up on the second half. Even when the Vikings defense was great they were much better at home. This seems like the expectation, shootouts on the road, and 30 at home will be an easy win.
The run defense has been horrible for 9 quarters. Considering we went to free agency to be able to stop the run completely, so far the plan has failed. The secondary played better today but it is also wobbly. Vigil, Hunter, Kendricks, and in the short run Griffen are all playing well. Tomlinson has been a ghost. Until Griffen came in the DE opposing Hunter continued to struggle. Breeland has not been playing well, though improved this game... up from horrible to just bad. They improved as the game went forward. I agree that they tightened up in the 2nd half. Today's win is by far on the shoulders of the Offense. If you believe the defense is decent you wouldn't be expecting shootouts on or off the road. No offense intended, just a difference of opinion.