[Chuck Smith]

Well first pre-season game under their belt.... What are your takes on it??

1. Teddy and first string offense moved the ball well. Again it is the first pre-season game and what have team been together... 10 days or something like that. But looked sharper than Pitts defense and typically defense is ahead of the game in all pre-season stuff.

2. Trae Waynes..... Needs some work. He got faked out on some double moves but had some make up speed except for the one. He also needs to learn the NFL game as what is allowed and not allowed. But he is a rookie and will get calls against him more often than for him. But he has to get better, but the talent and product is there. Just depends on how fast he adjusts... which I will say..... After Bye week... he will be starting.

3. LB play was ok. But again Big ben and their RB didn't play. But looked good and serviceable.

4. OL... Looked good and handled Pitt ok and moved the ball.

What do others think???

Yeah it is pre-season and I am bored....LOL

 

[Chuck Smith]

9man...

Agree on Loadholt..... That is a key loss right there. The kid they drafted out of I think Clemson is looking legit. The plan when they drafted him was to have him play back up tackle and guard for a couple years so he can get the speed of the game down and what not...then move him to tackle. So this injury is just speeding up the process. But he has a big role to fill and hope he is up for the challenge. I hope they get some good guard play or help so they can speed up this process. But for sure if I was a D-corrdinator... I would be attacking the rookie.

The LB situation with Kendrichs is exciting. This was a kid on their radar when they were scouting Barr for the draft. They talk when they drafted Barr was that they couldn't wait to get this kid the next year. They watched game film of Barr and were impress with Kendrichs. So he will be exciting to see this year along with his development.

Waynes came out and said some good things after the first game.... He was quoted as saying that he screwed up. He was reverting to his college ways and techniques. He said he has to keep reminding himself that the stuff in college won't work in the pros. So that is awesome he recognized his mistakes and will improve. Something you like to hear as a fan.

Again the 1st offense looked good and moved the ball. Defense keeps looking impressive. I can't wait to see the next two games with the 1st teams get more reps. It is an optomistc year this year. We have a QB, RB, OL, and DEF that is going to be in the Top 10 this year..... Just hope the Sophmore blues doesn't hit the coaching staff..... Yes I am a Viking fan and am used to disappointment.....LOL

 

[Chuck Smith]

well that was just an ugly game to watch last night....by both teams.....but mainly the Vikings.

A few takes I noticed....

1. No pass rush at all. Now this could have been some game planning to try and contain Kaprinick....but we didn't have a pass rush and robinson is over rated and I have said that for years.

2. Why didn't AP get the ball more?? Now this could have been the plan with Turner all along because SF has been known to be a good run defense. But again... give the man the ball. When he does good is when he has 20+ carries and wears a defense down.

3. WHAT HAPPENED TO TEDDY?? He was missing guys by miles. Now in the first quarter or better he looked like a shell shocked rookie with how bad he was missing guys.

4. How did shreels get caught on that blocked kick??? I mean if he doesn't have that break away speed.... maybe he shouldn't be our punt returner. I mean two guys looked like they were going to catch him. Now don't get me wrong I like him and he is a good special teams player....but maybe we need a different punt returner with break away speed....Stephon Diggs!!!

5. Our linebackers couldn't contain Hyde.... I knew going in this was going to be a week spot but lets get some of the younger guys in.... Hendricks, Cole, etc. Let them see what they can do. Get a rotation in to keep the older legs fresh.

Now SF when they were going looked like the better team..... but it was an ugly game all around.

Other thoughts???

 

[Chuck Smith]

well the game on sunday was better than the game on week one.

AP looked good and ran hard but I hate to say it.... He has lost a step or two. Not saying he isn't still a great running back but it seemed he isn't exploding through the holes like AP of old. Again he is over 30 :beer:

The Linebackers looked better this week against Detroit. We did see more of Hendricks in there which is a good thing.

The D-line had an ok game. They still didn't get the pressure that is needed. Stafford is a good QB but you give that time to Rivers this week or Rodgers.... the outcome will be different. Brian Robinson has looked horrible in the pass rush game. The announcers gave his such credit for some of the plays on sunday.... but those plays were the result of Jospeh and Floyd getting great penetration up the middle and left Robinson alone so he could make those plays. But he and Griffin need to step it up this week against the Chargers. As a whole their WR core is better than Detroit. So it should be interesting.

Now one very bright spot so far this year is Matt Kahil. He is a road grater on the run and hasn't looked horrible in the pass. Lets hope this continues.

On a side not..... Ragnar's Job is open..... If people don't know. He is the guy who gets paid to let his beard and hair go and rides a Harley at the home games. His contract was up and he demanded $20,000 per game. The Vikings said.... good bye.

 

[Chuck Smith]

It was a good game by the Vikings.

Lets hope that Rhodes isn't out for very long. If people didn't see the game but he got knocked out by his own teammate. The safety (sendejo) was late in giving him help and came in to deliver a hit and Rhodes got drilled. It wasn't a cheap shot or anything like that. Just one of those things that happens. Rhodes head hit other players chest and got snapped back. But he was out when he hit the ground.

Anyways.... I would say let him sit until after the bye week even if he is cleared to play this week. But they are going against the broncos and Manning. Waynes played ok.... but it isn't the same as going against manning and the broncos!!

 

[Chuck Smith]

What scares me is Vonn Miller and Damarcus Ware using a speed rush against our rookie right tackle!!!

But yes SD offensive line was beat up and got beat up during the game.

It will be a fun one to watch. Hopefully turner has something up his sleeve to help out our O-line maybe by moving the pocket for teddy on passing situations. Or we just run all over them with AP. :bop:

Not to forget out Fans to the East..... Should be a good game tonight with Pack against the Chiefs. :thumb: But there are two teams I cheer for each sunday.... The Vikings and who ever is playing the Pack.... HAHA oke: oke:

 

[Chuck Smith]

Agree.... yesterday IMHO was an ugly game by the Vikings.

Now I am not going to blast the OL....because Denver's rush is the best in the league. It wasn't so much of one guy getting beat it was the different blitz packages they threw at them. I mean the rookie at RT got beat a couple of times. But he was going against an All Pro... two of them (ware and Miller). Kahil got beat once... again by an all pro. So That should happen from time to time.

The Vikings d-line still isn't getting that good pressure that they need to be a play off contending team. The secondary at times looked horrible yesterday. Now again you are going against one of the best QB's of all time. But yet you are pro's as well.

Now with the kicker missing the field goal... that is big as well. Puts different pressure on manning and what not for the last couple of drives.

But I am going to give credit where credit is due.... Broncos corralled AP (other than 1 run) and said you need to beat us Teddy....but we will be coming after you. I mean the Vikings had 3rd and longs all day. It was a great game plan and executed. :bop:

 

[Chuck Smith]

5-2 is a great start and Walsh in the Clutch... :beer:

I didn't get a chance to watch too much of that game yesterday was busy with a family function.

Now I did get to see the Packers game.....and it is hard to compare teams and game plans.... but the Vikings looked a lot better against Denver.... I am just saying.... I am also saying that I might end up eating those words after the Vikings play the packers. :beer:

 

[Chuck Smith]

I think the Vikings actually have a chance to win the division, or at least a wild card with how poor the entire NFC is.

I agree with you on this. But the division right now still runs through Green Bay. What I mean is the Vikings have to beat them twice to win the division. :bop:

Now on the wild card.... Well they have a good shot but with Carolina and Atlanta in the South, AZ and Seahawks in the West, and the Saints are starting to play better.

They have to keep winning in this next stretch of games..... Rams, Raiders, Packers, Atlanta, Seahawks, and Cardnials. If they can win 4 of those 6 games.... They will almost lock up a wild card spot. With three of those wins being... Atl, SEA, Cards. :thumb:

But it should be a fun last half of the season if they keep playing good.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Well now the Vikings and Packers are tied for the division. Also it looks like if things don't fall too much that they will get a wild card spot (either team).

Take away from the game..... Defense looked very good against the run without Floyd and Hendricks. So that is great. The pass defense (newman) looked his age. He looked horrible if you ask me. But has been playing well all year. Waynes got in and played good but yet still does college stuff with the hand checking and what not. He needs to break that habit but that will come with time.

The offense was sputtering a little but AP kept it going. Teddy at times look good and then ok. He needs to start to step it up and hit those wide open recievers. I think what is happening is he scrambles and then gets too excited and over throws when he sees them open. This will hopefully get better with time. I mean Rodgers is a pro and someone to watch when it comes to extending plays with his feet and then hitting the guy wide open. Yes I was giving a Packer credit. :rollin:

I hope Joyner gets a huge fine and possible one game off. That was a bad hit and came at a critical time which is something that should be looked at by the league. I hope Teddy can come back and play well. We will need him in this up coming stretch of games. Raiders are starting to roll even though they lost last week. Their offense has been rolling. We need to be 7-2 when we face the Packers. Because they will be foaming at the mouth after two losses and ready to show that they are the dominant team in the NFC North.

Good game and hope they can clean things up, get everyone healthy, and keep rolling.

 

[Chuck Smith]

If you watch the film closely..... Joyner starts to lay off or try to miss hitting Bridgewater.... then he switches the angle and goes towards him.

You see this type of play in every game almost every week.... where the defender either trys to roll out of the hit. Joyner didn't do this. Like I mentioned watch the tape and you will see he starts to try and avoid the hit then goes at him.

I honestly think he should get fined!!

Now I hate to say it I think this was a "priority" by the defense was to some way shape or form to get bridgewater out of the game. Not saying the coaches put them up to it. But look at the hit towards the legs on bridgewater before, other cheap shots that happened and then that hit. It is one where the refs didn't make calls to begin the game with so they "let the players play" and it started to spin out of control. :bop:

But either way it was a good win by the Vikes and they need to keep it rolling.

The Broncos were ripe for the picking. They have won some games that they shouldn't have but yet find away to win. That always catches up to you.... Just like I am worried about the Vikes.

 

[Chuck Smith]

It was a good win but I have a few spots they need to button up before the game on sunday....

1. Sendejo.... He is the weak point in the defense and Carr exploited it. What do you think a Pi$$#d off Rodgers and Mc Carthy will be looking to do!!!

2. We still need to get a good pass rush. We got 2 sacks yesterday on Carr but he still was very comfortable in the pocket.

3. Rodoulph needs to start playing like the Pro Bowler he is. I mean you cant drop that pass in the end zone. He is also seeing less and less targets. Something is up there that we don't know about I am thinking.

4. We need to get Vertical with the passing and have Wallace stretch out the defense. The Pack will just stack the box against us like the days of old.

5. Teddy needs to have his game be on point. He needs to button up some stuff. What I mean is I like how he isn't getting sacks but when he scrambles he needs to find open WR or the WR need to get open for him.... A La like what Rodgers used to do. oke:

This is a huge game that they are having this up coming sunday. Should be a fun one to watch. :bop: :bop:

 

[Chuck Smith]

The Vikings have the toughest schedule remaining in the NFL..... Packers, Falcons, Seahawks, Cardinals, Bears, Giants, Packers....

Packers (Twice): Second in our division and was talk they would win super bowl at the beginning of the season
Falcons: Number two in there division behind a 9-0 team.
Seahawks: Been to the last two superbowls!!! Tied for second in the division.
Cardinals: Leading there division
Bears: Well they are the bears our only "weak" team but could be spoilers.
Giants: Leading their division and should have knocked off the Patriots.

That is one tough row to hoe. Only two of those teams have a losing record... and that record is 4-5 (Bears and Seahawks) If the Vikings can beat the packers once and then with 3 of the other 5 games. That would make them 11-5. Which could help the win the division or make sure they are the #1 Wildcard team.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Well..... an ugly game for the Purple yesterday. And I will give credit to the Green and Gold. Rodgers looked more sharp but they had some huge drops by some WR's. Lacey and the line looked 100% better. Their D-line finally got some sacks, pressure and they did what most of the teams now going forward will do... make Bridgewater beat them.

Now onto the Vikings.... Penalties, giving up 6 sacks, lack of pass rush (we did have two sacks but not much pressure otherwise), a key fumble (Petersen's) when we could have mounted a comeback, missed throws, and dropped balls.... all of this is what happened in that game to make it an ugly one.

They need to rebound and in a hurry.

The next 6 games..... 5 of them are against teams that are either winning their divisions, in the wild card hunt, or are in the hunt to win their own division. So they will all be tough games moving forward. But if they can win a couple of them... it should secure at least a wild card spot.... if they can with 5 of 6..... They could win our division. :thumb: Or the last game of the year could be for the division.... You know that is what the NFL would want.... :thumb:

 

[Chuck Smith]

Speck.... Typical packer fan.... Sky is falling after 3 losses....then after a win (especially the one against the queens).... Now back on band wagon..... oke: oke: oke:

I have to give you grief. I was working in WI before the game last week and everyone you talked two was about to give up on everyone... Rodgers, McCarthy, whole coaching staff, etc. They were ready to clean house. I told one person I would trade them Bridgewater for Rodgers in a heart beat.... :beer:

Ken...

The next few weeks will really show what this team will be or could be. They need to step it up after a KEY LOSS and show they can rebound. It will show the metal of the coaching staff and players.

Also Ken is right.... the packers played better than the Vikings. But the Vikings also had many self inflicted wounds.... Penalties, lack of blocking on the line (Kahil) had a horrible game, dropped balls, missed passes, etc. Kahil's toe injury must have been worse than expected. He never practiced all week.

Petersen came out and said that the team played like crap. They were out of sync and need to get things rolling again.

We will just need to see how the next few games go.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Well time for my weekly observation of the game on sunday.

Well the Defense played good when they needed too. Newman (sp?) got two INTS.... but other times looked horrible. I know we were banged up in the secondary with Smith out and then Sendjo was out. So maybe he was trying to compensate for that and why he looked bad. But we were lucky Matty Ice had a bad game. Our D-line still isn't getting the sacks we need. Especially from the DE position. Griffen got one sack but that was about it....and Robinson.... Where has he been all year..... we need to get better if we want to win the division and make some noise in the play offs.

Now for the offense.... AP had a good game and the line did well with the run blocking. But Teddy needs to get something going with this WR corps. We need him getting 230 yards a game and a TD in order to be taken serious for the play offs. People will point to his INT....well the CB made a good play on that ball. If Teddy would have thrown it to the outside it would have been at TD or 10 inches higher it would have been a td. So not too upset with that one.

Also one thing that got me was some of the play calling. I can't remember exactly when it was.... but they played for a FG instead of trying to get a first down and a TD. We need to get that killer instinct when we smell blood in the water put teams away. I mean a super bowl contender should have put up 30 on ATL last sunday.... not 20.

They have big games coming up and need to keep winning. I hope the pack lose a couple more.... I don't want the division to come down to the last game of the year. :bop:

 

[Chuck Smith]

That was an ugly game and WOW to that ending.

I really don't have anything to say. I know people will say that the face mask shouldn't have been called at the end. Well his hand did hit the face mask and the helmet jerked.... even slightly but it jerked. Plus it was a QB.... and Rodgers was whining for three plays for a flag before that one.... oke: oke: But the thing I don't get is why wasn't Megatron or Ebron on the goal line to defend that pass. Most teams put a big offensive TE or WR down there so they can jump and knock it down or grab it.

Only good thing was I had Rodgers (TE) on my fantasy team.... that was a 12 pt play....LOL I know I am a Viking fan with a packer on my FF team....lol

 

[Chuck Smith]

9man... good call on Mickey Mouse..... Wish I would have done that. :eyeroll:

It was a horrible game. Now saying Teddy is like Ponder..... maybe. But I think Teddy is more calm under pressure than what Ponder was at this stage. I am not rushing to judgement on him yet. I think some of it is play calling. Turner should know now any team is going to stuff 8-9 in the box and shut down Peterson. They know our line is weak on the pass protection. So they will want to make 2nd and longs or 3rd and longs to make Teddy beat them. So Turner is going to have to start making 1st down calls to push the ball down the field... 5-10 yard pass plays. I mean if you look what SEA defense did many times is overload one side.... Rushed three on the right and one on the left or vice versa. Now that is our offense....

Defense.... Well they just shut right down when Smith was taken out of the game. Exum looked worse than a rookie out there. I mean poor angles, didn't rap up, didn't do anything on the tackling side of things. The defensive line again looked weak up front. The line backers did the best they could.... I mean greenway is in a walker out there. But they played ok in my estimation.

Now I am going to sound like a Packer fan ( oke: ).... But the officiating was horrible yesterday. Now the Vikings would have still gotten beat. But it was so bad. You can go for the Personal Fouls on Robinson and Exum. Now Exums hitting a defensless WR was I think a premature flag. The ref saw what could have been coming and figured it was going to happen. But he didn't "target" the head and neck area. He kind of slide infront of him and hit helmet and shoulder hit the WR in the chest and the WR head came down on his should. But that one wasn't as bad as Robinsons penalty. Then lots of the interference or defensive holding penalties.... WOW.... Phantom or they could call those every single time. I mean when the announcers were making comments on how bad the officiating was you know there is an issue.

But again.... not saying those calls changed the outcome of the game.... NO WAY. The Vikings were outplayed big time and if they look like that the next few weeks.... We will be 8-8. :bop:

 

[Chuck Smith]

Well..... it was a good game.

The Vikings had 3 turn overs all 35 yards or closer to end zone. Teddy looked ok but it seems his pocket presence isn't there. The banged up defense did ok but some very poor tackling angles that led to two TD's and a few other big plays.

One thing I will mention again was the horrible officiating. I hate to gripe on the officials because they are not the ones who catch and throw the ball..... but they missed many calls that were out in the open. Holding calls, a face mask, Pass interference, etc. The one call of roughing the passer that extended a Vikings drive I don't think should have been called. when teddy ducked he moved right into that guys arm motion. But then they miss an obvious face mask on teddy. I hate to be the conspiracy theorist.... but I think the officials are doing it on purpose this year to miss calls in big or "prime time" games. I think they are doing it to help them prove they need to be "full time" officials. But I will get off that subject now.

But the Vikings lost that game on their own.... you can't have three turn overs. Wright needs to secure the ball. AP should have just taken the loss of yardage and not tried the "pitch" that was supposed to happen to Wallace. Teddy needs to have pocket awareness at that junction of the game and just throw the ball 10 rows deep. Also the play call at the end should have been a 5 yard out and release the ball. It looked like a long play or trying to get 10-15 yards. Anyways... it was a complete loss by the entire team. The defense again got some what of a pass rush but need to do it more (yes lots of holdings not called but you can call holding on 90% of the plays)..... Rhodes should have had an INT which might have gone for a pick 6 but he doinked it off his hands.

My assessment of this game was they played with a top team. It was a good rebound after the awful loss to the Seahawks. But they need to do a lot better if they want to be more than just a one and done in the play offs. We will see what will come for the next couple of games. We have about 10 days for the defense to get healthy and hopefully Teddy can get his head back on straight and show the progress like he did earlier in the year.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Well the bears game was a lot better....

Defense played good and still banged up. But one thing is we need to stop the rush a little better.

Offense played good. Teddy showed he can pull his own. (again it was against a bears team that is banged up and thinking about 2016-17 season). But teddy looked more crisp and better decisions.

It will be interesting to see how they do against the giants. I also have a feeling that the division is going to come down to the last game..... :beer:

I also think that a play off birth should be clinched.... but I know the talking heads haven't said that it is yet... but I don't see any other team that can get 9 wins.... so it should be clinched.