Week 11: VIKINGS (5-3-1) at Bears (6-3)

[vikingsrule]

21 minutes ago, milanb said:

I'm sorry, but you can't blame "the play calling" for Cousins' Pick 6 in the 4th Quarter.

Cousins has turned the ball over 13 times in 10 games. Which should surprise no one, given that he turned it over 18 times in 16 games last year.

 

I don't think you can put a lot of this on the OL. Run blocking sure. Being turnover prone has followed Cousins, same issues he had in Washington and he had a very good OL in Washington. 

Hes a poor man's Matt Ryan.

[skywindO2]

I got a PS4 yesterday morning and ended up playing Spider-Man and attempted to watch the game on my iPad with the NBC Sports App. It got stuck on a loop and kept replaying the the first Anthony Harris. It was better than actually watching the game. 

The app really sucks and is a terrible way to watch a game btw.

[Worm Guts]

10 hours ago, SemperFeist said:

And they gave up up the game clinching field goal. When the team NEEDED the ball back. This is supposed to be an elite unit. They are not. 

They only 3 points they gave up the entire 2nd half.  Chicago had them on their heals in the first half, but it seemed like the Vikings figured them out in the 2nd.  The offense was pretty much overmatched the entire game.

[Superman(DH23)]

GG guys.  Dont take too much to heart about your offense from this game.  Akiem Hicks owns Mike Remmers soul and has for a couple years.  Mack is a one man game wrecker and now hes surrounded by the best front 7 in football.  Zim did a great job of making adjustments.  It's a 16 game season and there's still a long way to go.  Go beat the Pack next week and end their season and we'll see where we are at in a few weeks.  

[vikingsrule]

Chicago has a tough game on Thursday on a short week. MN is going to need some help to win the division.

[Superman(DH23)]

12 minutes ago, vikingsrule said:

Chicago has a tough game on Thursday on a short week. MN is going to need some help to win the division.

Its only a "tough" game bc its the shortest turnaround in the history of the NFL.  We came out pretty clean last night so its just a matter of the guys getting their rest and treatment this week.

[SotanKing]

These are Cousins stats over last 4 years - 

2015:

TD - 29

INT - 11

Sack Rate - 4.6% 

Fumbles - 9 (5 recovered)

 

2016:

TD - 25

INT - 12

Sack Rate - 3.7% 

Fumbles - 9 (5 recovered)

 

2017:

TD -  27

INT -  13

Sack Rate - 7.1%

Fumbles - 13 (4 recovered)

 

2018:

TD - 19

INT - 7

Sack Rate - 6%

Fumbles - 8 ( 3 recovered)

 

As you can see, his fumbles and sack rate was much lower in 2015, 2016 when compared to 2017, 2018. Reason for difference? Pretty obvious..he has a bad OLine this season and Redskins also had decimated OL in 2017 due to lot of injuries. Fix the OL and improve offensive play calling(our playcalling has been predictable and dire for most parts of the season), we will be good. The former might not be easy considering how tough is it to find decent OL FAs and OLs in draft these days.

[wcblack34]

1 hour ago, milanb said:

I'm sorry, but you can't blame "the play calling" for Cousins' Pick 6 in the 4th Quarter.

Cousins has turned the ball over 13 times in 10 games. Which should surprise no one, given that he turned it over 18 times in 16 games last year.

 

Agreed. Cousins is getting too much of a pass from folks. If you're devoting that much of your cap to one player, then he shouldn't be turning it over at that rate. He's being paid as an elite QB, but he's still Kirk Cousins. We've seen his ceiling. This is it. The Vikings should draft a first or second round QB this year to prepare him for Cousins' departure in 2 years. 

It's not a complete knock on Cousins. It's more an indictment of the QB salary structure now. 

[Guest]

I watched the first half and then turned off the TV and went to bed.  These are my observations:

1. The Bears are for real!  They are going to be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs.  I believe they win the division by two or three games.

2. The Vikings defense continues to be the best unit on the team...however, they are far from being the unit we saw last year.  I have yet to see Sheldon Richardson be a dominant defensive lineman.

3. Offense...where do I start?  (a) Uninspired play calling...DeFlip is much more cautious of game planner and caller than I had imagined.  (b) The Offensive line is really, really, really bad when facing good defenses.  Now, Chicago may be a great defense...that's yet to be determined.  Yet against this defense, the Vikings OL looked like they were made of jello!  (c) Cousins is who his Redskins career said he is.  The same "stuff" we saw from him in DC has followed him to Minnesota.  No matter if the OLine is good or bad, whether he has good weapons or not, he's going to throw 3 or 4 passes a game that can only be considered as dumb, dumb, dumb!  Sometimes those decisions to throw come at crucial times, and cost his teams games.  Yes, he looks and acts like a great leader; yes, he has overall good statistics...but those dumb decisions at costly times...well..."As momma always said, 'stupid is as stupid does.'" 

[vikingsrule]

27 minutes ago, Superman(DH23) said:

Its only a "tough" game bc its the shortest turnaround in the history of the NFL.  We came out pretty clean last night so its just a matter of the guys getting their rest and treatment this week.

Didn't Detroit just beat Carolina? They can play with anyone, for better or worse.

[Uncle Buck]

7 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

I watched the first half and then turned off the TV and went to bed.  These are my observations:

1. The Bears are for real!  They are going to be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs.  I believe they win the division by two or three games.

2. The Vikings defense continues to be the best unit on the team...however, they are far from being the unit we saw last year.  I have yet to see Sheldon Richardson be a dominant defensive lineman.

3. Offense...where do I start?  (a) Uninspired play calling...DeFlip is much more cautious of game planner and caller than I had imagined.  (b) The Offensive line is really, really, really bad when facing good defenses.  Now, Chicago may be a great defense...that's yet to be determined.  Yet against this defense, the Vikings OL looked like they were made of jello!  (c) Cousins is who his Redskins career said he is.  The same "stuff" we saw from him in DC has followed him to Minnesota.  No matter if the OLine is good or bad, whether he has good weapons or not, he's going to throw 3 or 4 passes a game that can only be considered as dumb, dumb, dumb!  Sometimes those decisions to throw come at crucial times, and cost his teams games.  Yes, he looks and acts like a great leader; yes, he has overall good statistics...but those dumb decisions at costly times...well..."As momma always said, 'stupid is as stupid does.'" 

You missed some good football in the second half.  The offense looked better.  We had a nice long drive for a touchdown when we went to a hurry-up style.  You could tell the Bears defenders were winded by the time we were deep in the red zone.  The offensive line was still being dominated, but the quick passes by Cousins helped. 

On the defensive side of the ball, we owned them in the second half with the exception of one field goal.

I think we will beat them when they come to play in our house in Week 17.

[SemperFeist]

I can’t disagree. 

[PrplChilPill]

His insistence on punting on 4th and 1 is getting tiresome.

Zimmer is the head coach, as posted above, and the results have not come close to reflecting the talent on the roster. 

[IotaNet]

13 hours ago, JDBrocks said:

 ... The bears defense went from garbage to a terror in one year specifically because Mack is there. 

Don't want to be a troll or a jerk after a big loss but this simply isn't true. Last year, the Bears defense was pretty darned good. Specifically, they ranked 10th in total defense, ninth in scoring and tied for seventh in sacks. (Source: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000990079/article/chicago-bears-clearly-made-wise-decision-in-retaining-vic-fangio)

Make no mistake, Mack has been a HUGE difference-maker -- he's made them elite -- but they certainly weren't "garbage" last year.

[beardown3231]

13 hours ago, JDBrocks said:

Mack is a freak. He deserves to be DPOY. The bears defense went from garbage to a terror in one year specifically because Mack is there. 

The Bears defense was top 10 last year.