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Wildcard Round: VIKINGS (10-6) at Saints (13-3)


swede700

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15 hours ago, Nozizaki said:

Thanks for finding/compiling this. Looks like the Vikings are extremely unpredictable on 1st and 2nd down. Just 50% passing on the two plays. That's honestly really encouraging to see.

Also the Saints are EXTREMELY similar to the Vikings in EPA/play on defense and offense. This game really is between two evenly matched teams.

 

I wish. 
 

We are completely inferior to the Saints with a couple misleading statistics implying that our team is closely matched to them. We are overmatched imo.  But I’ll hope for the best. 

Edited by Torchezim
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17 hours ago, upriser7 said:

Vikings actually are 6th from bottom when it comes to throwing on early downs...below graph shows Pass % on Early downs (1st & 2nd) outside last 2mins of the half and when game is in balance (win probability between 0.2 & 0.8). Lot of early down runs have also not been efficient for a while

 

This is the thing we must completely flip this on Sunday. Its no wonder KC, GB, NO is at the top of this. We can be more successful throwing on the early downs, when teams are preparing to stop a Dalvin Cook run.

50% pass rate on 1st\2nd down sounds good but i think its pretty terrible after knowing that passing the ball is widely regarded as the more efficient way to move the ball. Whats the use in being unpredictably ineffecient, i'll take predictably effecient

Edited by CriminalMind
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2 hours ago, Torchezim said:

  But I’ll hope for the best. 

It sure doesn't look like it.  It looks like you've already made up your mind and you have no hope.  Which is fine, I, for one, know that this is the best matchup we could have hoped for.  The Saints are good, but the Vikings match up real well with them, despite what the consensus seems to be nationally.

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20 hours ago, vikesfan89 said:

That surprises me but I guess that makes with the last OC being pass heavy and the Vikings trailing in more games last year.

Wouldn't you make the argument the Vikings have been better off after the firings or resignations?

I wouldn't make that argument but if someone else wanted to bother making that argument I would agree with them. 

Our GM never gave Norv Turner the pieces he needs for his system to be effective. It looked bad to bring in a guy with a known system and then not provide him with the pieces for that system. I can understand Norv's frustration with that situation.  But yes, the Vikings were better off with a OC that wasn't beholden to a system that would struggle given our personnel.

In the case of JDF, we were certainly better without him. JDF had philosophical differences that should have been exposed in the interview process. That is something that should have been able to be discovered during a good search. It was a bad hire and hopefully taught the organization something about how to conduct a search. The Kubiak hire, and the system that comes with it, showed a huge improvement as his system is a great match for Zimmer's philosophy. It is great having someone with that kind of experience to help out Stefanski. The Zimmer coached Vikings certainly are far better in the current situation.

The owners ought to ask themselves who was responsible for the Turner and JDF hirings. One mistake is forgivable, but then bringing in another guy that is such a mismatch in fit should be alarming. I am glad they seem to have gotten it right this time but it is unclear whether that is a result of knowing what they are doing or a result of luck.

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18 hours ago, swede700 said:

FTFY.

Sometimes you still have to run, even when it's been ineffective, otherwise, you become one dimensional and predictable.  That was JDF's problem last year, he absolutely refused to call runs, even when the team was in position to do so.  And last I checked, he's been even worse in Jacksonville than he was here. 

I don't think that the fix you made was needed as the parts you changed were not incorrect. It could have used some wording adjustments but you didn't fix that.

All the same, I agree with what you are saying in the fix too at least related to JDF. It just isn't what I was saying. JDF was insubordinate and I do not blame the team from throwing him to the curb at that point.

I do not think that Turner was insubordinate but he was frustrated and he chose to resign over blatant insubordination. There is more respect in resigning when you are not going to do what the coach wants than there is in being insubordinate and getting fired. Norv deserves that much. I wouldn't say he resigned as a result of insubordination.

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3 hours ago, swede700 said:

It sure doesn't look like it.  It looks like you've already made up your mind and you have no hope.  Which is fine, I, for one, know that this is the best matchup we could have hoped for.  The Saints are good, but the Vikings match up real well with them, despite what the consensus seems to be nationally.

We’ve matched up well with other teams and still didn’t get the job done this year.  I am only negative as I am because I see no bright future for us as long as Zimmer is here. I see dim. Not bright and not dark.  Just enough to barely climb out of being a bad team.  
 

The consensus, while a lot of the time can be skewed, seems to be right on the money here.  If we win, it will be a huge upset. If we lose, no one is surprised.  
 

Both Cousins and Zimmer have to be ready.  If one of them is not, this will be a blow out in favor of the Saints. 

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Vikings running backs Dalvin Cook (shoulder) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) were full participants in practice on Wednesday. Cook said in the locker room before practice that he is going to be "at full strength" for the game.

Linebacker Eric Kendricks (quadriceps) did not participate in practice on Wednesday. Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer was asked at his weekly Wednesday press conference how he feels about Kendricks’ chances of being ready to play. “I think so,” Zimmer said.

Defensive end Stephen Weatherly (illness), cornerback Mackensie Alexander (knee) and safety Andrew Sendejo (illness) also did not participate on Wednesday.

Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo (hamstring) was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday. Cornerback Mike Hughes (neck), safety Jayron Kearse (foot), cornerback Xavier Rhodes (ankle) and defensive tackle Shamar Stephen (knee) were all full participants in practice Wednesday.

https://www.vikings.com/news/minnesota-vikings-new-orleans-saints-2019-wild-card-playoffs-injury-report

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