2024 Vikings

He was good the first 4.5 games or so but theres no denying hes has made some absolutely terrible throws and decisions lately.

JEREMY wrote:

He was good the first 4.5 games or so but theres no denying hes has made some absolutely terrible throws and decisions lately.

100%. Pretty much ever since he came out of that one game for one play he hasnt been the same.

The thing that worries me about Sam’s recent play is that his mistakes are due to bad decisions and they seem to be getting worse, not better… SOME of that can be due to the defensive scheme changes and having to make more split-second decisions, but a WR route is a WR route and he’s not putting the ball where it needs to be…

The other glaring issue with the team lately continues to be STUPID pre-snap penalties, you gotta put alot of that on KOC and his coaches for the team’s lack of preparation/discipline…

Hopefully they can right the ship the next few weeks against weaker competition and get back to full speed for the meaty end of the schedule and playoffs…

If you looked at the team stats from yesterday you’d think the Vikes won about 35-3, instead of 12-7. Defense gave the Jags no oxygen ever really, and I think that’s overlooked a bit. It is pretty concerning on offense for a few facets though. In general they seem to not be very well coordinated, pre-snap penalties, misalignments, and miscommunication on routes/assignments. That includes between Darnold and JJ, which just should not be happening at all, let alone with the frequency that it is. Not sure what the deal is there, but that is priority #1 as that lead to a large % of the turnovers yesterday and this year, which has been and will be any teams achilles heel. They also need more weapons to step up other than JJ, Jones and Hock (who had a great game btw).

ww.espn.com/nfl/matchup/_/gameId/401671708

On a brighter note, we did get this yesterday…

https://x.com/gregvorse/status/1855782749912666508?s=46&t=uoRWUp28rKzoSODmtmr3Lw

Not Vikings related, but how about the drama in Chicago with Caleb Williams? you can just tell his teammates just hate his guts…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

SOME of that can be due to the defensive scheme changes and having to make more split-second decisions, but a WR route is a WR route and he’s not putting the ball where it needs to be…

I agree with your whole post (and basically posted the same right after you), but this is what I’m talking about with miscommunication with JJ/WR’s and Darnold. On at least one Int yesterday, Darnold thought JJ was taking his route deeper, but he cut it to the front pylon. This seems to happen frequently, which is typically due to the WR having an Option route to go to spot A, B or C, and either the WR’s are reading it wrong or Darnold is, but it’s happening way too often.

How about Rodgers and the expensive Jets just getting embarrassed in the desert yesterday. What a joke! Rodgers is washed.

Darnold has me a bit concerned. But overall I think it’s impressive to win the last two games without playing your best. That is the mark of a good team and good coaching to get Wins when you probably shouldn’t have.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Not Vikings related, but how about the drama in Chicago with Caleb Williams? you can just tell his teammates just hate his guts…

That is probably a playoff roster with average quarterback play. They have great pieces on defense, have added a lot of offensive weapons, and a schedule that was predicted to be the easiest for any of the teams in the division.

JEREMY wrote:

He was good the first 4.5 games or so but theres no denying hes has made some absolutely terrible throws and decisions lately.

Hasn’t that been how he’s been his “whole” NFL career? Started out hot in NY and the same in Carolina. Hell, didn’t he even start 4-0 in Carolina?

Seems like a issue between the ears to me.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Not Vikings related, but how about the drama in Chicago with Caleb Williams? you can just tell his teammates just hate his guts…

I thought everyone hated Eberflus?? Haven’t heard/seen much against Caleb. And I think it’s always a bad idea to let a coach on thin ice, be the coach for a new potential franchise QB, maybe the Bears will realize it now after 3 consecutive failures.

The Bears just feel more and more like the NFC’s version of the Browns.

Just when you think they’ve turned the corner and have some good pieces and so on…it falls apart yet again.

Did anyone really think the Bears were a playoff caliber team when they were 4-2? Their body of work at that point was not that good even then.

The Bears are who we thought they were.

BigWerm wrote:

Haven’t heard/seen much against Caleb

several examples of his lineman NOT picking him back up off the ground on sacks, defensive players throwing him shoulders walking on/off the field, etc…

Probably because those linemen are picking themselves off the ground.
I think 4 of 5 starters were out this weekend including both tackles. That’s rough.

Uncle Sam is a complicated, dude. Yesterday he made a bunch of great throws and decisions, but his brain short-circuited in the red zone again. I hope this is fixable.

The addition of Hock makes stopping the Vikes O, a lot more difficult.

Sam has to quit forcing the throws… ever see him throw one away ?

big_g wrote:

Sam has to quit forcing the throws… ever see him throw one away ?

Not very often that is for sure!

Great interview of KOC on Paul Allen today. Vikings are top 3 in the league with number of pass completions over 20 yards (SF and Baltimore). With that comes a bit more risk of interception.

Donald was spot on early (first five games), but a bit less accurate while also trying to force the ball through too tight of coverage.

Allen made an interesting comment … Jets (2nd half), Colts, and Jags all rushed 3 or 4 putting more people back into coverage. While it did shutdown Darnold a bit … the Vikings still won all three games.

Mr Hellman’s himself is the opponent on Sunday

The Jags game was a fluky outcome, given how many first downs, yards and turnovers the Jags gave up yet no TDs vs. the Vikes, who hardly gave up any yards but did give up a TD not due to any of 3 their turnovers. Football outcomes are just bizarre sometimes.

Is Levis playing this weekend?

lindyrig79 wrote:

Is Levis playing this weekend?

Yes, he’s in line to start. He started last Sunday against the Chargers too.

He’s very prone to making mistakes. Similar to Mac Jones.

Obscure fact on the Vikings win:

the win was so unique was because teams were 0-147 since 2010 if they had three turnovers or more paired with zero touchdowns scored.

I think we’ll see an extremely simplified gameplan for the Vikings offense vs Tennessee this Sunday…KOC needs to rebuild the foundation of Darnold’s confidence and the best way he can do that is by not putting Sam in positions to make mistakes… I think we’ll see a heavy dose of run plays and simplified pass plays (screens, quick outs, check downs to the RB’s, etc)

of course this all goes out the window if the team gets behind somehow…

I was listing to KFAN this morning and they relayed some stats comparing when Blake Cashman is in the lineup versus when he is not.

The 2 games he missed (Detroit and LA), the Vikings gave up more rushing yardage in those two games combined than they have during the rest of the season combined.

Additionally, the amount of points they gave up per game when he is in the lineup is 13.7, as opposed to the amount of points per game they gave up when he was out of the lineup, being 30.5.

Safe to say he is a key player that dictates the outcome of the defensive results.

What are the chances of Vikings signing Aaron Rodgers in the offseason,not what he used to be ,but definitely an improvement over anything on the team, could definitely see him leading this team to a disappointing loss in the playoffs

Just as long as they don’t have Jordan love under center I’ll be happy. He does throw some beautiful pick 6s though.

Pitter patter wrote:

What are the chances of Vikings signing Aaron Rodgers in the offseason,not what he used to be ,but definitely an improvement over anything on the team, could definitely see him leading this team to a disappointing loss in the playoffs

Zero