Minnesota Vikings 2019 Season Thread

philtickelson wrote:

I heard on KFAN that the advanced stats actually show that Cousins has had more than average time in the pocket so far this year. It’s like everyone here says, he has no awareness, isn’t willing to throw into coverage(also is last in throwing into tight coverage), and fumbles at a remarkable rate.

Not that you want your QB throwing up jump balls on every drop back, but that combination means a lot of sacks, fumbles, and very few momentum changing plays.

This is what I have been saying all along. He is being too dang cautious. He knows the routes the receivers are running, Thielen and Diggs are two of the best at running routes, he can read the coverage, they should know how long it takes for the route to develop, fire the ball to a DAMN SPOT! Thats what guys like Brees, Brady and Rodgers do. Throw your receiver open. Throw BEFORE you see him open but know where he is going to be. It is so frustrating seeing these receivers wide open with Cousins on the ground because he held onto it too long.
TRUST YOUR WRs!

CaptainMusky wrote:

This is what I have been saying all along. He is being too dang cautious. He knows the routes the receivers are running, Thielen and Diggs are two of the best at running routes, he can read the coverage, they should know how long it takes for the route to develop, fire the ball to a DAMN SPOT! Thats what guys like Brees, Brady and Rodgers do. Throw your receiver open. Throw BEFORE you see him open but know where he is going to be. It is so frustrating seeing these receivers wide open with Cousins on the ground because he held onto it too long.
TRUST YOUR WRs!

Can’t help but think Zimmer is part of the blame on this. I think that is why he didn’t like Keenum (too much of a gunslinger).

I can totally see him telling Cousins to play it safe and try to let the defense win games.

Lindy, that’s highly plausible. I’m not a Zimmer fan.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Can’t help but think Zimmer is part of the blame on this. I think that is why he didn’t like Keenum (too much of a gunslinger).

I can totally see him telling Cousins to play it safe and try to let the defense win games.

Certainly could be. I like Zimmer and love what he has done with the defense, but really starting to question a lot of other things over his tenure. Kickers, game management, mandating running the ball, etc.

He should go back to being Defensive Coordinator.

lindyrig79 wrote:

He should go back to being Defensive Coordinator.

Haha I was actually thinking earlier this week if they could sit down and have a conversation like “hey Mike, we’re bringing in so-and-so to be head coach, but we think you’re one of the NFL’s best at running a defense….so would you mind still being our defensive coordinator?”

Latest report is Diggs might not play (coaches decision) as he skipped practice due to frustration. Although I don’t think you can (generally) let players run the show, I’d side with Diggs (and Thielen) on this one.

Lose Diggs and kiss the season goodbye

I don’t see a reason we can’t go “oh for New York”. Might as well make for interesting radio tomorrow

WOW! Who is wearing Cousins jersey today? That’s definitely not him lol

This team is so frustrating. We can just dominate/beat up on mediocre / bad teams, but we just can’t break through in big moments against good teams.

Cousins had a much better game. Now if he can keep it up or not – I guess we will find out over the next few weeks !!!

They should be expected to beat the Giants. I need to see them win a prime time game…. been a long time.

Couldn’t agree more. The Bears defense is NOT the Giants defense. In fact, the Bears are who we thought they were. Its still a road win and the first this season so there’s that.

Where the Cousins fans at now? Did they see how Keenum did yesterday against the Dolphins? The Eagles secondary is garbage, so they did what they should have. But the Eagles overall are still a good team, that had a winning record (gasp)…Big game next week in the Motor City!

Cousins looked a lot better yesterday, got the ball out quick under pressure on a few plays to extend drives. The 3rd and long pass to Thielen on the first drive was HUGE.

Some big plays for Diggs, and he actually missed one other deep ball that would have put Diggs at 200+ yards for the day.

Did you see the replay on Diggs 2nd deep TD? On the other side of the field Olabisi Johnson was even MORE wide open. Eagles had some blown coverage that’s for sure, but kudos to Cousins/Diggs for converting.

philtickelson wrote:

Cousins looked a lot better yesterday, got the ball out quick under pressure on a few plays to extend drives. The 3rd and long pass to Thielen on the first drive was HUGE.

That was the exact type of pass I have been saying Cousins has to throw. From the endzone cam you could see he threw that ball to a spot before Thielen even made the break.
That is an elite throw and like you said at a VERY important time. Game could have been a lot different if that didnt happen.

Cousins has looked much better the last 2 weeks. I’m not sure what is different, but something is. I’m still going to need to see a few more good games out of him against good teams before I become a fan of his.

fishthumper wrote:

Cousins has looked much better the last 2 weeks. I’m not sure what is different, but something is. I’m still going to need to see a few more good games out of him against good teams before I become a fan of his.

I think they asked him this after the game and here was his quote:

“Gosh darn I was just so flummoxed after that Chicago game, I heard some downright mean comments about me on the TV, and I’ll be darned if it didn’t just make me want to squeeze my stress ball just a bit harder than normal! I was ever so frustrated and boy was my blood just a tad bit warmer than usual. Oh boy did it just make me want to prove those guys wrong! Golly gee willickers, I told myself I was going to try extra very hard the next game and I sure did.”

Yesterday was one of the better statistical games for Cousins with the Vikes but stats aside, I’d say one of the very best in purple. He threw a few guys open and went through progressions to hit a few different receivers.

I’m hope Diggs’ feelings are all better after the game yesterday. Glad he can smile and do touchdown celebrations and all the fun things as long as he’s getting the ball.

Things that are different over the past two games for Cousins and the Vikes….

1. Better play calling.
2. Better Pocket
3. Cousins seems to be avoiding the rush and extending plays a little bit more.
4. The receivers are coming back to the ball when he does get into trouble and giving him something to throw at.
5. Weaker secondaries but Cousins is at least playing the way you’d expect a solid qb to play against them.
6. They have finally found a good balance between run and pass making the bootleg effective.

Detroit will be a big game and hopefully we will see a third quality game in a row from the offense.

Vikes may have caught a break with Mahomes getting injured last night, but so did the Pack. Still a lot of talent on that Chiefs team, but they will be much softer without Mahomes under center.

Tvss

BigWerm wrote:

Where the Cousins fans at now?

Bump. Great win today!

Yeah, I was hoping they wouldn’t start sucking us back in again.

Cousins has been playing better the past few games.

What’s the word on #19?

He did look good. If you were to just see the stats, you’d say he had a good game, but watching the game he looked comfortable and confident. Had a couple tough throws running to his left and having to throw back over the middle of the field and hit his receiver, then a couple more with a wide open receiver but he wasn’t in a good position with the pass rush but still got it there. These last few games are probably his best stretch on this team, hopefully he stays consistent.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
Where the Cousins fans at now?

Bump. Great win today!

they only come out when there is adversity. Cousins is the best pro QB this franchise has had since Favre retired for good. many of the fans will blame Kirk when times are tough but it will be crickets when he does a servicable job and the team is winning. there is always room for improvement in every facet of the game. I’m with Kirk start of the year and rest of the year! As long as they nip the Diggsy thing in the bud, have fun, play loose and so on. It will be a fun year.

Very good response by Cousins and the whole team. My gut tells me that Zimmer finally let Stefanski and Cousins have some freedom. That, and add a chip on Cousins shoulder lit the fire.

I said a couple pages ago that they needed to win the next 4 straight and they are 1 win away from that happening (and they should easily beat Washington)

Still would like to see them beat a good team, and do it in a prime time spot, before I get too excited.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Very good response by Cousins and the whole team. My gut tells me that Zimmer finally let Stefanski and Cousins have some freedom. That, and add a chip on Cousins shoulder lit the fire.

One of the biggest things I have seen at least in the last 3 games specifically is the variety in the play calling and the formations/designs are at a much higher level and being executed at a much better level.
Kirk has been looking much more comfortable and is getting a relatively clean pocket. The line is coming around and you can tell they are loving to mash on people in the run game.
Cook is quietly racking up yards like we havent seen since Peterson in his prime.

Another good outing for sure. They are starting to look like a decent team. Once again not sure what the change is with cousins but glad to see there was a change. We will get a much better idea of how good they are when they play KC and Seattle in a few weeks.

Even though Washington is garbage there will still be some good storylines for the game. Case Keenum is their QB. Adrian Peterson is their RB. Oh, and that is Kirk’s old team that didn’t want him. Could be entertaining….