Thread: 4-1!

Originally Posted by TheLeviathan

I don't disagree that we could upgrade our WR depth, I disagree that is it crippling our offense. The QB can do a lot at the line and during a play to work people open and to throw people open. (Odd term, but it's one thing Rodgers is particularly good at)

Manningham and Moss are not drawing double teams. It's absurd to think teams are saying "I'll let Crabtree and Davis beat me....but not an ancient Randy Moss!" Again, Smith is playing better and is utilizing his skill players better. Which is what Ponder needs to do.

Honestly I don't think anything is crippling our offense, the offense the past 3 games has looked pretty good. Obviously in Detroit they didn't put up gaudy numbers, but that is because they were playing with a lead and trying to run the clock out. I think they only had him throw the ball like 8-10 times in the 2nd half alone. I do agree he could have played better that game as it was definitely his worst.

I mean at the end of the day he is getting it done, 69% Comp percentage, 95.5 Passer Rating, 7 total TDS vs 2 turnovers 70.64 QBR Rating. Has he made mistakes? Of course. Has he looked "sexy" out there all the time? Nope. But in this case IMO the numbers don't lie, he is getting the job done and the Vikes are 4-1 exceeding all of our expectations. I do think he needs to continue to improve though, but I am pleased with his improvement over last year for sure!

One thing I would like to see the Vikes do is call a couple designed QB sneaks for him. The guy has some decent wheels on him and it could only help further open up the field for him.

Look, he's better than I expected, I won't deny that. And the 49er game impressed the hell out of me. But the offense hasn't been very good, I need to see it be more than Percy and the offensive line carrying the load before I start being impressed overall.

The defense seemed to be absent in today's game, granted the turnovers weren't helping anything.

Some of the stats look nice today but Ponder had some simply terrible throws. Held the ball too long all day as well. And this was the kind of performance I was worried our defense was capable of, I'm not sure what the real identity is yet.

Ponder looked like dog**** today, terrible passes and terrible decisions all day.

I'm not super worried about the defense yet, RGIII exposed there one real weakness which is lack of speed, fortunately the majority of QBs from here on out aren't exactly the running types:

Freeman, Kolb, Wilson, Rodgers, Cutler, Shaub,Bradford, etc

The frustrating thing with this game is the Vikes should have been up 17-0 in the 1st quarter, not 9-0, you GOT to put the ball in the endzone in this league, and they let the Redskins back into it. Couple that with two gift INT/TD's from Ponder and the Vikings were screwed.

****ty cause they should/could have won this game. Now they gotta win the next two against Zona and TB to keep us in a good spot. @Seattle looks like a damn tough game. But if we can go into the bye at 6-3 we at least set ourselves up for a legit playoff run.

I still maintain this team needs another threat at WR, you could tell the Skins were keying off on Peterson and Harvin all day. Jenkins had a nice catch and Rudolph had a nice game, but it would be so nice if we had someone we could throw a jump ball or something to in the endzone (or go deep) I almost wonder if it would be worth trying to bring on Plaxico Burress? Dude actually played somewhat decent last year and I think could be solid as long as we don't need him as a #1. Thoughts?

Yeah, defensive speed is lacking. I thought when we went up 9-0 that we were in trouble, we invited the Skins to get a ton of momentum out of those failed opportunities.

Originally Posted by TheLeviathan

Yeah, defensive speed is lacking. I thought when we went up 9-0 that we were in trouble, we invited the Skins to get a ton of momentum out of those failed opportunities.

This seems to have been an issue all year, the Detroit game was a good example to, some real nice drives that got stalled out. It would be so nice to have a big WR to toss it to in the red zone, since Harvin and Peterson are more or less going to be guarded very closely.

Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

This seems to have been an issue all year, the Detroit game was a good example to, some real nice drives that got stalled out. It would be so nice to have a big WR to toss it to in the red zone, since Harvin and Peterson are more or less going to be guarded very closely.

I guess I thought the issue has been they haven't run enough.

Originally Posted by TheLeviathan

Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

This seems to have been an issue all year, the Detroit game was a good example to, some real nice drives that got stalled out. It would be so nice to have a big WR to toss it to in the red zone, since Harvin and Peterson are more or less going to be guarded very closely.

I guess I thought the issue has been they haven't run enough.

I agree, they seemed to just decent stretches without giving peterson the ball at all.

One thing I do like is them including Adrian more and more in the passing game.

I cry a little bit when Ponder lines up in the shotgun.

Defense looked like the 2011 squad again, made the Skins receiving core look like the 2001 Rams. Whatever their gameplan was, it failed fantastically. AVATAR wins again.

Yeah, Adrian is clearly getting more passes his way, what I don't like in the offense in the redzone is typified by one play to me. I can't remember which of the three opening field goal drives it was, but Ponder threw a slant to Aromoshadu out of the back of the endzone. It was incomplete but he literally took no time to look at his options, threw it to an inferior player who was covered (maybe even double covered if I remember right) and basically wasted a down. I love the way they are using Harvin, improving the quantity of looks for Peterson and Rudolph, and balancing the running formations. But good god do they need to get better in the redzone, it's like Percy and Adrian stop existing for some reason.

I agree with the redzone problems. I felt like Ponder was completely worthless. Defenses will give you throws of 10 yards and under all day. I dislike the way he plays the game. He is a dink and dunk passer. He walks a thin line. He doesn't do enough to win games by himself, but a bad game and he can lose one. Offenses start with the QB. Look at how Manning and Rogers dissect defenses at the line. Manning doesn't have a great receiver core now but still finds people open. Even when Favre was here he was able to do this and put cash in Sydney Rice's bank account because of it. A new receiver is only going to give Ponder options, I doubt he would ever take advantage of them.

It's a little silly to compare Ponder to Manning and Rodgers, who are two of the better QB's of the past 20 years.... but for the record Manning was pretty mediocre his first 16 starts in the league, and Rodgers was able to sit 3 years on the bench before he was ever called upon. I'm not saying Ponder is ever going to be elite or anything close, but lets give him some time to learn and adjust.

Originally Posted by TheLeviathan

Yeah, Adrian is clearly getting more passes his way, what I don't like in the offense in the redzone is typified by one play to me. I can't remember which of the three opening field goal drives it was, but Ponder threw a slant to Aromoshadu out of the back of the endzone. It was incomplete but he literally took no time to look at his options, threw it to an inferior player who was covered (maybe even double covered if I remember right) and basically wasted a down. I love the way they are using Harvin, improving the quantity of looks for Peterson and Rudolph, and balancing the running formations. But good god do they need to get better in the redzone, it's like Percy and Adrian stop existing for some reason.

If the Vikes are inside the ten there is no reason why Peterson shouldn't touch the ball at least 2 of the 3 downs...none at all. (unless the other 2 are going to Harvin in some fashion)

It just would be nice to have a Plaxico type guy you could throw a jump ball to down in that area as well, to help spread out the defense. I don't think Rudolph, Aroshmondu or Jenkins are scaring many teams, and Harvin as great as he is just doesn't have the size for one of those type of plays.

Rudolph is a better jump ball target than some washed up guy. Part of the problem isn't that Rudolph can't do it - he's actually a fantastic weapon for that - the problem is teams seem to realize we use Harvin as a decoy and not a weapon in the redzone and overprotect against Rudolph.

Originally Posted by TheLeviathan

Rudolph is a better jump ball target than some washed up guy. Part of the problem isn't that Rudolph can't do it - he's actually a fantastic weapon for that - the problem is teams seem to realize we use Harvin as a decoy and not a weapon in the redzone and overprotect against Rudolph.

Yeah that's true.

The playcalling in the red zone has prob been the biggest issue. Regardless, this team really could use another WR, Simpson's health is to iffy to rely on him and everyone else is closer to a #3/#4.

I wonder if we could get Bowe for a 3rd or 4th round pick since he is about to be a FA and the Chiefs are awful. Would that be worth exploring?

Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

I wonder if we could get Bowe for a 3rd or 4th round pick since he is about to be a FA and the Chiefs are awful. Would that be worth exploring?

I'd consider it. Bowe is a bit of a headcase, but he's got tremendous physical talent. I'm not a big fan of moving picks on a team that is young and still building, but Bowe has certainly got plenty of tread on the tires. I'd probably stick with just a third for him though.

I am glad Musgrave isn't calling for ponder to throw downfield more often. He is too skiddish to stand in a collapsing pocket and wait for guys to get through their routes, and take one on the chin after letting it fly. I think if you start asking him to do that, you're going to see a lot more fumbles and interceptions from him. He's a scrambler and I don't think mid-season is a great time to try and break a guy of those instincts.

Once again we win with just about zero help from our QB. Not good.

Ponder looked like dog **** today, but some of the play calling was head scratching to say the least...

The secondary was damn impressive today though!