Vikings @ Lions 11/2/25

[Aggies7]

What a team 

[nicksaviking]

Well, the Vikings at least made this one close. 

[Aggies7]

Wow. Great play 

[Aggies7]

Big time throw and catch 

[nicksaviking]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

Well, the Vikings at least made this one close. 

Phew, I just barely got that reverse jinx in on time!

[Vanimal46]

That’s a big boy throw 

[Aggies7]

We made so many damn mistakes it’s incredible this was a win 

[mrtwinsfan]

Great win  - but Oconnell  needs to taks a hard look at him calling plays

[Parfigliano]

I'm beginning to think KOC isn't a big boy coach

[Aggies7]

5 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I'm beginning to think KOC isn't a big boy coach

I thought he called a call a good game right up to  that point

[gunnarthor]

What a win!

4-4, with two road wins in the north. 

[Aggies7]

McCarthy had a great game just has to remember which way to turn on a handoff 😂

[Aggies7]

I feel a lot better about JJ McCarthy than I did maybe 5 hours ago 

[Vanimal46]

17 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I feel a lot better about JJ McCarthy than I did maybe 5 hours ago 

Best news of the day is Van Ginkel playing the whole game. He’s the clear glue guy for a good Flores defense 

[Mike Sixel]

Went on a long hike. Shocked at the final. But it is a glorious day here and a hike is good for the soul. 

[TheLeviathan]

Great game!  My quick thoughts:

Defense:

1) This is the front and the interior pressure we expected with this team.  The rest of the defense comes together when they can get after people like they did today.

2) Turner was basically benched.  We are in bust territory.

3) Murphy was getting picked on all day.

4) This team probably takes 10 points off the board if they wrapped up and finished plays more often.  The sheer number of times the Lions pulled off miracle escapes is a bit alarming.

But pressure solves all ills!

Offense:

1) For ****'s sake run the ball with 4 minutes on the clock, inside the five, and a two score lead assured.  Stop being so cute.

2) JJ made some nice throws, played like a winner today.

3) But holy cow was his accuracy off today.  Threw behind Nailor who had plenty of room to run on the pick.  Overthrew JJ by 5 yards with a missile from five feet away.  Almost missed Addison on what could have been a TD.  The overturned throw to JJ was wide open if he doesn't basically dirt that ball.  KOC is right - he HAS to work on his footwork.

4) There was a lot of pressure today but I chalk that up to KOC.  I thought the OL played a really, really good game overall.

[Danchat]

56 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

2) Turner was basically benched.  We are in bust territory.

Yup, he only played 14 of 64 snaps. The run defense looked way better without him.

56 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

3) Bynum was getting picked on all day.

In the Colts-Steelers game?

Also, was it a coincidence that Oliver was out and the run game had its best day since the Bengals game? I'm not claiming he is a bad run blocker, but the dude is the highest paid blocking TE in the league and he makes zero impact on the run game.

[Mike Sixel]

Watched the highlights. If the defense had tackled.....

[gunnarthor]

This was a great win. My quick thoughts 

1) JJ played a lot better than his stats. He doesn't have happy feet like Wentz. Some of his throws were off but that's to be expected after missing five weeks and his general lack of reps. He also seems to have real confidence, even swagger. Nice to see that from a Viking QB. He held the ball a bit too long on some plays and took hits he won't take with more experience but, generally, really impressive road win against what many thought was the best team in the NFC. If McCarthy stays healthy, this will be a playoff team. 

2) Play calling was a lot better today - similar to the Browns game. Quick releases. Vikes only had 2 three-and-out drives. The early screen to Jones was a gem as was another big play to him. 

3) Defense was great - five three-and-out drives. (Unlike Levi, I thought Turner played well - 4 tackles) and Redmond and Rodriguez really stepped up. 5 sacks. The Lions BS TD late should have been called offensive PI. Also nice to see Pace have a few nice plays, too. I thought he should have been credited with half a sack. 

4) I think this is a really well coached football team. The ST were strong most of the game, Price was amazing. The team was physically better all game. Just really well prepared. Kudos to the coaching staff. Two road wins at Chicago and Detroit are huge.

Lastly, KOC has to run Mason up the middle on short yardage situations. Jeepers, that was some horrible play-calling at the end.

[gunnarthor]

Oh, I forgot. Hockinson looked bad, despite catching a TD. I'm sure I missed some good things he did but I don't think he'll be here next year.

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Danchat said:

Yup, he only played 14 of 64 snaps. The run defense looked way better without him.

In the Colts-Steelers game?

Also, was it a coincidence that Oliver was out and the run game had its best day since the Bengals game? I'm not claiming he is a bad run blocker, but the dude is the highest paid blocking TE in the league and he makes zero impact on the run game.

I have no idea why my brain blacked out on Murphy...n9t Bynum.  Derp on my end.

[TheLeviathan]

18 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

This was a great win. My quick thoughts 

1) JJ played a lot better than his stats. He doesn't have happy feet like Wentz. Some of his throws were off but that's to be expected after missing five weeks and his general lack of reps. He also seems to have real confidence, even swagger. Nice to see that from a Viking QB. He held the ball a bit too long on some plays and took hits he won't take with more experience but, generally, really impressive road win against what many thought was the best team in the NFC. If McCarthy stays healthy, this will be a playoff team. 

2) Play calling was a lot better today - similar to the Browns game. Quick releases. Vikes only had 2 three-and-out drives. The early screen to Jones was a gem as was another big play to him. 

3) Defense was great - five three-and-out drives. (Unlike Levi, I thought Turner played well - 4 tackles) and Redmond and Rodriguez really stepped up. 5 sacks. The Lions BS TD late should have been called offensive PI. Also nice to see Pace have a few nice plays, too. I thought he should have been credited with half a sack. 

4) I think this is a really well coached football team. The ST were strong most of the game, Price was amazing. The team was physically better all game. Just really well prepared. Kudos to the coaching staff. Two road wins at Chicago and Detroit are huge.

Lastly, KOC has to run Mason up the middle on short yardage situations. Jeepers, that was some horrible play-calling at the end.

My man....Turner didn't play.  Some of those tackles were special teams.

[gunnarthor]

9 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

My man....Turner didn't play.  Some of those tackles were special teams.

Were they? I dunno. I don't look for him every play but I thought I saw him make a few plays and was in on a some pressure. This seems comparable to Nick's "we're gonna be the Browns" comment. Like Turner has played 75% of the defenses snaps this season, weird that he's a bust. But JJ played well and KAM can't draft so I guess that'll be the narrative for a bit.

My guess is he played less because Detroit was in passing formations and with Gink back and Wilson's play, they didn't need him as much. I guess we will see more in the coming weeks. But the player whose snaps really went down were Theo Jackson, (unless he was hurt and I missed it). 

Unrelated but I saw it when I was looking up snap counts - Redmond led the DL in snaps today.

[TheLeviathan]

8 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Were they? I dunno. I don't look for him every play but I thought I saw him make a few plays and was in on a some pressure. This seems comparable to Nick's "we're gonna be the Browns" comment. Like Turner has played 75% of the defenses snaps this season, weird that he's a bust. But JJ played well and KAM can't draft so I guess that'll be the narrative for a bit.

My guess is he played less because Detroit was in passing formations and with Gink back and Wilson's play, they didn't need him as much. I guess we will see more in the coming weeks. But the player whose snaps really went down were Theo Jackson, (unless he was hurt and I missed it). 

Unrelated but I saw it when I was looking up snap counts - Redmond led the DL in snaps today.

14 out of 64 is less than 25% of snaps.

[gunnarthor]

2 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

14 out of 64 is less than 25% of snaps.

According to pro-football reference, he had played 75% of the snaps going into yesterday, after yesterday, it's 68%. I know PFF, ESPN Analytics, and NextGen Stats all count defensive stats differently but most of them are behind a paywall but PFR has Turner second on the team in QB pressures and first in QB hurries. It also looks like Flores generally considers him a strong piece of his defense.

You're the one saying he's heading into bust territory but nothing really supports that. Playing time yesterday was almost certainly based on situations and schemes. I suppose if it remains low we might worry but with a fully healthy defense, playing time will likely depend on match-ups and situation. So far he looks like a more-or-less average NFL starter and is doing the stuff his coaches ask him to do. There's a lot of daylight between that and bust.

[TheLeviathan]

50 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

According to pro-football reference, he had played 75% of the snaps going into yesterday, after yesterday, it's 68%. I know PFF, ESPN Analytics, and NextGen Stats all count defensive stats differently but most of them are behind a paywall but PFR has Turner second on the team in QB pressures and first in QB hurries. It also looks like Flores generally considers him a strong piece of his defense.

You're the one saying he's heading into bust territory but nothing really supports that. Playing time yesterday was almost certainly based on situations and schemes. I suppose if it remains low we might worry but with a fully healthy defense, playing time will likely depend on match-ups and situation. So far he looks like a more-or-less average NFL starter and is doing the stuff his coaches ask him to do. There's a lot of daylight between that and bust.

Or it was based on the fact that once Van Ginkel came back he's not worth having on the field.  If he wasn't a bust, he'd be forcing his way on there.  Jalen Redmond is forcing his way on the field.  Eric Wilson is forcing his way on the field.  These are guys with no investment of any real significance that are earning their playing time.  Flores snatched Turner off the field the moment Gink was available.

One guy came back and Turner went from 75% to less than 25%.  Guys you spend a first round pick on (and trade multiple picks to move up to get) and can't get on the field even a quarter of the time are absolutely a bust.

Part time third rounder?  Sure, not a bust.  What they paid for Turner?  We're in bust territory.

[gunnarthor]

19 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

 

Part time third rounder?  Sure, not a bust.  What they paid for Turner?  We're in bust territory.

I think we will just have to agree to disagree. 

[Mike Sixel]

39 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Or it was based on the fact that once Van Ginkel came back he's not worth having on the field.  If he wasn't a bust, he'd be forcing his way on there.  Jalen Redmond is forcing his way on the field.  Eric Wilson is forcing his way on the field.  These are guys with no investment of any real significance that are earning their playing time.  Flores snatched Turner off the field the moment Gink was available.

One guy came back and Turner went from 75% to less than 25%.  Guys you spend a first round pick on (and trade multiple picks to move up to get) and can't get on the field even a quarter of the time are absolutely a bust.

Part time third rounder?  Sure, not a bust.  What they paid for Turner?  We're in bust territory.

Agreed. 

[gunnarthor]

So apparently the cuteness at the end of the game might not have been KOC's fault. On DN some of the commentators are saying that JJ audibled to the pass to Jefferson on second down and then screwed up the RPO on 3rd down and ran out of bounds. If that's right, that's more growing pains to overcome and hopefully he will have a better understanding of the importance of the clock going forward. 

[Mike Sixel]

15 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

So apparently the cuteness at the end of the game might not have been KOC's fault. On DN some of the commentators are saying that JJ audibled to the pass to Jefferson on second down and then screwed up the RPO on 3rd down and ran out of bounds. If that's right, that's more growing pains to overcome and hopefully he will have a better understanding of the importance of the clock going forward. 

Interesting. But KOC needs to tell him before those plays not to pass? But then, it's not like they talked..... That would change my thoughts on the coaching.