Poz/Neg's Vikings Packers

The first PI call was an absolute joke. The 2nd PI call looked more like Illegal Contact to me. I couldn't see if the ball had been thrown or not, but I didn't think it had. 

 

 

This bothered me too. Packers took their foot off the gas a little and apparently, and surprisingly,  there is bottom to the level of shame the Vikings are willing to endure in front of a national tv audience. They were doing there best to cover up after the Packers depantsed  them.

As much as I disliked the garbage time d I think there is nothing to be gained by senselessly embarrassing  a team that you have to play twice a yr.  It was a good, sound beating.  They know who is the boss.

The OL played very well against a bad D. It was still a pretty amazing display though- no punts, a score on every possession except the kneel down. That's a well prepared offense regardless of opponent.

Just bugs me that the D gave up those garbage scores. Makes it look like Minny was competent-  and they weren't. AP makes it tough on a lot of tacklers, but they swarmed well enough. One bugaboo, though- where are the turnovers? Need to generate turnovers to make the next step.

On to Da Bearssss...

One more positive - Hines award body slamming Greg Jennings at halftime was BEAUTIFUL. "You never leave an elite QB for money"

^5 Hines...

How about Mike Daniels walking that Viking back into Ponder and then slamming him. That was a thing of beauty. That guy is  a stud. 

Daniels had the most snaps of the DLs... and for good reason.

Another example of a football player. Doesn't have the so called size, but the guy can play.

Daniels plays pissed off. Gotta think one Jolly character has a little influence on that.

 

Next year this could be 53 of 53. Who expects Kuhn and Wallace to return, and Pickett's $$ could be used on a younger player.  With Jolly and Daniels playing as well as they are and Worthy coming back... will Pickett have a spot?

 

 

The Ghost

That play by Raji was awesome also. Holding his ground against the OL, shedding him, grabbing Peterson with 1 arm, and then finishing with a nasty looking slam. The interior DL was blowing things up all night...Pickett had a few REALLY nice set ups for Raji and Jolly to make plays and they did. Can't say enough about how unselfish a player Ryan Pickett is, talk about doing the dirty work so young guys can make plays. He better be in the Packer HOF immediately after retiring. 

The Peterson reaction after the play. What a dick.

The silver lining to all of these injuries this team seems to suffer every year is that it helps speed up the development of the young guys, which in turn just improves the overall depth of the team once they do get guys back.

 

Feeling the same way. Getting A LOT of contribution from this years draft class....and Datone's starting to pick things up the last few weeks IMO. Seems to be getting more push up front.

Another "positive" about the injured players missing time is that they will be back for the latter half of the season.  Better to be out earlier rather than later.  Clay's hamstring is getting a good rest!

Pleasantly surprised, maybe almost shocked, how effective Rodgers was missing 3 of his top 4 receivers (Cobb, J. Jones, Finley).  Closest thing I can remember to seeing two big backs running well like Lacy & Starkd did was Brockington & Lane.  Loved it.  Starks looked great.  Along with Franklin, who proved in the Cincy game what he can offer, makes this a great threesome.  Who would have though this OL -- missing #1 picks Bulaga & Sherrod at OT -- could still be as good as they've been?  Jared Allen was a non-factor.  Boykin surprised me with how well he caught.  Big guy, big hands.  Like him.  DL played another good game.  Hard to believe we were missing 3 of our 4 starting LBs.  Lattimore continues to shine.  Hyde's punt return was totally unexpected.  For as accurate as Rodgers typically is, those two throws to Jordy were just incredible.  First game this season no one got injured.  About time!  With all the bodies missing from special teams, not shocked Packers game up that TD return.  Just so happy they didn't let it faze them.  Terrible PI calls on T. Williams.  Garbage TDs by Vikings in 4Q were a bit too easy, but who cares.  Now we likely get J. Jones, B. Jones, and maybe most importantly Nick Perry back next week.  Need Perry on right side to give us better pass rush.  Bears in GB without Cutler and Briggs shouldn't be an issue.  Same with Eagles following week.  Sounds like we should then be getting Matthews back.  Giants in NY still dangerous, as will be the Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving.  But if we can get these guys back and remain relatively healthy, we should be in great shape.  Looking at it today, winning in the playoffs at NO, Seattle or SF would all be tough.  But long way away.  If we're fairly healthy, we can beat any of them at those places.  Let's enjoy it one week at a time, cross that bridge when we get there.  In meantime, today basking in the joy of winning big at a place that has a lot of bad memories for us.  And totally look forward to beating the Bears in GB next Monday night.

     Good post......you  may have forgotten the Dorsey and Edgar tandem.

Yeah, I didn't like the garbage points as the ass whoopin that was placed upon the queens will not be recorded on paper as so; at least for those who do not dig in for more info.  With this said, I got to wonder is this all that bad? Perhaps opponents will buy into the medias' shallow and lazy opinions based on just stats, such as this morning on NFL am, where their overwhelming opinion was that the Packers' D is not all that great. Do these idiots watch the games?  The fact is, our D is pretty freakin good - outside of garbage time!  So just keep talking trash about our D!

@BrianCarriveau: #BeGreat RT @SeifertESPN: Greg Jennings was gone from the #Vikings locker room by the time reporters were let in.

 

What a Sally.. 

Yeah, I thought about both your points as well.  Back and fresh bodies.

 

Plus the point about Clay's hamstring.  Obviously, being out due to the thumb provides that dividend as well, instead of it perhaps always being not quite right due to playing through it.

I like it... Creates betting opportunities.. 

Lattimore Shines Inside Again

 

One position on the Green Bay defense that they seem to have no trouble finding players to plug in and get high caliber performances from is the more attacking inside linebacker role next to A.J. Hawk. Dating back to 2010 when Desmond Bishop replaced the injured Nick Barnett there has perhaps been no greater fulfillment of the “next man up” philosophy than here. In Bishop’s stead came D.J. Smith for a short while, followed by Brad Jones last season; all of them playing to a high level. The next man to fill that role next to Hawk has been Jamari Lattimore who had another impact performance (+3.3 overall, positive in all three phases of the game) to follow up a solid display against Cleveland and an excellent game in Baltimore.

 

In his three starts, Lattimore now has 10 defensive stops and four pressures (two sacks, one hit, one hurry) on a mere 11 pass rushes in that time.

 

Lattimore did continue his streak of a missed tackle in each of his starts as well, but this week’s was nullified by a penalty late in the third quarter. The Packers have been unfortunate with injuries at this spot on their defense, but their replacements and the coaching staff in their preparations continue to create opportunities and impact performances.

Winston Moss doesn't get enough press...

 

 

What was Johnathan Franklin doing on his kickoff return right before halftime? We'll find out what special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum has to say about that. Whatever Franklin was thinking, it got him benched in the second half in favor of Hyde adding kickoff return to his growing list of responsibilities.

I like the quick hook McCarthy (or Slocum) has had this year in regards to STs. The offense is top 3-5... the defense is top 10... can't have the ST drag the team down and be the weak link in the playoffs.

 

 

great to see how focused the team has been the last few games, esp on the road.

They went to BAL on a mission to outphysical the Ravens and they succeeded.

They went to MIN on a mission to win the fking game. shrugged off the atmosphere and the opening game kickoff for a TD like it was nothing and proceeded to surgically

sodomize the Vikes.

 

The bares are coming in to get destroyed. I expect another methodical punishment.

 

I feel confident that MM and AR will have the same mindset going into big road games @NYG and the turkey day game with the Loins.

 

excited to see what this team looks like when CM3 and Cobb get back.

What else are we going to complain about? 

I sure hope he's keeping it loose during the layoff.  His history of returning from injury is good.

+

lacy/starks

no injuries

both lines

linebacker play

AR's a baller

boing is looking good

-

predictable play calling (can also be + I suppose)

 

The one thing that keeps popping up in my head is : can we do this against the 49ers or seahawks?

don't want to get ahead of the schedule, but I REALLY don't like either the 9ers or the seahawks and want to see this kind of destruction against them...

 

I like when the team keeps playing; not to embarrass the other team, but to improve.  There's so little hitting in practice that every game snap is important to development, timing, and rhythm.  It's the other team's problem to stop it.  I like developing attitude and confidence. 

 

Two teams that always play like the 'score as many as you can' attitude are New Orleans and New England.  There's an intimidation factor when the other team knows you're not going to stop.

I think this is an area where Hawk deserves a lot of credit for handling all the mental aspects of the defense and setting up the capable young guy next to him to just go out there and make plays. 

Also, it's weird, but seems to me like Hawk has an easier time wrapping players up without all the extra muscle up top.  He used to try to use his strength to throw guys down but now it seems he's playing with more technique. 

I'm going to disagree. Specifically with the second paragraph. The "score as many points as you can" with intent to instill intimidation works until you meet a team that smashes your teeth in. GB, NO and NE all have common experiences in the past few years. 

 

I like where GB is right now. Light on style and growing in substance. This team is learning to be a brutal out in January. Work to do and need to get healthy. Love the under the radar feel to this team and their direction. 

Pedal to the metal for 4 quarters!  I don't mind seeing a change of personnel, but the scheme should remain the same as well as the intensity. 

Show me a team that hasn't been smashed.  Everybody gets theirs in the NFL.  It's just a matter of time.    

 

I also don't think this team is under the radar to anyone.  When 12 is under center no team is going to take the Packers lightly.   They may be under the radar to the ESPN pop culture hype machine but that doesn't matter to anyone who matters.     

 

Team 93 also seems to be pretty humble so far.  Not patting themselves on the back too much and going into every game chin down and knuckles up.   I think the way they carry themselves is more important than the amount of praise they receive. 

 

Jordy and James as leaders in the WR room seems to have brought some harmony back to the offense.  Sitton and Lang seem to have matured to the point of providing some leadership as well.  In some years past they've behaved like class clowns.       

 

This defense is real close to dominant.  They've had some years where they masked a terrible D with a bunch of picks.  This year even without the picks they're far ahead where they've been the last few.  Seems INTs make a defense over confident sometimes. 
 

I'm with yah bro!

One positive that I think needs to be repeated is the job MM is doing as coach. He's always been a solid guy in preparation and helping the team overcome adversity.

 

But last night was one of his finest actual in-game coaching performances that I can recall. He stuck with the run to neutralize the pass rush and wear down the defense. He ran for it in some 3rd down situations. He moved Nelson into the slot. He was aggressive with two fourth down calls rather than attempting a FG or punting. I love what I saw from McCarthy last night and hope he continues to make good in-game decisions.

Agree, Rockin'. I thought MM called one of his best games in a long, long time. He stuck it to them with Lacy and then with Starks. He went for it on fourth down and mixed it up by using a short, move-the-chains pass rather than a bomb or a run up the gut. My only complaint was the wishbone-type package near the goal line when everyone knew what they were going to do. I'm hoping he put that on tape and sometime in January he passes out of it or does something more creative. 

 

I also loved the shot of KGreene making a stick-breaking motion over his knee. He knew his defense just broke their backs by stopping them, and you could just see how he's a terrific coach and leader. I hope we can hang on to him. I can see him growing into a D coordinator one day.  

 

All in all, our coaching staff is probably the envy of many players and front offices. MM certainly has put together one of the best. 

 

 

Ginger may not have had to punt, but he got plenty of work from all of those KOs.

IDK if any one mentioned this yet but Nate Palmer played significantly more snaps than Mulumba. 40-14, respectively.

 

I wonder if Mulumba was benched or injured. I remember him getting up slowly after a KO return. 

I haven't seen the game tape yet.  Anyone notice how heyward did?  He was activated but stat sheet says 1 tackle and I haven't seen any posts yet that mention him.  Being eased back?