Studs n Duds vs The Vikings

[Pugger]

STUD

Overall D performance even while they were down 3 starters and lost our backup Safety. We watched our Offense struggle for 3.5 quarters but still refused to go away.

Valentine. I was impressed with him he’s actually an above average starting CB! I really mean that as a compliment. He plays with vigor and spunk.

Karl Brooks had a good game. 1 sack,
1 TFL, 1 PD, 1 QB HIT

Edgerrin Cooper lives in the backfield.
4 TFL!

DUD
Ref who gave Vikes 3 points on a retry. That was a ridiculous call and even the Ref analyst who said those don’t get called unless it affec

I don't give them much credit for the last half quarter. Those were just garbage time TD's. Rather meaningless.

Garbage time? MN needed this game a lot more than we did. There is no way they wanted that game to get that close at any time.

 

[El Guapo]

As some of the beat writers have said, the Vikings tend to "play with their food" too much at the end of games once they develop a good lead.

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

stud: Coop always seems to show up.
duds: The offensive play calling was just beige. No real creativity, it seems like MLF kind of forgets what has been successful (or not successful).

 

[El Guapo]

There is a lot to be happy about in hindsight. The Packers don’t quit even when they are down. The defense played strong - stopping the running game and limiting Justin Jefferson from destroying us. However, we don’t have the horses to end drives and stop the other WRs from hurting us. Cooper played great. Jacobs made good cuts and ran hard. Halfey needs to figure out a different way to cover WRs and get pressure, because every time we blitzed the Vikings picked it up. LaFleur needs to figure out how to be creative every week, not just every couple of games. Love is still inconsistent, especially early on in games. LaFleur needs to just line up the big boys and let Jacobs and Wilson (our most consistent offensive weapons) pound away all game: up the middle, jet sweeps, and with outside runs mixed in to keep the defense off balance. Run against 8 in the box. It's not a guaranteed negative play. That will set up Jordan Love for later in the game.

 

[OldSchool101]

There is a difference between “giving up” and going into a conservative

Just because you’re not “giving up” doesn’t mean you’re playing the same defense with 6 minutes left in a 17 point game as you would be with 6 minutes left in a 3 point game.

They did almost nothing against Minnesota’s defense until that last half quarter.

No no no. The peak 17 point deficit started at the end of 3rd Quarter. I’ll use YOUR example (I’m assuming it’s the best evidence you’ve got or you wouldn’t supply it) the peak of that -17 lasted 9 minutes. The following are examples of Defensive alignments across those 15 Packer O plays.


Any argument that the Vikings played soft lasted exactly 3 plays out of 57 plays on Offense. Less than 1.5 minutes of total gameclock.
I just went back and watched it twice. EVERY other play had 7 minimum in the box or kept 4 DL+ at home OR used 5+ rushers. Below is one of FIVE times Vikings Rushed 5 Defenders during that -17 deficit. They also played aggressive on the WR the entire time. Often batting passes as they were being caught.

Notice the game clock is opening of the 4th Quarter. (Mark 15 min -9min). Lots of time left and at the pinnacle of -17 before we closed the gap. By 6:12 is was a -9 point margin and NOTHING came “easy” as suggested. Love did fantastic under constant duress

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[Pugger]

I think LaFLeur is a good coach, he won 13 games his first three seasons. And still has a very good record, 67-32. He hasn't won the division without Rodgers though.

With the way Detroit and MN have been playing these fays I doubt MLF would win the division with Rodgers instead of Love.

 

[OldSchool101]

The reason the Vikings Win was NOT being passive for 3.5 Quarters. They were average to aggressive in all but 3 Snaps in Quarter 4. If anything, the Vikings win with D aggression. This argument that we got easy points is not consistent with the film.

Jordan was being pressured REGULARLY and especially in Qtr 4 during the -17 pinnacle. The Vikings Staff were high 5ing on the sideline BECAUSE of pressure being dialed UP… not down!

 

[rmontro]

I hope the Packers get another shot at the Vikings.

So do I, if only because that means we win a playoff game.

Besides line play, to me the entire difference in the game was Minnesota's WRs/TEs made all of the tough catches. The Packers WRs/TEs dropped most of the tough catches.

Yeah, their WRs looked bigger and better than ours. I remember Doubs dropping a few. Speaking of Doubs, what is that weird cloth helmet cover he's been wearing? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

 

[rmontro]

Especially dumb move against the Vikings front 7 who lead the league in stopping 4th down conversions.

Can't help but notice we're nowhere to be seen on that list.

 

[OldSchool101]

I hope the Packers get another shot at the Vikings. Flores drank Petals' milkshake, but I don't think he could do it again.

Yes. Plus There is no denying that our D was slightly wounded but we held them to respectable 27 points and got an INT into the Redzone. So, my accounting says I credit our D with ~20 points allowed. That’s including a bonus bogus FG Rekick. Vikes are a Top 10 Offense, not Detroit great level, but very good level.

Once again a faulty pattern with the Vikings. We get going later. We have to create a spark in the 1st Quarter as Defenses wear down before each half. Especially once settled in qtr4. Imo. Matt is going to have to step up out of his comfort zone. He’s been running more this year and passing less. Here we were missing Watson who’s a pretty substantial Deep threat and Musgrave only played 12 snaps (1 target). We need both playing a combined 40-50 snaps minimum+

 

[OldSchool101]

I’d unleash Love a little. Start earlier by peeling a few “would be” runs and redirect to passes to RB’s and our pair of TE’s. We have incredible talent across RB/TE group but we are clearly holding them back in key Losses in comparison to our opponent having success.

- We need to go back to what was working. Use our RB’s and TE’s more or maybe use them period. Look below. Get that ball out quicker earlier in the game. Get Our best YAC guys involved in space or with momentum.

RB group Pass Game
at Vikings 0-0 yards L
Vs Saints 6-42 yards W
At Seahawks 5-51 yards W
At Detroit 0-0 yards L
Vs Miami 6-75 yards W
At 49ers 2-15 yards W
At Chicago 7-72 yards W

That’s 0 RB passes across the last
8 quarters of Divisional play.
Vikings RB usage across 4 Quarters?
8-60 yards against us!

Our RB pass usage across the other 5 games or last 20 quarters?
26-255 yards (5.2 Targets 9.8 yards per)

 

[milani]

The Eagles will be a tough but if we survive that it’s a trip to Minneapolis or Detroit. It’s tough to beat a team 3 times in one season.

Indeed!

 

[rmontro]

I read a comment on YouTube, which pointed out the Packers haven't lost to a team with less than 13 wins this season. Maybe if we play the Eagles, the sixth time will be the charm.

 

[milani]

Garbage time? MN needed this game a lot more than we did. There is no way they wanted that game to get that close at any time.

I thought the officiating was sub par in this one for both teams. Each of us had 7 accepted. That was not garbage time. The Vikings missing that 4th quarter FG almost killed them. We get that one stop and we certainly have a chance.
A little better coaching could have won this. For so many years our offense was called truthfully by Rodgers. He changed plays and called the timeouts. He took that upon himself since MM's Not To Lose strategy backfired in Seattle. MLF has to do better since he has a younger offense out there.

 

[OldSchool101]

Vikes caught us a little banged up in the secondary and rightly exploited it. Not taking away from some great plays on the faking Bullard out for a TD.

Plus Jefferson made some terrific catches. He makes it look easy. He’s like Davante Turbo. Playing Bullard as a Safety was a nightmare imo. He’s a good tackler with borderline adequate pass coverage. He has no business covering Addison 20 yards into the Paint and on an island by himself.

Nailor is good but he had a career day. Our DB is pretty average imo. We have 1 great player in Xavier out of 5 Starters. IF Alexander only plays 7 full games this year we are in trouble. He’s one of our 3 Best Defenders and our Top 2 DB’s.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Dud: Everything about the game for the Packers. They were beaten from the opening kickoff to the final kneel down.

Super Dud: Love needs to find some passion. He is supposed to be the leader of that team, and the guy is absolutely emotionless. WTF.

 

[OldSchool101]

Conversely. IF and a big IF
Alexander AND Evan comes back?

I’d slide Nixon into the Slot

Safeties
Xavier and Evan

Perimiter
J’aire and Carrington

Slot
Keisean

Rotational or Dime
Bullard

 

[OldSchool101]

Dud: Everything about the game for the Packers. They were beaten from the opening kickoff to the final kneel down.

Super Dud: Love needs to find some passion. He is supposed to be the leader of that team, and the guy is absolutely emotionless. WTF.

I did notice we had no energy until the late surge to comeback.

I seriously would rather we go hurry up Offense for the first 2 Drives.
Just Go 2-minute drill. What’s there to lose? You’re not winning in that format we saw. Not even a 20% chance. Everyone is now sniffing blood.

I was yawning just looking at Love, he looked like he lost his Puppy for Christmas.

I think it might even be prudent to Start Malik for 1-2 possessions. Just to change things up until we settle in
I’m being dead serious. This next game likely does absolutely zero for us from a playoff perspective. It’ll limit Love exposure and create some confusion because teams won’t know who to expect. I’d keep Love fresh. Plus Malik will smooth punish you if you blitz and don’t immediately get home. He’s like Lamar in his lateral movement and burst.

Same for Jacobs. I’d limit him to 3 Quarters MAX.

 

[rmontro]

I think it might even be prudent to Start Malik for 1-2 possessions. Just to change things up until we settle in

I wonder what our record would look like with Willis as the starter? He's done a great job with little preparation. I wonder how he would do with the focus on him and preparing like a starter?

 

[JKramer64]

So do I, if only because that means we win a playoff game.



Yeah, their WRs looked bigger and better than ours. I remember Doubs dropping a few. Speaking of Doubs, what is that weird cloth helmet cover he's been wearing? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

Doubs is wearing that shell helmet that they use in practice since his concussion. The cloth cover is for displaying the G logo. I've seen players on other teams using it.

 

[rmontro]

The cloth cover is for displaying the G logo.

Ah, that makes sense. I figured it was for some sort of protection, but I couldn't figure out how some cloth would help protect his head.

 

[adambr2]

The Eagles will be a tough but if we survive that it’s a trip to Minneapolis or Detroit. It’s tough to beat a team 3 times in one season.

Why do people always say this, when the actual reality is that the team that won the first two games wins the 3rd game about 65 of the time?

 

[OldSchool101]

Why do people always say this, when the actual reality is that the team that won the first two games wins the 3rd game about 65 of the time?

Maybe because the last time it happened to us it was the Vikings who brought our demise at Lambeau!
2004. Maybe it’s our turn!

Wild Card - Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers - January 9th, 2005 | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Minnesota Vikings 31 at Green Bay Packers 17 on January 9th, 2005 - Full team and player stats and box score

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[GB2016]

Yeah, their WRs looked bigger and better than ours. I remember Doubs dropping a few. Speaking of Doubs, what is that weird cloth helmet cover he's been wearing? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

Added foam to outside out helmet to lesson shock to head. Some day I would expect that to be part of the standard helmet but installed inside. Would make helmet a little bigger but safety comes 1st.

 

[Magooch]

Why do people always say this, when the actual reality is that the team that won the first two games wins the 3rd game about 65 of the time?

I'd argue this more or less confirms that maxim, lol.

If "Team A" beats "Team B" twice in a season, then "A" will almost always be heavy favorites against "B" in a prospective third matchup. And when the team who is noticeably favored is only winning ~60-65% of the time, I think it's fair to call that third one a "tough win," if nothing else. I mean...how many of those 65% of wins have been a walk in the park, and how many have been close fights? Saying "A" wins it 65% of the time doesn't necessarily contradict the idea that it's still tough to win that third matchup.