Week 8: Vikings vs. Saints SNF!

[Vanimal46]

Night game! From what I'm reading so far, Rhodes and Linval are playing! Reiff, Barr, Compton, Sendejo, and Cook are out...

 

The Saints are much healthier than our favorite team tonight. Kirky and Thielen are going to have to carry the team to a win tonight.

[Mr. Brooks]

Rhodes out.

[TheLeviathan]

With the injuries, this would be a good win.

[Mr. Brooks]

With the injuries, this would be a good win.

This would be a good win even without the injuries.

[Mr. Brooks]

Cousins has a tell. That's why he's getting the ball batted at the line all the time.

He pats the ball, sometimes, before he throws.

[Mr. Brooks]

Man. I say it every week, but I continue to be amazed at the talent of Thielen and Diggs. Wow.

[snepp]

Theilen and Diggs are such a great combo.

[TheLeviathan]

 

This would be a good win even without the injuries.

 

You are correct, I just meant it would make it even more impressive.

[Mr. Brooks]

Can't have stupid mistakes against a team this good.

[Mr. Brooks]

Really Zimmer? You got 2 timeouts, and Thielen and Diggs.

[TheLeviathan]

Man that Thielen fumble is a back breaker.  He doesn't fumble much, but when he does it feels like a back-breaker.  (The one last year with Detroit was huge)

[TheLeviathan]

What the hell?

[snepp]

Game started off really well, now it's going clown show.

[Mr. Brooks]

That was a 3 man rush that destroyed our o-line on 3rd down.

[Mr. Brooks]

Whether it's rust, or his head still isn't in it, Everson has been a non contributor tonight. Aside from the two penalties he's committed.

[Badsmerf]

Treadwell getting some good looks. Big mistakes losing this game. Cousins has to protect the ball better to beat good teams.

[Mr. Brooks]

Treadwell getting some good looks. Big mistakes losing this game. Cousins has to protect the ball better to beat good teams.

Not sure what Cousins could have done on the interception. That one was on Diggs.

[Mr. Brooks]

He does need to stop tipping his throws though. Way too easy to bat them down.

[Mr. Brooks]

That missed extra point could haunt them if they score here.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Not sure what Cousins could have done on the interception. That one was on Diggs.

 

I wish he'd throw it away a bit more.  The near-fumble when the ball was yanked from him was very nearly a terrible play too.

[Mr. Brooks]

Yep. This is still a game if not for that missed PAT.

[Badsmerf]

That inception is only partly on him, but that is only one play. He's gotten lucky a handful of times in this game, and gets lucky in others.

[Mr. Brooks]

That inception is only partly on him, but that is only one play. He's gotten lucky a handful of times in this game, and gets lucky in others.

What part is on Cousins? How is he supposed to know that Diggs is going to stop running his route?

 

Can't believe we're asking more of Cousins.

He's the one guy that pulled his weight tonight.

[Vanimal46]

After the Thielen fumble it was like a switch turned off on this team. No fight in the 2nd half which is very disappointing.

 

One thing that bothered me is absolutely zero urgency to score quickly in the 4th quarter. They took over a minute off the clock on their goal line drive calling 2 plays. That is ridiculous when you're down 17 points.

[Mike Sixel]

I saw like 2 minutes....the Saints play right after Thielen's fumble, and the wtf drive by Cousins where he tries to fumble, and then throws the INT. Sorry, I should not have watched at all.

 

Not a SB team. They are clearly missing something.

[Vanimal46]

I saw like 2 minutes....the Saints play right after Thielen's fumble, and the wtf drive by Cousins where he tries to fumble, and then throws the INT. Sorry, I should not have watched at all.

 

Not a SB team. They are clearly missing something.

They're missing an OL... Which is no surprise at all considering it's been a problem for years. Hill is brutal at LT, and Isadora is in way over his head at this level.

[Mike Sixel]

 

They're missing an OL... Which is no surprise at all considering it's been a problem for years. Hill is brutal at LT, and Isadora is in way over his head at this level.

 

No one could have predicted the OL would be bad....................

[nicksaviking]

Considering the Saints previous success against the run, I thought the OL was OK last night. Obviously it's not a good OL, but I expected much, much worse. The worst OL play on the night came from Pat Elflien too, the one guy who's supposed to be reliable. He got blown up on a three man rush and got Cousins clobbered. Hill wasn't good, but I didn't notice O'Niell, which was encouraging.

 

Not sure what to think about the defense since it was the offense who kept putting the Saints on the board. I'd like to say the secondary was pretty good even without Rhodes, but the Saints really didn't test them deep. The Vikings were probably playing soft underneath to compensate for missing Rhodes and therefore not just going straight man on Thomas, which is probably also why they were giving up extra yards on the ground.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but of all the players out, Anthony Barr's absence might have been the biggest loss. He can be pretty quick to the line of scrimmage plugging up running lanes.

 

Still, it looked bad, but the Vikings outplayed the Saints. Two just mind-blowing turnovers and a terrible play call on 4th and 1 in their own territory. I don't like to do the "We beat ourselves" bit, but the Vikings were their own worst enemy last night.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Considering the Saints previous success against the run, I thought the OL was OK last night. Obviously it's not a good OL, but I expected much, much worse. The worst OL play on the night came from Pat Elflien too, the one guy who's supposed to be reliable. He got blown up on a three man rush and got Cousins clobbered. Hill wasn't good, but I didn't notice O'Niell, which was encouraging.

 

Not sure what to think about the defense since it was the offense who kept putting the Saints on the board. I'd like to say the secondary was pretty good even without Rhodes, but the Saints really didn't test them deep. The Vikings were probably playing soft underneath to compensate for missing Rhodes and therefore not just going straight man on Thomas, which is probably also why they were giving up extra yards on the ground.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but of all the players out, Anthony Barr's absence might have been the biggest loss. He can be pretty quick to the line of scrimmage plugging up running lanes.

 

Still, it looked bad, but the Vikings outplayed the Saints. Two just mind-blowing turnovers and a terrible play call on 4th and 1 in their own territory. I don't like to do the "We beat ourselves" bit, but the Vikings were their own worst enemy last night.

 

I'd guess the Saints weren't exactly taking chances in the 2nd half......I don't know what happens if they are really putting the foot on the pedal. 

[Mr. Brooks]

Considering the Saints previous success against the run, I thought the OL was OK last night. Obviously it's not a good OL, but I expected much, much worse. The worst OL play on the night came from Pat Elflien too, the one guy who's supposed to be reliable. He got blown up on a three man rush and got Cousins clobbered. Hill wasn't good, but I didn't notice O'Niell, which was encouraging.

 

Not sure what to think about the defense since it was the offense who kept putting the Saints on the board. I'd like to say the secondary was pretty good even without Rhodes, but the Saints really didn't test them deep. The Vikings were probably playing soft underneath to compensate for missing Rhodes and therefore not just going straight man on Thomas, which is probably also why they were giving up extra yards on the ground.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but of all the players out, Anthony Barr's absence might have been the biggest loss. He can be pretty quick to the line of scrimmage plugging up running lanes.

 

Still, it looked bad, but the Vikings outplayed the Saints. Two just mind-blowing turnovers and a terrible play call on 4th and 1 in their own territory. I don't like to do the "We beat ourselves" bit, but the Vikings were their own worst enemy last night.

Run blocking and pass blocking are two separate compartments, IMO, and should not be graded together.

The pass blocking was atrocious.

 

Steve Jordan's kid had his way with O'Neill all night.

 

The secondary indeed played really well. Brees often had all day in the pocket, and still couldn't find anyone. Very impressed with the secondary. I think they might have really found someone in Holton Hill. He can play.

 

The lack of consistent pressure on Brees was concerning. I know the Saints O-line is really good, but our defensive line is supposed to be elite.

Griffin shouldn't have played until he's back in game shape. He was a complete non factor, except when he was killing us with penalties.

 

I'd love to see what Cousins could do with time in the pocket like Brees gets.