Thread: Same ol' Vikes

Thank god its only preseason!

"ultravikingfan" wrote:

Thank god its only preseason!

I agree, just a matter of time.

I think things will come together. Tice is going to have a field day with those offensive (boy, were they EVER!!!!) linemen over the coming week. They are going to be sore...

I thought our D line did very well against the run. Other than that I was pretty upset.

This team still can't play on the road, same old story.

Bennet is not the answer. He cannot run between the tackles. And with fason injury our rb depth is no more.

Sure glad it's preseason, still time to get their sh*t together.

17 Penalties for 122 YARDS! Absolutely ridiculous. In terms of "Same ol' Vikes" we're the only team that can beat us. Man, the tread came off the tires in that one. Woulda, shoulda, coulda, been a great game matchup, cept for the purple flags, and dropped punts (there was more than 1). Pepper was cool and confident. The receivers looked sharp, all of them. They made it look easy. I'm with ya'll about the O-Line; above average protection, but blew the running game. I'll be up front and say I'm not a fan of Bennett, but he's not a hole punch. He needed more help at the line. Moore would have had similar results I think, and Fason might have cracked it a couple of times. To Bennett's dis-credit, he showed poor blocking protection for Pepper, and that should not be acceptable. It was great seeing Pep just push that pre-schooler out of his way and complete the pass though. I was pretty pleased with the D though. Loved that 1st Quarter. EJ made a nice save tackle on his new (Weak side is it?) allignment, caught that ankle and brought him down. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for our Corners and Safeties to gel. They're still playin solo it seems. And then there's Brian W. What is it gonna take for this guy to learn? I didn't even notice Irvin, anyone?
2 more to go. The Coaches are gonna be busy this week. What a mess.

I observed several things in that game some good, some bad:

First, the good.
1. Culpepper is in a zone right now.
2. Taylor and Robinson both look like they're going to complement Burleson very well.
3. Williamson burned the backups he faced, I'd like to see what he can do against a first team defense. If nothing else, that was a good confidence builder for him.
4. Our run defense looked very good early on in shutting down Curtis Martin.

Now the bad,
1. Has anyone ever seen so many penalties in a game, that was ridiculous.
2. Our pass defense is terrible. We need Smoot in the lineup, Brian Williams is not good enough to be a starting corner.
3. Our pass rush is terrible. Our ends did the same exact thing on every play rush around the outside and had their momentum used against them to get blocked out of the pocket. When are we going to see some stunts and zone blitzes, or even just our guys trying a swim move, spin move, club, etc.
4. Bennett, need I say more. I think I know what his problem is. When he touches the ball he's always thinking touchdown and he isn't even past the line of scrimmage. He's got happy feet. If we were thinking 5-6 yards when he got the ball, he'd be much more effective and eventually break one. As bad as Bennett played, Moore didn't have a much better game. I think this is a reflection of poor O-line play.
5. Our special teams is probably the worst part of our team right now. Not getting Nugent or going after a better kicker is going to haunt us this year. Elling nor Edinger is the answer. Darren Bennett's over the hill. We don't have an effective return man for punts or kicks. I'd like to see them try Bennett or Williamson in this role.
6. We need to be much better on the road, if we expect to make the playoffs this year.
7. Was there a play that Adrian Ward was on the field for, that he didn't have a penalty called against him, because I'm not sure I saw one.

I'm glad this was a preseason game, as I'm sure most of us are, better to get the kinks out now, then in a month. I think once our D gels and our O-line gels, we'll be alright. I don't expect this to happen until our 3-4 games into the season, though. Hopefully Culpepper and company can get us through those first couple of games, though.

Another thing, did it seem like, especially considering how touchy some of the calls were against the Vikes, that the refs missed a couple obvious block in the back penalties, and holding calls. Not that it would have mattered, but that was a little frustrating.

Damn are you guys negative. Way too early to get hyped up.

Did birk even play last night? Or was that withrow at center...

"Bleedspurple" wrote:

gol 'darnit are you guys negative. Way too early to get hyped up.

Darn straight brah.

Preseason is just that...preseason. For the most part, it does not mean sh!t.

My only (somewhat) negative comment.....penalties.

Nuff said.

"JDogg926" wrote:

I observed several things in that game some good, some bad:

First, the good.
1. Culpepper is in a zone right now.
2. Taylor and Robinson both look like they're going to complement Burleson very well.
3. Williamson burned the backups he faced, I'd like to see what he can do against a first team defense. If nothing else, that was a good confidence builder for him.
4. Our run defense looked very good early on in shutting down Curtis Martin.

Now the bad,
1. Has anyone ever seen so many penalties in a game, that was ridiculous.
2. Our pass defense is terrible. We need Smoot in the lineup, Brian Williams is not good enough to be a starting corner.
3. Our pass rush is terrible. Our ends did the same exact thing on every play rush around the outside and had their momentum used against them to get blocked out of the pocket. When are we going to see some stunts and zone blitzes, or even just our guys trying a swim move, spin move, club, etc.
4. Bennett, need I say more. I think I know what his problem is. When he touches the ball he's always thinking touchdown and he isn't even past the line of scrimmage. He's got happy feet. If we were thinking 5-6 yards when he got the ball, he'd be much more effective and eventually break one. As bad as Bennett played, Moore didn't have a much better game. I think this is a reflection of poor O-line play.
5. Our special teams is probably the worst part of our team right now. Not getting Nugent or going after a better kicker is going to haunt us this year. Elling nor Edinger is the answer. Darren Bennett's over the hill. We don't have an effective return man for punts or kicks. I'd like to see them try Bennett or Williamson in this role.
6. We need to be much better on the road, if we expect to make the playoffs this year.
7. Was there a play that Adrian Ward was on the field for, that he didn't have a penalty called against him, because I'm not sure I saw one.

I'm glad this was a preseason game, as I'm sure most of us are, better to get the kinks out now, then in a month. I think once our D gels and our O-line gels, we'll be alright. I don't expect this to happen until our 3-4 games into the season, though. Hopefully Culpepper and company can get us through those first couple of games, though.

Another thing, did it seem like, especially considering how touchy some of the calls were against the Vikes, that the refs missed a couple obvious block in the back penalties, and holding calls. Not that it would have mattered, but that was a little frustrating.

I agree with all the good,

as for the bad...

1. agree
2. our pass D is not that bad, bwill sucked in that game. He should be credited for giving up the 1st TD and maybe the 2nd one as well. The other blame on the 2nd should be sharper.
3. There is no pass rush, or very little pass rush. I did notice that our blitz is getting to the qb but just a bit too late.
4. I thought Bennet, moore, williams all looked bad. So I credit that to the o-line. They just cant move people and make holes. I think a call to dixon is in order.
5. The return units played like crap, but bennet looked great last night. Sort of like the bennet of old. He was getting 50+ yard boots consistantly last night. I dont remember elling trying a FG so I cant really compare the elling to edinger battle right now.
6. Agreed, but our 1st team played well. It just comes down to the penalties that we had last night. We need to cut down on them.
7. I didnt see anything bad with adrians play either. Refs were just flag happy im guessing.


I thought a lot of the calls were iffy that the refs were making. Makes you wonder if Tice told them to call everything on us, you know, tough guy team. But we have lots of work to do. 10-6 is still my prediction, but 8-8 is looking more and more likely.