Learning October 4, 2021
To become an NFL champion,
there are times when you need to be taken to the tool shed ... and then, be
given a "Good Talking To". I'm going to come talk to you
now. In this case, it was the Cleveland Browns ... a team so similar to
the Vikings ... that we had no choice but to learn from it.
Yesterday, you got to finally see that elite defense with the insertion of
Dantzler. He only had to put his career on the line by chirping ... along
with many others ... to defend this franchise. The result. Cleveland
was held to only one touchdown on the day & a grand total of 14
points. On any other day, Zimmer would have applauded that point total as
being absolutely significant where a repeat performance at this level is going
to win allot of games. Dantzler's performance was nothing less than
outstanding proving that he can perform Zimmer's philosophy on the field.
Breeland is nothing less than a liability.
As I've been espousing for well over a decade, we've been blindly following the
hot hand philosophy to our own detriment. Yesterday, Kevin Stefanski took
his two headed running back monster & rammed it down our throats. At
best, we had 1-1/2 running backs available to counter this threat which included
a depleted Dalvin Cook & Alexander Mattison, where the special teamer
Abdullah is not an adequate response to this depletion. If you haven't
noticed, year after year Dalvin depletes significantly from overuse as we
blindly follow that hot hand fallacy mentality. History tells us that one
play can change the outcome of any game. So what do we do? We run
Dalvin for stats between the 20's, only to see him getting a blow on the side
lines as we enter the red zone. Yesterday, we needed Kene Nwangwu or A. J.
Rose to absorb some of all that initial punishment allowing Dalvin the
opportunity of thrive when those defensive legs deplete in time. It is not
about how much you use him but rather when you use him. In this case, less is
always more. Stephanski rammed this concept down our throats in spades ...
What did you learn today?
In chess, the analogy is in regard to the use of your most valuable piece, the
queen. Being so powerful, immature & inexperience players bring her
out early to try to snatch pieces or secure an early victory. When facing
an experienced player, bringing the queen out early generally results in a
series of maneuvers that trap the queen into either a futile position or even in
capture turning the results of the game into capitulation. Does this sound
familiar?
Cleveland's defense is outstanding in part because they have two 1st round draft
pick cover corners. They were good enough, along with a few hankies to help here
& there two thwart our two best receivers in Thielen & Jefferson.
Where Cleveland's defense really shined is in Klint Kubiak's failure to once
again establish seem routes targeting Tyler Conklin early & often. We
were so paranoid versus their defensive ends that Conklin was held in on pass
rushes to allow the line backers to compress the box to thwart our rushing
attack as well as to duplicate the Bengal's Guard-Center-Guard inside pressure
leaving our offensive tackles & Conklin out of a job. Again, even if
the Conklin seam routes failed, having all that action behind the backers
literally unnerves them into altering their overall defensive scheme. The
indicator of this failure is when the box is stacked leaving your runner with
many either small or negative gains on first
down.
You're either getting better or you're still making the same mistakes or you are
incapable of coping what is thrown at you. Our head coach came right out
& said it. We need to get bigger on the offensive line. Oli Udoh
is definitely bigger & O'Neil is the real deal so the right side is set as
Udoh's starts improve from five. To be direct, the center position is both
different & unique. Although Bradbury is often pushed back into
Cousins too often. much like Cleveland, a centers line call intelligence can nullify
much of that effect however as the left side exists today there is little hope
of that. What is without question is that no championship will be realized
by this franchise until Christian Darrisaw & Wyatt Davis are installed on
the left side of that offensive line. Your present plan has no hope of
improvement & the game plan road map versus the elites is now well
established. Stay pat with your hand & say good bye to this 2021
season.
We are about to face the Lions which is the perfect opportunity to put this
massive left side change into effect. Keep in mind that neither Darrisaw
nor Davis will learn anything gathering slivers on their hind quarters.
The pundits will scream, two rookies on the left, side by side, with what is a
first year starter on the right (Udoh) too. How could this possibly
work? Well, one thing is for certain, you're already losing games &
our offensive line isn't progressing ... it is regressing as is versus anything
resembling an elite defense. It is not a matter of whether these rookies
are ready or not ... it is about investing your eggs ... your most important
resource, "starts" ... into the right baskets. Will you take
that leap of faith?
Do you think Rashod Hill would be ok with this change? On the surface you
might think that he'd not be ok with it but he does know the inevitable.
His greatest value to any franchise will be as a swing tackle. Rashod
knows what defenses have done to nullify Conklin's seam routs not to mention our
chipping running backs, all in an effort to contain that left or Kirk Cousins
blind side. In short Rashod is not going command the big bucks at left
tackle anywhere else unless he gets to fool someone. His best bet is to
secure his future within this franchise by solidifying Christian Darrisaw with
his feet hitting the ground running. Either way, he'll be getting the same
base pay with starting bonuses for getting us to a championship level offensive
line. Even if they struggle, there is this thing called substitution to
get their feet under them again if they falter.
Do you think Kirk Cousins would be on board making this massive left side change
after our 4th game? Well if you carefully look at Mr. Cousins contract, if
he's not playing in this years NFC championship game for the opportunity of
playing football on February 13, 2022 Super Bowl, he's going to be traded to
what just might be is the highest bidder. There is no question that he can
count on that where his level of play in this 2021 season has been directly
indicative of that fact. Kirk Cousins has been given a gift by both his ex
offensive coordinator (Cleveland) & Cincinnati in identifying exactly what
needs to change immediately to secure his future in Minnesota. So, the
entire world at this juncture might think that Kirk Cousins might not be on
board in exposing his blind side to a couple of rookies, where he might even
spout off on it, but you'd be wrong. That would be nothing less than a
business decision that would result in a skewed time line. If those
Cousins previous contracts tell you anything that you could take from it, it is
that Mr. Cousins does not like any part of his time line being skewed. He
has a desire to achieve something which cannot be achieved by a never ending
weakness. He needs all his offensive weapons ... not just a
few.
Now keep in mind that we have an upcoming bye week which will allow us to fine
tune this massive change going forward, maybe by putting in more work during
that time than we have ever done before as time off might need to be scrapped
for achieving this unattainable goal. Being the first will always be
harder to achieve & there is no time better than the present. So what
is it that you desire, to stand in line at Disney World or to snatch your chance
at a bit of immortality?
Just saying, if Thielen hadn't been mugged yesterday on that final play, we
might have lost that game. No that wasn't a Hail Mary & yes, that was
not alright however the world still get to keep on laughing at this franchises
expense. In other words, Kirk Cousins was never given that un-timed down
to either tie (with a kicked extra point) or to win (2-point conversion) that
game yesterday. It's not like Cleveland being given an extra set of downs
on our goal line after a great defensive stand. Now keep this in
mind. If Kirk Cousins was to be awarded that un-timed down yesterday,
& if he'd had won that game yesterday, he would now be immersed into that
conversation as this years league MVP. You see, he hasn't actually lost a
game yet this year. Again, that fumble wasn't a fumble, which directly
thwarted our overtime victory. There was no clear video evidence
indicating that Dalvin Cook actually fumbled. In other words, the NFL
ruling as it stands today is absurd & Greg Joseph's field goal sailed
through the uprights.
You have no choice but to correct your glaring never ending weakness as the
objective is not to win games but rather to secure victory over the
elite.
KICKERS:
There is a reoccurring dream racing about in my head where Head Coach Mike
Zimmer's glaring eye is asked this question by a reporter, "You presently
have no kicker on your 53 man roster. Do you plan on bringing someone in
this weak to audition for that role on your team?" Zimmer's response,
"What's a kicker?" Reporter: "It is someone that
kicks off at the start of each half & after you score". Zimmer:
"Oh yes, around here we call that person a punter & we do have one of
those on our 53 man roster." Reporter: "Well, who's
going to kick your extra points (after a touch down) or field goals during the
game. Zimmer's response, "We don't kick extra points around here, we
go for two point conversions. Our offense is tasked with scoring
touchdowns ... not missing field goals that also give up valuable field
position." Reporter, "Are you mad (insane)?" Zimmer's
response: Only a high blood pressure protruding "Glaring Eye",
all the while biting his lip. Man, I love that glaring eye.
Now you might think
that what might follow is a bunch of white coats, maybe an ambulance, & a
straight jacket. In fact what followed was a newspaper headline several
days later, "Ten teams dismiss kickers from NFL squads ... more to
follow." Trend setting in the NFL ... who would have "thunk
it".
You might think that kickers are guaranteed a roster spot but I do recall seeing
a head line about what was called a "Forward Pass" & I also
remember a time where there were 3 quarterbacks on each 53 man
roster. There might have been a few other changes too over the
years.
Controlling this game in one direction only ... year after year ... can only
occur until the "Naiveté" turns into absolute rebellion. You
might have noticed some sort of rebellious activities in the streets
lately. Sure bookies got to eat but in 60 years this is beyond the pail.
TIME
MANAGEMENT:
Would it surprise anyone out there that this franchise went from being the best
(Fran Tarkenton) to being one of the worst in the entire league. It's been
that way for years now. Isn't is funny what we can all get used to.
It's so bad that we now come to count on it. Yesterday, it showed its ugly
head again given Cleveland a lead with 8 points instead of 7. How many
franchises do you know that call time outs for the other teams offense?
Yes, I love all those knuckleheads. In years pasts, before talkies they
were called the "Keystone Cops". Where do you get your comic
relief?
The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: October 4, 2021
