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Metaphorical
Side Line! September 26, 2023
So you want to find blame for Sunday's loss to the Chargers last Sunday.
You want to blame Kirk Cousins for the interception. You want to blame TE
T.J. Hockenson for his first drive unfortunate strip fumble or the tip ball
drill at the goal line but neither of these dudes carry any stigma whatsoever.
This game was highly touted as being a high-scoring contest. The
over/under was 54 points. Magically, at 28 -24, the final score ended at
52. Pay the under. Sure nothing is scripted ... it just happens that
way.
So where was the game lost and what does that have anything to do with Bud
Grant. If you're salty enough to remember way back when, Grant did not
play rookies, and he didn't relish hot shots & show boats. If the NFL
is scripted, the moment the Vikings lost this contest wasn't at the 1/2 yard
line dive by Alexander Mattision or any other moment in that game except for
one. The end resulted from a decision. A decision that would have
drove Bud Grant to laser cut a hole through your ass ... beaming through you
with his eyes.
Akayleb Evans ... you are not, nor will you ever be the clone known as Primetime
II. You simply don't have his speed which means that you didn't have the
ability to get yourself into position to intercept that ball. Bud Grant
didn't teach show boating ... and he didn't care a lick about how many
interceptions that you recorded to make the Pro-Bowl. His laser-like focus
was on winning the game. Akayleb chose to try to intercept that ball ...
what Bud Grant taught was to punch it or deflect it or to knock it down to the
ground to prevent any completion. Once again, corners do not have the
skills of an NFL wide receiver because if they did, they'd be playing that
position instead. Your primary role is to defend, to prevent, to blow up
everything within your pervue. Not to show boat. You're on an island
where your approach should include the "metaphorical side-line (like an
extra defender)" in every decision that you make.
Remembering back to the days of Dennis Green, we all recall seeing Robert Smith
picking splinters out of his ass for fumbling old Denny's rock. Here was a
prime contributor to this team but old Denny would not be swayed.
Ever! You fumble ... you sit. Enter RB Myles Gaskin.
Hello! He may not have the numbers but he can be trusted not to fumble
that rock. Trusted! To be direct, I loved seeing Alexander Mattison
pounding it in there this past Sunday but he was held up & he was stripped
of that ball and we should not have maintained possession. Alex is now a
marked man ... the mark of a fumbler ... meaning that he's careless. If
you can't be trusted with that rock you'll be pulling splinters. It's a
reality for every running back throughout the NFL's history ... high & tight
... where O'Connell is itching to correct this ship. His job depends upon
it. Take Heed.
Now, to be fair to Akayleb, Justin Herbert had a hot hand with pin point throws
last Sunday ... meaning there was a great likelihood that those Chargers were
going to end that drive with a 4 point lead regardless but we'll never
know. Akayleb made a horrifically bad decision ... a choice, if you will
... and that sank our ship. Can you be trusted out on that Island?
Not by making decisions like that ... not on me ... not on my watch ... not with
a fiber in my body. You're going to have to find another way of scoring
because nothing can be generated within the reach of my fingertips. Let
someone else make stupid decisions. I'm playing smart ... to keep my
job. That is the only mind set that you should have ... to find that
"Metaphorical Side Line". Can't take the heat ... then get the
hell out of the kitchen.
Interceptions are about exceptional athletes like Prime (retired) but even he
knew that it was about position. If you don't have it then you have no
business putting the ball up for grabs. Your job ... first & foremost
... is the claw, dig & drive it into the ground. Show me that &
I'll show you someone I can trust.
What I can tell you is that you should consider yourself lucky that Bud isn't
around to see it because his reaction to it is certainly not what you're going
to get from Head Coach O'Connell. His guts, along with everyone else
around you, are all over the floor. They are trying to get control over
this out of control situation which his hard to do with metaphorical knives
protruding out of his back. Hey coach ... did you teach this? In a
closed room, I wouldn't want to hear the answer to that question. There's
just too much blood, sweat & pain to accept show-boating.
This is exactly why I can never reach my Mecca ... Never be apart of it.
"They" might not say it but they're thinking it. You can see it
in their eyes as you're fooling no one. Be true to thyself & that's
what they will see. Instead "we" chose to sacrifice ourselves
for this organization, this franchise ... for the ones that toil ... to know
that nothing will stand ... only your best. So you made a mistake ...
Don't ever do it again ... as the streets are littered with hot shots that
couldn't be trusted when it counted. Now ... tell me ... what's your
choice. Are you thinking about your individual stats ... are you thinking
about the money ... maybe you should be thinking about your
job?
The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: September 24, 2023
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