Win Battle-Lose War?
What makes championship football? It is the mindset of it's players.
Take for example Alexander Mattison which understands, that unless your in the
final two minutes of the first half, or the final 5 minutes of the game, where
your trying to preserve time ... you are never to run out of bounds. So why is
his play as the back up running back at a championship level? It's because
he finishes his runs by lowering his pads in the field of play. How do you
think that helps everyone around him and why does that raise his level of play
to a championship level? Great question ... right??? Running the ball,
cutting back into the field of play, regardless of the angles, devastates the
defense.
Now ask yourself this question. Why are we
overlooking Mattison's importance to this organization and what plan is in place
to have both Cook & Mattison on the field at the same time at some point in
the game ... A multiple directional offensive threat? It's not like
you don't have both Special-Teamer's Boone & Abdulah in reserve as both were
active on Sunday. In other words, will less Cook actually generate more,
or an even greater Cook? Great question. There is danger in the
thought that Cook is more explosive, which is undeniable, however that may
exclude you from picking your spots. Up to his defeat at Waterloo,
Napoleon held his elite forces in reserve. What impact on the defense was
Mattison's center field run on the defense & did that influence a change in
the field? To be direct, after Mattison's run my only thought was Holy
Crap, as that run was like throwing acid into an open wound. Yeah, if you
were apart of that Giant's defense, your first thought might have been,
"Give me more of that". From the 2nd quarter onward, imagine
this thought, "This is what we are going to do ... and you're not going to
like it."
Now keep in mind that John Gruden's squad was completely out of the Raider's
game however Head Coach Mike Zimmer could take a page from Gruden's book.
He never, ever stopped running the ball regardless of whether he was behind in
points or time. That in my book makes him an elite coach & it won't be
long before he's sporting a winner.
So, what happens when you give up on our run game?
1. You lose your defenses ability to compete through attrition
& depletion?
2. You lose Kirk Cousins #1 asset to the team ... devastating play-action
passing.
3. You allow the head coach to disengage from his responsibility of running the
offensive too. If Head Coach Zimmer is ever fired from this franchise,
which would be a monumental mistake, what will be pointed to is his inability to
give the clear & explicit order that we are never going to stop running the
ball. The order must be without question or without any ambiguity.
You stop running the ball & you lose the game. What happens at the
start of any game could be related to mistakenly attacking a defensive strength
that you thought was a weakness. "In time", the most explicit
factor in any game, depletion will change everything, especially in the run
game.
It's counterintuitive. When you fall behind on the scoreboard ... to
achieve success ... you cannot abandon the run ... ever. A one dimensional
offenses is like standing in quicksand.
To be direct, Kirk Cousins performance yesterday was beyond impressive &
I'm not referring to his statistics, which were remarkable:
1. When our quarterback hit those screens yesterday, including the execution of
a misdirected screen, it left me in absolute awe. The world lit up around
him and you could feel Kirk Cousins growth & maturity.
2. Yes, Kirk Cousins was charged with a fumble yesterday, as all missed exchanges
with the center are charged to the quarterback, but he pounced on it
himself. Regardless of the cause ... he was clearly responsible & he
was on it. The objective is never to be perfect but rather to strive for
perfection through discipline ... control over one's mind, body &
soul.
3. He obeyed Head Coach Mike Zimmer's #1 command in that each & every one of
his drives ended in some sort of kick. He achieved what could be
considered the impossible.
4. Kirk Cousins maintained control over himself & his patience was
evident. You've heard it ad nauseam in that
all coaches preach ... "Fast Start" ... which is a mistake. It's
clearly a mistake because if you don't achieve it how can you then overcome
it. Would you rather have a fast start or a good start. Said another
way, on a baseball field, would you rather have a fast throw or a good
throw. You need to build onto a foundation, like stacking good blocks ...
one on top of the other. Sure, it might be possible to run up a quick
additional 14 points, trying to take your opposition out of the game, but it is
better to be methodical in your approach. Slow & steady wins the
day. If this team can finally buy into a Kirk Cousins methodical approach,
gaining- position-for-sacrifice on that chess board, only then can this team help him win the games against any and all winning teams. Teams that lose
late have sacrificed their methodical approach. A wave of water is much
more powerful than any wind generated by a powerful hurricane.
Win Battle-Lose War
The ghost incorrectly made a "win-loss" prediction that was directly
tied into the Bear's-Viking's game in Chicago. Now the result of that
contest & its importance on the 2019 season is apparent. In other
words, did Chicago win the battle, and by doing so, did they also lose the
war? The season is never about one contest ... it is about winning the
final game of this 2019 season ... this franchises ultimate goal. Mitch
Trubiski has a separated shoulder which clearly requires surgery followed by
long recovery where this type of injury may even prevent him from achieving a
long term outcome in the NFL. Separated shoulders become unstable, which
means it may feel great, after a recovery period, but NFL play will test that
shoulders ability to be relied upon in the long term.
In watching that 10-3 contest in Chicago versus the Packers my only thought was
that Trubiski just missed players, leading them out of bounds ... maybe because
he wasn't prepared however one thought became evident. In the rematch in
Green Bay, Trubiski wouldn't miss those throws and Chicago's run game would not
be idle. Now, it's my belief that Trubiski is done for the season in that
if they put him on the field without rebuilding his arm, they open him up to
relapse after relapse.
So we begin to ask the question, was the Raider's victory over the Bears
"trade-stock" payback for shipping Kalil Mack from Oakland to Chicago,
or are the Bears actually in a uncontrolled spiral mode ... even with that great
defense. So, what's the significance of this observation? Well, to
be direct, at the start of the season it was my belief that Chicago was this
franchises main obstacle to achieving the 2019 NFC North championship. Our
contest in Chicago bore out that observation into reality. Now both Green
Bay & Detroit are also sporting significant challenges in the NFC, of which
the Packers are the most impressive. Unfortunately, for the fudge Packers,
their player attrition is closely approaching the falling of dead flies.
As long as the Vikings stay in their rushing lanes, to stop the run first &
foremost, can they can contain A. A. Ron inside the pocket, nullifying his
greatest threats to this team.
In other words, since the start of the season, by comparison to this mighty
franchise, I've believed that Green Bay would not be able to sustain itself and
if you watched that game up in Lambaeu, you'd be wise to remember all that
laundry that was required to secure victory on "Bart Star's Tribute
Day". In other words, barring an absolute screwing by the
commissioners hand selected officiating crew, my expectation for the Vikings
should be very different. That of course is based upon both realized
potential & talent combined with hard work, genuine effort, combined with
sweat & tears. Nothing is ever free
boys.
Of course the wild card here are the Detroit Lions. Will we allow them to
spoil all of our hard earned plans or will we finally overcome all comers?
We will find out shortly. Will we realize our potential? Allow
yourself to grow beyond yourself.
There are no guaranties boys ... only opportunities!!! What can you see???
The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: October 8, 2019
