55 yrs. a Vikings fan here and it's ALWAYS been like this. Even back in the so-called good old days in the Met with the Purple People Eaters. They were always "good" but never good enough. We'd get excited during the regular season watching Tark lead them and Page, Marshall, Krause, et al. wreak havoc on opposing offenses -- only to watch them under perform in the biggest game of the year and take the walk of shame back home. It's NEVER been different. This is NOT new. Ever since the merger The Vikings have ALWAYS been heartbreakers. As an organization, the Vikings haven't figured out that there is NO trophy for regular season performance.
Vikings played a certain style of offense all season long. The Vikings liked to attack downfield as much as possible, and it worked great for the most part because Darnold had a decent amount of time to stay in the pocket, not have to get rid of the ball, and wait for the play to develop. All of a sudden the Lions game shows up, the OLine isn't great, Darnold is under severe pressure all game long and the Vikings can't play like they played for much of the season. Everyone with a brain knew that the Rams would copy what the Lions did, yet why didn't KOC have Darnold and the offense prepared for it? Where were the quick slants, quick outs, more of a run game to slow down the game, maybe roll out Darnold? Here's a memo to KOC, come playoff time, your offense will need a better run game, and a much better quick passing attack or you won't win many playoff games and I don't care if you have Darnold, McCarthy or Mahomes as your QB! (did we not see how bad Mahomes looked in that Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay when their offense was overmatched, they couldn't run and he was pressured?) Can't say much bad about Darnold, he gave the Vikings a really good season, far better than anyone expected so why are so many people trashing him? Was he ever really going to be Tom Brady? Honestly, he could win a playoff game or 2 if he had a better run game and better OLine. Hope he lands on his feet and does well wherever he is next season.
I’m most shocked that Darnold played great for *14* WINS. That is so hard to do in the NFL and the 2 most important games he plays like an undrafted rookie QB.
When they called some screens sam stared it down and did not throw it. He was also missing those throws too. His average time holding the ball was >3 seconds. I don't think you can game plan around someone performing as bad as sam was
It was incredibly obvious to me that KOC completely surrendered early in the third quarter. He started to play to run out the clock instead of to score points. I can only imagine he thought running out the clock was his best shot at preventing the Rams from running up the score and making it even more embarrassing.
I’m 67 and been a vikings fan for 56 of those years. I have watched the Vikings loose all those Super Bowls. This year people were saying this was a Super Bowl team. That’s when I knew they would be one and done in the playoffs. God only knows how much time I have left, but I’m still holding out for a Super Bowl win. Start JJ McCarthy, get some new interior O Lineman, get a stud running back and some D lineman.
I started reading your message. I thought to myself when I did write this? I am 67 and I also watched all the Super Bowl loses. It has been 48 years since we even been to the super-bowl.
Finally, someone else that doesn’t want to put all the blame on SD. In my opinion most of the blame should fall on KOC and his play calling. The defense was good enough to keep them in the game, but can’t be expected to perform miracles when the offense does absolutely nothing. I think that the jury is still out on the Flores defense which doesn’t have elite talent on the D-line but gets the job done by creating chaos and confusion with versatile players that can cover as well as rush. The reality is that the offensive scheme wasn’t prepared/built to handle the same kind of pressure they are use to using on other teams. The play calling to alleviate the pressure was nonexistent, with no quick passing game or screen passes. They just kept trying to run the ball between the tackles. This is on KOC!
Sam played hero ball last night. He simply didn't see a WR or RB open 5 yds down field...took 9 sacks rather than a short completion or throw away. How is that KOC's fault?
We all should have seen last night coming. The Lions game in week #18 had so much on the line and the Vikings completely laid an egg. I'm excited for the JJ McCarthy era to begin. SKOL!
Yeah... I don't think it was Darnold's fault.... maybe a little his fault. When you step into post season play it means you are going up against the best... and you need to step up your play. One tool you need in the box is that quick release you guys were talking about... 2 seconds with the ball and out, right? Gotta have that short passing game. That should have been the focus. Our O-line, honestly, is below average... they aren't terrible.... but when up against the best it was not going to be enough. They should have been working on quick passing plays.... a bunch of them... until you get it down to 2 seconds or less. All the elite QBs work on this to prepare for the post season. Also... forget running the ball up the middle with THIS O-line.... gotta be more creative than that. KOC is great for regular season... but he has GOT to analyze his post season plan and realize that he is going to HAVE to change (improve) all the things that got you through the regular season. You said Sam's time average was 3.15? I don't believe it. I felt like his average was twice that on passing plays and he was just holding the ball way beyond his O-line's ability to protect him. He should have realized that and insisted that KOC help him work with it... but really this is KOC much more than Sam.
It was clearly darnolds fault... Even with long routes a 3.1 second AVERAGE throw time is terrible. Also, he missed on more throws. The sacks are his fault and the turn overs are his fault. How do you not believe his average time to throw, it is literally charted man... What do you think of his third down sack where we gave up on the game? The advice he was given on the headset was look at justin, look at addison, if they are not open throw it out of bounds and then he held the ball for seven seconds and got sacked. This reporting is already out, and I'm sure we are going to hear more interesting things about it.
Oline was too weak. The scheme and game plans was bad. Not enough weapons and not good enough. Probably the playbook that doesn't use other receivers. It's very weak for sure 😞
I think the blame is 100% on KOC. Every pass from Sam was off, even the completions. I thought he was having a seizure a few different times. If your long snapper snaps it 5 yards over the punters head every time, you keep him in there?
Of course, a Viking fan is going to think it was a fumble. He tries to make it sound like Stafford threw the ball at his own feet. The ball actually landed next to Puka making it an incomplete pass. I get that it's a Vikings show and he's trying to downplay the bad showing but come on.
I legitimately don’t know why I expect this team to do anything anymore.. I don’t think I’ll ever see them win a Super Bowl and I’m only 24 man, just sad.
I guess I'm a bit lucky - I'm a transplant here in the Twin Cities. I grew up and spent most of my life in South Philly.... so I'll probably always be an Eagles fan first.... and a Vikings fan second. I moved up here the year before my two teams met in the conference championship.... I couldn't lose! lol - I'd love to see the Vikings do well in the post season and maybe some day I'll re-prioritize or whatever. So... I'm still good. But the Eagles seriously underperformed in this round.... and unless THEY get things turned around, they've gotten as far as they are going to get.
It would not have changed the outcome, but the game provided another example of the need to change the “intentional grounding” rule. First, change the name of the rule from “intentional grounding” to “grounding” and any forward pass (a ball that leaves the hand with control while the arm is moving forward) which lands in the field of play behind the line of scrimmage without first touching an eligible receiver is grounding. This is a 5 yard penalty from the spot of the foul and loss of down (spot of the foul is where the ball was “thrown” from). This removes the whole “intentional” problem - trying to determine “intent” is too subjective - and focuses entirely on the result, so it is objective. Now, when QBs are in the process of being sacked and just dump the ball on the ground with no chance of completing the pass, it’s not a “get out of jail free” card. And yes, there will be some cases where QBs just throw a really bad pass behind the line and it doesn’t touch a receiver, and that will be flagged. Sucks to suck. If you want to throw a pass behind the line, at least hit an eligible receiver or pay the price. For passes beyond the line that hit the ground, keep the rule that it has to land within a certain distance of a receiver - a reasonable rule would be 5 yards for passes of 0-10 yards beyond the line, within 10 yards for passes of 11-20 yards, within 15 yards for passes of 21-30 yards, and so on.
The rule should be modified to some degree. What happened last night was, technically, the correct call, but it didn't seem "right." Part of the problem has been normalizing what used to be called a forward lateral, but is now called a "shovel pass." Stafford was not really trying to complete a pass. He was obviously grounding the ball to avoid the sack, but the letter of the rule doesn't encompass the actual infraction.
Exactly, and taking the “intentional” out of it and just calling it “grounding” makes a lot more sense. They don’t call it “intentional encroachment” - they don’t care why you jumped off-sides, you just get penalized for jumping off-sides. Same should be true for failing to at least touch an eligible receiver with a pass thrown behind the line.
@samexoldx basically because they think Mahomes is special and the most talented quarterback and Payton Manning both had incredible interior O-lines plus amazing route runners and good running backs. Those quarterbacks would be just average with our o-line.
This year's loss did reveal the team as fraudulent. However, the fraud lay mostly in the false impression we got from Sam Darnold as a quarterback that was ready to realize his great potential. There may be a Super Bowl QB in there somewhere, but Sam Darnold today still has a couple major flaws. He chokes when faced with symmetrical pressure up the middle, and he's got a terrible percentage throwing medium range.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Another great performance Ron and Sam, thank you.
55 yrs. a Vikings fan here and it's ALWAYS been like this. Even back in the so-called good old days in the Met with the Purple People Eaters. They were always "good" but never good enough. We'd get excited during the regular season watching Tark lead them and Page, Marshall, Krause, et al. wreak havoc on opposing offenses -- only to watch them under perform in the biggest game of the year and take the walk of shame back home. It's NEVER been different. This is NOT new. Ever since the merger The Vikings have ALWAYS been heartbreakers.
As an organization, the Vikings haven't figured out that there is NO trophy for regular season performance.
I was surprised at the over-the-top celebration of the Packers, week 17 win. Why did they celebrate so HARD? Just asking…
This^
Me too seen it All
Vikings played a certain style of offense all season long. The Vikings liked to attack downfield as much as possible, and it worked great for the most part because Darnold had a decent amount of time to stay in the pocket, not have to get rid of the ball, and wait for the play to develop. All of a sudden the Lions game shows up, the OLine isn't great, Darnold is under severe pressure all game long and the Vikings can't play like they played for much of the season. Everyone with a brain knew that the Rams would copy what the Lions did, yet why didn't KOC have Darnold and the offense prepared for it? Where were the quick slants, quick outs, more of a run game to slow down the game, maybe roll out Darnold?
Here's a memo to KOC, come playoff time, your offense will need a better run game, and a much better quick passing attack or you won't win many playoff games and I don't care if you have Darnold, McCarthy or Mahomes as your QB! (did we not see how bad Mahomes looked in that Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay when their offense was overmatched, they couldn't run and he was pressured?)
Can't say much bad about Darnold, he gave the Vikings a really good season, far better than anyone expected so why are so many people trashing him? Was he ever really going to be Tom Brady? Honestly, he could win a playoff game or 2 if he had a better run game and better OLine. Hope he lands on his feet and does well wherever he is next season.
Excellent post.
Spot on brother.
Thanks for the great season updates!
I’m most shocked that Darnold played great for *14* WINS. That is so hard to do in the NFL and the 2 most important games he plays like an undrafted rookie QB.
and that's why he's a fraud
When they called some screens sam stared it down and did not throw it. He was also missing those throws too. His average time holding the ball was >3 seconds. I don't think you can game plan around someone performing as bad as sam was
Did no one see the WR screen where Jefferson had blockers and no one in front of him, yet Darnold pulled it down then took a sack?
It was incredibly obvious to me that KOC completely surrendered early in the third quarter. He started to play to run out the clock instead of to score points. I can only imagine he thought running out the clock was his best shot at preventing the Rams from running up the score and making it even more embarrassing.
I’m 67 and been a vikings fan for 56 of those years. I have watched the Vikings loose all those Super Bowls. This year people were saying this was a Super Bowl team. That’s when I knew they would be one and done in the playoffs. God only knows how much time I have left, but I’m still holding out for a Super Bowl win. Start JJ McCarthy, get some new interior O Lineman, get a stud running back and some D lineman.
I started reading your message. I thought to myself when I did write this? I am 67 and I also watched all the Super Bowl loses. It has been 48 years since we even been to the super-bowl.
Secondary needs help too. O line. DT CB RB
Finally, someone else that doesn’t want to put all the blame on SD. In my opinion most of the blame should fall on KOC and his play calling. The defense was good enough to keep them in the game, but can’t be expected to perform miracles when the offense does absolutely nothing. I think that the jury is still out on the Flores defense which doesn’t have elite talent on the D-line but gets the job done by creating chaos and confusion with versatile players that can cover as well as rush. The reality is that the offensive scheme wasn’t prepared/built to handle the same kind of pressure they are use to using on other teams. The play calling to alleviate the pressure was nonexistent, with no quick passing game or screen passes. They just kept trying to run the ball between the tackles. This is on KOC!
Sam played hero ball last night. He simply didn't see a WR or RB open 5 yds down field...took 9 sacks rather than a short completion or throw away. How is that KOC's fault?
We all should have seen last night coming. The Lions game in week #18 had so much on the line and the Vikings completely laid an egg. I'm excited for the JJ McCarthy era to begin. SKOL!
Yeah... I don't think it was Darnold's fault.... maybe a little his fault. When you step into post season play it means you are going up against the best... and you need to step up your play. One tool you need in the box is that quick release you guys were talking about... 2 seconds with the ball and out, right? Gotta have that short passing game. That should have been the focus. Our O-line, honestly, is below average... they aren't terrible.... but when up against the best it was not going to be enough. They should have been working on quick passing plays.... a bunch of them... until you get it down to 2 seconds or less. All the elite QBs work on this to prepare for the post season. Also... forget running the ball up the middle with THIS O-line.... gotta be more creative than that. KOC is great for regular season... but he has GOT to analyze his post season plan and realize that he is going to HAVE to change (improve) all the things that got you through the regular season. You said Sam's time average was 3.15? I don't believe it. I felt like his average was twice that on passing plays and he was just holding the ball way beyond his O-line's ability to protect him. He should have realized that and insisted that KOC help him work with it... but really this is KOC much more than Sam.
It was clearly darnolds fault... Even with long routes a 3.1 second AVERAGE throw time is terrible. Also, he missed on more throws. The sacks are his fault and the turn overs are his fault. How do you not believe his average time to throw, it is literally charted man... What do you think of his third down sack where we gave up on the game? The advice he was given on the headset was look at justin, look at addison, if they are not open throw it out of bounds and then he held the ball for seven seconds and got sacked. This reporting is already out, and I'm sure we are going to hear more interesting things about it.
Oline was too weak. The scheme and game plans was bad. Not enough weapons and not good enough. Probably the playbook that doesn't use other receivers. It's very weak for sure 😞
Why yall so flabbergasted yall do this shit every other year fr
I think the blame is 100% on KOC. Every pass from Sam was off, even the completions. I thought he was having a seizure a few different times. If your long snapper snaps it 5 yards over the punters head every time, you keep him in there?
Of course, a Viking fan is going to think it was a fumble. He tries to make it sound like Stafford threw the ball at his own feet. The ball actually landed next to Puka making it an incomplete pass. I get that it's a Vikings show and he's trying to downplay the bad showing but come on.
I legitimately don’t know why I expect this team to do anything anymore.. I don’t think I’ll ever see them win a Super Bowl and I’m only 24 man, just sad.
Jonathon James McCarthy will save us from our misery 💪🏾💯🙌🏾
I guess I'm a bit lucky - I'm a transplant here in the Twin Cities. I grew up and spent most of my life in South Philly.... so I'll probably always be an Eagles fan first.... and a Vikings fan second. I moved up here the year before my two teams met in the conference championship.... I couldn't lose! lol - I'd love to see the Vikings do well in the post season and maybe some day I'll re-prioritize or whatever. So... I'm still good. But the Eagles seriously underperformed in this round.... and unless THEY get things turned around, they've gotten as far as they are going to get.
If Lions scoup and score counted, they still lose by 2 scores, their offense couldn't do anything. I had a stick out pushing them 😂
As long as KOc keeps calling the plays! The Vikings will win a championship!!
Winning 14 games just to choke in the wildcard round against an inferior Rams team is so Vikings. Same shit different year.
Ikings defence stunked two last importNt games. In contrast, Lions and Ramsdefense shined. That is why Sam Donard was disappointed.
Players still get paid. Fans could still get a life. Be happy grasshoppers.❤
It would not have changed the outcome, but the game provided another example of the need to change the “intentional grounding” rule.
First, change the name of the rule from “intentional grounding” to “grounding” and any forward pass (a ball that leaves the hand with control while the arm is moving forward) which lands in the field of play behind the line of scrimmage without first touching an eligible receiver is grounding. This is a 5 yard penalty from the spot of the foul and loss of down (spot of the foul is where the ball was “thrown” from). This removes the whole “intentional” problem - trying to determine “intent” is too subjective - and focuses entirely on the result, so it is objective. Now, when QBs are in the process of being sacked and just dump the ball on the ground with no chance of completing the pass, it’s not a “get out of jail free” card. And yes, there will be some cases where QBs just throw a really bad pass behind the line and it doesn’t touch a receiver, and that will be flagged. Sucks to suck. If you want to throw a pass behind the line, at least hit an eligible receiver or pay the price.
For passes beyond the line that hit the ground, keep the rule that it has to land within a certain distance of a receiver - a reasonable rule would be 5 yards for passes of 0-10 yards beyond the line, within 10 yards for passes of 11-20 yards, within 15 yards for passes of 21-30 yards, and so on.
The rule should be modified to some degree. What happened last night was, technically, the correct call, but it didn't seem "right." Part of the problem has been normalizing what used to be called a forward lateral, but is now called a "shovel pass." Stafford was not really trying to complete a pass. He was obviously grounding the ball to avoid the sack, but the letter of the rule doesn't encompass the actual infraction.
Exactly, and taking the “intentional” out of it and just calling it “grounding” makes a lot more sense. They don’t call it “intentional encroachment” - they don’t care why you jumped off-sides, you just get penalized for jumping off-sides. Same should be true for failing to at least touch an eligible receiver with a pass thrown behind the line.
Team gave up on coach. Saw it in Lions game and this game in 3rd quarter. Soft coach and team when time to play big boy games!
Darrawsaw factor for the poor Offensiveline?
Watch the highlights, it is the O-line and lack of a good running game mostly
It's crazy how many people don't understand that if your offensive line is terrible, you're going absolutely nowhere.
@samexoldx basically because they think Mahomes is special and the most talented quarterback and Payton Manning both had incredible interior O-lines plus amazing route runners and good running backs. Those quarterbacks would be just average with our o-line.
This year's loss did reveal the team as fraudulent. However, the fraud lay mostly in the false impression we got from Sam Darnold as a quarterback that was ready to realize his great potential. There may be a Super Bowl QB in there somewhere, but Sam Darnold today still has a couple major flaws. He chokes when faced with symmetrical pressure up the middle, and he's got a terrible percentage throwing medium range.
KOC and Flores are not good coaches everytime they play better teams the O D folds !
This was a great game! Enjoyed every minute of it. I wonder if the Vikings owners will buy Lions tickets now? Go Lions
KOC KOC SUCKS