That's Vikings Football as a friend from twitter always says.
Honestly, this game has been kicking around in my head since last night, so many small things that could have gone different for a Vikings win, some small errors, and also some big errors, and I wanted to try writing about them. I have written about sports all that much, but really wanted to get my thoughts onto the page.
The Good
I bet I am in the minority of Vikings fans on this, but I really thought overall this was the best defensive game the team has played. Being able to mostly rush 4 and pressure Russell Wilson while playing coverage, and the coverage holding up for the majority of the game was a really great sign. I thought the Wilson interception was a great play as well, working the receiver out of bounds before coming back in and making a play on the ball. The fact that the Vikings should have won this game is a testament to how well the defense played for most of the game.
I think the pass rush was pretty impressive in this game going up against a really good team in the Seahawks, they were able to get pressure bringing just 4 guys, allowing the secondary to play coverage pretty well.
The running game was really great, they ground down the defense in the game, Cook getting hurt is unfortunate, but Mattison and even Boone looked good when they came in, getting chunks of yardage several times.
Thielen has looked like a #1 receiver this season, he is still somehow able to get open even if the defense is keying off him, and the ascendancy of Justin Jefferson will help, and Erv Smith Jr. also had the best overall game I have seen. It also helps that I have Thielen on my main fantasy team this season.
I really thought that to start this game, the Vikings offense took a page out of the Seahawks playbook and came out aggressive, throwing with play action on some early downs. I think the calls were aggressive while also working on grinding down the defense. I like all of the calls to go for it on 4th down. I think the 4th and 1 that decided the game, it was 100% the right call to go for it. I think the play call could have been better, with some misdirection. Honestly, if Cook is healthy I think he is able to power through for the first down, but he wasn't in the game. Hindsight is 20/20, but there was a big gap that Mattison could have bounced it out to, just one gap away.
I think the tough thing to handle with going for it on 4th and 1 is how fatalistic Vikings fans are at this point, if they don't make it they are going to lose, even though they had a decent lead against an offense they had shut down for most of the game. I like to think of football as a mind game, so everyone in the building thinks the Vikings are going to run it on 4th and 1, the questions I have are, was the right side the correct side to run to? And would the Seahawks have gone hard for a play fake and a bootleg to the left?
Thielen was 1 on 1 up top on the key play, if you bootleg left, you have your stronger blockers in front of the play, and you also have a lot of space. If the linebackers bite you should have an easy pass for a TD, if they don't and Thielen clears out space, I think Kirk can run for the first down. Yes this all based on a lot of assumptions, but I am fan of doing things that your opponents think are extremely unlikely.
The Bad
I thought Dru Samia got destroyed far too often on pass coverage that adjustments should have been made much earlier in the game. If he can't handle the guy in front of him one on one, he needs help, not much else to say about that. He was good in run blocking, but led to a lot of pressure for Kirk in the game.
I think there are a few key plays in this game that had they gone the other way would have been game changers.
At the end of the 2nd quarter, the Vikings had a chance for another TD on 3rd and 7 there was a pass to Thielen in the end zone. This would have made the score 17-0 going into half time. I think it would have just taken a slightly better throw from Kirk and Thielen brings it down. Kirk floated the ball outside just a bit when Thielen had inside position, if the pass is just inside a little bit its a score.
One play was just the Vikings getting too cute, when they went for 2 they called a QB draw. Great call to go for 2, but a QB draw? Honestly I am probably more of a fan of Kirk than most people, but he is not QB draw material, you have so many other weapons to use on that play, including the under utilized Kyle Rudolph who has been amazing in those situations in his career.
I said it before and I will say it again, the Vikings should have won this game, they just didn't execute their game. I do feel like there maybe were too many blitzes on the final drive to allow more space for the Seahawks receivers, I get it, coaches sometimes want to be the reason a team wins, but it didn't have to happen like that. The other issue was allowing such a big completion on 4th and 10 on the final drive. I am not sure why Dantzler accelerated like he did but Metcalf was able to pop up for the ball and a huge gain. That was really a heartbreaking play for me.
Dalvin Cook getting hurt is a bit of a rough blow for the team, but at least the team has Alexander Mattison ready to go behind him. It does bring into focus why myself and many others were opposed to giving Dalvin so much money, he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. With him making so much money you have to carry another running back on the roster who you believe is capable of handling a decent workload while he is out. Right now the Vikings have Mattison, but we aren't that far away from him being ready for his 2nd contract, and I think he is talented enough to get paid by another team looking for someone to plug in. Going forward, I think Mattison takes over 80% of the Cook workload, while coming out on passing downs for Boone or Abdullah, I think Boone moves into the role that Mattison had coming in when Mattison needs a breather.
The Ugly
Kirk had a decent game, but man were those 2 turnovers killers. The fumble isn't as much his fault as the interception was, but both were preventable. On the fumble, I get it, you don't want to take a sack for a big loss, but if you take the sack, you live to fight another day. On the interception, it really took an amazing play from a defender to pick that ball off, but a great quarterback puts it well above where it can ever possibly be reached. Without those 2 turnovers the defense isn't put into such a tough spot at all.
Takeaways
Honestly, the Vikings should have won this game, and it shouldn't have been that close. Some slight changes and they are running out the clock with a 10+ point lead. I think the defense has shown a lot of improvement, we will see how the team comes out next week. There is still an outside shot at the playoffs, but prospects would have been so much better if they were 2-3 with a huge win over the Seahawks leading into the next week. I think the Vikings can come close to competing for the last wild card spot, but you need to go on a big run here before and out of the bye week they have. Maybe they can get Hunter back? That would shore up the pass rush quite a bit, and he can play the run pretty well too, but who knows if he will play a snap this year.
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