I’m gonna take the extremely risky bet and guess the Mailbag today will be rather dark and depressing. So I wanna try to highlight at least some positives, even though they are few and far between Sunday.
First: Our defense improves every game, imo. We still severely lack the turnovers we had last year, and our point total could use so badly. But allowing only one TD off five turnovers and no offense at all to help relieve some of the burden is extremely impressive. Darnold was under duress most of the game and had hardly an easy throw. Going with only 13 points into halftime with only around 10 minutes of offense on five drives is really good. Usually that should be enough to stay in games, and I believe it can be the next couple games.
Second: Ryan Wright, it’s said special teamers mostly get their accolades when there is nothing else good, but Wright had great punts the whole day. Seattle started four of five possessions after our punts inside their 15-yard line.
And thirdly, maybe the silver lining: The schedule. Now the opponents should never be an excuse, but it’s hard to argue that we had one of the toughest schedules of the league so far. And it’s my only hope at this point that now it lightens up, especially for our offense. The Commanders, Cowboys and Giants should hopefully provide some ground for our young quarterback to grow. Otherwise, even the last of my optimism will wilt away.
— Alexander from Germany
Folks who have made it this far probably benefit from a bit of Alexander’s optimism.
The defense really was incredibly impressive on so many metrics, but there were some missed tackles, which continue to happen at inopportune moments.
Wright opened with a couple of fantastic punts and finished with an average of 50.4 with a long of 60.
Lifelong Vikings fan for over 50 years.
I am very disappointed in the little help K.O. gave his rookie QB. The play calling into the huddle was late and gave Brosmer less than 10 seconds at the line to read the d.
Then the pivotal moment in the game, when K.O. should have tied the game, he asks the rookie QB, on the road, to make a play. Again, late to the line, immediate pressure in his face, and the rookie tries to do too much. I believe that J.J. and Brosmer can be a great QB tandem going forward, but like most rookie QBs, they will struggle early. The d is built to win now, but the QB position is not. Injuries everywhere has been a killer, too, but the coach needs to adjust to that with strategy.
Here’s hoping for a better next year.
— Michael Harris from Alburgh, Vermont
O’Connell mentioned there was a little uncertainty with the spotting of the football going into the fourth-and-1, so that may have prompted a little delay. Again hindsight, for a play of that magnitude in the waning moments of the second half, maybe it would have been beneficial to challenge the spot with the red flag or take a timeout.
The play was designed to be a play-action (fake handoff) with a roll out to the right and the ability to read have the field with a layered combo of routes, but the defense got to Brosmer too quick for him to execute the play.
