Vikings 2021 Game Recaps & Snap Counts
Sept 13, 2021 19:39:07 GMT -6
Reignman, Funkytown, and 6 more like this
Post by Danchat on Sept 13, 2021 19:39:07 GMT -6
This is a weekly thread recapping games, going over some PFF grades, and looking at snap counts to determine who played and how often they did. I won't cover every player, as this would take too long. Let's begin.
The offense was out there for 83 snaps... to be completely reasonable, 24 points against the Bengals in a 70 minute game with 83 snaps is not going to cut it, even if the defense looked way worse than expected.
A note from GA Skol on his recap on the Daily Norseman on Kirk:
RB
Mattison - 9/83 snaps (10.8%)
Mattison has returned to his role of barely playing while Cook handles the full workload. I don't get the point of spending a 3rd on a guy who rarely gets used.
Abdullah - 9/83 snaps (10.8%)
Ameer will likely return to the 53 man roster after being sent to the PS.
FB
Ham - 25/83 snaps (30%)
CJ actually got a high score from PFF despite the 2 penalties and poor running game for Cook.
WR
Osborn - 67/83 (80.7%)
Yes, folks, you're seeing that right. The Vikings used their 3rd WR on most plays of the game, which was something you didn't see last year. With Irv Smith out it makes a bunch of sense, and KJ had a quality game. While it's too soon to say that Osborn is a success story, he's quickly gone from 5th round bust as a specialist to an actual weapon on offense. This is a positive development.
Westbrook - 12/83 (14.5%)
Dede has only been practicing at WR for a couple weeks now, easing back from the ACL tear. At this point I don't think he passes Osborn for the #3 job.
Smith-Marsette - 4/83 (4.8%)
ISM is the clear #5 WR.
TE
Conklin - 59/83 (71%)
Tyler didn't play quite as much as you'd expect. PFF gave him a very poor grade despite him appearing to have a fine game.
Herndon - 12/83 (14.5%)
To nobody's surprise, Herndon didn't play much. He will get more snaps in future weeks, but with Osborn's play, I doubt he will play a Irv-like role.
OL
I was surprised how poorly this OL run blocked despite having a strong 2020 in that department. Bradbury had a remarkably poor game and O'Neill also did poorly.
In pass protection, well, you don't need the PFF grades. Bradbury looks like a bust, Cleveland was a lot worse than expected, and Hill was flat-out bad. Udoh did finish with below average grades, but I do think he is an upgrade from Dozier... but basically any guard in the NFL is.
DE
Hunter - 60/69
Wonnum - 47/69 (68%)
Weatherly - 17/69 (24.6%)
Griffen - 28/69 (40.6%)
Hunter and Griffen did not have good games by PFF, but each notched 2 pressures. Both were awful stopping the run. Wonnum couldn't stop the run nor rush the passer. Weatherly got good grades but didn't do anything particular.
DT
Tomlinson 47/69 (68%)
Pierce 41/69 (59%)
Richardson 22/69 (32%)
Watts 17/69 (25%)
Pierce had a quality game, you could probably tell that. Tomlinson was disappointing, with a below average score against the run. Watts didn't stick out. Richardson had a very poor game, providing no pass rush and got pushed around on runs.
LB
Lynch - 16/69 (23%)
With Kendricks and Vigil out there 100% of the snaps, Lynch filled in the 3rd LB role but didn't stick out.
DBs are what you would expect, zero rotation with the 5 starters outside of Boyd playing a few snaps in Breeland's place. It seems Bashaud may have re-aggravated his shoulder injury... or more likely, has contracted Xavier Rhodes-itis.
The offense was out there for 83 snaps... to be completely reasonable, 24 points against the Bengals in a 70 minute game with 83 snaps is not going to cut it, even if the defense looked way worse than expected.
A note from GA Skol on his recap on the Daily Norseman on Kirk:
Kirk Cousins - 83 snaps (100%) 36/49 for 351 and 2 TDs, QBR 46.7, Passer Rating 106.8 This seems like a typical Kirk Cousins game. He made some nice throws, he put up some nice stats, but it isn’t enough. Coach Zimmer mentioned at the half he thought Kirk needed to make quicker decisions and get rid of the ball faster. I agree with that take. There were a few passes to Justin Jefferson that were late and/or high. There was a pass to CJ Ham that was the same. There was a play against a full blitz where Kirk took a sack instead of making a quick decision. He actually stepped up into a zero blitz. I don’t think Kirk is the reason the Vikes lost, but he wasn’t going to be the reason they won either. PFF had him as the highest rated offensive player for Minnesota at 80.9. ESPN’s QBR stat had Kirk at a below average 46.7. That is the enigma of Cousins wrapped up in two ratings.
RB
Mattison - 9/83 snaps (10.8%)
Mattison has returned to his role of barely playing while Cook handles the full workload. I don't get the point of spending a 3rd on a guy who rarely gets used.
Abdullah - 9/83 snaps (10.8%)
Ameer will likely return to the 53 man roster after being sent to the PS.
FB
Ham - 25/83 snaps (30%)
CJ actually got a high score from PFF despite the 2 penalties and poor running game for Cook.
WR
Osborn - 67/83 (80.7%)
Yes, folks, you're seeing that right. The Vikings used their 3rd WR on most plays of the game, which was something you didn't see last year. With Irv Smith out it makes a bunch of sense, and KJ had a quality game. While it's too soon to say that Osborn is a success story, he's quickly gone from 5th round bust as a specialist to an actual weapon on offense. This is a positive development.
Westbrook - 12/83 (14.5%)
Dede has only been practicing at WR for a couple weeks now, easing back from the ACL tear. At this point I don't think he passes Osborn for the #3 job.
Smith-Marsette - 4/83 (4.8%)
ISM is the clear #5 WR.
TE
Conklin - 59/83 (71%)
Tyler didn't play quite as much as you'd expect. PFF gave him a very poor grade despite him appearing to have a fine game.
Herndon - 12/83 (14.5%)
To nobody's surprise, Herndon didn't play much. He will get more snaps in future weeks, but with Osborn's play, I doubt he will play a Irv-like role.
OL
I was surprised how poorly this OL run blocked despite having a strong 2020 in that department. Bradbury had a remarkably poor game and O'Neill also did poorly.
In pass protection, well, you don't need the PFF grades. Bradbury looks like a bust, Cleveland was a lot worse than expected, and Hill was flat-out bad. Udoh did finish with below average grades, but I do think he is an upgrade from Dozier... but basically any guard in the NFL is.
DE
Hunter - 60/69
Wonnum - 47/69 (68%)
Weatherly - 17/69 (24.6%)
Griffen - 28/69 (40.6%)
Hunter and Griffen did not have good games by PFF, but each notched 2 pressures. Both were awful stopping the run. Wonnum couldn't stop the run nor rush the passer. Weatherly got good grades but didn't do anything particular.
DT
Tomlinson 47/69 (68%)
Pierce 41/69 (59%)
Richardson 22/69 (32%)
Watts 17/69 (25%)
Pierce had a quality game, you could probably tell that. Tomlinson was disappointing, with a below average score against the run. Watts didn't stick out. Richardson had a very poor game, providing no pass rush and got pushed around on runs.
LB
Lynch - 16/69 (23%)
With Kendricks and Vigil out there 100% of the snaps, Lynch filled in the 3rd LB role but didn't stick out.
DBs are what you would expect, zero rotation with the 5 starters outside of Boyd playing a few snaps in Breeland's place. It seems Bashaud may have re-aggravated his shoulder injury... or more likely, has contracted Xavier Rhodes-itis.