Week 18 - Vikes @ Lions Support Group

Fact is they got LUCKY to win 2 games with Dobbs. We know that now. They got lucky to beat an injured SF team. This is effectively a 4 win team right now and they are playing like it. They badly need a run game. Just another reason they can't pay JJ and Kirk, they need so many piecee right now

I would agree on running QB. I think there's a difference between one that can run and a guy like Mahomes and Allen that can scramble to get out of jams and still make plays. I even said it myself that I'd be concerned if he was rushing for 70 yards a game on a consistent basis.

The question with Dobbs though and KOC is more of the "this is what we have." Dobbs is not a pocket passer, period. There's no molding him into Kirk. It's molding our offense into something that can score points using the talents that he has with the weapons he has to work with and doing so for the remaining games on the schedule. Would that have gotten us a Lombardi? I don't know. The way the defense was playing though, who knows. We had to do enough to keep defenses honest. But there no adjustments. It only needed to work for about a dozen games.




well, when you make slow reads and have a leaky line... time to adjust to what you have... FSUVike has spelled this out much better than I can. Keep the defenses honest at the very least. You can still do some 5-7 step drops, but that can't be all you do.

if every bad qb could coached up to eliminate their faults there wouldn't be any bad qbs

I don't play calling is a black or white issue. I mean yeah he could have called more plays that worked. Sure I'll give you that. I just don't know there's a big bag of plays you can call for backup qbs. It's a hit or miss proposition. Mullens moved the ball all over the place but couldn't stop turning the ball over. Is that a play call issue or execution. Dobbs tried several read option plays vs the Raiders but Crosby was there to blow them up. Is that a play call issue or a matter of the whole offense not being used to running read option plays?

I've also mentioned several times this season that it's not easy to rework an entire offense mid season and not have it affect the entire offense. What system btw works for Dobbs because after numerous teams no one has been able to find one that works

Quick Game for starters. You know, like what the Bucs did the entire Second Half. What the Chargers did the entire Game.

The Vikings have Quick Game plays. They executed it on several 2nd Half drives against LAC.

Stay in Shotgun so your backup QB can get a better look at the Defense pre-snap and post-snap. Call more blitz beaters. Recognize that you have the wrong RB in the game. Play with temp so Defenses can't substitute. Get the damn play in on time.

These are not advanced concepts that require lengthy installation.

The truth is that O'Connell is addicted to his near-Elite Intermediate Passing Game. Which only works because guys like Stafford and Cousins are ironmen in the pocket. And requires an Elite WR. His entire system is dependent on having a Generational level WR and a fearless QB.

That's not a problem if you can do anything else well when you need to AND your WR and QB never, ever get hurt. It's a major problem because the Vikings can't run it, screen it or anything well at all. They are only good at 1 thing and 1 thing only. And that 1 thing is incredibly reliant on 2 players.

That's bad coaching. Period.

I don't disagree that it's not easy. But guess what, KOC had 3 tools, Mullens, Dobbs, and Hall. And that is his job. Hall was a developmental prospect that was never supposed to play. I get that part. Mullens was hurt which forced his hand. I get that part too. Mullens is a true backup in that he's Kirk lite, but he's also a turnover machine, so KOC still has to scale down the offense to reduce that. Did he?

Dobbs got first crack effectively and did something that none of those 3 did and that was put up nearly 30 points in two games when he didn't know the offense and things were forced to be scaled back. What did KOC do? He tried to turn Dobbs into Kirk. KOC literally stumbled on to a system that worked for Dobbs that no one else found that worked. It's not that teams adjusted. KOC adjusted and tried to fit the tool he had into the system he had built. Could this have worked for a dozen games? I don't know. But KOC also tried to do what everyone else tried to do and failed... force Dobbs into their system.