Vikings Nipped By Lions - Who Gets The Deflated Ball?

Quick quote is working again!!!!

You're correct that there was a lot less of it, but there was still plenty. We also faced a lot less 3rd and really short situations due to a running game that wasn't getting the job done, but on that int, Jones was open in the flat and might have been able to score. JJ was 12 yards past the LOS on that 3 and 4 that we didn't convert and might have won if we did... Even if that throw was just a couple inches lower, JJ would have had to keep both feet in bounds given where he was. Bottom line, that was a low percentage play where a screen or short slant hitting a guy in stride is far likelier to get those 4 yards.

Kevin continues to not play situational football. I'm all for an aggressive team. I think those long shots make sense sometimes and keep a defense honest, but we when we most needed 4 yards, KOC dialed up a play to get us a lot more.

So maybe against the Rams (who are far more inferior), and with TJ more than likely back for that game, that they continue to establish a short-passing game....hopefully.

I very strongly agree with most of what you point out here. This was a team loss where there are a lot of areas you can point to and find blame. There were many examples of player execution or penalties costing us and some of it is from well known weakness (Ingram for example). At the end of the day this is one of the best teams in the NFC and we were one play away from probably pulling out a win. At 5-1 this team is still overperforming overall and the doom and gloom from some is odd to me. Especially in relation to coaching from Flores and KOC. That isn't to say that they don't have issues or areas to clean up but they are a better duo than we have had in a while imo. This was the worst game we have seen from Flores in a while but even so they made plays to keep us in the game late. KOC has some game management aspects to deal with still as well.

Overall though I agree that it was a well called game on offense. Being able to see the entire field in person this week really re-inforced everything I thought I had seen on the limited screen from the Jets game. There are guys open all over the field, including short options play after play. On that interception throw the entire crowd started yelling to throw the ball because he was holding it too long AND Jones was completely wide open short for a huge gain. There just isn't much you can do when Darnold is locking in on only one player and holding it until he thinks that guy is open enough to squeeze it in.



There are wide open guys, including short options, much of the game though. Even on the put away drive we had a guy open the QB just missed. This isn't a KOC thing it is a Darnold not making good decisions and holding on to the ball too long staring down one option thing. It is an issue that we have been able to mitigate more than any other team he has been on so far but seems like it will always be a limitation. We have limitations on the oline and also at RB as well (can't just run Jones into the ground and no other options). These are roster limitations that are out of the coaches control. Kwesi still has work to do but luckily he has set us up to be able to fill some of these holes in FA next year and Mccarthy will be the future at QB to hopefully improve from Darnold.

This is why back when the hypothetical 40+ million dollar contract nonsense talk was happening there was push back. He is doing a solid job of at least running this offense well enough to win games when the support is there and things are easy. He can occassionaly make the big throw as well and does not play scared checkdown football. You just aren't going to ever get much better than mid level play though due to these issues that were also there early in the season when we were winning. In games against top teams it will often show why these types of QB's shouldn't be given such massive pay checks. He had a solid game but his limitations and missing those open guys on some key plays easily is the difference here. As were some of the penalties, the four straight TD drives by the defense etc. etc. in a team loss like this. The key is that so long as the QB is limited in these ways and we are lacking on interior oline with only one (older, non workhorse type) RB to lean on the offense is going to remain limited.

We just need to keep on playing tough, being resilient and winning these tough ones as much as possible while continuing to win the games we should. This is likely not going to be a true contender season due to the roster limitations but if this team gets a home playoff game or a playoff win with the cap space and young QB we have it is still a great season and sign for our future.

One thing to say is with darnold limitations as far as holding the ball too long or locking into one guy too often, when hockenson comes back in theory it should help a bit with this as he seems to get open quite often and in the middle of the field where he works the best. Darnold should be able to see that. Can’t wait for tj to come back.

KOC refuses to take away the bad options. Where were the screens? Have the Vikings thrown a WR bubble screen all year? Or a quick throw to a WR when the CB is giving a cushion to get an easy 4 yards? Or a TE chip and release? Or passes to the RB leaking out of the backfield?

Why doesn't he have any plays that gain short yardage on 3rd & 4th and Short?

Sam is missing wide open underneath options. But KOC continues to call plays with multiple deep options running long-developing routes. With a Center and Right Guard who are terrible at pass protection. Against Teams that blitz a lot.

He's not adjusting in-game. Kevin just expects better execution while he runs the same Offense regardless of what the Defense is doing. And he's still getting plays in late.

Sam is holding the ball too long and missing underneath options. But O'Connell is absolutely contributing to the problem because of his playcalling. Which is 1 dimensional.

I agree it’s between both of them who are at fault. But In reality there have been times where guys are open under neath and darnold isn’t either seeing them or is locked in on the deeper pass.