After Bears Loss, Win Over Giants Seems Imperative

Last week the Vikings couldn’t seem to get out of their own way or out of the way of the Bears front seven. Dalvin Cook couldn’t get any significant runs going. Kirk Cousins couldn’t get the passing game going and the defense couldn’t fully capitalize on the fact that the Bears starting quarterback, Mitch Trubisky got injured in the first few minutes of the game and were missing other key starters. As soon as the Vikings recovered a fumble on the play Trubisky got hurt on it was immediately given back to the Bears on a questionable defensive holding call. Enter backup Chase Daniels, an NFL journeyman QB. Head Coach Matt Nagy had Daniels dink and dunk his way down the file for a touchdown and it seemed that was all the Bears needed to win as the Vikings offense sputtered almost all game long.

To the defense’s credit they held the Bears to three field goals the rest of the game, but they they left them have long drives that only allowed the Vikings to have 2 offensive possessions in the first half. That is basically unheard of. The pass rush of Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffin was basically nullified as the Bears threw quick passes. They couldn’t generate another turnover either to help the offense get in better scoring position. In the end they did enough to win this game, but the offense didn’t help.

Dalvin Cook is probably the best running back in the league right now. He has had massive success in the first 3 weeks. The Bears front seven is no joke though and they neutralized the shifty running back at almost every turn. Most teams would switch their attack to the air. The Vikings did, but Kirk Cousins couldn’t make the big connections when he needed to. He missed Adam Thielen on a deep throw that would have been a touchdown. He also missed open receivers when he had time to throw and settled for dump off passes. When he didn’t have time he REALLY didn’t have time!. The Bears defensive attack led by Kalil Mack was pushing back the Vikings offensive linemen or running around them frequently. A few of these times it caused Cousins to fumble and the Bears recovered. When Cousins did make a great connection early in the game to Stephon Diggs, he fumbled it after the reception. It seemed a comedy of errors at times. What seemed to sting the most is that the Vikings were never really out of the game and drove the length of the field near the end of the game and finally scored. However they failed on the 2 point conversion and the subsequent onside kick. Were the Bears the “better team”? Not necessarily, but they played the better game and got the win.

The aftermath of this game has most of the Vikings faithful punching each other in defense or attack of Kirk Cousins while the rest are trying to trade away Stephon Diggs who has been kind of mopey this season and skipped practice Monday and Wednesday (the team has Tuesdays off). I basically couldn’t read Twitter for the past three days because all the Vikings talk is so negative it is literally depressing. Most don’t remember that they probably picked the Vikings to be 2-2 at this point in the season because divisional road games are hard to win. It’s where I expected them to be. The angst comes from “how” they got there though. Commanding wins over teams they should beat at home gave many confidence that these roads games would be a better battle or maybe even a wins. They could have been with the way the defense has been playing. What does that mean for this week’s match up against the Giants in New York? That they better win!

The Giants are finding their footing with rookie quarterback Daniel Jones after deciding Eli Manning’s run has come to an end. The Giants star running back Saquon Barkley has an ankle injury and may be out of this game and their defense is not very stout. I feel that the Vikings don’t need to just win this game, but they need to win convincingly. Along with that, Kirk Cousins needs to have a great game. He needs to get the confidence of his team, coaches and the fans back on his side in a big way. Most importantly he needs to get confidence back in himself. he has an NFL arm and is very smart, but he has hesitated on some throws we’ve seen him make and missed some throws that seemed routine last year. With the success of the running game it should make his job easier and he should be picking apart defenses regularly. It won’t make him Tom Brady, but it should make him a better than average game manager and part time hero. All he has to do is not be the reason the team loses and everything will get better.

The coaching staff is not without blame here either. Defensively I’ve questioned a few thing, but adjustments have usually been made and the defensive backfield has had some injury concerns that they’ve worked through. Offensively though I have been disappointed with the overall look of the offense when it comes to passing or adjustments. The Gary Kubiak/Kevin Stephanski offense was supposed to key more on Kirk’s strengths. The improved running game has been phenomenal in part to Cook and Alexander Mattison, but more over to the offensive line’s improved zone blocking scheme. The line is opening holes and making clear lanes. Their pass blocking has been questionable at times. They have allowed too much pressure on Cousins at times. Conversely, Kirk’s pocket presence could be better at feeling the pressure and stepping up in the pocket or running the ball more decisively. The tight ends , Kyle Rudolph and rookie Irv Smith have basically disappeared this year after we were told this new offense would feature them more often. The one thing that was brought to my attention is that it doesn’t seem Kirk has a lot of autonomy at the line of scrimmage to change plays or make adjustments based on what he sees. That falls back on the coaches. He’s a smart player and if he is shown a zone defense versus a man-to-man he needs to be able to make adjustments. I’m not sure if this is fully true, but how often do you see Aaron Rodgers make a call at the line to catch the defense in a bad position or lessen their affect on the play? Something to watch this weekend. All I know now is that the Vikings need to come home with a win and get everyone back in a positive mindset or it will unravel quickly.