Game 11: Vikings @ Packers - Sunday, Nov. 23rd @ 12:00 PM

[homer]

24 minutes ago, Recovering Chicagoan said:

Pains me to say, but I think the Bears are for real. Not to mention the Eagles are obviously capable of blowing a 21-point lead and not scoring any points for an entire half. Seems like there's some dysfunction in the Eagles' locker room despite their winning record.

they have a negative point differential. They are getting lucky and winning every single close game. 

[LouisEly]

5 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Wilson is better than Jacobs. I've been saying it most of the year. There are other things RBs do that I'm not qualified to analyze, but when it comes to rushing the ball, he's better. He's more explosive, can turn a bad play positive if breaks down at the line. I'm a huge fan of Jacobs, but I think he is nearing the end of his useful life as a star RB. 

The main writer at the ACME Packing Company website said pretty definitively that Wilson would not be tendered a contract as a RFA at $3.4M.

I quickly and directly questioned why.

[Recovering Chicagoan]

18 minutes ago, homer said:

they have a negative point differential. They are getting lucky and winning every single close game. 

That may be, but good teams find a way to win close games. Yes, luck can be a factor. The Bears weren't doing that the last few seasons. Hopefully the Packers will win at least one of their games against the Bears. It's not a given.  

[Fear The Chorizo]

23 minutes ago, homer said:

they have a negative point differential. They are getting lucky and winning every single close game. 

They had to hit a game winning FG after letting McCarthy come back on them last week - the Bears are about the weakest possible 8-3 team that can possibly be.

Their defense is brutal and are winning 2-3 point games against awful teams weekly, many of which were games they had to come back to win against backup quarterbacks.

Even if they somehow stumble into the NFC North title this year because the lions amd packers beat up on each other, whoever the bears play in the 1st round of the playoffs beats them in chicago by 2 scores

[Recovering Chicagoan]

2 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

They had to hit a game winning FG after letting McCarthy come back on them last week - the Bears are about the weakest possible 8-3 team that can possibly be.

Their defense is brutal and are winning 2-3 point games against awful teams weekly, many of which were games they had to come back to win against backup quarterbacks.

Even if they somehow stumble into the NFC North title this year because the lions amd packers beat up on each other, whoever the bears play in the 1st round of the playoffs beats them in chicago by 2 scores

I hope you're right. Still, some Packers fans talk as if the Bears are 3-8 and not 8-3. Many games have been decided by one score.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

18 minutes ago, Recovering Chicagoan said:

That may be, but good teams find a way to win close games. Yes, luck can be a factor. The Bears weren't doing that the last few seasons. Hopefully the Packers will win at least one of their games against the Bears. It's not a given.  

Just an empty, meaningless cliche. They don't rush the passer and they have a decent, not great QB. Statistically, they do nothing exceptionally well. I was a believer in the Bears making the playoffs and disrupting the division, but it's a joke that they are pushing for a 1 seed. 

I absolutely welcome the Bears taking one of the top playoff spots. They won't go anywhere, and it just prevents an actual contender from being 1 or 2. I think it's all moot though and they'll up at 6 or 7. 

8-3 with a -6 differential isn't a coincidence. They are doing the same old Bear crap and will collapse back to 6-11 next season. 

This season is starting to mirror the Packers last Super Bowl run. Couldn't win their own division, offense struggled throughout the year, Bears won the North, no standout team in the NFC, 27-year-old QB quietly coming into his own without much fanfare, strong defense, star tight end on IR, and the only losses are very close games. It's uncanny, really. 

[HarryDoyle]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Just an empty, meaningless cliche. They don't rush the passer and they have a decent, not great QB. Statistically, they do nothing exceptionally well. I was a believer in the Bears making the playoffs and disrupting the division, but it's a joke that they are pushing for a 1 seed. 

I absolutely welcome the Bears taking one of the top playoff spots. They won't go anywhere, and it just prevents an actual contender from being 1 or 2. I think it's all moot though and they'll up at 6 or 7. 

8-3 with a -6 differential isn't a coincidence. They are doing the same old Bear crap and will collapse back to 6-11 next season. 

The Bears remind me of their 2010 season. Won a lot of games they should've lost, basically got a bye into the NFCCG and got exposed by us. I can't remember the last time I saw a Bears team and said to myself "Man, I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs." Gotta go back to the Ditka era for that.

[Recovering Chicagoan]

45 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Just an empty, meaningless cliche. They don't rush the passer and they have a decent, not great QB. Statistically, they do nothing exceptionally well. I was a believer in the Bears making the playoffs and disrupting the division, but it's a joke that they are pushing for a 1 seed. 

I absolutely welcome the Bears taking one of the top playoff spots. They won't go anywhere, and it just prevents an actual contender from being 1 or 2. I think it's all moot though and they'll up at 6 or 7. 

8-3 with a -6 differential isn't a coincidence. They are doing the same old Bear crap and will collapse back to 6-11 next season. 

This season is starting to mirror the Packers last Super Bowl run. Couldn't win their own division, offense struggled throughout the year, Bears won the North, no standout team in the NFC, 27-year-old QB quietly coming into his own without much fanfare, strong defense, star tight end on IR, and the only losses are very close games. It's uncanny, really. 

Well, I hope you're right. In your observation, which two or three NFC teams have the best chance of getting to the Super Bowl?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

17 minutes ago, Recovering Chicagoan said:

Well, I hope you're right. In your observation, which two or three NFC teams have the best chance of getting to the Super Bowl?

Rams, Eagles, Packers. 

Rams have to be the favorite. 

Philadelphia will be a very difficult place to win a playoff game. They have the pedigree. 

Packers would be my #3, if you play defense the way they do and get to the QB, you give yourself a chance. And they have shown they can compete with the stronger teams. Have played in a lot of tight games. The kicking game makes me a bit leery of their playoff chances. 

 

[OldHeidelberg]

15 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

If anybody has some good Paul Allen footage to post from today's game it'd be greatly appreciated.

I haven't tuned in lately but his rant on his Monday AM show on KFAN after a loss like this usually sums it up. I think it starts at 9. or at least it used to.

[CheezWizHed]

Love looked much better against the blitz (pretty much a requirement when playing Brian Flores), but not sure MLF trusts him yet with so many run plays.  Please, please stop running the ball on EVERY 1st down.  So stinking predictable!

Interesting game for a couple of rookies as Belton played the whole second half at RG.  Perhaps a better spot for him anyway? Morgan's inability to win a starting spot is discouraging, but he never struck me as a G anyway.  Kamal Hadden had a very nice, quiet game.  Even with McCarthy as the QB, he'd be throwing Hadden's way if his WR was open, but both he and Valentine (and Nixon prior to getting hurt) played well against a good trio of WRs. 

Speaking of Nixon getting hurt, did anyone else see Brinson push Wyatt in the back as Nixon came crashing in?  Looked like Wyatt was trying to move backwards and Brinson pushed him right into Nixon.  

Watson is looking very nice out there now.  Smooth routes, nice hands... just stay healthy please!  Get Reed and Golden back and we might have something.  Wicks had some nice plays out there too. 

[OldHeidelberg]

36 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Speaking of Nixon getting hurt, did anyone else see Brinson push Wyatt in the back as Nixon came crashing in?  Looked like Wyatt was trying to move backwards and Brinson pushed him right into Nixon.  

 

I think that is why Nixon got hurt, Just a reflex thing Brinson threw his hands up and was using Wyatt as a shield. 

[CheezWizHed]

1 hour ago, OldHeidelberg said:

I think that is why Nixon got hurt, Just a reflex thing Brinson threw his hands up and was using Wyatt as a shield. 

It certainly didn't help Nixon... Wyatt moving backwards cushions the blow some... moving forward increased the impact quite a bit. 

Just the way it came it about, it looked oddly intentional by Brinson rather than reactive.... 

[CheezWizHed]

I have to admit that I feel bad for McCarthy.  He must've felt really bad about his play; his mascara was running really badly. 

I compared him to Christian Ponder with several of my Viking friends.  They weren't too happy about it... but no one would debate it either.

[OldHeidelberg]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

I have to admit that I feel bad for McCarthy.  He must've felt really bad about his play; his mascara was running really badly. 

I compared him to Christian Ponder with several of my Viking friends.  They weren't too happy about it... but no one would debate it either.

He is definitely trending in the bust direction, tough break for the Vikes if he is with all the eggs they have in that basket. I am not sure what their next move is if he isn't the guy, Rodgers will be FA but will likely return to Steelers if he wants to play, they dumped Cousins already. So, they will be left finding another retread to resurrect or taking another QB in draft.

At least McCarthy has an arm, Ponder didn't have anything to fall back on. He is still a worse pick at this point.

[OldHeidelberg]

22 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

If I'm the Vikings, you can't play JJ the rest of the season. He's horrible.

Maybe they can just make something up again to protect his fragile ego and put him in concussion protocol for a few weeks. 🙂

[homer]

1 hour ago, OldHeidelberg said:

He is definitely trending in the bust direction, tough break for the Vikes if he is with all the eggs they have in that basket. I am not sure what their next move is if he isn't the guy, Rodgers will be FA but will likely return to Steelers if he wants to play, they dumped Cousins already. So, they will be left finding another retread to resurrect or taking another QB in draft.

At least McCarthy has an arm, Ponder didn't have anything to fall back on. He is still a worse pick at this point.

Anthony Richardson

[OldHeidelberg]

39 minutes ago, homer said:

Anthony Richardson

Ah yes, I think he has already been linked to them. That makes sense, another busted high pick that seems to be the new franchise QB angle with Mayfield\Jones\Darnold all turning into something.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Going into the season, I don't know if there was a more highly regarded GM/Coach combo in the NFL than Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell....and I never really saw it.  I've always thought O'Connell was really good at getting his team ready to play/game planning and think that him/Flores are really good coordinators on both sides of the ball.  But I've always thought the Vikes' roster had mammoth holes in its depth chart and they've repeatedly tried to reshuffle deck chairs without the full gut rebuild that organization needed after Spielman was canned.  Never really saw the love Adofo-Mensah instantly got, because I just don't think their roster is nearly as good as what they've had to pay for it in terms of contracts/draft capital.  They haven't had a ton of draft picks and really haven't hit consistently enough with mid-round picks since then, the exception being drafting Jefferson (who was drafted by Spielman, if I'm not mistaken).  

Now they've paid Jefferson a ton of money, which is always a roll of the dice to put that much into the WR position, and this offseason the Vikes spent a ton in free agency under the belief of getting their roster as stacked as possible with a QB on a rookie deal - that approach has fallen flat, not only because McCarthy sucks, but also because that roster around him just isn't as good as they thought it was.  Darrisaw showed flashes of being a good LT before he blew his knee out last year, but I always thought they overpayed him even before injury - and he's a turnstyle this year along with not being able to stay on the field.  Somehow 50 year old Harrison Smith is still their best safety.

This feels like what could have happened to MLF and Gute had Love completely sucked a few seasons ago, meaning the coach/GM ties their own jobs to the young quarterback, and failing to develop that spot blows up in their face - especially when the Vikes had every opportunity to keep Darnold or even Jones in their building after last season and instead assumed "their guy" was going to be good enough with another offseason of rehab/coaching/development.

[homer]

1 hour ago, OldHeidelberg said:

Ah yes, I think he has already been linked to them. That makes sense, another busted high pick that seems to be the new franchise QB angle with Mayfield\Jones\Darnold all turning into something.

I wouldn't mind the Packers signing him if Willis leaves.

[Sixtolezcano]

3 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

Maybe they can just make something up again to protect his fragile ego and put him in concussion protocol for a few weeks. 🙂

McCarthy was placed on the concussion protocol after showing symptoms on their flight back home to Mpls/StP, O’Connell notified reporters Monday.

[OldHeidelberg]

53 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

McCarthy was placed on the concussion protocol after showing symptoms on their flight back home to Mpls/StP, O’Connell notified reporters Monday.

Yes, I saw that before my post, Viking fans calling it another soft benching. I don't doubt he has symptoms, Wyatt flung him down pretty hard on last sack, but I don't expect him to play Sunday even if cleared. He is just too awful right now, 1st round pick or not at some point you have to stop putting a bad QB on the field. Let him regroup for next season maybe he makes some strides. 

[OldHeidelberg]

2 hours ago, homer said:

I wouldn't mind the Packers signing him if Willis leaves.

I saw some where since your post about Willis' trade value last week that some scouts were asked and said Willis was viewed more as high quality backup than starting material. I am sure he thinks different but highly paid backup isn't a bad gig in the NFL, he might be wise to stick around if the Packers offer him a nice deal. 

[Brian]

Over/Under seems a little high, 49 points for Packers/Lions game. 

[CheezWizHed]

18 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

I saw some where since your post about Willis' trade value last week that some scouts were asked and said Willis was viewed more as high quality backup than starting material. I am sure he thinks different but highly paid backup isn't a bad gig in the NFL, he might be wise to stick around if the Packers offer him a nice deal. 

I don't think that would be wise money for the Packers.  As good as Willis has been, I don't want to see a ton of money wrapped up in the backup QB when you have so much in the starting QB. 

Maybe the guy can take another step as a starter (especially as a passer).  He is an ideal backup because he is a bit of a wild card. When your defense is setup to stop a pass-first QB and a QB with good scrambling capabilities comes in, it really throws your D off.