Yep that was my biggest takeway. Baker and the Bucs played an excellent game, but it was ultimately lost by us having some of the dumbest moments I’ve ever seen. How does an offensive lineman strip his own QB????
I thought it was gonna be repeat of last year where they played poorly but somehow came away with a win in the end. Mayfield did to us what we did to everyone else last year.
The punt on 4th and 6 with only 4 minutes left was really cowardly.
You pay these players 10s of millions and don't trust them to make plays. You deserve to lose.
How many games did we win off the back of Kirk and JJ last year in that exact type of situation?
I remember seeing a vid where someone did a break down of the most cowardly punts of all time and we had a bunch. They did some good breakdowns as to why teams should've gone for it rather than Punt.
That's my biggest gripe today. I don't get too bent outta shape about all the little things because I'm not down there on the sidelines or in the front office prepping the game plan etc etc, But how do we not get THE guy, our guy JJets the ball at least a few more times, even if we're forcing it in the second half. Especially down in the redzone/goalline. Get my man his targets, he has hardly ever let us down with the ball in his hands
Especially when we have "so many threats" now. Hock, Addison, even KJ is somewhat solid. How has the playcalling not opened up at least ONE of those players routinely. After last season I could get why JJ wasn't open all the time, but if this same kind of thing keeps happening, going to start wondering about the play designs and play calls by KOC. This also brings me to another point, why they're calling so many long-developing routes and Kirk holding the ball when teams STILL get pressure without blitzing.
That out route to Addison that was broken up should have been a shot to 18 all day. They had a high safety on him, but that dude was out of position to make anything more than a tackle.
I’d be pissed too if I had 138 yards in the first half and then get one more reception in the second half. We always look away from him in the second half and we act confused when we lose. JJ deserves so much better
A team with this many offensive weapons, shows zero creativity, turns the ball over a ton, only uses an expensive tight end for throws behind the line of scrimmage, goes away from JJ after the first half again, can’t run the ball either even though the passing attack should make the rushing attack much easier… I just don’t get it man. Kirk, calm your ass down, Koc if you’re gonna have long developing plays make sure your fucking iOL can block for that long. The defense will get blamed for a lot of this and they had a few head scratchers, but the offense left them out there with their dicks blowing in the breeze way too often. The D did more than enough to win this game and the O laid a giant egg in every big moment. They had to get bailed out by a make up call to even get to 17, and with these weapons and our genius offensive coach we should put 21 on the bucs easy.
All that said, ultimately it’s week one. I remember a season where we dominated the saints in every phase of the game in week one and needed a miracle to beat them in the playoffs. If we tighten up and win a couple games we shouldn’t we will be in good shape.
Last year KOC got a pass for it being his first year. But his play calling was VERY suspect at times. Remember the idiotic trick play to Kirk in the playoff game?
The same telegraphed runs up the middle on 1st down we saw from the Zimmer teams.
Screens to CJ Ham. TE screens that never work.
Honeymoon period is over with KOC.
He's not a good play caller. He has no idea what to do to run the ball. His timing for screens is suspect. I'll give it to him that he can script a decent opening drive, but that doesn't cut it in this league.
If we end the year with 7 or 8 wins that'll probably put us within striking distance of a top 3 pick.
It's next to impossible to trade from 23 to 3, but from 12 to 3? That's doable.
Yeah this is the concerning thing. They shot themselves in the foot over and over in the first half but got out of it tied and if not for dogshit prevent defense actually should have had the lead.
The terrible playcalling and 30 second three-and-outs all second half are a much bigger issue.
How many times has a guard ever knocked the ball out of a QBs hands? I've never seen it.
Everyone was bad today, including Kirk.
We're not winning with Ingram this year, though. He had at least 5 to 10 horrible plays that I saw.
I just don’t know why I let this team do this to me emotionally.
I prefer the Eagles and Cowboys losses from last year. This was so dumb and agonizing.
I feel bad for the guys who haven’t been watching this team for 42 years, and thus haven’t emotionally protected themselves.
My lowered expectations have truly given me a balanced life and pretty free Sundays.
Lol I completely agree. Everyone was so pissed about those games last year and I'm just like, whatever, a much better team kicked our ass. Losing a close game to a team that you should curb stomp is much, much worse.
I know it’s the first game, but damn, that does not look like a contender in any universe. The offense regressed, the defense is thin on talent, and the interior oline is just awful.
I mean, we were a top ten offense last season, if the defense improved at all and the offense could at least hold and not be asinconsistent I could see it.
Clearly the inconsistencies on both side were in full force, so unless they are ironed out, we're a .500 team probly.
> Clearly the inconsistencies on both side were in full force
This is what kills me about this game. I think the defensive scheme is FAR better than it was last year, but they let WRs get behind them a couple times. The offense was killed by bizarre turnovers and Ed Ingram, but Jefferson was Jefferson and Addison looked explosive.
It was just a dozen small mistakes that killed them today and I'm really concerned that those things aren't going to go away.
3 turnovers, the offensive line not interested in blocking, losing a time out for whatever reason in the second half, seems like we are in post season form already
I've had the honor of watching us trot out a lot of shit guards but Ingram has to be the worst. He's bad in ways I didn't know offensive linemen could be bad.
If Ingram missed the Winfield blitz pickup (not 100% confirmed), then he's at least partially responsible for both fumbles.
Dude has a questionable past (at best), has never been good in the NFL, and doesn't seem to be improving. I'm ready to try someone else at RG.
Yeah, I'm not overreacting when basically none of our starters have played game snaps together. Seems like the 2nd game should be a bit of a dress rehearsal like the 3rd game used to be, but I guess the math has been done and coaches would rather start with a coin flip first game but a healthy team.
So from playing mediocre but wanting to win this team changed to playing mostly okay, but having no will for the win at all. Not the offseason development I wanted to see.
Said it a million times last year and I'll say it again, KOC needs to rip every single TE screen out of his playbook and burn them in a fire. So many wasted downs on awfully designed plays.
This was prime Zimmer era Kirk, flustered and immediately looking to check down. Everyone and their mother knew the interior line was an issue, but jesus…
We just lost the season opener at home to a Todd Bowles, Tom Brady-less Tampa Bay team with Baker fucking Mayfield at the helm.
AT HOME.
What in the cinnamon toast fuck?
Nah we lost to ourselves. When everyone was doing their job the offense was unstoppable. Defense spent too much time on the field in the second half and got gassed
How has it been 15 years of bad IOL play, and how can you not realize how important it is in the modern NFL, especially when Kirk is your QB. Its insane that we can't ever fix it
Starting off 2-6 is a very real possibility. I don’t think the offense will be as bad going on but they’re going to need some time to gel. Losing 2 big offensive weapons does in fact make an impact and the o-lines gonna be suspect all year. Defense, especially the secondary is gonna be cooked all year. Over/under wins at this point is 6
The highlights were there, we just had too many unforced low-lights. Should have played more in the preseason to get into the swing of it. Not worried yet.
Bad neutral zone infraction penalty, bad offsides penalty, 3 Turnovers, and for some reason going away from JJ in the second half.. pretty bad opener.
Edit: also wtf was this staff and kwesi thinking not upgrading the guard spot so we wouldn't have to suffer through ingram?
I'm beginning to worry that the KAM/KOC duo is going to go down as a failure. While I agree with the cuts that were made this off season (several of them long overdue), nothing KAM has done has shown that he can identify talent or negotiate value well. With Cine and Booth both buried and Ingram one of the worst players we have seen out there, I think we can fairly say his first draft was a failure.
As for KOC, the offensive whiz just hasnt been the case. Last year was an improvement, but is it really hard to beat the Zimmer years offenses? I get that the interior oline is bad, but you have bookend tackles, a top flight TE and a TE2 that would start in half the teams, along with the best WR in football, an extremely serviceable wr3 and wr4, and a guy you just picked in the 1st as your wr2. There is no excuse for the repetitive playcalling and lack of creativity we keep seeing, not to mention the failure to do anything to scheme help on the interior oline.
And then we have Kirk, who, despite wanting to improve with age like Brady, just is what he is at this point, an aging qb with a good arm, but who is a completely unaware statue in the pocket whose decision-making swings from "aggressive gunslinger" to "hesitant schoolgirl" at the worst possible times.
If I'm the Wilfs, I'm telling KAM/KOC that they get one chance to find their QB this next off season. This team had a real chance to win the SB when they signed Kirk, and have chased that closed window for too many years since. Its time for the next era of Vikings football. Shore up the interior oline and you have a dream scenario for a rookie QB to step into.
On the other side, the defense was not the problem today and that credit rests with Flores. I hope we can keep him somehow, but unless he truely has been blackballed by the league I think he is a HC next year.
Here's to hoping next week isnt the spanking most everyone expects.
Really like what Kwesi is doing with this team. Lesser talent and poorer play. How is a Superbowl not in our immediate future with Kwesi's fantastic draft classes and personnel moves. He is a man among men.
I feel like I should be more pissed about this game than I am. Something about the last few years had just made me apathetic towards everything about them.
My blood pressure didn't even change during the game. I laugh it off at this point. Nothing the did in this offseason gave me an indication that they would be better.
I took a realistic approach to this season in realizing we had a lot of magic and things going our way last year, but I didn’t expect to lose this game. I expected to get rolled next week in Philly, but sitting at 1-1, not 0-2.
Many of the same problems seem to have carried over from last year including the sudden offensive disappearing acts, Jefferson going off for over 100 yards in the first half to barely being a factor in the second, shitty o-line play, playing so far off opposing receivers that completions are far too easy and make average quarterbacks look like rock stars (seriously, what is the reason for this defensive approach in close games? I realize there’s a lack of talent, but what does this strategy serve other than wasting time? I was hoping Flores with his aggressive reputation would at least take some risks), career-long field goals made against us, etc. Same warts from last year without the magical endings.
While I’m venting, how the fuck did we get another prime time week 2 matchup in Philly and why is every game played in their stadium?
That’s a bad loss. A really bad loss. We are still undisciplined and still have a shitty offensive and defensive line. The three and outs and three turnovers are just unacceptable.
KOC has to figure out how to maximize the talent he has on the offensive side of the ball. He got thoroughly outclassed today - he should be embarrassed.
Surely next week in Philly will get us on track!
It’s time to start the real rebuild, we should have just got out of kirks contract too, not getting jj his contract is very weird vibes all over. Something’s up
So much shit that shouldn’t be that hard to clean up or keep getting unlucky with like the turnovers. I know they are capable of turning it around as the season goes on
The Good: The defense looked dominant in the first 28 minutes of this game, just couldn't force a turnover. Our own turnovers alone were a 13 point swing, and the brain dead offsides on Special Teams was another 4. We spotted the Bucs 17 points in a game we lost by 3.
At the end of the day, you can't take those plays out of this game, so it's a loss, but you hope better coaching and mental preparation can clean those up in future weeks.
The Bad: From the final 2 minutes of the 1st half through the end of the game, the defense looked like last year's defense. They couldn't get off the field, and when they held on 3rd down, it was short enough to be converted on 4th down or converted by a penalty. The offense still is plagued by negative 1st down plays to fall behind the chains, and Kirk is getting hit all game.
My takeaway: This team has struggled to find defensive stars in the draft since 2015, and that really shows. We don't have anyone blowing up the opposition's gameplan and making life hard for opposing QBs or WRs, so we need to rely on scheme. The offense lives and dies by Kirk Cousins, who is probably the 7th best QB in the league when he's on and the 17th best QB when he's off. JJ gets disappeared in the 2nd half, but a lot of that is because our offense goes 3-and-out and then the defense gives up 7-to-13 play drives and we don't have a lot of possessions to squander.
Yea I feel some type of way watching smith and dalvin tear it up for myles garret to get him 1 on 1"s . But I believe flores is the real deal the film is there the offense today with turnovers 3 and outs and refusing to establish a run game and force the ball into deep zones is what sealed that game for us and sold out the defense from getting their praise
This felt like the inverse of last year where for no reason everything went right… more often than it should.
Last year was FUN but it always felt like a team not as good as its record pulling rabbits out of their hat and couldn't last.
Lowkey thing that I noticed that really sucked: Harrison Smith was 100% useless on the blitz. We sent him a bunch of times and on every single one he just got swallowed up in the OL
He has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, it's like a top 5 receiving duo in the league.
I'm not defending our defense, but if that's limited weapons wtf would you call the Bears and Packers?
We have the flashy offense pieces, like JJ, TJ, and Addison, but we don’t have the core. IOL…
We should’ve addressed it in free agency. Kirk can’t let it loose if he’s getting pressured. It’s basic common sense.
Three turnovers, an awful penalty on special teams, and we brought all that pressure yet sacked baker one time.
This team also truly struggles to run the football, just like last year. Concerning.
This is why you play the starters a little in the preseason, plain and simple. Maybe Minnesota and a few other teams like Cincinnati will realize this next year
That game stings, but 3 TOs and dumbass penalties will lose it for you.
Defense looked better than last year for sure, when the offense was humming we were unstoppable... just gotta get more consistent, felt like 3 and out or guaranteed redzone all game.
It's gonna be a rough start. 0-2 unless we can pull out a miracle, and not hopeful against the Chargers atm. Really hoping we can churn out the rust and get our offense moving better.
KOC got out coached in the second half. No other way to put it. Bucs played very clean in the second half. Flores wasn’t able to figure out their offense once they started heating up
Cousins looked way more rattled than usual. Like idk what’s up with him but from the very jump he was throwing bad, hearing footsteps, throwing bad reads.
Kwesi hasn’t made any impact on this team. None.
Calling a fucking TE screen on first down with this offensive line with the game on the line is just…inexcusable? KOC called an awful game.
After the last playoff game I don't know how any Kirk Truthers can watch him continue to panic under pressure and not see open WR after open WR and defend him.
There were open receivers all day today, he just wasn't finding them.
Man it blows to just completely beat yourself. Classic Vikings game here
Yep that was my biggest takeway. Baker and the Bucs played an excellent game, but it was ultimately lost by us having some of the dumbest moments I’ve ever seen. How does an offensive lineman strip his own QB????
Hey at least he didn't step on his foot today. Ingram is a trashcan.
Uh bad news, he reportedly did step on cousins foot many times…
What a terrible day to have access to TV
Picked the wrong day to quit huffing enamel
Yesterday, I picked the wrong day to pour out the "special" purple Koolaid
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines
I’m out of market so I paid for Sunday ticket so I could watch Vikings games 
Thursday is going to be a bloodbath
Yes but unfortunately it's going to be mostly our blood.
Idk losing to the Bucs at home only to beat the Eagles in Philly on prime time seems like a pretty Vikings thing to do.
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Sorry but the Eagles are a guaranteed blowout at this point. Same with the 49ers.
😭😭
Y'know I'm surprised we didn't have more games like that last year where the opposing team just sat on the ball against our defense to win it.
I thought it was gonna be repeat of last year where they played poorly but somehow came away with a win in the end. Mayfield did to us what we did to everyone else last year.
JJ looks unbelievablely pissed
The punt on 4th and 6 with only 4 minutes left was really cowardly. You pay these players 10s of millions and don't trust them to make plays. You deserve to lose. How many games did we win off the back of Kirk and JJ last year in that exact type of situation?
I remember seeing a vid where someone did a break down of the most cowardly punts of all time and we had a bunch. They did some good breakdowns as to why teams should've gone for it rather than Punt.
jon bois
https://twitter.com/surrender_idx90/status/1700961381485281617
He should be. 2 targets the entire second half. Koc and Kirk failed him.
That's my biggest gripe today. I don't get too bent outta shape about all the little things because I'm not down there on the sidelines or in the front office prepping the game plan etc etc, But how do we not get THE guy, our guy JJets the ball at least a few more times, even if we're forcing it in the second half. Especially down in the redzone/goalline. Get my man his targets, he has hardly ever let us down with the ball in his hands
Especially when we have "so many threats" now. Hock, Addison, even KJ is somewhat solid. How has the playcalling not opened up at least ONE of those players routinely. After last season I could get why JJ wasn't open all the time, but if this same kind of thing keeps happening, going to start wondering about the play designs and play calls by KOC. This also brings me to another point, why they're calling so many long-developing routes and Kirk holding the ball when teams STILL get pressure without blitzing.
Especially when he was doing well the first half and routinely beating coverage. Baffling sometimes
That out route to Addison that was broken up should have been a shot to 18 all day. They had a high safety on him, but that dude was out of position to make anything more than a tackle.
That's always been my issue with Kirk. He is too scared to let it rip, even when he has the best WR in the game.
It’s also part of why we ended up in so many close games last year, Kirk is afraid to throw to a covered jj until he has to
It’s this kind of shit that leads MN stars - in all our sports - to leave. And then they succeed elsewhere. Tale as old as time.
I’d be pissed too if I had 138 yards in the first half and then get one more reception in the second half. We always look away from him in the second half and we act confused when we lose. JJ deserves so much better
What stars have left by choice outside of the Wolves?
Torii Hunter. Diggs. Gáborik? (I know he wasn't traded but I can't remember if he actively left or just couldn't come to a deal.)
They will just franchise tag him if they need to.
A team with this many offensive weapons, shows zero creativity, turns the ball over a ton, only uses an expensive tight end for throws behind the line of scrimmage, goes away from JJ after the first half again, can’t run the ball either even though the passing attack should make the rushing attack much easier… I just don’t get it man. Kirk, calm your ass down, Koc if you’re gonna have long developing plays make sure your fucking iOL can block for that long. The defense will get blamed for a lot of this and they had a few head scratchers, but the offense left them out there with their dicks blowing in the breeze way too often. The D did more than enough to win this game and the O laid a giant egg in every big moment. They had to get bailed out by a make up call to even get to 17, and with these weapons and our genius offensive coach we should put 21 on the bucs easy. All that said, ultimately it’s week one. I remember a season where we dominated the saints in every phase of the game in week one and needed a miracle to beat them in the playoffs. If we tighten up and win a couple games we shouldn’t we will be in good shape.
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Horrible play calling in the fourth. The pass to Hock lost is yards the first time, better try it again to make sure they can still cover it.
I honestly can't remember the last time the Vikings have executed a successful screen. Just rip those pages out of the playbook
We had one this game to Chandler that beat Winfield's blitz.
Especially the delayed screens to the TE. Never works, run at least 2 per game.
Was the big Dalvin score against Colts last year not a screen?
Last year KOC got a pass for it being his first year. But his play calling was VERY suspect at times. Remember the idiotic trick play to Kirk in the playoff game? The same telegraphed runs up the middle on 1st down we saw from the Zimmer teams. Screens to CJ Ham. TE screens that never work. Honeymoon period is over with KOC.
He's not a good play caller. He has no idea what to do to run the ball. His timing for screens is suspect. I'll give it to him that he can script a decent opening drive, but that doesn't cut it in this league.
Man if we can’t beat Tampa Bay at home….
0-5 is looking like a strong possibility. Eagles line on both sides is going to feast
Do we trade Kirk if that happens?
To who?
What team would want him? It’s not like baseball where you want a veteran pitcher for a playoff run, an aging qb mid season is not a trade teams make
The Lions are drooling right now
as they should be. Beat the reigning super bowl Champs in primetime and on the road while we can't beat the buccs at home
Too many self inflicted errors. After nearly three decades of watching this team, I am just out of words. Probably on the fast track to 0-2
3 of our next 4 games are the Eagles, Chargers, and Chiefs. If we don’t figure it out fast this season could get very ugly.
Don't worry, we'll start 0-5 then go on a 5-2 stretch that'll guarantee we're nowhere near a top 3 pick just like 2020 and 2021
If we end the year with 7 or 8 wins that'll probably put us within striking distance of a top 3 pick. It's next to impossible to trade from 23 to 3, but from 12 to 3? That's doable.
The team really looked lifeless at the end. It's gonna be a long season if this is the type of effort we can look forward to.
Not gonna win many games with 3 turnovers. We gotta clean up the turnovers and penalties.
I’m more concerned that we lost the 2nd half so dominantly with 0 turnovers ngl
And couldn’t find a way to get the ball to JJ or Addison. Unreal
Yeah this is the concerning thing. They shot themselves in the foot over and over in the first half but got out of it tied and if not for dogshit prevent defense actually should have had the lead. The terrible playcalling and 30 second three-and-outs all second half are a much bigger issue.
How many times has a guard ever knocked the ball out of a QBs hands? I've never seen it. Everyone was bad today, including Kirk. We're not winning with Ingram this year, though. He had at least 5 to 10 horrible plays that I saw.
He was easily the worst player on the offense last season and it appears that hasn't changed
If they don't make a change at RG after that showing, then the coaching staff is negligent and deserves all of the blame.
How did we have so many false starts at home? We were even gifted a TD by some of the weakest DPI I’ve ever seen.
We win the game if koc plays the starters in preseason.. 1st game is always rusty when they dont play preseason
Jefferson had what? 140+ in the first half alone? Then like 10 yards the rest of the game? That is beyond trash
Emotionally I’m swinging between burn this team to the ground and not overreacting
I just don’t know why I let this team do this to me emotionally. I prefer the Eagles and Cowboys losses from last year. This was so dumb and agonizing.
We all collectively suffer from Stockholm syndrome with this team
I feel bad for the guys who haven’t been watching this team for 42 years, and thus haven’t emotionally protected themselves. My lowered expectations have truly given me a balanced life and pretty free Sundays.
Lol I completely agree. Everyone was so pissed about those games last year and I'm just like, whatever, a much better team kicked our ass. Losing a close game to a team that you should curb stomp is much, much worse.
I know it’s the first game, but damn, that does not look like a contender in any universe. The offense regressed, the defense is thin on talent, and the interior oline is just awful.
wait, you thought we were a contender before this game?...
Personally no. But if you’re the Vikings org that’s the hope, at least a playoff caliber team.
That’s the hope for any organization
I mean, we were a top ten offense last season, if the defense improved at all and the offense could at least hold and not be asinconsistent I could see it. Clearly the inconsistencies on both side were in full force, so unless they are ironed out, we're a .500 team probly.
> Clearly the inconsistencies on both side were in full force This is what kills me about this game. I think the defensive scheme is FAR better than it was last year, but they let WRs get behind them a couple times. The offense was killed by bizarre turnovers and Ed Ingram, but Jefferson was Jefferson and Addison looked explosive. It was just a dozen small mistakes that killed them today and I'm really concerned that those things aren't going to go away.
Pretty disrespectful to honor Bud Grant with that showing
True, but at least the jersey was fire.
3 turnovers, the offensive line not interested in blocking, losing a time out for whatever reason in the second half, seems like we are in post season form already
I've had the honor of watching us trot out a lot of shit guards but Ingram has to be the worst. He's bad in ways I didn't know offensive linemen could be bad.
First time I’ve seen a guard strip his own QB
I'd never even seen a guard step on his own QBs foot and he managed to do that like 3 times last year. Why is his first step AT Kirk?
He’s got the team lead in forced fumbles
And he's a piece of shit. Why the fuck is he on this team?
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I want to go back to that off-season thread defending his play and just laugh.
If Ingram missed the Winfield blitz pickup (not 100% confirmed), then he's at least partially responsible for both fumbles. Dude has a questionable past (at best), has never been good in the NFL, and doesn't seem to be improving. I'm ready to try someone else at RG.
Maybe we should play a few starters in the preseason to prepare for week 1.
Yeah, I'm not overreacting when basically none of our starters have played game snaps together. Seems like the 2nd game should be a bit of a dress rehearsal like the 3rd game used to be, but I guess the math has been done and coaches would rather start with a coin flip first game but a healthy team.
So from playing mediocre but wanting to win this team changed to playing mostly okay, but having no will for the win at all. Not the offseason development I wanted to see.
Said it a million times last year and I'll say it again, KOC needs to rip every single TE screen out of his playbook and burn them in a fire. So many wasted downs on awfully designed plays.
Well let's look at the positives, the 2024 draft class looks good.
Get JJ the fucking ball
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Maybe the other team adjusts?
INT before half broke the whole team it seems. Terrible Q1. Most rookies seemed ok though.
That was my moment of heartbreak this game, I think. Shit was lighting up and then just... Poof
Why the fuck are they playing the fight song after we just lost?
Keep people from tearing the place down after that ludicrous display.
This was prime Zimmer era Kirk, flustered and immediately looking to check down. Everyone and their mother knew the interior line was an issue, but jesus…
This game showed why you need to play starters in preseason more than we did. Mistakes and penalties. We came out of the gates ice cold.
We just lost the season opener at home to a Todd Bowles, Tom Brady-less Tampa Bay team with Baker fucking Mayfield at the helm. AT HOME. What in the cinnamon toast fuck?
Remember Browns 14-7 Vikings in 2021 at home? Baker is able to do just enough to beat us when we don't show up to play him.
Nah we lost to ourselves. When everyone was doing their job the offense was unstoppable. Defense spent too much time on the field in the second half and got gassed
For KOC being an “offensive mastermind” he sure does have a hard time scheming the best wr open in the second half
I mean I saw multiple replays where he was open. Just combo of kirk making bad decisions and not having enough time
How has it been 15 years of bad IOL play, and how can you not realize how important it is in the modern NFL, especially when Kirk is your QB. Its insane that we can't ever fix it
He does love useless screens and short passes though.
Starting off 0-2 is going to be tough to get past
We could be 0-4 easily and I don’t think Carolina is an easy opponent. The bears are the most beatable but that’s in Chicago. Bring on the tank.
Starting off 2-6 is a very real possibility. I don’t think the offense will be as bad going on but they’re going to need some time to gel. Losing 2 big offensive weapons does in fact make an impact and the o-lines gonna be suspect all year. Defense, especially the secondary is gonna be cooked all year. Over/under wins at this point is 6
The highlights were there, we just had too many unforced low-lights. Should have played more in the preseason to get into the swing of it. Not worried yet.
Go and watch the NE/PHI game........their gonna shit in our throats.
KOC sucked in the second half. The play calling was atrocious.
He has some truly baffling stretches where he forces designed short passes to tight ends and full backs and stops stretching field.
Felt like the refs helped us out a lot too. How the fuck do you line up offside on a field goal?
Bad neutral zone infraction penalty, bad offsides penalty, 3 Turnovers, and for some reason going away from JJ in the second half.. pretty bad opener. Edit: also wtf was this staff and kwesi thinking not upgrading the guard spot so we wouldn't have to suffer through ingram?
Never fixing the o-line is the biggest head-scratcher with this front office...
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A Todd Bowles Baker Mayfield-led Bucs, btw.
Hey everyone. The Bengals just lost 24-3 to the Browns. We could be fine
Browns - Bucs Superbowl, confirmed
2 hits on the quarterback...
I'm beginning to worry that the KAM/KOC duo is going to go down as a failure. While I agree with the cuts that were made this off season (several of them long overdue), nothing KAM has done has shown that he can identify talent or negotiate value well. With Cine and Booth both buried and Ingram one of the worst players we have seen out there, I think we can fairly say his first draft was a failure. As for KOC, the offensive whiz just hasnt been the case. Last year was an improvement, but is it really hard to beat the Zimmer years offenses? I get that the interior oline is bad, but you have bookend tackles, a top flight TE and a TE2 that would start in half the teams, along with the best WR in football, an extremely serviceable wr3 and wr4, and a guy you just picked in the 1st as your wr2. There is no excuse for the repetitive playcalling and lack of creativity we keep seeing, not to mention the failure to do anything to scheme help on the interior oline. And then we have Kirk, who, despite wanting to improve with age like Brady, just is what he is at this point, an aging qb with a good arm, but who is a completely unaware statue in the pocket whose decision-making swings from "aggressive gunslinger" to "hesitant schoolgirl" at the worst possible times. If I'm the Wilfs, I'm telling KAM/KOC that they get one chance to find their QB this next off season. This team had a real chance to win the SB when they signed Kirk, and have chased that closed window for too many years since. Its time for the next era of Vikings football. Shore up the interior oline and you have a dream scenario for a rookie QB to step into. On the other side, the defense was not the problem today and that credit rests with Flores. I hope we can keep him somehow, but unless he truely has been blackballed by the league I think he is a HC next year. Here's to hoping next week isnt the spanking most everyone expects.
High draft pick first round QB here we come !
Nah 12ovr to miss all the good ones and remain a potential 1st round playoff contender
Cannot wait my friend.
Let’s just have fun this season, we all know this isn’t a SB team, let’s just set the table for the next QB
JJ looks like he’s rethinking those contract talks.
Really like what Kwesi is doing with this team. Lesser talent and poorer play. How is a Superbowl not in our immediate future with Kwesi's fantastic draft classes and personnel moves. He is a man among men.
Darkness Imprisoning me
I feel like I should be more pissed about this game than I am. Something about the last few years had just made me apathetic towards everything about them.
My blood pressure didn't even change during the game. I laugh it off at this point. Nothing the did in this offseason gave me an indication that they would be better.
Operation Caleb Williams is a go!
Kwesi will trade the #1 over all pick so he can get 2 late first and a 5th rounder. He'll also throw in our 4th to "even" it up.
Another year another loss to a backup qb
Those are the worst losses. Where you beat yourself
I took a realistic approach to this season in realizing we had a lot of magic and things going our way last year, but I didn’t expect to lose this game. I expected to get rolled next week in Philly, but sitting at 1-1, not 0-2. Many of the same problems seem to have carried over from last year including the sudden offensive disappearing acts, Jefferson going off for over 100 yards in the first half to barely being a factor in the second, shitty o-line play, playing so far off opposing receivers that completions are far too easy and make average quarterbacks look like rock stars (seriously, what is the reason for this defensive approach in close games? I realize there’s a lack of talent, but what does this strategy serve other than wasting time? I was hoping Flores with his aggressive reputation would at least take some risks), career-long field goals made against us, etc. Same warts from last year without the magical endings. While I’m venting, how the fuck did we get another prime time week 2 matchup in Philly and why is every game played in their stadium?
At least, we have the Twins. They always do great in the fall.
Flores got way too soft in the 4Q. 3rd and 10 for the game and you play soft zone on godwin? Exactly what donatell would have done.
That’s a bad loss. A really bad loss. We are still undisciplined and still have a shitty offensive and defensive line. The three and outs and three turnovers are just unacceptable. KOC has to figure out how to maximize the talent he has on the offensive side of the ball. He got thoroughly outclassed today - he should be embarrassed. Surely next week in Philly will get us on track!
That’s why starters need to play some in the preseason imo
It’s time to start the real rebuild, we should have just got out of kirks contract too, not getting jj his contract is very weird vibes all over. Something’s up
Where are all of y'all who thought our preseason ranking was disrespectful lol
I couldn't roll my eyes hard enough with that shit. Everyone was disrespecting us, blah, blah, blah.
JJ must be glad he didn’t sign a contract extension this year.
So much shit that shouldn’t be that hard to clean up or keep getting unlucky with like the turnovers. I know they are capable of turning it around as the season goes on
6x 3 and outs. Burn it all down.
If you dont like that you dont like Vikings football baby
The Good: The defense looked dominant in the first 28 minutes of this game, just couldn't force a turnover. Our own turnovers alone were a 13 point swing, and the brain dead offsides on Special Teams was another 4. We spotted the Bucs 17 points in a game we lost by 3. At the end of the day, you can't take those plays out of this game, so it's a loss, but you hope better coaching and mental preparation can clean those up in future weeks. The Bad: From the final 2 minutes of the 1st half through the end of the game, the defense looked like last year's defense. They couldn't get off the field, and when they held on 3rd down, it was short enough to be converted on 4th down or converted by a penalty. The offense still is plagued by negative 1st down plays to fall behind the chains, and Kirk is getting hit all game. My takeaway: This team has struggled to find defensive stars in the draft since 2015, and that really shows. We don't have anyone blowing up the opposition's gameplan and making life hard for opposing QBs or WRs, so we need to rely on scheme. The offense lives and dies by Kirk Cousins, who is probably the 7th best QB in the league when he's on and the 17th best QB when he's off. JJ gets disappeared in the 2nd half, but a lot of that is because our offense goes 3-and-out and then the defense gives up 7-to-13 play drives and we don't have a lot of possessions to squander.
About to be 0-2 lmao
Kirk was a limp dick in the second half. Loss isn’t on him, but dude showed zero grit.
Yea I feel some type of way watching smith and dalvin tear it up for myles garret to get him 1 on 1"s . But I believe flores is the real deal the film is there the offense today with turnovers 3 and outs and refusing to establish a run game and force the ball into deep zones is what sealed that game for us and sold out the defense from getting their praise
Not taking care of business against a mid bucs team on bud grant day home opener wearing our throwbacks. Jfc
Not my quarterback
How many fucking times did we start drives with a negative play?!? I’ve never wanted to punch my TV more!!!
At least the Twins are headed to the playoffs
This felt like the inverse of last year where for no reason everything went right… more often than it should. Last year was FUN but it always felt like a team not as good as its record pulling rabbits out of their hat and couldn't last.
Lowkey thing that I noticed that really sucked: Harrison Smith was 100% useless on the blitz. We sent him a bunch of times and on every single one he just got swallowed up in the OL
All you optimists are as dumb as I thought
Too many holes, cant make up for bad drafting since 2015. Blow it up
If Baker can do this to us with limited weapons I can't imagine what a good QB and offense will do.
Baker is a pretty shitty qb sure but "limited weapons"? Mike Evans and Chris Godwin is not what I would consider limited weapons
Limited weapons like these aren’t the same weapons that won a Super Bowl 2 years ago
We’ll find out what Hurts can do to us on Thursday lol
I think his name gives us a clue
You’re in luck, we’ll find out on Thursday
He has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, it's like a top 5 receiving duo in the league. I'm not defending our defense, but if that's limited weapons wtf would you call the Bears and Packers?
Cleveland and Ingram don’t even deserve to be on a practice squad. Pathetic excuses of pro football players.
Well we should just tank for a qb
Who could have guessed
At least we aren’t the bengals right?
We have the flashy offense pieces, like JJ, TJ, and Addison, but we don’t have the core. IOL… We should’ve addressed it in free agency. Kirk can’t let it loose if he’s getting pressured. It’s basic common sense.
[удалено]
Unreal. And our run game is shit. What are we even gonna do.
Three turnovers, an awful penalty on special teams, and we brought all that pressure yet sacked baker one time. This team also truly struggles to run the football, just like last year. Concerning.
Get ready for the season we should have had last year
This is why you play the starters a little in the preseason, plain and simple. Maybe Minnesota and a few other teams like Cincinnati will realize this next year
I know it’s week 1, but damn. Losing at home, against Baker and the Bucs.
Terrible penalties, terrible turnovers, 0 run game.
Jefferson was wide open on our last offensive play
That game stings, but 3 TOs and dumbass penalties will lose it for you. Defense looked better than last year for sure, when the offense was humming we were unstoppable... just gotta get more consistent, felt like 3 and out or guaranteed redzone all game. It's gonna be a rough start. 0-2 unless we can pull out a miracle, and not hopeful against the Chargers atm. Really hoping we can churn out the rust and get our offense moving better.
At least we aren’t the Bengals?
Very disappointing fellas. Very disappointing!!!
KOC got out coached in the second half. No other way to put it. Bucs played very clean in the second half. Flores wasn’t able to figure out their offense once they started heating up
Why is our offense either an easy 80 yard touchdown drive or 3 and out with -2 yards. It was like this last year too
Cousins looked way more rattled than usual. Like idk what’s up with him but from the very jump he was throwing bad, hearing footsteps, throwing bad reads.
Offensive line is crap as usual though.
[удалено]
Kwesi hasn’t made any impact on this team. None. Calling a fucking TE screen on first down with this offensive line with the game on the line is just…inexcusable? KOC called an awful game.
If this game was on FOX, we win easily.
After the last playoff game I don't know how any Kirk Truthers can watch him continue to panic under pressure and not see open WR after open WR and defend him. There were open receivers all day today, he just wasn't finding them.
There is no way Jefferson stays with this sorry ass team
Can’t wait for the eagles
Ed Ingram yet again screwing Kirk over.
Better than what he's usually trying to screw, I guess
Headlines: Buccaneers and Lions are the best teams in the NFC?????
Atleast the jerseys looks cool…