Random Thoughts™ on the Vikings game

browner catching peterson was pretty impressive to me

Seattle looked good at home. Let's see it on the road.

"Sydney Rice has a better QB rating in this game than ponder"

Just saw this post on vikingsmessageboard.com. Had a good laugh.

My initial thought after the game that I posted on the .net chat was that the defence looked ok, but not great.

After further review, I thought the second half adjustments were fantastic. Many times this year other teams have made some pretty good adjustments against us. This time, I think our guys really stepped up. The D line started hitting gaps that had been left open, shedding blocks that they had been stuck on in the first half. The corners especially played well all game. The second half was a great effort by the defence. It was a great game and hopefully leads to some better things.

I'm heading to the Jets game this week with my brother and I'm looking forward to watching the Seahawks send them back to New York unhappy.

Nice write up, kip. Have to hand it to AP. Our linebackers lost containment, and he made them pay every time. The man is special, even a year after ACL surgery.

seahawk2k":3pu7q9an said:

RW is better right now than I ever thought he'd be this season. Whether or not Flynn could do better has been rendered irrelevant, as at least a couple times a game I find myself genuinely impressed by what the kid does.

Click to expand...

Anyone really not think he would get this good? I have been on the wagon since training camp. He just works to damn hard and wants it to damn much to not be successful. On the teams' day off on tuesday's he is always at the facility watching film and trying to get better. He is always the first one there and last one to leave. Is a natural leader and winner. It is what he wants and he will do anything to get it. Love the kid that is why i already have 6 jerseys of his.

Nice write-up again Kearly.

Sarlacc83":whz36478 said:

Nice write up, kip. Have to hand it to AP. Our linebackers lost containment, and he made them pay every time. The man is special, even a year after ACL surgery.

Click to expand...

I agree Kip -- nice write-up.

Regarding Peterson, I believe that I mentioned in my preview that it appeared that he had lost a step going laterally. Ummmm -- not exactly. He had Barry Sanders-like explosion in and out of cuts and reminded me some of Gayle Sayers out there. Absolutely, positively unbelievable for a guy who not only had surgery on his ACL -- he had surgery on his MCL as well. Adrian Peterson is certainly one of the greatest RB's who have ever played this game -- a Hall of Famer some day.

That said, I completely agree with you Sarlacc that the main reason for those long runs that our linebackers in particular lost containment on several occasions. If you go back and look at the game tape, you'll notice on several of those occasions the linebackers are all coming up in to the line of scrimmage ... with then basically leaves nobody in the middle of the field on containment when Peterson breaks through. I saw that time and time again. I said it in my preview piece that gap control and discipline were going to be huge keys to containing this guy. To me, this is a case of over-aggressiveness -- in many ways the same kind of over-aggressiveness that the 49ers used against the Seahawks to pop Frank Gore free. If I'm Gus Bradley, I'm telling Bobby Wagner that for guys like Peterson and Gore he's got to stay home. Sit put and keep containment in case that RB busts through. I'm extremely happy with the win (believe me) ... but this issue of containment and not allowing huge runs is I'd like to see addressed as we move forward.

Most offenses aren't going to be ABLE to make our linebackers pay that badly for being over-aggressive. San Francisco and Minnesota are two of the offenses with the O-line skill, RB talent, and smart play-calling to do so, and they've created a rookie wall for our LB's. It's really about reading plays and knowing WHEN to be aggressive, and that's something they'll learn.

MontanaHawk05":3n0p4i0m said:

Most offenses aren't going to be ABLE to make our linebackers pay that badly for being over-aggressive. San Francisco and Minnesota are two of the offenses with the O-line skill, RB talent, and smart play-calling to do so, and they've created a rookie wall for our LB's. It's really about reading plays and knowing WHEN to be aggressive, and that's something they'll learn.

Click to expand...

Along with this, I think we're also noticing a need at DT. I'd like to Jason Jones resigned, but I also think PC and JS are going to take a serious look at some 1-Techs in the draft. We need a 10 year staple at the position.

Kelly.Orr":33jxfuo5 said:

seahawk2k":33jxfuo5 said:

RW is better right now than I ever thought he'd be this season. Whether or not Flynn could do better has been rendered irrelevant, as at least a couple times a game I find myself genuinely impressed by what the kid does.

Click to expand...

Anyone really not think he would get this good? I have been on the wagon since training camp. He just works to damn hard and wants it to damn much to not be successful. On the teams' day off on tuesday's he is always at the facility watching film and trying to get better. He is always the first one there and last one to leave. Is a natural leader and winner. It is what he wants and he will do anything to get it. Love the kid that is why i already have 6 jerseys of his.

Click to expand...

This quickly? No, I did not. But the story is still unfolding isn't it? Bit early to draw conclusions IMO although signs are very promising!

With maybe the exception of an Andrew Luck who basically was like, grown in a test tube and genetically engineered to be an NFL quarterback, you *just don't know* which guys are going to be able to adjust to NFL defenses and which ones won't. And history has shown time and again that it takes between 2-2.5 seasons of starting to see what you really have. Defenses adapt to quarterbacks and the quarterback has to evolve in response, and that whole process takes time to play out. When people are trying to draw conclusions on high learning curve position players like quarterbacks, Wide Receivers, and Defensive Ends after 2 or 4 or 8 or 10 games it strikes me as well, silly. But that's just me.

Great write-up I am going to add a thoughts as my concern and not trying to rain on the parade or complain at any individual player just not think everything is great and fantastic even though this was a great game

1) Ladderal passes. I counted three ladderal passes this game. We haven't had one since game 1 / 2 (can't remember) that led to a turnover. The first one to Rice was in my mind there to not setup future passes by Rice but to setup future quick ladderal throws. They scare me. One of the subsequent ones was completed but to close in my mind and the last one was dropped / not caught and rolled out of bounds. Hard to see on the TV how close to staying in bounds it was but I didn't think the WR made any attempts to go after the ball. If you are going to throw ladderal passes make sure everyone understands and thinks about it so if not caught - get on the ball!!!!

2) Drops - they are still there and there are to many. In the SF game I thought they fell from the sky into open hands and were dropped. In this game it was more right at the players and they were dropped. Not sure if the reason was that balls are coming out to hot or if the WRs are just dropping them but it needs to get corrected. One or max two per game I get it but at this rate it will continue to cost games

3) Not a concern more an observation RW overthrew Tate on a left middle deep pass came right back and underthrew someone think Lynch. I like the fact that during the game RW continues to think and try to correct his game. Unfortunately in this case it looks like he overcorrected a bit. He will get those few overthrows corrected and continue to develop. He also stepped up in the pocket and overall was much more comfortable moving around and looking for WR's downfield. e looks like a future franchise qb and that is the biggest thing coming out of this season no matter what happens.......

Good stuff, K-man. Hey all, how fantastically decadent was it too watch the Seahawks in complete control at the end of a game and able to win by grinding out the last 5 minutes?! I don't recall the last time that happened and it felt soooooo good.

mikeak":2bgekrkn said:

3) Not a concern more an observation RW overthrew Tate on a left middle deep pass came right back and underthrew someone think Lynch. I like the fact that during the game RW continues to think and try to correct his game. Unfortunately in this case it looks like he overcorrected a bit. He will get those few overthrows corrected and continue to develop. He also stepped up in the pocket and overall was much more comfortable moving around and looking for WR's downfield. e looks like a future franchise qb and that is the biggest thing coming out of this season no matter what happens.......

Click to expand...

I agree. That was the only sequence that I thought RW looked like a rookie. Not bad when you step back and remember he IS a rookie! LOL. Franchise QB in the making.

And once again Kearly demonstrates why he's an asset to .net :th2thumbs: :thirishdrinkers: :3:

Sarlacc83":1k8gx2qs said:

MontanaHawk05":1k8gx2qs said:

Most offenses aren't going to be ABLE to make our linebackers pay that badly for being over-aggressive. San Francisco and Minnesota are two of the offenses with the O-line skill, RB talent, and smart play-calling to do so, and they've created a rookie wall for our LB's. It's really about reading plays and knowing WHEN to be aggressive, and that's something they'll learn.

Click to expand...

Along with this, I think we're also noticing a need at DT. I'd like to Jason Jones resigned, but I also think PC and JS are going to take a serious look at some 1-Techs in the draft. We need a 10 year staple at the position.

Click to expand...

Mebane looks to be the 1-tech in most passing situations and appears to be doing a phenomenal job at it. I think 1-tech is set as far as starters go. IMO we need to invest in a long term 3-tech who can do what Jason Jones does for us on the passing downs - out rushing the OG and creating that interior pressure - with a big enough body to stay in there and plug gaps on the running downs. We need a Warren Sapp type dude to really make this pass rush go IMO. Jones is fantastic situationally and I'm a huge fan, but I'd like to see a full time all round big bodied pass rushing 3-tech in there. Someone with a skillset like Donkeykong Suh. That'd be bad ass.

drrew":1my0d9ve said:

I find the Trufant hate permeating this board ridiculous.

Click to expand...

Needless to say, it would be less prevalent if he had worn purple ten years ago.

don't think that matters whether he wore crimson or purple, and i don't think it's hate, just the fact that he never lived up to the hype coming out of college.. he's never been a shut down corner, or even a top tier corner, except for one good year... and the last few years he's been an average corner at best.. he is constantly in position to make plays but never seems to make them... all though he had a great game yesterday, minus the two plays that i saw, those two plays reminded me of the Fant of old, almost there but not making the play.. na i don't think anyones is hating on Fant, i think folks just see it's time to move on... by the way i'm a coug and i loved this dude since day one at WA state... great college corner, average NFL corner..

kearly":29f5owz1 said:

-Rice could do nothing the rest of the year and he'd still be a Seahawk almost guaranteed in 2013. He's owed $7 million next year, but $7 million is a bargain for what he brings to this offense. Zach Miller is owed $11 million next season. I don't see any possible way he gets that money, but he's starting to make that inevitable decision look pretty interesting after stringing together several strong games.

Click to expand...

Your numbers are a little different from mine.

Rice still has to actually produce IMHO. I'm pulling for him but @ a scheduled $8.5 million for 2013, he certainly has to deliver in the second half of this season.

Zack Miller, like Rice, has to deliver value for the ballance of the year. Millers's numbers are 6.8 salary + 3.0 roster bonus = 9.8 mil for 2013. Four mil of that is guaranteed regardless if he plays or not. With an accelerated signing bonus write off, any potential cap savings shrinks.

Considering that there are no real alternative replacement for either one of these players, playing up to their contracts is the best outcome for everyone.

Edited to include 2013 contract numbers.

Jville":33y9puiq said:

kearly":33y9puiq said:

-Rice could do nothing the rest of the year and he'd still be a Seahawk almost guaranteed in 2013. He's owed $7 million next year, but $7 million is a bargain for what he brings to this offense. Zach Miller is owed $11 million next season. I don't see any possible way he gets that money, but he's starting to make that inevitable decision look pretty interesting after stringing together several strong games.

Click to expand...

Rice still has to actually produce IMHO. I'm pulling for him but he still has to deliver in the second half of this season.

Zack Miller, like Rice, has to deliver value for the ballance of the year. Millers's numbers are 6.8 salary + 3.0 roster bonus = 9.8 mil for 2013. Four mil of that is guaranteed regardless if he plays or not. With an accelerated signing bonus write off, any potential cap savings shrinks.

Considering that there are no real alternative replacement for either one of these players, playing up to their contracts is the best outcome.

Click to expand...

Not sure what Miller can do about lack of utilization in the passing game. He catches everything they throw his way.