Injury Updates

Just a quick one here. Woke up to an update from vikings.com saying Cassell and Fusco were placed on injured reserve. Looks like it really is Bridgewater for the rest of the season.

They also signed Chase Ford to the active roster in the wake of Rudolph's injury. Rudolph will probably be out six weeks.

There's a video with the notification i got. Here's the link: Vikings Place Cassel, Fusco on IR, Announce Other Roster Moves (via http://ble.ac/teamstream-) http://teamstre.am/1tZ0IgG.

Vs. Saints

It was a considerable improvement over last week, in my opinion, even though I didn’t get to see it. For some reason the Lions and Packers were more important on the local channel here. Ugh. We still lost, but 20 to 9 is much better than 30 to 7.

from: nola.com

Biggest storyline first: Teddy played! I was always a proponent for giving him a whole year before playing, so I can’t say I was ecstatic. I was interested to see how he did, and he didn’t disappoint. 12 for 20 for 150 yards, no touchdowns but no interceptions. According to Bleacher Report and numerous tweets Bridgewater had very good pocket awareness, stepping up when he needed to and scrambling outside of the pocket when he was pushed out. With shaky line play (Fusco went out with an injury and Kalil continues to struggle), Bridgewater was either scrambling (he had nearly as many yards rushing as the running backs) or throwing on the run. Knowing that and then looking at his stats again says a lot. The Saints sent blitz after blitz at him, which only makes sense, and he seemed completely calm. Not at all like a rookie quarterback thrust into action. I’m not going to get all giddy and say our season is going to be great, but it’s a small spark in a dreary week.

from: courier-journal.com

Let’s go to the other side of the ball now. The Saints picked on Anthony Barr. Why not? He’s a pass rusher that has had little experience playing the strongside in a 4-3. He’ll figure it out. On the plus side, he got his first sack! Sadly, that was the only one of the game.

The rest of the defense had its ups and down. Harrison Smith had a good game. Brees did well, but that was to be expected. I read an article that said the Vikings had no answer for Jimmy Graham. Two things I say to that. One, haven’t analysts compared Graham to Calvin Johnson, in that he’s going to get his yards, you just have to do what you can to contain that, to prevent it from getting out of hand? So were we expected to have an answer? Two, Graham had six catches for 54 yards and no touchdowns. That certainly doesn’t seem like we let him have his way. Granted, I didn’t watched the game, but the stats don’t seem to say he could do whatever he wanted. Brandin Cooks, on the other hand, tore us up just like Edelman did last week. It appears as if we have an issue covering the quick receivers. Wait a second, wasn’t Captain Munnerlyn supposed to help that so Josh Robinson could move outside? Um, silence?

from: nola.com

Our running game is atrocious. I know we leaned heavily on Peterson because he was a stud, but we should be allowed to expect more than 34 yards out of our running backs. Yes, Asiata had 35 yards rushing, but Mckinnon had -1. Asiata and Mckinnon can’t take all the blame though, as Brandon Fusco went down with an injury and Kalil has struggled. Well, the whole line has been really. Either Mckinnon needs to be given more chances, or Banyard needs to get a look. Things can’t get that much worse.

Not much to say about our receivers. Rudolph is out with a groin injury for six weeks, but nobody panic! He will still be amazing. Sometime soon. I think. Patterson and Jennings were decent but not spectacular. They didn't have a lot of help, though. A solid run game goes a long way towards a solid passing game. Oh, and a pocket to throw from. With Bridgewater having to move around so much, the receivers didn't really have a chance to put up big numbers. Patterson didn't get a chance to run the ball much either, but we can’t overdue that too much. I guess.

from: vikings.com

I’ll just mention the Munnerlyn play once. I didn't see it, but the pictures didn't look nice. Regardless of what happened and who was at fault, the penalty gave the Saints a first down, which they turned into a score. We get them off the field at that point, maybe score on that next drive, and the game would have been entirely different.

Bridgewater can work solely with the first team now, and he’ll get a full game to run the offense. Our defense will be more confident and will hopefully continue to get better. The Falcons don’t have an Edelman/Cooks, but they do have Devin Hester. While the game the Falcons played against the Buccaneers might not be the best example, Hester played all over, running and catching the ball. We’ll have to gameplan for him. And Julio Jones. And the duo of Steven Jackson and Jacquizz Rodgers. But their defense isn't fantastic. If our defense plays like they did during the Saints game, minus a few mistakes, and our offensive line plays better, we have a very good chance of being 2-2 at the end of week 4. 

Who Could Make the Switch?

The Vikings have always run a 4-3 defense and will probably always run a 4-3 defense. Even with new defensive coordinators, our defensive scheme seems as stable as the horn that sounds after each Vikings’ touchdown. Mike Zimmer is shaking things up a bit, though. We expect to actually see blitzes from the linebacker position and linemen dropping into coverage at times.

But what if the Vikings ran a different defense? A 3-4 is the first that comes to mind. Who would play what position? I want to take that a step further: what 4-3 defensive ends would make the best 3-4 outside linebackers, and vice versa?

4-3 ends into linebackers

Everson Griffin. I have to start with a Vikings player. We’re going to get a good long look at Griffin this year, but we already know a bit about his production from last year. For 273 pounds, Griffin is fast; he ran a 4.66 forty yard dash at the combine. That was four years ago, but I doubt he’s lost any of that speed. With his ability to rush inside and out, and his combination of size and speed, Griffin would make a fearsome rush linebacker.

from: profootballfocus.com

Robert Quinn, Rams. He’s a stud. He has the power to bull rush, and, sadly to admit, an even quicker burst than Everson Griffin. With a slightly smaller frame, Quinn could be decent in coverage as well.

from: espn.go.com

Michael Johnson, Buccaneers. For all the same reasons as Quinn. Johnson is fast, and while he may not be as strong, he can still get to the quarterback. He’s bulked up to about 270, so he may benefit from dropping a bit of weight if he had to make the switch, but he would still be very effective.

Ezekial Ansah, Lions. A raw product who hasn’t played football long, he’s a crazy athlete. As a 3-4 outside linebacker, he’d be a bit big, but his athleticism would allow him to excel.

Dion Jordan, Dolphins. I love Oregon, and Dion Jordan was all over the defensive field playing multiple positions. While he hasn’t lived up to his early draft position yet, hopefully that turns around soon. Jordan will excel by being lined up all over the place. As an outside linebacker Jordan could rush from multiple positions.

from: philly.com

3-4 linebacker into ends

Aldon Smith, 49ers. He has some personal issues to deal with, but Smith would be a terror lined up as a left or right end. He can rush the passer and stop the run equally well, and he’s very fast for 265 pounds.

Quinton Coples, Jets. At 290 pounds (this varies based on what website you reference), Coples could really be a small 4-3 tackle or a 3-4 end, which means he could play a bigger 4-3 end. He’s not nearly as quick as the others in this article, but coming out of college playing at 280 he ran a 4.78 forty yard dash. That’s very good for his size. He’s got the arm length to reach to either side of the tackle to pull down a runner and enough of a burst to occasionally get a sack.

from: newsday.com

Jadeveon Clowney, Texans. Need I say anything? Ok, I will. He played a 4-3 end at South Carolina, and he’s a freak athlete. Done.

Brian Orakpo, Redskins. He’s just great at everything. He can shed blockers on his way to the passer and to bring down the runner. I would imagine he could do something similar from a three-point and four-point stance.

from: washingtonpost.com

Robert Mathis, Colts. Mathis has proven he can play both positions. He was a stud in their 4-3 defense two seasons ago and led the NFL with 19.5 sacks last year. If he needed to, I believe he could make the switch back to an end. If he hadn’t torn his Achilles, of course. That might slow him down.

I know I left plenty out as there are a lot of crazy defensive athletes in the league, but these are the first ones I thought of. Feel free to comment with others you think could easily make the switch.

Vs. Patriots

from: livewire.wcvb.com

How ‘bout that first drive? Yeah, we looked really good for that five minutes. And that was about it.

I will be honest and say I only saw about two and half quarters. I didn’t see the whole thing; I couldn’t stand it. So I’m going to share some of the things I saw knowing full well that I missed some other plays.

That first drive was amazing. The Patriots keyed in on Cordarrelle Patterson so heavily it gave Cassel wide open looks to the other side of the field. Phenomenal play calling. I understand that couldn’t go on the whole game, but we needed something else. Maybe start going back to Patterson, run him on some end arounds, something to keep the Patriots guessing.

Chandler Jones is great, yes, but he made Matt Kalil look like a rookie. And the rest of the line didn’t play much better. Loadholt got beat easily by a few of the Patriots slower pass rushers, and our guards weren’t doing much better.

from: pressherald.com

Asiata looked pretty good though, running and catching. No, he wasn’t Peterson. But like Cassel supposedly said before the game, playing without Peterson makes the Vikings more unpredictable. I didn’t see Asiata drop a pass, and while he isn’t going to juke his way around two defenders before being taken down, he runs hard through the line and almost always falls forward for two or three more yards. Granted, he ended with only thirty six yards and no rushing touchdowns, but he did have a pretty twenty five yard touchdown catch and run to cap off that first drive.

I don’t really need to say much about Cassel. He threw four interceptions. I only saw the first, and if you’re going chuck it, don’t underthrow your guy. I’m still all for Cassel starting to give Bridgewater more time to learn everything, but I may change my mind if we see a couple more days like yesterday.

from: usatoday.com

Where was the defense from a week ago? I know Tom Brady is much different than Austin Davis, but we were getting beat in so many other aspects that Brady didn’t even stress himself. With the defense causing so many turnovers and stopping our offense, the Patriots didn’t have to drive far to score. The blocked field goal that was returned by none other than Chandler Jones to end the first half didn’t help our situation at all either. Tom Johnson had the only sack, we had a few tackles behind the line, but the majority of tackles came from our safeties and linebackers four and five yards past the line of scrimmage. Brady never really had to pass, so we rarely had a chance for any sacks. When he did though, we gave him the space. Edelman in particular was all over the place. Our secondary could still use some work, but hopefully Zimmer will whip everyone into shape soon.

from: concordmonitor.com

It wasn’t pretty. That’s all I’m going to say. But it has to get better. Right? Well, we have a tough road ahead. The Saints, Falcons, Packers, and Lions. Granted, they all have their weaknesses, but the Vikings have a way to go for perfection. Let’s just hope next week we can see some progression. It has to be better than this week. Right?