All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread



If I'm not mistaken, veteran contracts are not guaranteed after Week 1.

It'll be interesting to see what unemployed veterans sign where this week. I see Jabrill Peppers signed with the Steelers this morning.

Do the Vikings sign Gilmore this week? Or are they happy with their CB room as it stands today?
 

I don't know about him being coddled in the first half. My guess would be (and this was my only fear in regards to betting on the game) that with Chicago having a completely new coaching staff, the Vikings had no game tape to prepare for the Bears offensively or defensively, other than what Johnson and Dennis Allen had done in previous stops.

I would bet anything that Dennis Allen came out with some stuff the Vikings weren't ready for defensively. Not having Darrisaw definitely hurt, a LOT, as Skule had a brutal day and the 1st rounder Jackson struggled a little bit as well.

After sleeping on it, the Vikings just flat out out-coached the shit out of the Bears, to an embarrassing fashion really.

Turns out, not having the Lions OL, the Lions RBs, and even Goff behind center makes it a lot tougher to look like a brilliant play caller.
this is slightly the part that i'm still in wait and see mode. JJM was clear deer in headlights almost throughout the game (he's still slow delivering the ball, but he got to the right read eventually), but the biggest difference was their offense kept getting bounced off the field and our OL figured it out and protected JJM vastly better in the 4th while opening up some gaping running lanes.

We were definitely aided by the bears for some idiotic reason trying to just run the ball continually (20 carries for 61 yards by not Caleb Williams), them taking 127 yards in penalties and Williams getting real erratic as we dialed up pressure.

Again always better to be learning after a win, especially one you throw a brutal pick 6 in (and LOVED how KOC coached him after that with the no nonsense of "you have to know that" but didn't rag on it for an extended period). JJM is getting all the headlines, which you love for his confidence, but my additional "gameballs" would go to the interior DL, Eric Wilson, and Jordan Mason (dayum he provided a spark that got them going hammering through defenders). JJMs QBR despite the 4th Qtr was still only 52.6, but lots of reasons to be the most optimistic we've been about a QB we've drafted since... Daunte or Fran?


I'm not as down on Johnson as a play caller as you after week 1. Williams missed a bunch of freebies. The OL part will be the biggest thing though. They're not built to be able to road grade you like the lions could, which built all of their hard PA game that killed you. Think they will have to be throw to set up the run like they did on drive 1. Still pretty clear the Bears should be the worst team in the NFC North again.
 



The addition of these two guys can't be emphasized enough. They collapsed the pocket on Williams all night long, something we just haven't seen for a while.

Some of that is Williams still holds the ball waaaaay too long, but agree they being a ton more to the defense and still stuffed the run while doing it. This is in part the benefit of going to JJM is it gave us an extra 10-15mil/yr to sign guys like this
 

this is slightly the part that i'm still in wait and see mode. JJM was clear deer in headlights almost throughout the game (he's still slow delivering the ball, but he got to the right read eventually), but the biggest difference was their offense kept getting bounced off the field and our OL figured it out and protected JJM vastly better in the 4th while opening up some gaping running lanes.

We were definitely aided by the bears for some idiotic reason trying to just run the ball continually (20 carries for 61 yards by not Caleb Williams), them taking 127 yards in penalties and Williams getting real erratic as we dialed up pressure.

Again always better to be learning after a win, especially one you throw a brutal pick 6 in (and LOVED how KOC coached him after that with the no nonsense of "you have to know that" but didn't rag on it for an extended period). JJM is getting all the headlines, which you love for his confidence, but my additional "gameballs" would go to the interior DL, Eric Wilson, and Jordan Mason (dayum he provided a spark that got them going hammering through defenders). JJMs QBR despite the 4th Qtr was still only 52.6, but lots of reasons to be the most optimistic we've been about a QB we've drafted since... Daunte or Fran?


I'm not as down on Johnson as a play caller as you after week 1. Williams missed a bunch of freebies. The OL part will be the biggest thing though. They're not built to be able to road grade you like the lions could, which built all of their hard PA game that killed you. Think they will have to be throw to set up the run like they did on drive 1. Still pretty clear the Bears should be the worst team in the NFC North again.
I'm still in wait and see mode for sure, but I'm happy to give JJM credit (since I ripped on him hard in the first half) for his bounce back. There were definitely flashes of a good QB in there.
 

The addition of these two guys can't be emphasized enough. They collapsed the pocket on Williams all night long, something we just haven't seen for a while.

This stood out to me as well. I don't recall getting this kind of pressure on the QB by our DTs since the days of the Williams Wall. It also seemed like we got production from every interior DL on the active roster.
 






If I'm not mistaken, veteran contracts are not guaranteed after Week 1.

It'll be interesting to see what unemployed veterans sign where this week. I see Jabrill Peppers signed with the Steelers this morning.

Do the Vikings sign Gilmore this week? Or are they happy with their CB room as it stands today?
Okuda got carted off with a concussion. They have to sign someone.
 




The addition of these two guys can't be emphasized enough. They collapsed the pocket on Williams all night long, something we just haven't seen for a while.

Amazing and will be fun to see how many sacks/pressure we rack up this season
 


Some interesting stats I heard today on Caleb Williams, after NFL Week 1.

Williams:

- Worst in off-target throw rate (28.6%)
- 3rd worst in CPOE (-8.0%) (Completion Percentage Over Expected)
- 4th worst in accurate throw rate (45.7%)
- Most hospital balls thrown (4). (pretty sure that was in jest, but not far off!)

I just don't see it with Williams and it's mostly above the shoulders. Ben Johnson needs a QB to throw from the pocket, on time, on schedule, like Jared Goff. Johnson is literally the opposite of that
 

To be fair, Cunningham could have done that if he wasn't almost 40 in 1998.
He is the first player in NFL history, not the 1st Viking.

I think Cunningham could have done it at 40. I'd say he didn't, because we were up by too damn many in the 4th quarter in 1998....
 

Some interesting stats I heard today on Caleb Williams, after NFL Week 1.

Williams:

- Worst in off-target throw rate (28.6%)
- 3rd worst in CPOE (-8.0%) (Completion Percentage Over Expected)
- 4th worst in accurate throw rate (45.7%)
- Most hospital balls thrown (4). (pretty sure that was in jest, but not far off!)

I just don't see it with Williams and it's mostly above the shoulders. Ben Johnson needs a QB to throw from the pocket, on time, on schedule, like Jared Goff. Johnson is literally the opposite of that
Crazy elusive with an arm is grade material to work with. Now, if he cannot read defenses and cannot be coached read em we have a problem.
 

Crazy elusive with an arm is grade material to work with. Now, if he cannot read defenses and cannot be coached read em we have a problem.
Caleb will be the gift that keeps on giving for NFC North teams. He'll never be an elite QB but just good enough to keep the Bears from moving on.

I get a chuckle knowing CHI passed on Jayden Daniels partially based on the media hype around Williams. I'm not even sure if CHI brought Daniels in for a pre draft interview and workout.
 

Caleb will be the gift that keeps on giving for NFC North teams. He'll never be an elite QB but just good enough to keep the Bears from moving on.

I get a chuckle knowing CHI passed on Jayden Daniels partially based on the media hype around Williams. I'm not even sure if CHI brought Daniels in for a pre draft interview and workout.

I think Poles is arguably one of the dumbest GMs in the league but I'll defend this move to some extent. It would have been a PR nightmare for the Bears to pass on Williams. I almost felt bad for them, they literally had no choice. The hype around Williams was so high, I really don't think they had any choice.

Now, they f*cked up the process about as bad as you could, let Williams dictate most of the terms during the pre-draft courtship, never even interviewed or considered anyone else, completely dismissed any and all red flags, and things like that.

I think Johnson will have a hard time getting Williams to buy into what he's selling. I don't think Williams is a particularly high character individual either.

I'm happy with how the draft turned out, more and more every day really
 





Top Bottom