I just re-watched the Rams-Vikings. There were a few things I wanted to check out in this game. For me, I tend to get a better feel for players and teams when I watch a game unfold in its entirety.
Nick Foles. Foles, remarkably, has finished with under 200 passing yards seven games in a row. This on a team that has some weaponry. Part of this can be attributed to conservative play calling, but there are also a handful of key plays where Foles misses on plays that guys like Ben Roethlisberger or Aaron Rodgers always make. On the first play, he had Kenny Britt 5 yards behind the defense with time to throw, but he got skittish, didn’t let it fly, and settled for a short incompletion. On the second possession, he had Brian Quick open for a 20-yard gain, but the throw wasn’t accurate. That’s 100 yards right there. Foles isn’t terrible, but he looks like he’ll be a bottom-10 passer in most weeks.
Teddy Bridgewater. Like Foles, he missed on some opportunities. First possession he had Mike Wallace open for a 36-yard touchdown and simply missed him. He later missed Wallace on a couple of other throws. Bridgewater has severe arm strength issues (one of the weakest in the league) and that was a liability on this day, with strong winds whipping. The Vikings are at home in Weeks 11, 13, 15 and 16, and prior to all of those games, it will be prudent to check the weather forecast. Bridgewater outdoors in Minnesota in December looks like a recipe for disaster. Those with Bridgewater this week face a hair-pulling decision. He gets to go against an Oakland secondary that was historically bad at Pittsburgh last week. The Raiders are allowing over 300 passing yards per game – last against the pass. But at times it looks like Bridgewater isn’t capable of dissecting even that kind of defense.
Todd Gurley. He’s a big, fast violent dude. He didn’t get a lot of holes in this game, but still managed to run for 89 yards and a touchdown. When you factor in ages, I think he’s the running back most would select No. 1 overall in a dynasty format. Benny Cunningham didn’t play that much (and didn’t get a touch). Tre Mason replaced Gurley for one breather series in the first half.
Adrian Peterson. An older version of Gurley. He finished with better numbers in this game because he got better holes. The Rams were without both of their starting defensive ends, which helped. But Peterson isn’t as explosive as earlier in his career. He fumbled twice in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings didn’t lose either one of them. In recent weeks I have grown uncertain about who’s backing up Peterson. Matt Asiata has 3 carries the last two weeks; Jerick McKinnon has only 2. But McKinnon was out there more. He had at least one and maybe two carries that were nullified by penalties. Asiata seemed to be used more as a third-down back, especially late in the game. On the off chance Peterson gets hurt, I believe McKinnon will their main runner, with Asiata probably playing liberally as a change-of-pace guy (and goal-line back). With McKinnon not being a clean, workhorse backup, I don’t consider him to be a great handcuff option right now. For example I would much rather have Jordan Todman of the Steelers, who would be a 100 percent guy if DeAngelo Williams gets hurt.
Kenny Britt. Britt hasn’t done much in recent weeks. I think he’s been held catchless in three of his last five games. But I thought he did his job on this Sunday. He was wide open for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play, but Foles didn’t throw it. They later came back to the same play, and Britt made a contested catch for 55 yards. I saw a 17-yard reception, and he made a contested 9-yard catch in the last minute on the drive that tied it up. He’s fine. They just don’t use him that much. His main role is to run deep patterns. They set up defenses with the power of Gurley and the underneath quickness of Tavon Austin. Britt should have a couple of 40-plus yard receptions in the second half of the season. He’s better on those routes than Brian Quick (their other traditional receiver who plays a lot). But those kind of plays are hard to forecast and capture in our little game.
Tavon Austin. After Gurley, he’s the most important player in the offense. They throw him short balls, and constantly run him behind the quarterback for end-arounds and fake end-arounds, stretching out defenses to respect his speed. These plays make it easier for Gurley to run between the tackles, and they help set up Kenny Britt for long balls. Austin has run for at least 17 yards in all but one game this year. In this game, he carried the ball twice when lined up as a tailback, gaining 2 and -1 yards. His three end-around runs went for 13, 22 and 17 yards. His other run came on a fake end-around where they then threw him a swing pass that traveled backwards, resulting in a 12-yard gain. Austin isn’t a great downfield receiver, though. He doesn’t win contested balls, and they don’t use him on many vertical routes. Nor is he a tough slot receiver who catches balls in traffic like Julian Edelman. He dropped a 40-yard bomb in this game when he jumped unnecessarily.
Rams tight ends. Lance Kendricks and Jared Cook are hardly involved. Cook failed to catch two contested balls that many tight ends would have held onto.
Stefon Diggs. He’s been a revelation this year, with a bunch of big games, but he didn’t make much of an impact in this one. Three catches for 42 yards. Had one wicked awesome cut outside on a route for a nice gainer – the kind of route that looks simply impossible to stop. They tried to get him in the end zone on a 38-yard touchdown but Trumaine Johnson had just as much access to a 50-50 type ball and came away with the interceptin. On this day, Diggs didn’t look special.
Mike Wallace. His numbers have really tailed off over the last month (as Diggs has emerged). But on this day, Wallace was probably a little better. They missed him on a 36-yard touchdown, and Bridgewater simply missed him on two other throws.
Charles Johnson. Johnson lost his starting job to Diggs, but he’s not just sitting on the bench. He played a ton in this game. A few times in three-receiver sets, but mostly it seems like when they’re in two wides, it’s Diggs and Wallace, when they’re in three wides, it’s Diggs, Wallace and Jarius Wright. But when they’re in formations with one wide receivers (which they use a lot) Johnson is the guy out there. One catch on 2 targets, but I would have guessed he did more. Three weeks in a row he’s caught 1 pass, but all three receptions have been for over 20 yards. When he was starting the first three weeks, he didn’t have any receptions of 20 yards.
Kyle Rudolph. I have some interest in Rudolph this week. He’s playing against the Raiders, and that defense has allowed a ton of production to tight ends, including 9 TDs. Rudolph looks fine. He was an awesome goal-line receiver a few years back. But he’s definitely not the only tight end the Vikings are using. Rhett Ellison (who’s more of a blocker) is out there a ton, and they’re also using rookie MyCole Pruitt. In this game, Rudolph caught 2 passes for 30 yards. He caught both of his targets. Ellison and Pruitt were both targeted 2-3 times. Ellison caught 2 balls and Pruitt caught one. So Rudolph isn’t an Eifert or Olsen type tight end, where he’s always the guy they’ll be trying to use around the goal line. Not saying you shouldn’t use Rudolph. Just saying.
Mike Zimmer. In 2002, Marty Mornhinweg was crucified for electing to kick off in overtime at Soldier Field. He wanted the Lions to have the wind. Chicago drove down and won it, 20-17. Zimmer went the same route in this game and it paid off nicely. The Rams punted on their possession, and then the Vikings took advantage of a strong wind, driving 29 yards for the game-winning field goal. An unconventional decision by Zimmer, and I think it won the game. Had the Rams kicked off, I think they would have won 21-18. In this game, 33 of the 39 points were scored with the wind.
—Ian Allan
