Vikings Happy Hour

Vikings versus the Raiders… Good morning Horners! GMG is back with another “In The Raw!” immediate post-game reaction show. Dave is done with all his moves and ready to talk football with Ted and Drew after that wonderful and expected victory at US Bank Stadium yesterday. Your Minnesota Vikings played a very efficient game soundly defeating the Oakland Raiders 34-14 to now go 2-1.

  Sackles, sackles, sackles,… We love us some sackles. Sackles for the uninitiated is the when a Vikings player gets a sack [and Dave has been consuming adult beverages]. The team amassed 4 yesterday with Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter each getting one, along with Eric Wilson [in for and injured Anthony Barr] amassing 2. There were plenty of more pressures on Derek Carr which is the goal on this Sunday, but the sackles are the cherry on top, and we love cherries.    Does Dalvin Cook look absolutely remarkable or what?! Cooker has to be one of the best, if not the best running backs in the league. Coach Rick Dennison has coordinated on heck of a running game and Cook is the main beneficiary, but he isn’t the only one as we have seen with Alexander Mattison and Mike Boone [in garbage time] reaping the benefits of gaudy yards per carry numbers. We should all find out next week in Chicago versus the Bears defense if this is for real. We all sure hope so. The O-line has been good at run blocking and making it happen, but next Sunday should be their toughest test yet.

  The defense started out on fire! The dragon may of not due to the No Fun League’s moratorium on pyrotechnics, but the D sure did. We love seeing an opening 3 and out. Harrison Smith got yet another interception and turnovers like that definitely give the team an advantage.

  Passing was efficient with Kirk Cousins making most of the throws he should have this week. It was great to see Irv Smith Jr get big chunk yard receptions. Even Kyle Rudolph got involved. The WR3, Chad Beebe, who affectionately is called “Faberge Egg” by Ted Glover was almost non existent and went out with an injury. Hmm… I wonder if Ted nailed his nickname? Overall, the passing was good. That Cousins to Adam Thielen pass was perfect for the score. One question though, should we as fans be concerned about the lack of throws to Stefon Diggs? You tell us.

  Enjoy your victory week! SKOL!   Like, subscribe, and rate us on your favorite podcast aggregator. Then shout SKOL!    As always, enjoy the watch and listen!  BREAKING NEWS!!! The Daily Norseman and the Climbing The Pocket Network are joining forces to create a one-stop-shop for Vikings podcasts delivered to your eardrums daily. This collection of shows promises to deliver the top independent voices covering the Vikings from every angle.

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You can follow GMG hosts Dave at @Luft_Krigare and Ted at @purplebuckeye. Unfortunately, Drew is behind the power curve and doesn’t have a Twitter handle… yet.

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Bill Williamson joins Jayson Brown to preview the upcoming matchup vs the Oakland Raiders.

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The Final Word on Kirk Cousins

For a few weeks

This podcast discusses:

1. Why it's perfectly OK to have high expectations for Kirk Cousins.

2. What Kirk needs to do to improve in the games that matter most:

- Green Bay, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Dallas and Seattle

- Thursday Night, Sunday Night twice, Monday Night twice

3. How the Vikings should alter their QB strategy going forward. 

4. We also cover several QB options so that those who are done with Kirk can make preparations if Minnesota decides to move on from its star QB.

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Eric Eager and Nick Olson join Jayson Brown to discuss the loss at Lambeau, Kirk Cousins' performance, and the upcoming matchup with the Raiders.

Head over to DailyNorseman.com for the full show notes.

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Around the League

Colts pull out a Victory

Dolphins are bad

49ers are 2-0 and look red hot

Lamar Jackson is Legit

Chiefs put up 28 pts in a single Quarter

Rams thrash Saints

Teddy Bridgewater in for injured Drew Brees, possibly for several weeks

Falcons escape the Eagles

Big Ben Roethlisberger done for year

Drew Brees out for min 6 weeks

The North Face

Detroit pulls out a win over the Chargers in the 4th

Chicago wins a wacky game in Denver

Do they still win if Denver goes for the tie?

Vikings GB Recap

Packer fan at work said that the Packers didn’t win the game, that the Vikings lost it

Game started - GB score - MN missed FG - GB score short field - MIN Fumble - GB score from 33 out

Fan Question 1:

“Was the 21-0 start more the Packers offense or our defense?”It was a combination of all three phases. Defense was playing GB’s WRs wrong, and giving GB short fields on two back to back possessions hurt 

Special Teams Mishaps

Missed FG / Blocked XP

Bobbled Returns

REALLY long XP attempt due to dumb penalty

Is Dan Bailey the best option?

Defensive Downturn

ROUGH first quarter

Playing way to soft on Devante Adams

Blink - Down by 21

Fan question 2:

“How much would have Alexander and Gideon helped in the defensive lapse 1st Quarter?? Thoughts on Meaders and Boyd when our CBs are depleted…”Ben Gedeon less so, although I think we have an easier time stopping the running attack with him.

Mackenzie Alexander’s loss was felt, although I don’t think it was largely detrimental. Jayron Kearse can totally play well in the slot, we just weren’t scheming correctly for what GB was doing

Shutting down GB the final 3 quarters tells me it wasn’t personnel that was responsible, rather calls and scheme

Jayron Kearse and Eric Wilson posted highest defensive grades of the team with 90.6 and 85.4 respectively

Xavier Rhodes isn’t back

Hercules Mafa’ata shines

Erik Kendricks puts on a clinic

Baffling Offense

Dalvin Cook was eating all day

Josh Kline and Brian O’Neill best grades of offense line grades

Garrett Bradbury again struggled

Gooseeggs off Turnovers

Refs were especially horrid

There is never *that* much offensive PI

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD Kirk Cousins

Several fumbles, interceptions

WHY ARE YOU THROWING THAT? PASS LIVE TO PLAY ANOTHER DOWN JESUS EFFING CHRIST

Chad Beebe is clearly WR3 at this point

Fan question 3:

“Why did the broadcast call beebe a speedster?”He’s shown quickness clearly with his returns, and with the splash play he had on offense turning it upfield. I don’t think he’s super fast, just squirrelly.

In large part, the Vikings beat themselves. Gave up turnovers, failed on special teams, and gave up too much on defense to start the game

Raiders are a team that is really really beatable, and you have to win those games to have a chance. GB isn’t a soft target, and this division WILL be the toughest in the NFL this year

Oakland Predictions

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Week 1 Recap

Rookie WR breakout debuts (Hollywood Brown, McLaurin, AJ Brown)

Pretenders vs contenders

Dak Prescott (405 yards and 4 TDs)

Austin Ekeler (12 carries 53 yards 1 TD and 6 rec 96 yards 2TDs)

Malcolm Brown (11 carries 53 yards 2TDs)

John Brown (7 rec 123 yards 1YD)

TY Hilton (8 rec 87 yards 2TDs)

Evan Engram (11 receptions 116 yards 1TD)

 

Duds

Aaron Jones

Vikings WRs

Dante Pettis

Eric Ebron/Kyle Rudolph

Rookie RBs (Sanders and Montgomery)

Baker Mayfield

 

Week 2 matchups

Who are some of your favorite week 2 matchups at QB, RB, WR and TE 

Big Ben vs Seahawks, Goff/Brees vs each other 

Washington RBs vs Dallas, Patriots RBs vs Dolphins 

OBJ vs Jets, Tyler Lockett vs Steelers 

Mark Andrews vs Cardinals, Kittle vs. Bengals 

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Tex Western of Acme Packing Co joins Jayson Brown to provide the Packers' perspective on this weekend's Vikings/Packers matchup.

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Our Minnesota Vikings played a great game against Atlanta in Week 1. But we didn't see everything we needed to for full buy-in. Week 2 could change all that. They just need to win against Green Bay. 

Here's how the injury report looks: Stefon Diggs is back in full health, but Anthony may have a knee issue. Mackensie Alexander and Pat Elflein both missed Wednesday's practice. They should be monitored this week. Mike Hughes was limited, which is encouraging.

It's good to have Brett Jones back and I see early optimism for Irv Smith Jr.

Key players in Week 2:

- Dalvin Cook showed all the promise in Week 1, and he'll need to factor into the passing game too, with Blake Martinez covering him.

- Kyle Rudolph didn't do much against Atlanta. Can he win, going against the strong Adrian Amos?

- Anthony Harris flashed again and brings a new element to the Minnesota defense. We can focus on how he plays, battling Green Bay's Jimmy Graham.

- Trae Waynes quietly had a bad coverage game at US Bank Stadium. Let's hope Marques Valdez-Scantling isn't a problem.

We close with my thoughts on Saints at Rams: The No-Call Rematch.

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Eric Eager and Nick Olson join Jayson Brown to review the win over the Falcons and to preview the matchup against the Packers.

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Around the league - Recapping Cleveland v Titans, Detroit, Green Bay / Chicago, Antonio Brown Saga, Miami's quest to Tank for Tua, Seahawks struggles against the Bengals, and the Colts still rolling behind Jacoby Brissett.

Vikings Defense - Anothony Barr makes an immediate impact. Anthony Harris comes out of the gate strong. Rhodes Closed for Julio Jones. Mack Alexander dislocates elbow - Status unknown. Defensive Line dominated the game with stellar games from Danille Hunter and Everson Griffen. Penalties a small downside in an otherwise impressive defensive performance.

Vikings Special Teams - Kicking solid - Dan Bailey 4/4 on XPs. Blocked Punt by Eric Wilson - First since 2014. Coverage teams solid.

Vikings Offense - Run blocking was spectacular, lead to a grinding game from Minnesota. Brian O'neill didn't skip a beat, and had a solid all-around game. Garrett Bradbury had a less than stellar outing, but held his ground decently in the run game. Dalvin Cook makes fast players look... not fast. Play-action roll-outs from Kirk Cousins helped mask relatively poor pass-blocking. Diggs able to have a lighter workload and rest for GB. Alexander Mattison solid in his debut, C.J. Ham great all-around game.

GB Preview - Pressure v. Pressure - Can we limit GB's passrush enough? Kirk Cousins will need to throw more than 10 times, and Thielen and Diggs should have good matchups. Predictions.

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