Vikings must get after rookie QB Jones as a key to bounce back road win over Giants
By Jeff Diamond. former Vikings GM who is co-hosting Monday Night Purple with Joe Anderson this season on News Talk 830 WCCO. Next show is Wednesday, October 9 (due to Twins game on Monday night, October 7) live from 6-7 pm at B-52 Burgers and Brew in Inver Grove Heights with a Vikings player guest. Jeff also co-hosts Purple Sunday Postgame with Henry Lake which will air upon the conclusion of Vikings-Giants on Sunday afternoon.
It’s bounce back time for the Vikings as they lick their Bear-inflicted wounds and follow the Twins to the Big Apple this weekend (actually to the New Jersey Meadowlands but close enough to New York City).
For Coach Mike Zimmer, it didn’t take long for him to focus on a Giants team coached by his former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and quarterbacked by first round pick Daniel Jones who has supplanted Eli Manning and led the G-Men to two straight wins.
Zimmer was thinking Giants early this week when he was asked by the media about Kirk Cousins’ struggles against the fierce Chicago defense. The coach’s response was “I don’t know. After about six o’clock on Sunday, I was on to the Giants so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
Coaches and players understand they have to quickly move on and not dwell on a tough loss. They merely have to look back two weeks to the disappointing loss in Green Bay and know they were able to regroup with a dominating performance on offense, defense and special teams in the 34-14 Week 3 win over the Raiders. And that includes Cousins who had a solid game against Oakland and should have a similar opportunity to play well against a suspect New York defense that ranks No. 25 in the NFL overall and in pass defense.
When asked about Cousins confidence level, Zimmer said. “ I just think he needs to go play, just play the game. Don’t worry about the consequences, do what you do.”
As for his team sitting at 2-2, Zimmer reminded the media and Vikings fans that the top teams in the NFC and NFC North are 3-1, just one game ahead of the Vikings. “Two years ago we were 2-2 and we won 13 and three years ago we were 5-0 and won eight,” he said. “What’s going to define us is how we prepare for this game and the next and the next. We put everything we have into this week against the Giants, a team with momentum. Whatever happens this week, we put everything we got into next week. That’s how you’re going to maintain success.”
Zimmer knows that the season is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s how you finish that counts. But he is going to have to find a way to get his quarterback and offense as a whole to perform as well on the road as they have in the big home wins over Atlanta and Oakland. And he’s also going to have to get Stefon Diggs back in a positive mindset after he missed Wednesday practice and told the media he is frustrated with the Vikings offensive performance. Diggs said, “The space we’re in right now, definitely it’s a lot of question. I’m just trying to work through it.”
Beating an improved but vulnerable Giants team with a solid mix of running and passing would be a good start to getting things back in sync offensively.
Keys to a Vikings win in the Meadowlands on Sunday:
1.The defense needs to get off to a better start than in the two road losses this season. Falling behind by double digits in the first half makes it tough for the run-first offensive approach that the Vikings coaches prefer even though they did stick with the run as they launched the near comeback against the Packers.
2. Work your magic against the rookie quarterback, Coach Zimmer. Besides Josh Allen of the Bills last season, Zimmer as defensive play caller usually fares well against young QBs who aren’t as adept at handling the pressure and blitzes that the Minnesota D can bring. It’s time for a big game from Anthony Barr who was quiet in Chicago. Perhaps he’ll want to show the New Yorkers what he could have brought to the other Meadowlands tenant—the Jets, who thought they had Barr signed in the offseason before he was reeled back in by the Purple. Jones did throw two interceptions against the lowly Redskins so there should be some opportunities for big plays by the Minnesota secondary.
3. Yes, of course get Dalvin Cook his 100 yards rushing. But let’s see a balanced attack against a shaky Giants defense that has been vulnerable to some big pass plays. Cousins needs to give his prime targets—Adam Thielen and Diggs—time to get open and not check down to the backs as quickly as he did in Chicago. As a Pro Bowler, Thielen has to be targeted more than he’s been in the first four games and Cousins has to connect when the big plays open up downfield after too many overthrows to Thielen and Diggs in the early season. And Minnesota’s talented tight end tandem of Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. need to be a bigger part of the passing game than they have thus far as both players have only five catches each with no touchdowns.
4. Watch those tricky Meadowlands winds that can bother kickers and punters—Dan Bailey and Britton Colquitt.
The pick—Vikings roll:
The Giants game starts an important four week stretch of games in which the Vikings are likely to be favored—at Giants, home vs. a good Eagles team, at the improved Lions and home to lowly Washington. I think Minnesota needs to win at least three of these four games and possibly all four in order to put themselves in good position for the second half of the season playoff chase when the schedule gets tougher (including road games at Kansas City, Dallas, Seattle and the Chargers along with return matches with the Packers and Bears at home).
First things first--with Saquon Barkley expected to miss Sunday’s game with a high ankle sprain, the Vikings should be able to shut down Wayne Gallman and the run game and then get after Jones with a fierce pass rush and a heavy dose of blitzes. They also need to keep the athletic Jones from running away from pressure and that will be on linebackers Eric Kendricks and Barr to keep him in check. I expect a strong game on both sides of the ball as the Vikings move to 3-2 with a 31-16 victory.
Around the NFL Observations:
1.Unfortunately it didn’t include the Vikings but the NFL had 11 road teams winning in Week 4 including the biggest shocker—Tampa Bay putting up 55 points on the Rams defense and intercepting Jared Goff three times as they upset the defending NFC champs. It was good and bad for the Vikings that the Eagles won in Green Bay—mostly good in knocking the Pack from the unbeaten ranks but the win gave the Eagles a boost back to 2-2 and they should handle the Jets in Philly before heading into U.S. Bank Stadium to face the Vikings on October 13.
2. The Lions put a scare into Patrick Mahomes and the now 4-0 Chiefs before the reigning MVP led a late comeback win in Detroit. This Lions team is no pushover and the Vikings head to Detroit in three weeks.
3. Sorry Dalvin Cook but the NFL’s best back over the first quarter of the season resides in Carolina. Christian McCaffrey is on pace to set an NFL record for combined yards from scrimmage with 411 rushing yards (one more than Cook) and 25 catches for 218 yards. His 629 yards would equate to 2,516 over the season which would break Chris Johnson’s record of 2,509 with the Titans in 2009.
I learned the importance of a dual threat running back in my first NFL season with the Vikings when Chuck Foreman rushed for 1,155 yards and added 55 catches for 567 yards as the lead back on our 1976 Super Bowl team. McCaffrey, the eighth overall pick in the 2017 draft, is keeping the Panthers in the NFC mix at 2-2 along with backup quarterback Kyle Allen and a solid defense while star QB Cam Newton is dealing with a Lisfranc injury in his foot.
Finally--Go Twins against those Damn Yankees!
Jeff Diamond was the NFL Executive of the Year in 1998 after the Vikings' 15-1 season. He also is former president of the Tennessee Titans. He does sports/business consulting, media and speaking work including corporate and college speaking on Negotiation, Management, Leadership and Sports Business--contact him at diamondj4@comcast.net
