2017 season game thread

Post #142 » by **Klomp** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:33 am

Worm Guts wrote:I can't help but wonder if Diggs was justified to be confident enough that no one was around him to not just step out of bounds. The most heart breaking scenario would have been him catching the ball and then getting tackled when he could have gotten out of bounds.

I'm assuming you saw the presser or read his words somewhere, he said when he was running the route and turning into his break, he took a mental picture of where the safeties were. When that guy went by him whiffing the tackle, he knew that was the only guy who was between him and the end zone. And when he not only whiffed on the tackle but took out the only other Saints defender who was even close enough to potentially make the tackle, it was a no-brainer to keep running.

It would've been such a "Vikings" thing for him to step out of bounds (as he was instructed to do) in order to set up the game-winning FG and the kick goes wide. That's right up there with being tackled inbounds.

Post #143 » by **Worm Guts** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:21 am

Klomp wrote:
Worm Guts wrote:I can't help but wonder if Diggs was justified to be confident enough that no one was around him to not just step out of bounds. The most heart breaking scenario would have been him catching the ball and then getting tackled when he could have gotten out of bounds.

I'm assuming you saw the presser or read his words somewhere, he said when he was running the route and turning into his break, he took a mental picture of where the safeties were. When that guy went by him whiffing the tackle, he knew that was the only guy who was between him and the end zone. And when he not only whiffed on the tackle but took out the only other Saints defender who was even close enough to potentially make the tackle, it was a no-brainer to keep running.

It would've been such a "Vikings" thing for him to step out of bounds (as he was instructed to do) in order to set up the game-winning FG and the kick goes wide. That's right up there with being tackled inbounds.

If he was confident that there was no one else there, it was obviously the right move. I just think it’s tough to track the ball and know exactly where all the tacklers are the moment he catches it. He did stumble a little bit as he turned, so if he was pushed from behind he probably could have gone down in bounds.
Either way, it worked out. I can’t complain.

mplsfonz23 · Post #144 » by **mplsfonz23** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:11 pm

Worm Guts wrote:I can't help but wonder if Diggs was justified to be confident enough that no one was around him to not just step out of bounds. The most heart breaking scenario would have been him catching the ball and then getting tackled when he could have gotten out of bounds.

I am glad he was the one who made the call.

We certainly didn't want to have to kick a 40 plus FG as time expired.

52 years for me, and that was the best game I have ever witnessed. From rags to riches. Now we know how teams feel when they beat us like that.

Funny, me and my wife didn't even know how to celebrate. (We need work) We just kind of hugged each other as we jumped up and down.

I read somewhere a Vikes fan popped his Achilles tendon dancing around after the TD. Poor guy. Guess he needs work too.

Sunday scares me. Did we use up all of our luck, or do we need it. Save it for Brady and crew?

Post #145 » by **Worm Guts** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:19 pm

Sunday seems like a pretty evenly matched game to me. Both teams have great defenses, but I see Case as better than Foles. Really should be almost a coin flip though.

hermes · Post #146 » by **hermes** » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:09 am

ok, how is everyone feeling about this one?

i don't feel great about it, i think zim is focused enough that he's not going to let the team think to highly of themselves after pulling the last one out but i think this being on the road is a really big deal

i hope we follow the giants gameplan and go with a lot of quick passes and just let diggs and thielen work and not let the pass rush get to case - and then our defense is better than the giants so hopefully we can keep them off the board

first one to ten wins? not a lot of scoring i'm betting

Post #147 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 12:30 am

Bleh, what’s going on with our defense?

Post #148 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:03 am

Keenum and our defense picked a hell of a time to fall apart.

hermes · Post #149 » by **hermes** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:18 am

yeah not a great time to play your worst game of the year

i'm not having flashbacks of 41-0 against the giants.................

Post #150 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:30 am

Cut everybody

Sedale Threatt · Post #151 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:53 am

Worm Guts wrote:Cut everybody

It's amazing how a bad loss like this can sour an entire season.

hermes · Post #152 » by **hermes** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:39 am

no kidding, something felt different about this year - even before the minneapolis miracle, and now this

we didn't have a great year after losing 41-0 to the giants, hopefully we can bounce back from this

but losing shurmur (probably) is going to be tough

hermes · Post #153 » by **hermes** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:49 am

sigh

guess i can start paying attention to this draft thread smokey is working on

Post #154 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:57 am

hermes wrote:no kidding, something felt different about this year - even before the minneapolis miracle, and now this

we didn't have a great year after losing 41-0 to the giants, hopefully we can bounce back from this

but losing shurmur (probably) is going to be tough

In 2001 Robert Smith retired and Korey Stringer, so we lost some players and had some emotional distractions, although I don’t know that I would have expected us to be terrible with a young Culpepper and Moss.
This year I didn’t expect to be as good as were and then I didn’t expect us to get clobbered in this game.
We need to shore our offensive line and figure what happened to our defense the last game in a half, but probably the biggest decision is what to do at QB. I think Case was really exposed as a front runner. He’s fine as long as we’re ahead, but he can’t be expected to lead us back from a deficit.

hermes · Post #155 » by **hermes** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:20 am

offensive coordinator is really big too, might be bigger than the qb choice

i don't know, i'm going to let this breathe for a few days and i'll start an off-season thread where we can break down the needs/wants/moves

Sedale Threatt · Post #156 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:08 am

Keenum was under so much pressure I don't think it's very fair to use that game as a barometer or make any definitive decisions about what he is or isn't. Even Harrison Smith, our most dependable and consistent player, sucked.

Beyond that, I don't see how you don't bring him back as the starter. It's a risk for sure -- Shurmer had a great season and was obviously a huge influence on what he did -- but really, what are the options? Bridgewater never played as well as he did this year, and he's been out basically for two full seasons. Bradford is totally unreliable in terms of his fragility. That's really not a hard decision for me, to be honest.

Far bigger on my mind is whether or not we're going to be able to use any of our cap space to further upgrade the offensive line, which was absolutely dismal against the Eagles, and/or defense (we could use another pass rusher, maybe another DB too), or if we're gonna have to save it for extensions coming up (Barr, Kendricks, Diggs).

Frustrating thing is, no matter what we do, is it going to be enough to surpass an Eagles team that totally dismantled us without the likely MVP if he'd stayed healthy and a perennial Pro Bowl tackle?

Post #157 » by **Worm Guts** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:43 pm

Teddy has never played as well as Case did this year, but both Teddy's seasons are better than Case's 2nd best year. Part of the issue of Bridgewater vs Keenum for me would how much you have to pay them. If Keenum is going to cost an extra 10 million a year, that's Bridgewater plus a pretty good player. Bridgewater is a gamble, but I do think there's a possibility that he plays as well as Keenum could. Keenum doesn't have a big arm either, most of his playmaking involves mobility and decision making, stuff Bridgewater can do.

Sedale Threatt · Post #158 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 8:28 pm

I don't see what difference that makes. He's already established a baseline of possible performance that Bridgewater has never been to, and as far as we know might never get there. Which is compounded by the fact that he's been out for two full seasons. Plus, Keenum has never really had an opportunity, as Bridgewater has, to play consecutive seasons with the same team and supporting cast. Granted, a lot of that is down to him playing poorly when he did have an opportunity to start. But sometimes it really is as simple as being in the right place at the right time.

I don't know, I've just never been overly high on Bridgewater. Decent little QB, but I don't see him as being anything more than a game manager. In his defense, he's never had a supporting cast as strong as Keenum did this year, especially if Cook can come back 100 pct. And I don't think it's unreasonable at all to wonder if Keenum played over his head, particularly with how well Shurmer organized and deployed the offense this year. I just feel a LOT more comfortable giving him a chance to build on what he did this season, in which he was one of the top-rated QBs in the entire league, than banking on Bridgewater.

Cost is an issue, sure. But I wouldn't have any problem whatsoever slotting him into Bradford's salary at around $18 million and going with that. It's not necessarily a safe play, but it's the safest play we have, by far. If this was an offensive tackle or linebacker, then OK, I can see taking the risk. But QB is still just too important a position to take risks with. When you find a player who played as well as Keenum did, I think you've got to give him a shot to see if he can do it again.

Post #159 » by **Worm Guts** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:16 pm

I don’t think you have to overly high on Bridgewater, more just skeptical of paying Case.
It’s either buying low on Bridgewater or high on Keenum. You’re either going to have to franchise Keenum or commit to him 3-4 years at a starters rate. Bridgewater probably gets a one year prove it contract at a sub starter price.
And I do think it matters that Bridgewater was a better player at 23 than Keenum was at 28, or at least it’s noteworthy in projecting them into the future.
It also matters how we plan to back up our starter.
Still the most likely scenario is to bring back Keenum, for better or worse.

hermes · Post #160 » by **hermes** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:26 pm

i suppose another thing to consider is that this team is ready to win now, and keenum is obviously a qb who can lead a team that is ready to win now. teddy was developing but then we don't know if the injury set him back or just halted his progress or what

if they determine teddy is ready now then he is younger and would be cheaper than keenum :dontknow:

but if he isn't ready now, windows can be so fleeting in the nfl that i think you have to go with keenum