Monday Open Thread: August 23, 2021

Two down, one to go.

Merry Monday, everyone!

Alright, so let’s talk about Saturday’s game. It was a loss, which means absolutely nothing. What did matter is that the defense looked MUCH better, the O-line looked better, the rushing offense did well, but the passing offense stunk. The special teams coverage did a good job, and I thought Smith-Marsette looked really good on returns.

The offense, with the exception of the running game and surprisingly, the O-line, continued to look bad. Abdullah and Rose both looked good carrying the ball, they found the holes (created by the O-line) and were able to get good gains. As far as the O-line, I thought Udoh and Cleveland stood out and both played well. I’d be very surprised to see Dozier getting many snaps from here on out. The line held up well against the pass as well, although Cousins and Browning did very little with any opportunities they had. Both QBs were indecisive, failed to pull the trigger to hit open receivers, and their stats show it. Cousins even managed to sack himself once, or was tripped by an invisible person. Mond looked the best of the 3 to me, although he didn’t light up the stat sheet, either. He also had fewer opportunities to make plays than Cousins/Browning had. Overall, the passing offense was just plain poor.

The defense, despite missing 5 starters, had a great night. I thought Breeland did a magnificent job, and Dye also had a good night. The entire D line looked good, as did most of the rest of the defense. Overall, the D looked great, there was a lot to be happy about if you’re a Vikings fan.

Next up is the Chiefs on Friday. The passing offense will have to do better than they’ve been doing. I hope to see the O-line and defense continue to show improvement, and another good showing by the special teams would be welcome. SKOL!

Around the DN since our last open thread:

The Vikings waived Dylan Mabin and Warren Jackson.

Wludford has a 53 man roster projection along with preseason notes.

AlaskaFan39 asks “How Does Football Improve Other Areas Of One’s Life?”

Luft Krigare brings you the latest episode of CTP with Vikings vs Colts – CTP’s: The Final Score.

Other Vikings/NFL news and random oddities and annoyances:

Vikings.com has a post-game wrap-up, they also have full highlights of Saturday’s game.

From NFL.com, Carson Wentz is set to return to practice Monday in a limited capacity.

Mitch Trubisky told reporters that ‘he just wanted to play well’, according to NFL.com. This was after Trubisky, now playing for Buffalo, put up the first solid performance of his career in Chicago.

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

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With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on. Don’t forget to tip the cows, and remember that our special on sloth soup begins at 200 comments. Oh, and Welcome Aboard!!!!!