PurplePTSD: Minnesota's Opponents May Start Adjusting Their Late-Game Strategy

Eagan MN

29 November, 2021

6:02 PM

Description

Press release from the PurplePTSD: November 27, 2021 5-5 is nothing to brag about, but there is a bit of a trend developing. In several of those wins, Kirk Cousins has had to step up in critical moments. Heck, in several of the losses, Kirk stepped up. Dalvin fumbled away Week 1 and Greg Joseph missed a makeable kick in Week 2. What we have, then, is a QB who is consistently showing he can deliver in moments when it's difficult to deliver. Minnesota's opponents may start adjusting their late-game approach. Let's rewind to the end of the Packers game. After leading Minnesota's offense to a minute-munching TD drive (with a 2-point conversion), Cousins watched from the sidelines as his cheese-loving opponent almost immediately tied up the ball game: That was a brutal play for the Vikings. Zim brought six; they didn't get home. Obviously, the Packers identified a weak spot in Minnesota's coverage deep down the field. Put simply, Woods wasn't up to the task of hanging with MVS. It was therefore a 31-31 ball game a mere few moments following a really strong drive from the Vikings offense. Many Vikings fans likely adopted the "Here-We-Go-Again" mentality that plagues many of us. Others, though, looked at the time on the clock and felt comfortable. With just over two minutes to play and a couple timeouts, Minnesota's offense had more than enough time to end the day for their opponents. Ideally, they could even do so without giving Aaron "Doofus" Rodgers another chance to get the ball. They were successful. Greg Joseph drilled a FG with no time left on the clock. The Vikings won 34-31. By leading that game-winning drive, Cousins brought his season total to 3 game-winning drives. There are still seven games to play. He might even have 5 GWDs if those aforementioned Week 1 & 2 games had gone a touch differently. One has to wonder, then, how SF will respond to this trend. The opposing coaching staff will need to have some serious conversations about how they want to approach late-game situations. The goal, of course, is to score so they can beat the Vikings, but there is some danger in doing so too early. Kirk happens to be playing exceptionally well this year (some would even argue that he's at an MVP level). He also happens to have two of the best receivers in the NFL. Klint Kubiak, moreover, has taken some steps forward as a play caller. Many of us are expecting a difficult road game against San Francisco. Their strengths happen to align with our weaknesses. If, by chance, it happens to be a close game and Jimmy G gets the ball, perhaps Kyle Shanahan will feel compelled to dink-and-dunk his way down the field to try to kill the clock. Putting the ball back into Kirk's hands at the end of the game may not be a surefire way to find success anymore. This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author's own.