2O21 Week 1 Reactions

Week One takeaways:

Tee Higgins Looks Like a Monster

Could he play tight end? If they get him in the open field he might generate some Marshawn-Lynch-worthy highlights. Let’s make it happen Brian Callahan! Watch him run through that tackle on the first drive of the third quarter. Ooohph. He was on the sideline so he didn’t  break it far, but It’s coming. He is RAC waiting to happen.

D-line Dominance?

It’s going to break my heart when injuries break apart this D-line. I hope we get a chance to see their full potential. Duke Tobin deserves a much healthier portion of the heat that Zac Taylor has taken for what has happened the last two years, but at first glance it looks like he’s been pushing the right buttons with this year’s moves. Hendrickson, Ogunjobi, B.J. Hill. Tobin has it rolling. 

The Minnesota O-line had six holding penalties last week. It’s not like the refs just decided to start calling the holds that occur on every NFL play. The Vikings linemen were having to tackle Bengals defenders to keep them from breaking Kirk Cousins. Cincy blitzed Hilton one play but the DE beat his man and got there first. Whether Ogunjobi, Reader and the boys can control the game like they did last week is one of the top storylines for me in week 2.  Analysts keep harping on how bad the Vikings must be because of how shaky they looked last week. Are we burying the lead here?

Zac Attack

Speaking of Zac Taylor, he has taken criticism for going for it on 4th and 1 on his own 30 and opening the door for the Vikings to get back in the game. That drew a shoulder shrug from me. Everyone agrees NFL coaches should generally be more aggressive than they have been historically. So where’s the cutoff? The 35 yard line? The 40? Okay on the 40, but not good on the 39? Yes, Distance, clock, and score all matter. In this case I think Taylor felt he his team faced a situation where the chance for success on one play (needing to gain one yard) was good, and success on that play would contribute more towards putting a boot on the throat of their opponent than failure would contribute to losing the game. Looking at it in hindsight, I have to say he was right. He got the worst possible outcome (his offense could not gain a yard and his defense wasn’t able to minimize the damage), and his team still had many other opportunities to win the game. If they had been successful at worst they would have run two more minutes off the clock and at best they could have potentially gone up by three scores. If you are a young team/staff that wants to be good they have to figure out how to get a yard when they really need it. Now they have valuable experience to help them execute better the next time and they still won the game. It was worth the risk short term and long term.  

I don’t think Taylor’s seat should be as hot as everyone thinks it is. Ok, he has a bad record in his first two seasons. What does that actually tell us? Taylor is not a magician. How many coaches would have had a significantly higher win total with the same roster?  Is that what we’re looking for here, the second we’re sure the hire can’t pull rabbits out of his butt they should fire him and look for somebody who can? To quote Sam Wyche, C’mon people! “You don’t live in Cleveland!” Constant coaching turnover is a slippery slope as teams have proven over and over. Yes, this coaching staff is cutting their teeth. If that’s not what you want don’t hire a staff with almost no coordinating experience in the top three slots on the staff (HC, DC, and OC).” The Bengals hired Taylor because of his proximity to McVay” might be the most exasperating narrative around. They hired him because they were impressed talking to him and they wanted someone they could make their own and someone that could grow with the team and the city. The media doesn’t seem to get that. Luckily Mike Brown does. Has the team improved each year under Taylor? I don’t want to jinx it too much, but yes. Do the players appear to be buying in to what Taylor is selling? Yes. Ok then, let him make a few mistakes without everyone lining up with torches and pitchforks. Give him a half way decent roster and let’s see what he can do. 

Is this roster going to be the one to give him a fair shake? I have my fingers crossed. I can’t wait until weeks two and three to find out.