Cause And Effect - Why Second Halves Are Going So Badly

Peterson gets fewer carries also because we punt earlier in 2nd half possessions. It’s not that we took him out of our game plan (although that was clearly an issue in the last game), it’s that we don’t have as many offensive attempts period.

Part of that is because our line seems to be tired and can’t open holes as well for our runners so our first and second down runs aren’t as successful. A tired line would also explain what looks to be more sacks in the 2nd half (I don’t have numbers on this, but anyone who does should take care to take a look at sack % per pass play attempted, not total number of sacks – we have fewer offensive attempts, so it wouldn’t really be fair).

Part of the lack of runs is that we seem to have more penalties before the snap in the 2nd half (I don’t have numbers on this, it just feels true at this point, like the sack % assertion I made earlier), so running isn’t as viable in those earlier downs.

Most people talk about opening up the running game to help the passing game. I think we have the reverse problem. Our passing game makes our running game less threatening. Frazier was correct today when he said that it was a mistake not to run Peterson against 8 men in the box, but we all know Peterson runs for more with fewer men dedicated to stopping the run. How about keeping the defense “honest” by having a decent pass game? They don’t seem to stack the box as much in the first half.

The 3rd down situations in the Detroit game seem to be shorter yardage than the other two games and we ran on none of them. That does have to change, even if it means we run Gerhart instead of AP. Everything I’ve just said is not an excuse in the specific situation of short yardage to go. I don’t care if they have 12 men in the box – handing it off to Peterson on 3rd and 1 just makes sense. I don’t know who said it, but it’s true: If you can’t run the ball 1 yard, you don’t deserve to win.

And if you don’t want to run the ball 1 yard to win the game, maybe you don’t want to win the game.

At any rate, we can complain about our offensive line all day, but at least we don’t have Phil Costa as center.

Try this: McNabb plays the first two quarters, then steps aside for Ponder or Webb in the second half. That way, we get McNabb’s best production, and then Ponder and Webb step in with fresh legs to learn their trade and keep things going.

Granted it’s not a perfect plan, but with McNabb’s deteriorated stamina, it may be the best the team can do this year. On the sidelines in the 2nd half, McNabb will become the QB coach, help call plays, and be ready if one of the kids goes down or there’s a last-minute drive in the fourth quarter.

This plan may not win a lot of games, but it kicks the mentoring process into high gear, and the way things are the team isn’t going to win many games anyway. Planning ahead to do the halftime switch gives Ponder and Webb time to watch what the defense is doing and get thinking about how best to attack it. Tell them that either one of them may enter the game, and then watch how much more actively they prepare.

they do not come out the second half firing on all pistons. This causes all sorts of problems, also defenses in the second half are very aware of AD. This puts him in a spot where he is having to carry the team on his shoulders and honestly no one can do that.

The biggest issue I see other than the line is McNabb. He is terrible. He has no accuracy at all the ball goes some where within a two feet zone of the receivers hands which is pretty much killing us where we rocked in 2009, YAC. I bet we have some of the lowest YAC in the league, McNabb needs to start hitting receivers in their stride if he does that then the fact that he can’t throw a deep ball won’t matter because we have people who have the speed to force the safeties to play farther back. The second half of games is once again coming down to what TJ and Ferotte brought us, 8-9 men swarming around the box because our QB’s can’t throw worth a damn. Now I can’t say if this is McNabb’s fault or our lines, but coaching should be able to alleviate some of it. Which brings me to my next point the rainbow..

And here’s the rainbow. There are plays designed to let bad QB’s look better. There are plays designed to keep defenses from T’ing off on your QB. Screens, draws, play action all great ideas on how to do this. Anyone remember the Toby Gerhart screen? Obviously didn’t work so I can see why we never did it again…

I really wouldn’t say that your problem is halftime adjustments. The “halftime adjustment” is the biggest myth in football. It is just not how it is done. NFL teams look at every series and make adjustments on the sidelines between every possession. Most NFL teams will not make big adjustments during halftime because they have been making them all along.

There were several plays that could have sealed the win for the Vikings in the second half against the Lions. Much of the blame for the lack of execution falls directly on the execution of the offense. The play call worked and there were guys open to get the ball, and McNabb simply did not connect with them. Some of that is certainly McNabb. I saw him throw the ball out of bounds on several plays. I don’t think he actually intended to throw the ball out of bounds, he just missed that badly.

I would have to go back and look to see why McNabb was so inaccurate in his throws. Some of it is probably pressure from the Lions defensive line. It appeared that McNabb was hurrying his passes some because the clock in his head told him that the Lions were coming, and he was often right. So some of the blame certainly falls on the offensive line for not giving McNabb good protection, but McNabb needs to stand in and make that throw properly as well. If he cannot take the heat, maybe he needs to get out of the kitchen.

The other aspect is that the Vikings lack a deep threat receiver for McNabb to stretch the field. The best deep throws that the Vikings completed were to Kyle Rudolph. If a tight end is the only guy making receptions down field, you have a serious problem with receivers. I am not seeing any chemistry between McNabb and his receivers at all.

As it becomes apparent that the defense can defend the long pass wit single coverage you are going to increasingly see eight men in the run box. That is going to take the running game away in a lot of situations, and that is where AP gets stuffed toward the end of the game. It is also where McNabb has the opportunity to win the game with a good pass, but he doesn’t get it done.

The difference in the game between the Lions and Vikings was the Detroit receivers caught some balls that were very tough catches. The Vikes did not. The Vikings really need some receivers besides Harvin. Jenkins is a decent possession receiver. Rudolph looks like he will be good. All the rest of the receivers are a non-factor and need to be replaced with people that will make plays.

Why are we doing so poorly on 1st and 2d down in the second half as compared to the first half? I mean, the lousy conversion rate on 3d down in the 2d half seems like it can be largely attributed to the fact that the average distance on 3d down in 2d half is about 9-10 yards, whereas it is "only"about 6 yards in the first half. (Also, one needs to look at overall first downs in each half — if we are converting more first downs on 1st or second down in the first half, that too is a disparity that needs to be addressed.)

The most obvious culprit for lack of success on 1st and 2d down in the second half has to be AD’s reduced yards-per-carry in the second half, right? (Also, that screwy wildcat series in 2d half of Chargers game.)

Many have posted that defenses are stacking box in second half to stop AD because we have no WR threat. That is NOT what I have noticed. In fact, in 1st half against Lions, I saw Lions put 10 in the box against a 3 TE set, and AD STILL ran up the gut for 7-8 yards on first down. Later, he was stuffed for no gain with only 7 Lions in the box.

Here is thought — perhaps the sample size is really not big enough yet to attribute causation to the disparity. Maybe, just maybe, we are playing really good teams and on a few key 1st and second down plays in the first half, our OL has made key blocks and/or AD made some great reads and cuts, and on some key plays in the second half of each game, the D got the better of AD and the OL, or Musgrave got cocky and tried some stuff in the 2d half to be “aggressive” and not sit on a lead and it backfired. Maybe, just maybe, it is defensive players learning some tendencies about an OL’s look, stance, formation and getting that half step in the 2d half they didn’t get in the 1st half.

And it still is not clear to me why the defense is so effective in 1st half and not the second half. It does not appear to be endurance, as the let down happens early in the 3rd Qtr. While the offense has been “good” but not great in the first halves, the BIG disparity in the play of the Vikes between the halves, as far as points go, has been by the defense.

I have watched the first half on replay of all 3 games, and the Vikes look VERY good, with clearly enough talent and chemistry to win a lot of games. Maybe, just maybe, we should chill and not gove up hope. 3 game losing streaks happen to good teams and they can be overcome. It starts with a W against a weak team.

1. Sub-par O-line that doesn’t give our mediocre QB enough time, leading to rushed passes
2. A mediocre QB at best, who lacks accuracy (perhaps related to point #1 above)
3. A mediocre (at best) Receiver corps – with only 2 really decent to great players: Jenkins and Harvin
4. Not enough AP – but this is as much related to the 3 points listed above as anything
5. Crummy coaching – Frazier clearly in over his head (at least so far, by the looks of it).

On a pleasant note, I don’t think our Secondary has proven as bad as we all feared it would be, all things considered. Again, huge props to Chris Cook for his excellent (some might say “breakout”) performance vs. the Lions.

keep doing the same in the first half.
In the second half put in Webb/Ponder. Try one and if not going well put in the other.
On defense put in extra DB or drop back LB to fill in the middle.