Tuesday Open Thread: November 29, 2016

Merry Tuesday, DN faithful! Just two short days away from our biggest matchup of the year, in my opinion. We are going to take on a very tough Dallas team on Thursday. So, how do we go about winning? I’ll give you my two-cent’s worth.

The offense has obviously been our problem during this losing streak. Our offensive line was poor, but are they really to blame? It seems that they’ve been blocking better in the new scheme, and the reduction in sacks seems to support this. Is Bradford not seeing open receivers, or are our receivers not getting open? I assume teams aren’t having to blitz, so there are 7 guys in coverage on many plays. So, what’s the solution? Spread out the wide receivers and create mis-matches so we can give Bradford targets? I don’t know, but it would seem to be a possibility.

We also need to get the running game moving. We looked slightly better against Detroit, but we still have to do better, especially in the first quarter and first half. The red zone offense needs improvement, and we HAVE TO avoid the stupid penalties in the red zone. The false starts are killing us, we can’t afford to give up 5 yards when we’re already having a tough time getting yards in the red zone.

We will rely on our defense once again, and also our special teams. The defense has kept us in games this year, and they’ll have to do so again. Turnovers would be nice, but they aren’t easy to come by against this team. If the defense can limit their offense, we’ll have a chance. Our special teams will have to perform again this week, limiting return yardage and pinning them deep when given the opportunity. There is also always the threat of a special teams TD, which would improve our chances of leaving with a win in our pocket.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Chris informed us that plenty of players sat out the Vikings’ Monday practice.

Vikings news from other sources:

ESPN wonders if the Vikings will blitz Dak Prescott.

From Vikings.com:

Eric Smith has 10 Vikings-Cowboys numbers of note.

Pete Bercich looks at some film of the Cowboys offense.

Here is the latest edition of 96 questions with Brian Robison.

Pat Shurmur addressed the media yesterday.

Some players also talked with the media. Brian Robison says they have to stop the run, Laquon Treadwell says game action has helped his confidence, Jerick McKinnon says there are no excuses for the run game, Adam Thielen loves it when people doubt them, and Captain Munnerlyn says they’ll have their hands full.

George Edwards says they have to stop the run.

Mike Priefer talks about returns without Sherels and Locke’s play.

Coach Zimmer talks with the media.

Sam Bradford also talked with the media.

Around the NFL:

Since Rodgers had one good game, of course the media has the “vintage Aaron Rodgers” story, this one from NFL.com.

From NFL.com, John Elway has zero regrets. You heard it right from the horse’s mouth.

Eric Dickerson vows to avoid Rams games ‘as long as Jeff Fisher is coaching’, per ESPN. The hall-of-famer, and former Rams running back, says Fisher basically told him he didn’t want him on the sidelines during games because of comments Dickerson made that were critical of the coaching staff.

We come to today’s media selection.

It’s that time of year, Christmas music time! Here’s one of my favorites.

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

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
-No pictures that could potentially get someone fired or in serious trouble at their place of employment
-If you can't disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away-While navigating the open thread, just assume it's sarcasm
-This isn't a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door

With that, the beer light is down and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on. Don't forget to tip your waitress, & try the pickled pigs feet.